The next morning, Lana showed up at work with her briefcase over her shoulder, a cup of coffee in her hand, and a resolve to stay far away from Jarrod Marshall. She knew she'd run into him eventually, but she needed a few hours to herself – a few hours to remind herself that she was a strong woman, who was very good at her job.
Closeting herself in her office, she instructed her secretary to hold all calls, and sat herself in front of her computer. The strategy worked. She was able to concentrate exclusively on the numbers in front of her, and that made it easy to ignore the rest of the world. Unfortunately, when she came up for air and lunch at noon, Jarrod Marshall was waiting for her in the lobby.
“Hey, how did you...” she started to ask, but he just took her arm and led her toward the main door.
“My favorite lunch place is just a block away,” he informed her. “Shall we walk there?”
Lana stopped walking and glared up at him. “Don’t you ever ask? I could have plans for lunch already.”
“But you don’t,” Jarrod grinned.
“No, I don’t. But I could,” she pointed out. The least you could do...”
Jarrod interrupted her again. “Walk. That way,” he said, pointing to the right when they got out onto the street. “I don’t have much time, and I don’t intend to waste it here.”
Lana just shook her head. “You’re impossible,” she conceded at last with a slight smile. “Why are we going to lunch together?”
“I don’t think we finished our conversation from yesterday.”
“I thought you pretty much said it all,” Lana reminded him dryly. “But at least you’re honest. You could have lied to me, and you didn’t.”
Jarrod had the grace to look uncomfortable. “Lana, look...”
Lana looked up at him briefly as they walked down the street. She had known from the start where she stood with him. It wasn’t going to do a bit of good to get angry with him all over again. She had asked, after all. He had just told her the truth. “Forget about it, Jarrod,” she said with a slight smile. “You really didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know.”
They walked silently until they made it to the small restaurant that Jarrod frequented often. After ordering sandwiches and drinks, they found an empty booth near the back of the room and sat down to wait.
“Rachel wants to take you shopping with her this weekend,” Jarrod said as he draped his coat in the seat next to him and then leaned his arms on the table.
Lana smiled at the thought of spending more time with Rachel. “I’d be glad to go with her, Jarrod. But I’m curious to know how you’re going to handle this. Are you planning to go along?” she grinned.
Jarrod chuckled. “Rachel knows that I hate to shop, so she would want to know why I was there.”
Lana cocked her head to the side and looked at Jarrod intently. “You still don’t trust me, though. But then, why would you? OK, so what do you want from me? A promise that I won’t let her buy me anything?”
Jarrod shook his head. “No. I won’t ask you to make a promise that I know you can’t keep. You don’t know Rachel. If she wants to take you shopping, there’s nothing that will stop her from buying something for you if the mood strikes her. So I won’t ask that.”
“Then what?”
“I ask only that you be careful in what you say. Rachel still needs time to heal from the death of her son.”
“I don’t think that you give her enough credit,” Lana replied immediately. “Look, I’ll be careful, but I’m not going to make a habit of lying to her.”
Jarrod nodded as their food arrived at the table. “Fair enough,” he said as the waitress departed. “I’ll tell her that you’re willing to go with her. She'll be pleased. Frank would like to spend some time with Matthew, if that’s all right with you.”
“That’s fine with me. Matthew didn’t stop talking about Grandpa all day yesterday.”
Lana and Jarrod ate in silence for several minutes before Lana decided to ask Jarrod about something she had been pondering the night before when she was having trouble sleeping.
“Jarrod, I want to talk to you about something.”
“Go ahead,” Jarrod said, giving her his attention.
“I know that Matthew is Daniel’s son, but it’s easy for me to say that. He’s the only man I’ve ever slept with. You're all building a lot on a relationship that you only have my word on, though and I know that doesn’t go very far with you. I guess I’m just saying that if you want to have DNA tests done, for your own piece of mind, I’m OK with that. I don’t want you to always wonder.”
But Jarrod just shook his head. “Matt is Daniel’s son. Their DNA matches.”
Lana leaned back in the booth. “You had the tests done already,” she said quietly. She wasn’t too surprised, she realized. Jarrod still wasn’t ready to take her word for anything.
