Chapter 7
When Jared came out of the shower, he was forced to walk down the hall with only a towel wrapped around him. Just as he got to his bedroom door, Nicole walked out of her room, which he hadn’t realized was down the hall from his. She couldn’t help but gasp when she saw him, the sight of his naked chest bringing a blush to her cheeks. Jared was used to women reacting to him this way, but Nicole’s reaction affected him differently, sending a wave of desire straight to his gut.
“Umm, excuse me.” She said, and rushed past him.
Jared opened his mouth to say something, but just then Gina opened the bedroom door and distracted him for just long enough that when he looked back down the hall, Nicole was gone. He stepped into the room and looked around, Gina had made a little effort to clean it up, but there were still piles of clothes and dirty dishes scattered around. Giving her a dirty look, he went to the closet and grabbed some clothes, took them to the bathroom and slammed the door.
“You and your stuff need to be gone before I come out of here.” He said, getting out his razor and shaving cream.
He could hear her scrambling around the room, drawers slammed, and dishes rattled, but when he came out of the bathroom the room was clean. Gina was standing in the center of the room, looking proud of herself and he wanted to slap her, but he held his temper. The last thing needed he was a big scene, it would be easier to put up with her for a few days, rather than pushing her to the point that she had one of her fits. He’d seen what that looked like when he dropped her off, and he just didn’t have the energy to deal with it.
She walked up to him and put her arms around him and asked sweetly, “Can I please stay? I’ve missed you so much.” Then batted her eyes at him and tried to kiss him.
Jared avoided the kiss, thinking that Gina was the last woman he wanted to kiss. Just thinking of kissing brought Nicole to his mind, her lips were plump and looked soft, and her mouth was shaped perfectly, and he realized with a shock that she was the one he wanted to kiss.
“You can stay, but you have to keep this room clean and work it out with Martha, she has a name you know. I’ve met her, and she seems perfectly nice. How about we go to the kitchen and figure this out.” Jared said, his mind still on Nicole’s mouth.
“Yeah, it’s about time.” Gina said, thinking that Jared was going to set the woman straight.
When they got to the kitchen, Martha wasn’t there, but she’d left dinner for everyone. Gina was disappointed, she’d been looking forward to seeing the vile woman put in her place, now she’d have to wait for that satisfaction. But her displeasure disappeared the moment she put the first bite of food in her mouth, it was the first time in almost two weeks that she’d had a hot meal.
“This is so good, you have no idea how long it’s been since I had a good meal.” Gina said, shoving another huge bite of food in her mouth, then mumbling through the bite, “She may be a bitch, but she can cook.”
Jared was just about to take a bite, but he stopped, fork half-way to his mouth, to stare at Gina. He’d only been home for a few hours but in that small space of time, Gina had shown him exactly the kind of person she was. More than anything he wished that he hadn’t brought her into his plans, that he’d sent her home, but he’d been so intent on getting even with Seth that he hadn’t thought it through.
Now not only did he want to be rid of Gina, he wasn’t even sure that he wanted to get even with Seth. It was all so muddled in his mind, the realization that his father had sugar coated just how much damage had been done to the land, had failed to tell him that the land wasn’t really theirs, and his attraction to Nicole had his mind in knots. Knots that only some time would fix, time alone without Gina and her poor manners annoying him.
Gina was so into her dinner that she didn’t notice Jared’s displeasure and was content to eat in silence. After they were finished eating, Jared got up from the table, picked up his dishes and started toward the kitchen without a word. Gina jumped up from the table and followed him.
“Where are you going?” She asked.
“I’m going to do my dishes.” Jared said, looking back at her in surprise, then realized why she was asking. After so many days on the trail taking care of himself, it had just come naturally to do it here. “Maybe you should go get yours too.”
Gina stood stunned, “My dishes? But… I mean…” When Jared gave her a look that said that he hadn’t been giving her a suggestion, she turned around and went back into the dining room and got her dishes.
When she got back into the kitchen, Martha was there with Jared and they were having a quiet discussion at the sink. But when Martha saw Gina with her dishes she said, “Now that’s something I thought I’d never see. Are you going to carry all those dishes from your bedroom down here too?”
Gina wanted to slap the woman, but she could tell from the look on Jared’s face that Martha had somehow gotten him on her side. She opened her mouth to defend herself, but Jared stopped her. “Don’t say anything Gina, I don’t want to hear it.”
That one sentence let Gina know that she was in trouble, that her dreams of financial security and status were slowly being drained away. She’d worked so hard to get where she was and now a housekeeper was ruining her chances, but there was nothing she could do about that now. Maybe it had been a mistake not to try to fit in better with the people here, but how was she to know that Jared would suddenly think it was important to keep them happy.
Then she knew what she had to do, she had to remind Jared of why he was here, of their plan to take Seth and his project down. When Martha left the kitchen and they were alone, she brought it up. “So, did you find out anything important while you were gone?”
Jared hesitated, not sure he wanted to tell Gina anything. “I might have, we’ll just have to see.” He finally said, thinking it was a broad enough answer to satisfy her without telling her anything specific.
