By the end of her second week, Lana was exhausted, but incredibly happy. She loved her work, liked her coworkers, and was thrilled about having a place to call home. There were only two things that prevented her from being ecstatic. The first was the feeling that Daniel would find her, now that she was no longer hiding her employment. She looked over her shoulder with increasing frequency as she moved around town, trying her best to keep her anxiety from her son. The second was her boss. He showed up in her office, her hallway, the break room, the cafeteria, and the lobby, with what seemed to be an unerring sense of when she would be there. He talked with others, laughed with his staff, and always, always watched her. She didn’t feel danger, not like she felt in the end with Daniel, but the discomfort was almost worse. She knew how to respond to a man whose harmful intentions she knew. She had no idea how to respond to one whose intentions and goals were so unclear.
On Friday night, Lana stayed around later than usual to finish up a few things. After organizing her desk for the following week, she shut down her computer, and was on her way to the elevator when Jarrod appeared next to her, his briefcase in hand and his suit jacket thrown over his arm. Lana hid a groan of frustration, even as she felt the same current of attraction she always did when she was alone with the man. A confrontation with Jarrod Marshall was not what she needed tonight. She just wanted to get home to her son.
She studied his profile as he stood silently next to her. Despite his distant attitude toward her, his overall demeanor with his staff was warm and kind and she again felt the discomfort of being different. What was there about her that brought out such a detachment in this man? Was her attraction to him so clear that he was forced to be guarded when he interacted with her?
As if he heard her thoughts, Jarrod turned to look at her. She quickly averted her eyes, since the last thing she needed was to be caught staring at her boss, but a slight flush of embarrassment rose in her cheeks. Instead of commenting on her reaction, though, Jarrod simply asked her how her work was going and if she had everything she needed.
“Yes, thank you,” Lana answered as the elevator arrived and they got on. “Grace has been a wonderful help to me,” she added as Jarrod pushed the button for the lobby.
“I don’t know what I’d do without her,” he admitted.
They rode the rest of the way in a rather tense silence, both fully focused on the floor indicator in the elevator.
When they got to the ground floor, Lana stepped out with relief and was about to offer a short wave and head for the door when Jarrod asked, “Can I offer you a ride somewhere?”
Lana was surprised, but smiled graciously and shook her head. “No, thank you. I appreciate the offer, though ‒ it’s very kind.”
Jarrod looked at her as if he were puzzled by her response. “Are you sure?” he asked.
It was Lana’s turn to look puzzled. “Yes, I’m sure. But thank you again.”
“Do you have someone meeting you?” he asked, looking around the lobby area as if expecting someone to be lurking near one of the pillars or planters.
Lana shook her head. “No. The bus runs right past where I’m staying, and I need to run an errand on the way home. Thank you again, but I’ll be fine. Goodnight, Mr. Marshall. Have a nice weekend.” With a quick wave, she turned away and headed toward the main door that exited onto the street. Her bus stop was at the corner, and she was right on time to catch the next bus on her route. She was just breaking into a stride across the lobby floor when she felt Jarrod’s hand gently encircle her arm. She stopped, startled, as he held her in place without hurting her.
“Wait,” he said, his protective instinct kicking in again when she looked up at him with wide eyes, a hint of fear lurking in their depths. “Please,” he added quietly, dropping his grip.
She intentionally slowed her breathing and forced herself to stay calm. She hated to be restrained in any way, but that was her baggage. She couldn’t show that in front of her boss. Taking a deep breath, she quickly thought back on the day. Had she forgotten to do something before she left? Something that he was calling her on now?
“Lana?”
She pulled herself back to the moment, a slightly bewildered look on her face. “Yes?”
“I’m sure you know that I own this company,” he said quietly, watching her intently.
Lana’s confusion deepened. “Yes sir. I’m aware of that," she acknowledged.
“So you’re safe with me,” he assured her. “Are you sure you don’t want a lift?” he persisted.
Lana went still, feeling her face flame with embarrassment. He couldn’t possibly be insinuating what she thought. Even if he could sense her attraction to him, there was no way she had given him the impression that she was anything but professional. She looked up at him, her gaze meeting his directly. She had to know what he meant, even if it embarrassed her to ask. “Please don’t tell me that I’ll lose my job if I don’t go with you,” she finally said softly.
His answer was clear and direct. “No. God no. That’s not what I meant at all.” His eyes narrowed as he looked down at her, and she was caught by the intensity in his eyes. After a moment, he asked, “Do you think that I need to force women to be with me?” He smiled slightly, cocking his head to the side and studying her carefully.
Lana took a deep breath of relief and shook her head. “No, sir. I don’t. But then I don’t understand what you’re asking me.”
He shook his head and stepped away from her, letting the additional distance lessen the threat that she obviously felt from him. He shook his head. “I’m not sure either, I guess,” he admitted. “But I’ll leave you to catch your bus. Good night, Ms. Carson.”
Lana stood where he left her, watching her boss stride out of the lobby. His impact on her senses was even stronger than they had been when she first met him, and it took her a moment to catch her breath. She couldn’t help but feel that she had just been put through a test. And she had no idea whether she had passed or failed.