Across the booth, Jarrod was still back on Lana's statement about never having slept with anyone but Daniel. He had no idea if that was true or not, but images of Lana, naked, in his bed, were floating in front of him. God, he wanted this woman. He wanted to take her to bed, to sink inside of her, and to take her again and again until the demons of Daniel were excised. Their kiss last night hadn’t assuaged the need at all – he wanted her even more now. But as much as he wanted to carry her off to the nearest hotel, he knew that this was complicated, and if he rushed into anything with this woman, it had the potential to blow up in his face.
“I should get back to work,” Lana said quietly, interrupting his thoughts.
As they stood up to go, she reached for her coat and drew it around her shoulders, thankful for the warmth it provided as the days were getting chillier. Jarrod had pulled his own jacket on, and held her coat for her as she moved into it. As she was drawing it around her, she was surprised to find that his arm still encircled her shoulder. When she looked up at him, his face was inches from hers. The coolness in his eyes seemed contradictory to the heat in his voice when he very quietly told her, “I want you, Lana. Very badly, it seems. Badly enough to go against every rule I’ve ever made for myself as an employer.”
Lana closed her eyes in frustration. “Don’t do this to me, damnit,” she said quietly.
“Do what? Tell you that I’d like to take you to bed with me? I think that you want me as much as I want you. And it will be good between us, if the last couple of nights are any indication.”
“I’m not sleeping with you,” Lana stated firmly as his arm reached out to propel her gently but firmly across the dining room and out into the street. “It would complicate things too much.”
“You’re not sleeping with me yet,” he corrected her. “But I’m hopeful. And I will make you forget about anyone else you've slept with, Lana. Understand that.” Even Daniel. The words were unspoken, but implied. He knew that he was taking a risk here, proclaiming his intentions like this. Marking his territory was unfamiliar to him. But here, now, he felt the need to make it clear what he wanted from her. Eventually.
With that, Lana glared at him and then pulled away. They walked quietly back to the Marshall building together, each lost in thought. Lana was still hyperventilating from Jarrod’s proclamation. Sex with Daniel had been good when they first married, but their sex life deteriorated significantly after the first year, and their last time together had frightened her to the core. But even when they first married, they had never shared the kind of passion that she had felt with Jarrod last night. And, Lord, if that didn’t scare the hell out of her…
Turning into the Marshall building, Lana stopped abruptly in the lobby and turned to face Jarrod, her eyes meeting his.
“I’m going back to my office. Alone. My work is important to me. I don’t need rumors flying about what’s happening between me and the boss, OK?”
Jarrod nodded. “We’ll talk about this again, Lana. I’ll see you this weekend.” Without a backward glance, he strolled to the elevator, leaving Lana behind in the lobby. She took the stairs.
“I had a wonderful time, dear,” Rachel said as they pulled into the driveway of her home. “I hope you’ll go with me again sometime. Christmas is coming up ‒ perhaps we can do our shopping together.”
“I’d like that,” Lana replied enthusiastically. “Let me help you take your packages in, and then Matthew and I will be on our way.”
“That would be lovely, dear. Thank you,” Rachel agreed, turning off the engine and unlatching her seatbelt. “It looks like Jarrod is here, so you’ll be able to say hello to him too.”
Lana hadn’t seen Jarrod’s car when they pulled in, but it didn’t astonish her at all that he was here. She had successfully avoided him since they had lunch together earlier this week. Rachel had called Lana that same evening and arranged the shopping trip, but even though Lana did not tell Jarrod when they were going, she was certain that Rachel would have.
Stepping out of the car, she moved toward the back and helped the older woman unload the trunk. Rachel’s shopping expedition had had a purpose – she was redoing one of the bedrooms in the house, and was picking out curtains, a duvet, and a few other items. They had spent most of their day in the housewares departments of several major stores, matching colors and looking at fabrics together. They had remarkably similar taste, Lana had been pleased to discover. So when one of them found something she liked, the other always seemed to like it too.
Toward the end of the day, Rachel had asked Lana if there was anything she wanted to look at, and Lana had been straightforward. “I have everything that Matthew and I need right now, Rachel, and anything else would be a luxury. I’m not at a point in my life where luxuries mean much, so I think I’d rather just help you find what you need for your home. That would mean a lot more to me.”
Rachel had looked at her shrewdly, understanding more than what Lana chose to say. She nodded then, saying, “Family means more. You’re still healing. We’ll shop for luxuries when you’re ready.”