“Oh, good. Tell me all about it.” Gina was feeling in control again.
“Not tonight. I want some time alone.” Jared said, watching as Gina put her plate in the dishwasher, still covered in food.
Gina was disappointed, she’d had images of them falling into bed together, a reunion of sorts. “But you’ve been gone for so long.” She protested which was the wrong thing to do.
“Can you just give me some space please?” Jared asked, thinking that if she didn’t get the point soon, he was going to have to spell it out for her.
Even as much as she wanted to land Jared, Gina couldn’t let that pass. “Fine if you want space, I’ll give you space.” She said, then stomped out of the kitchen.
“Don’t forget all the dirty dishes in my room.” Jared called after her, just to make sure she remembered.
Nicole had been sitting in her room watching television all night, but felt the need to get some fresh air. After weeks of living outdoors the room had begun to feel cramped and stuffy after only a few hours, so she slid on her shoes and headed for the deck with a view of the ocean. From the moment they’d walked into the house she’d been drawn to the deck and the ocean, its rolling waves and rocky shore beautiful in a way she’d never imagined possible.
The moon was full that night, dimming the stars but creating interesting shadows that seemed to dance. She walked out onto the deck and headed for her favorite bench, sheltered from the wind and nearly invisible from the house, no one would bother her there. But when she came around the corner where the bench sat, Jared was sitting there so deep in thought he didn’t even hear her.
Not wanting to scare him, she coughed quietly, then sat down. “I’m surprised to find you out here, I thought you hated the outdoors.” She said with a mischievous grin, hoping that he’d understand that she was teasing him.
Jared had been sitting alone brooding and avoiding Gina, but was happy to see Nicole, and even happier that she was flirting with him. “Would you believe that it’s beginning to grow on me?” He asked, shrugging his shoulders.
“It has a way of doing that, but when you have something as beautiful as this it’s going to happen.” Nicole said, not realizing that she’d also just described how Jared was beginning to feel about her.
Jared looked at her for so long that Nicole’s heart began to beat faster, and her blood began to warm. She thought he was going to kiss her when he leaned in toward her, but at the last moment, he seemed to change his mind and pulled back.
“I grew up in this house and I can only think of a few times that I sat on this deck and just looked at the ocean.” He finally said, looking back out to the ocean.
Nicole was sorry that he hadn’t kissed her, sorry enough that she knew she might be in trouble. But before her thoughts could go any farther, Jared interrupted them. “Have you ever discovered that something you believed for all of your life wasn’t true, that the reality was so far removed from what you were led to believe that you should have seen it?”
Nicole was momentarily speechless, Jared had for some reason chosen to confide in her, the last thing she would have expected. “I’m sorry I haven’t, but I can understand that it might be very difficult.”
“Maybe I should have known, I mean I knew how he did business, but I wanted what I wanted and chose not to look any deeper than I had to.”
Nicole was sure that Jared was talking about his father, but also sensed that what he needed now was someone to listen, so she stayed silent. “I’m just not sure what to do now. I mean I had everything all planned out, knew what I believed and how I was going to live my life. I was so convinced that I was right, I didn’t want to listen to anyone else and now I’m going to have to start over, I have no choice.”
“That I can understand, I’ve had to start my life over too.” Nicole said, then added, “The only thing you can do is live one day at a time until one day you suddenly realize that you’ve built a new life, one you can live with.” Nicole said, hoping that Jared would understand.
Jared looked at Nicole, thinking that her words were right on the mark for someone as young as she was. She’d said that she had to start her life over, but he didn’t really understand what she meant, after all she couldn’t be more than 22 or 23 years old, she hadn’t lived long enough for that. But she looked so sincere, so understanding that he wanted to know what had happened to her.
“You’re too young to have had to start your life over, you’re just getting started.” He said, coming out of his funk for the first time since they’d come off the trail.
Nicole snorted, “Jared don’t take this the wrong way, but you’ve lived a very sheltered and privileged life.” Then she told him about how she’d ended up with Sam and Julie.
When she’d finished, Jared was silent for a long time absorbing what she’d told him. She wanted to laugh when he finally asked, “What was it like to get shot?”
“I tell you all that and all you want to know is what it was like to get shot? It hurt a lot. It’s not something I would recommend. It’s only been in the last year that I’ve been able talk about it without having flashbacks of that night, of that moment when I thought I was going to die.”
“I guess finding out that my dad was a major crook, polluter, and possibly even a murderer doesn’t come close to what you’ve been through.” Jared said, unable to help himself from scooting closer to her, suddenly feeling like he needed to protect her, even though the danger was long past.
“That wasn’t what I was trying to make you understand, I’m trying to tell you that no matter what you’re facing it’s possible to come out stronger and smarter in the end. You just have to look inside yourself and find the strength to face the new reality of your life.”
“I hope I have the strength to do that.” Jared said, getting to his feet and walking over to the rail, suddenly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going.
