I forced a smile the best I could. I didn’t want to go into details about tonight until I was sure who was behind this mind fuck. So, I’d taken a cab to Jack’s.
“I hate to invite myself, but do you mind if I stay with you this weekend?”
“I’d like nothing more than that.”
He let me in, and I picked up the small bag I’d packed. He raised a brow. “Prepared, I see.”
I felt embarrassed. I wasn’t trying to be a pushy girlfriend, I just couldn’t step foot in my home. I’d literally sprinted through the house to gather a few things, then waited for the cab outside. And I couldn’t handle this idea of someone lurking in the shadows. I needed evidence about who it was. So many times before, I’d been questioned. My gut told me maybe Brock had found out about my father trying to hire me and he was behind this.
I needed Brock gone.
“Lana,” he cupped my face and looked at me. “What’s wrong?”
I blinked away the scary thoughts. “Just a tough week.”
“Have you been drinking?”
“Yes.”
He nodded. His hands skating from my neck to my shoulders. “You’re tense.” He looked over my body. “Something happened. What?”
I shook my head quickly. There was no easy way to explain without explaining everything. And I didn’t want to get into that tonight.
“Just a stressful week. Edith found out about us and was giving me a hard time. Then some asshole slashed my tires.” There, truth. Just not what was the key to my tension.
“What? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. It happened tonight. I’ll get new tires tomorrow; I just didn’t want to stay there.”
“Of course. Do you know who would do that, or do you think this is just random?” He took my bag and then my hand, and led me upstairs.
“I honestly don’t know.” Not the whole truth, but the closet I’d ever come to lying to Jack. I was sure someone was behind all these little taunts. But that wasn’t a clean story to dive into. More questions would arise, and I’d have to think about how to answer them. Questions like: why do you think Brock would do this? Yeah, not a question I wanted to answer. “Is it okay if I just want to escape for a while?”
“That can be arranged.”
“Oh, yeah?”
He glanced at me as we walked into the master bathroom. “I have some ideas.”
Turning on the bath, hot water filled up the claw-foot tub and steam rose.
Jack slowly took my clothes off, until I stood before him naked. He helped me into the warm water, and I laid back.
“You’re not joining me?”
He knelt and rolled up the sleeves of his white button-up. “This is for you to relax.”
Threading his fingers through my hair, he combed the locks up into a pile on my head and fastened it with the band I had on my wrist. The feel of his fingers along my scalp, brushing my hair away from my face, was soothing. Then, he reached into the tub and got a massive sponge and put soap on it. His soap. I loved the spicy smell.
“Sit up,” he said, and I did. He ran the sponge down my back, washing away the tension, seeming content to just see to me. It was a nice feeling…being taken care of.
I hugged my knees to my chest, and he continued to massage my back and shoulders. I looked at him.
“Do you ever wish you could control life? Turn back time and make things go how you want them to go?”
“Every day.” He focused on his task and said, “But, things happen that we can’t control. No sense in dwelling on that part. Simply take control of what you can now.”
If that didn’t show the kind of man Jack was, nothing did. It made sense now. His mother’s death, his father’s treatment of him, all of it happened out of Jack’s control. Which is why he looked for ways to control his world now.