Rachel and Lana were just leaning into the trunk to pull out Rachel’s bags when the door to the house opened and Matthew came running out, followed more slowly by Jarrod and Frank.
“Mommy!”
Lana dropped her packages and swung the boy into her arms. “Did you have fun, sweetie?” she asked.
“Yup! Grandpa and Uncle Jarrod and I played games all afternoon.”
Lana looked up at Jarrod, her eyes questioning him, but he just shrugged.
“Uncle Jarrod?” Lana asked her son.
“I like it better than Mr. Jarrod,” Matthew told her. “And he said it was OK.”
Lana smiled. “So did you beat them?” she asked.
Her son shook his head and grinned. “Nope. Only once.”
“Next time,” Lana grinned back. Setting Matthew back on the ground, she told him, “I’m just going to help carry in these packages, then we can go and get you some dinner. OK?”
Her son nodded his head vigorously. Lana was secretly relieved. She was afraid that all of the time spent with his grandfather and with Jarrod might somehow loosen the incredibly strong bond that had developed between the two of them over the years. But it seemed as though time alone with his mother was still as important to him as it was to her.
“Did you two leave anything in the stores?” Frank asked with a laugh as he approached the car.
“Not much,” Rachel answered with a smile, greeting her husband with a kiss. Lana risked a look at Jarrod, but while he was watching her intently, his face was expressionless.
“You don’t need to rush off, do you, Lana?” Rachel asked. “Could you come in for a cup of tea?”
Lana turned away from Jarrod and smilingly declined. “Thank you, Rachel. But I really want to spend some time with Matthew, and I have several things that I need to do at home. Maybe we can have lunch sometime later this week?”
“Wonderful,” the older woman immediately replied.
Lana picked up an armful of bags and headed toward the front door, followed closely by Jarrod, who had grabbed several packages as well. Matthew stayed outside with his grandparents as Lana and Jarrod carried things inside.
“You don’t need to leave on my account, Lana,” he said as he held open the door for her.
“I have things to do,” she repeated softly, moving into the home and setting down her bags in the front entranceway.
“I’ll walk you out then,” he said. “Which of these packages are yours?”
“None of them are,” Lana responded.
“Are they still in the car?”
“No,” Rachel replied for her, coming in the door behind them with Frank and Matthew. “Lana just helped me today. I’m embarrassed to admit that all of these are mine,” she said, laughing. “Now Lana, you take care of yourself, and I’ll see you sometime this week.”
Lana nodded, leaning over to kiss Rachel’s cheek. “I’ll call you,” she promised. “Thank you for taking me with you. I had fun.”
“It was fun, wasn’t it? I’ll look forward to doing it again. Goodbye, dear,” she said with a smile. Frank also leaned over and kissed Lana’s cheek. “Thanks for going with her. You saved me from going along,” he added with a wink. “And I enjoyed the time with my grandson.”
“I’m glad,” Lana said quietly. “He’s already really fond of you,” she added. Turning around, she put her hand out to her son. “Ready?” she asked with a grin.
Her son nodded vigorously. “Yup! Can we have pizza for dinner?”
“Yup,” Lana smiled.
“Pepperoni?”
“On half,” Lana agreed.
Waving goodbye, she and Matthew backed out through the door and turned toward her car. Jarrod followed behind them. He waited until Lana got Matthew carefully settled into his car seat and was headed around to get into the driver’s seat.
“Lana.”
The tone of his voice stopped her in her tracks. It was gentle, and almost kind. She turned to face him. “I’d like to take you out for dinner one evening this week," he said softly, his eyes meeting hers as he walked around the car toward her.
Lana looked up at him in surprise. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
When Jarrod answered, she could feel his frustration. His eyes bored into hers, and his voice was thick with emotion.
“I really want to know you better. I want to believe that you are this person that I see in front of me,” he replied.
Sighing, Lana turned away from him and reached for the handle to her car door. Before opening it, she looked back at Jarrod and shook her head firmly. “Jarrod, trust has to come first. That’s not here between us, not yet.”
Jarrod stopped in front of her, his hand reaching out and roughly caressing her face. “You’re still a mystery to me, Lana. Daniel gave me one side of a story. I’d very much like to know the other side.”