Nicole followed him, “You’re a strong man Jared, you’re just going to have to use that strength in a different way.” She said, putting her hand on his arm.
As simple as Nicole’s words were, they resonated with Jared, in fact he realized that he’d needed to hear them. “Thank you, Nicole. I’m sorry I’ve been so difficult, but that’s over now, you’ve been kinder to me than I was to you and I appreciate that.” He said, then followed his instinct and hugged her.
The minute Nicole was in Jared’s arms, it was like the rest of the world ceased to exist. She wrapped her arms around him and took a deep breath, smelling the scent of something exotic she couldn’t name, then looked up at him embarrassed by her reaction to a simple hug. But what she saw in Jared’s eyes told her that the hug had done something to him as well, and when his mouth came down on hers, she didn’t stop him.
Jared’s kiss was like nothing she’d ever experienced before, and she gasped at the feel of his lips on hers. When her mouth came open, he slid his tongue inside, making her gasp again. Waves of pleasure washed over Nicole, who’d never dreamed that a single kiss could ignite such wonderful feelings, and her knees began to shake. Jared wrapped his arms around her tighter, pulled her closer and continued to kiss her.
Nicole was lost in a storm of sensation, her body responding to Jared’s in a way that was almost frightening, a hard knot of pleasure building deep inside her. But when Jared’s hands began to explore her body, and he began to kiss her neck, she came back to reality. The man she was kissing was involved with someone else and she wasn’t that kind of woman. Breaking the kiss, she stepped back from Jared and tried to stop the throbbing deep inside her.
She opened her mouth to say something, but couldn’t think of a single thing to say about what had just happened between them. Dreaming of it was one thing, but the real thing had been so much more intense that her brain had stopped working, the power of speech lost to her as desire rushed thought her. Even in her limited experience, she’d never met a man who could make her fell like Jared just had, and it was disturbing as well and intoxicating. Rather than embarrass herself, she turned around and practically ran into the house, went straight to her room, shut and locked the door.
Jared surfaced slowly from the fog of pleasure that had overcome him when he’d hugged Nicole. He hadn’t meant to kiss her, but when he’d looked down into her brown eyes, he’d been unable to stop himself, her luscious mouth enticing him to do what he shouldn’t have. Now watching her walk, well more like run, into the house, he wasn’t the slightest bit sorry he’d done it. He’d been thinking about kissing her since the moment they’d met, and it had been even more wonderful than he’d imagined it would be.
Examining his feelings again, he found that instead of feeling bad that he’d kissed her, he was glad. It was the first thing he’d done in a long time that he hadn’t thought through. For his entire life, he’d stopped to consider the consequences of everything he’d done, and it felt good for once just to let impulse lead him. The only thing he was sorry for was that he hadn’t kissed her sooner, but then again, she probably wouldn’t have let him kiss her before.
It came as a shock to him that he’d changed so much in only a few weeks, the old Jared being pushed aside by a man he didn’t recognize, but that might just emerge a much better one than the old one. The truth was that he had Nicole to thank for that, the day at the stream had opened his eyes to what had been around him all along, but he’d been too self-absorbed to notice, brought the problem right to his door step. She’d made him understand that the damage done miles away from where he lived could still creep into his life and the lives of everyone around him.
He made his way to his bedroom thinking that everything would look clearer in the morning, but when he got to the door, he heard the television on inside and realized that Gina was on the other side waiting for him. Stopping in front of the door, he thought about what it would be like to go inside and promptly turned around and looked for an open bedroom. When he found one, he stripped off his clothes and climbed into bed, sleep coming almost immediately when he closed his eyes.
Gina heard footsteps coming down the hall and immediately perked up, but when those footsteps stopped at the door paused then went away she knew that she was in trouble. Something had happened on the trail, and she was pretty sure she knew what. That woman, Nicole must have gotten her claws into Jared, taken advantage of him when he was vulnerable. There was no other explanation, now she’d have to work fast if she was going to keep Jared by her side.
He’d said that he’d found something that might bring Seth down, but he refused to tell her what it was. She tried to think what it might be, but all she could think about was how much Jared had changed in those two weeks he’d been gone. Instead of bringing someone to task over the treatment she’d received, he’d gotten mad at her, a clear sign that something was wrong with him.
Now it was up to her to finish what they’d started, but the problem was that she didn’t know how. That was when she spotted Jared’s phone on the dresser, she jumped out of bed and grabbed it, sure that whatever he’d found would be in it. She started with his documents, then moved on to his emails, amazed as she searched his phone that he didn’t have it protected with passwords, but glad. It wasn’t until she got to his pictures that she hit the jack pot, an entire series of pictures of what looked like scientific papers, maps, and schematics for the mine.
Not sure what she was going to do with the information, she sent herself copies of the pictures and put the phone back on the dresser. While the night hadn’t gone quite the way she’d planned it, it was clear to her what she needed to do, in the end Jared would be happy that she’d stepped in. So happy that he’d finally be forced to admit that she was the one for him, the one who could help him make his dreams come true, and she’d be on the way to the governor’s mansion.