As Jarrod strode away from the building toward the parking garage nearby, he thought back to his conversation with Lana, and to the last few days of interactions with her. She was very different from what Daniel had led him to expect, and far more in line with the person that Errol had described to him. Where Daniel had portrayed her as a loud, harsh, and controlling woman, Lana’s personality seemed to be the exact opposite, and she was fitting into his company far more easily than he’d ever expected. Errol had been right ‒ she seemed kind.
But more than that, the woman was starting to wreak havoc on his carefully controlled life. Since returning from Iraq, Jarrod’s life was his company. He poured hours and hours into Marshall Industries, determined to make the organization a success, and to provide a stable work environment for the employees who had become like family to him. Jarrod dated from time to time, but he hadn’t met anyone that he wanted to spend more than an evening or two with. Many of the women he went out with were nice enough, but he realized quickly that a solid attraction or spark was missing.
So why did he now have to feel that elusive but powerful spark with a woman who was completely off limits? Lana was his best friend’s wife. Well, ex-wife. She was likely the mother to his friend’s child. This wasn’t a healthy kind of attraction ‒ this was one with a whole trunk full of baggage, a million reasons to stay away, and the kind of suspicions that should warn a man off of a woman. And yet, there was something about Lana that drew him in.
For one thing, there was the obvious physical attraction. She was a lovely woman, and when she wore her chestnut-colored hair down in waves around her shoulders, he wanted to reach out, run his hands through it, and pull her up against him so he could feel every inch of her. Her matching brown eyes were kind, but intelligent, and every time they looked into his, Jarrod felt the same magnetic pull that he had when he had first laid eyes on her. An alarming need to protect her warred with an equally strong need to possess her. The heat he felt whenever they were together was unwanted, but he didn’t seem able to control it. He had never had such a reaction to a woman before, and the fact that it was this woman, the woman who had seemingly made life hell for his buddy, was a serious kick in the ass. To top it all off, she was doing a hell of a job for his company, and his entire staff already loved her. If there had been no connection between them, he would already have asked her to dinner. But between her relationship to Daniel, and his position as her employer, there was no way that he could approach her in that way.
The bottom line was that this was a complication he didn’t need. He had to keep his attention focused on what he’d set out to do ‒ to learn more about his best friend’s wife. Despite his intense attraction to Lana, he wasn’t ready to drop all of his preconceptions about her. He knew that appearances could be deceiving, and from what Daniel had told her about Lana, there may be traits below the surface that weren’t anywhere near as attractive as what he was seeing on the surface. He couldn’t be blind to that, if it really were the case.
Thinking back to Lana’s response to his offer of a ride, he realized that he honestly wasn’t sure how he had expected her to reply. When she had turned down his offer of a ride, he had wanted to be sure that she realized his position in the company. It wasn’t that he was trying to flex his power, but more that he wanted her to realize that he was a wealthy man. It wasn’t quite as arrogant as it sounded, he thought. If Daniel had been right, and Lana Carson had gone after money before, he had wanted to see if she would jump at the chance to go after him and his wealth, particularly since the chemistry between them was so obvious and so strong. He wasn’t quite sure why he had tested her on it, but now that he had, her response had intrigued him.
If Daniel had been telling him the truth about his wife, Lana was either a damn good actress or a damn good liar, Jarrod thought to himself as he reached his car, opened the door, and settled into the driver’s seat. She had won over his entire office staff in her interview, and Grace was so pleased with her that she was very clearly displeased at her employer’s rather distant treatment of Lana. Of course, Grace had no idea of the history that was behind his actions, and Jarrod wasn’t willing to explain things to anyone – at least, not until he knew for sure the kind of woman she really was.
After Daniel had died, the stocks, bonds, and mutual funds that made up Daniel’s fortune legitimately belonged to her as his widow. Even though they appeared to have divorced before his death, if Lana’s son belonged to Daniel, the portfolio should legally go to him, probably with Lana as the trustee. The fact that she hadn’t attempted to contact Daniel’s family, and yet seemed to be gravely in debt, pricked at Jarrod’s mind as he turned the ignition and started his car. As Errol had pointed out, Daniel’s description of Lana simply wasn’t adding up.
Pulling out of the parking garage, Jarrod reminded himself that he had hired her because he wanted to learn more about her. He wanted to know more about the kind of person who was raising the boy who could be his best friend’s son. He wanted to know if she was a good mother, if she had any kind of moral compass, and perhaps most importantly, if any of Daniel’s accusations about her had been correct. What better way to do that than to have her working for him? Here, where he could keep an eye on her. He admitted to himself that the ruse still made him uncomfortable, but until he had some more answers, this was the best he could do.
Again, he thought back to her response to his offer of a ride this evening. There had been nothing flirtatious in her reply. After her initial reaction to him in his office, she had done her best to avoid being close to him, and her interactions with him were all professional. It would eventually be up to him to make some sort of move, particularly since he wanted to know more about her son. But still he hesitated. He would know when to play his hand, he decided. And in the meantime, he’d watch.