For a moment, Lana allowed herself to believe that he might be interested in her as more than a sexual conquest. She had to be smart, though. This wasn’t about a relationship. The man standing next to her could get any woman he wanted to. Half the women at his company would happily give up their paychecks if it meant they could be with him, and most of them were far more attractive than she was. They also had the added advantage of not being the mother of his best friend’s son. So no, this wasn’t about anything but a strong physical attraction. The attraction might be enough to kindle flames, but it would surely die with time. She needed to nip this in the bud.
“Look,” she said quietly. “I’m attracted to you – to deny it is ridiculous, and I won’t waste my time trying to. But what happened last weekend just cannot happen again.”
Jarrod kept his distance, but his eyes held hers, refusing to let her look away. The heat in his gaze almost melted her resistance. “It will happen again, Lana. We want each other. The way you responded to me last week was a surprise, I’ll admit. But I don’t think that you’ll be able to stop me if I touch you again, any more than I can stop myself from touching you.”
The hoarseness of his voice told Lana that he was much less in control than he seemed, and Lana’s own limbs seemed to be unable to hold her for much longer. Jarrod was right, she thought. She wasn’t sure if she could easily fight him off if he kissed her again, so the best way to prevent that from happening was to stay away from him. Starting tonight.
“I’d better go,” she said softly. With one last glance, she opened the car door and quickly slid into the driver’s seat. Jarrod gave her a measured look, but he closed the door gently and stepped back away from the car.
Driving down the road toward her apartment, she sighed in frustration. It wasn’t fair, she thought. The one man in two years that she felt anything for, and it had to be a friend of Daniel’s. A man who somehow still thought that she had married his best friend for a reason other than love, and left for a reason other than fear. She needed to bank these emotions, and look at Jarrod as a boss only. She couldn’t afford anything more.
When she heard a soft knock on her door later that evening, Lana had already put Matthew to bed and was in the middle of working on her finances. She had bills strewn out all over the place, and was doing her monthly assessment of where she was. She had decided to apply for a loan from the bank to cover all she owed. That way, she could just pay one lump sum each month with an interest rate that would be a lot lower than those associated with her credit cards. That made sense, and she would have done it long before now, but she hadn’t had a steady income, or a permanent address.
Extricating herself from the piles of papers, she opened the door, her mind still on how to allocate her monthly paycheck. It was a shock, then, to find Jarrod standing in her doorway.
“What are you doing here?” was her first response.
“You should always ask who is there before opening the door, Lana. I could be anyone.”
She rolled her eyes. The only person she would have been scared to find on her stoop had died a couple of years ago.
“Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
Lana shook her head. “I’m not sure. Tell me why you’re here first.”
“I wish I could. Truth is, I’m not sure why I’m here.” He shook his head, running his hand through his hair. “May I come in?” he asked again. “It’s cold out here.”
Lana sighed. She was a mess, her hair up in a ponytail and strands flying all around her face. She had on an old t-shirt and a pair of sweats, and she felt anything but appealing. Still, who cared? Standing back from the door, she waved him in. After shutting the door behind him, she took his coat and hung it in the closet, then began to clear a spot in the living room for him to sit.
“What are you doing?”
“Figuring out my finances.”
For once, Jarrod didn’t make a comment. He simply watched as she picked up her bills and receipts, stacking them carefully on the table. Her organization probably didn’t make any sense to him, she thought, but that was OK. It made sense to her. Finally, she waved him into a chair as she moved a few books to her coffee table.
“Would you like coffee?” she asked politely. “It’s decaf.”
“I’d love some.”
Lana moved into the kitchen, thankful for a few minutes to compose herself. Pouring the coffee into a mug for Jarrod, and refilling her own cup, she carried both into the living room.
“Do you take cream or sugar?” she asked as she handed him the cup.
“No ‒ black is fine, thanks.”
Lana moved to one of the chairs opposite where Jarrod was sitting, and sank down into it, curling her feet up underneath her. Jarrod was silent for a long time, each second seeming like an hour to Lana.
“Are you scared of me, Lana?” he asked at last.
She considered the question before responding. “Sometimes. You’ve manipulated me into doing what you want me to do from the moment we met. And after all this time, I still have no idea what you want from me, but I don’t think it’s good.”
Jarrod was silent for a few minutes, sipping his coffee. Lana was almost wondering if he’d heard her comment when he finally shook his head. When he spoke, it was with a quiet intensity. “I can’t seem to get you out of my head. I can’t stop thinking about kissing you. I want so much more from you, but I don’t want to scare you, Lana. That’s the last thing I want.” He was quiet for a while longer while he sipped his coffee. “You were the wife of my best friend. He told me so many terrible things about you.” His gaze pinned hers when he added, “I don’t know how to reconcile what I see in you with the stories he told me. I just know that I can’t bring myself to stay away from you.”
She took a deep breath. It was what she had expected, in some ways, but it still hurt. Part of her wanted to hurt him back, to tell him that if he really had been Daniel’s best friend, he would have known how sick he was. But that wasn’t fair, she thought. Daniel had been the one to withdraw – Jarrod just hadn’t realized what it meant. When Daniel had reached back out to his friend with his paranoid delusions, there was no way that Jarrod could have known that he was mentally ill.
She stood up then, and carefully set her mug down on the coffee table. She reached over to where Jarrod had tossed his coat, and picked it up carefully, handing it out to him. When she spoke, it was very quietly.
“Let me help you, Jarrod. Go home. Go home and think about all of the things that Daniel told you, and see how that sits with you. Pretend that they’re all true. If you can’t see that I’m not the person that Daniel described to you, then go ahead and be angry with me. That might help you stay away from me.”
His eyes locked on her, Jarrod set his coffee cup down on the table next to hers and stood up to face her. He carefully reached out and took the jacket from Lana, then dropped it back on the couch behind him. Lana stood her ground, her eyes locked with his, her breath quickening with an arousal so intense that it frightened her. She wanted this man, she admitted to herself. But this was a phenomenally bad idea.
Jarrod reached out a hand and grasped her shoulder, turning her easily into his arms.
“What are you doing?” she gasped. “We shouldn’t do this, Jarrod.”
“Shhh,” Jarrod responded, his fingers moving up to weave into her hair, as his palms framed her face. He gently positioned her head as he lowered his lips to hers. Just before he kissed her, he whispered, “I don’t want to stay away from you, Lana. I want to know you. I want to figure out what’s going on in that head of yours. You don’t need to be scared, sweetheart. I won’t hurt you.”
The kiss he gave her was tender, gentle, and unexpected. Where she had anticipated an onslaught, he had given her time. She steadied then, her hands reaching up to encircle his shoulders. It was all the encouragement he needed. His control snapped, and as he ravaged her mouth, his hands moved to the front of her t-shirt, gently cupping her breasts through the material, skillfully stroking the softness beneath. Lana moaned, her own mouth opening wider to his onslaught. His tongue invaded her mouth with a rough violence that both shocked and thrilled Lana.
She gasped in response, arching into him and wordlessly telling him of her need for him. His hand covered her breasts, gently stroking first one, then the other, until Lana’s arms reached out to pull him closer. Pushing her t-shirt up, he pushed the material of her bra aside, and pulled one of her nipples into his mouth, sucking her breast with an intensity and a skill that overwhelmed her. Lana’s head went back, and a muffled moan escaped her. At the sound, Jarrod returned his mouth to hers, his hands moving to her waist. Pushing one lean leg between hers, he grasped her butt and pulled her onto him, moving her back and forth, kissing her neck as he guided her movements. He felt her quiver and grasp his shoulders.
“My God, you’re beautiful,” he grated out, his voice hoarse with need. Lana’s response to him only fueled Jarrod’s hunger, and Lana could feel the evidence of his desire moving against her. Responding to her passion, Jarrod moved with Lana toward her couch, falling on top of her, his hands holding her head firmly as he continued to ravage her mouth with single-minded intent. It wasn’t until Jarrod reached for the waist of her sweatpants that his intentions penetrated through the fog of desire that Lana felt. While she ached to give in to him, a part of her knew that she couldn’t. Giving in would only worsen the situation. It wouldn’t make her more protected or more loved. It would do the opposite, she was sure. It would also serve to make Jarrod think she was someone she wasn’t – someone who easily took men to her bed.
She stopped pulling him closer, and started to push at his shoulders. Jarrod’s hands stopped moving, but he still held her tightly against him. “Don’t fight me, Lana,” he whispered. “Please.”
But she pushed against him more firmly, struggling fiercely with all the emotion bottled inside of her. Attraction wasn’t enough – it never had been, not for her. Sex was about more than the physical, and she knew as well as Jarrod did that they weren’t anywhere near a relationship of love and trust.
When he realized that she still fighting him, Jarrod immediately released her. He sat up on the couch, trying to catch his breath, while Lana moved away, straightening her clothes and running her fingers through her hair. When their eyes finally met, Jarrod’s were still burning with the passion that had ignited between them.
“Is this how it was with Daniel?” he asked, his voice harsh with need. “Did you…”
Lana interrupted before he could make an ass out of himself. “What I did with Daniel is absolutely none of your business.”
“Why did you marry him?” Jarrod choked out.
“Why are you asking me this?”
“He and I never wanted the same woman. Never. Not once in our lives.”
“And I’m the exception.”
“Yes. God, yes.”
She swallowed hard, but decided to answer him. “I married Daniel because I fell in love with him. I slept with him because I loved him and he loved me. Our marriage may have been a mistake, Jarrod, but I have never once regretted it since it gave me my son.”
“Why did you leave him?”
Lana was silent for so long that Jarrod wasn’t sure she’d answer him. Finally, she said simply, “He changed. He became someone I no longer knew, so could no longer love.”
“Even for Matthew’s sake?”
“Especially for Matthew’s sake.”
Jarrod was quiet for a few minutes, digesting what she had told him. “What did he do to you?” he asked finally.
“Honestly, Jarrod. I need to talk to Rachel and Frank before I talk to you.”
“Then talk to them, damnit,” Jarrod said with barely concealed frustration. Finally, he reached for his coat and pulled it on. “I’ll go now,” he said quietly. “Thank you for the coffee.”
“You’re welcome,” Lana said quietly, remaining seated. She watched as Jarrod seemed to hesitate, then moved to the door and let himself out.
Out in his car, Jarrod stared back at Lana’s door. He wasn’t sure what had caused him to drive over to see her tonight, but he knew that he had to talk to her. It bothered him, a lot, that she was frightened of him. He knew that his actions over the past couple of weeks had been hard to decipher, even for him. One minute, he was full of anger at Lana, remembering how upset Daniel had been, and the terrible things he’d spewed to Jarrod about his wife. But the next minute, he was full of compassion toward her. He wanted to help her, and he was convinced that Daniel had completely misjudged her.
Compounding all of that was his attraction toward Lana. She was nothing like Daniel had described, and everything that normally attracted him to a woman. And even though he was a grown man, a successful businessman, and a war veteran, Jarrod had no idea how to handle this attraction to her. So far, he’d handled it badly, he knew. It was no wonder that Lana was confused.
Tonight, though, sitting in his car and pondering the evening, he found himself wondering about Daniel. Lana had intimated a few times that she’d been frightened of him, and he had noticed some scars on her arms that he had hesitated asking about, partly because he wasn’t sure he was ready to hear her answers. She had filed a restraining order against her husband, which bothered Jarrod a lot. The Daniel that he knew had been a good man. Quiet, a bit too introspective at times, and not really cut out for a life in the military, but a good, strong, and kind man. Lana’s fear of him seemed not only misplaced, but impossible. Still, Lana did not seem to be a weak person, and if she had been scared of Daniel, there must have been a reason. Jarrod wanted so badly to pull the truth out of Lana, to ask questions, to leave no stone unturned until he understood what had happened to his best friend and his wife, but Lana’s sense of decency and lack of willingness to speak about her husband made it hard for him to understand the truth. Ex-husband, Jarrod corrected himself. Daniel and she had divorced, and Lana had apparently left him in an effort to protect her son. But protect him from what? The Daniel he had known in Iraq would never have hurt a child. Had he changed? Or had Jarrod misjudged him that badly?
With a heavy heart, Jarrod started his car and drove slowly away from Lana’s apartment. Tonight, when he’d seen the pile of bills that Lana was dealing with, he’d wanted to gather then all up and pay them off. Her obvious need to pay the debts that she owed was humbling, and it gave him a moment of regret when he thought about how easy it had been to manipulate her into working for him, and into staying in the position he’d hired her for. She needed the money. What was surprising to him was how responsible she seemed to be at coping with that need while still providing for her son. There was more to Lana Carson than met the eye, Jarrod was starting to realize. And the sooner he found out what was below the surface, the sooner he could figure out what to do with her.