How could he kiss her with such tenderness and passion only to rush to Lacey’s arms a few hours later? Was that to be the pattern of their lives from now on? Was she to share his passion with Lacey, while Lacey had the added benefit of his love?
“I don’t know if I can do that,” Katherine said aloud, and only then realized that she had made a decision.
Chapter Twelve
“Hi, honey.” Katherine sat at her desk frozen in angry surprise as Jace let himself in the front door and then crossed the room to lean down and kiss her on the cheek. “Boy, I’m beat. Is there any coffee left?”
“I think so,” she answered stiffly.
She watched his back as he walked into the kitchen chatting as though he had only stepped out for a newspaper—two days ago. He was remarking on the weather, asking after Allison’s health, and expressing disappointment when informed she was down for her late morning nap. He didn’t mention anything about where he had been for the past two days and what he had been doing with Lacey Newton Manning.
Katherine had lived in a vacuum since getting the telephone call from Billy. Jace had run to Lacey. He had been gone for over two days without one word. Did he expect to come home and resume life where they left off? Was he going to act as if nothing had happened? Well, it wasn’t going to be that easy for Mr. Jason Manning.
“How’s the work coming?” he asked her as he came back carrying a steaming mug of coffee. He collapsed onto the sofa and lay his head back on the cushions, closing his eyes briefly. He opened them and looked at her with a perplexed expression when the answer to his question was so long in coming. She saw the purple shadows around his eyes and the dark stubble of neglected beard. He looked gaunt under his dark tan.
“It’s going well,” she replied after a moment. “I got a letter from Mr. Newton yesterday commending me on the first drafts I sent him. I also talked to the production chief at the television station. He’s already scouting out locations for videotaping.”
“Hey, that’s great. I knew you could do it. I’m proud of you.”
She stood up from the chair at the typing desk and went to stand in front of the windows. Her back was to him as she said, “I suppose you’re relieved too. Now you won’t have to feel so responsible for me.”
A long moment of silence yawned between them. When he spoke, his voice had a distinct edge to it. “What’s that nebulous remark supposed to mean?”
Katherine swallowed, trying to suppress the anguish which was twisting her heart. She straightened, put on a cold, unemotional face, and forced herself to face him, turning around slowly.
“That means,” she said testily, “that I think we should put an end to this travesty we call a marriage.” If the words she had spoken didn’t kill her, she was sure the heartache would. Determinedly she continued, unable to meet the piercing eyes boring into her from beneath hooded lids.
“Y-you have other… interests… and I have always been independent. I don’t like having someone else managing my life all the time.” Why couldn’t she keep her tone firm? Her voice was wavering in accordance with her resolve. She hated to admit that his increasing anger and accusing eyes unnerved her.
“I see. You’ve got it all figured out,” he said bitterly.
“Yes,” she averred.
“You can’t accept Lacey’s existence.”
She was stunned that he would verbalize the source of their immediate problem, but she didn’t hesitate in retaliating. “No, I can’t. I can’t accept—”
“You can’t accept me! You haven’t accepted one goddamn thing about me since I walked through that door the first time.” He stood up and came stalking toward her in angry strides. She took an instinctive step backward.
“You see!” he shouted, indicating her retreat. “That’s what I’m talking about.” He stopped a few feet from her and demanded, “What got you on my case, anyway? Huh? Why was I automatically the boogeyman in all of this?”
She only stared at him, riveted to the floor in fear of the fierce temper she had seen exhibited before.
“Answer me, dammit!”
“Because you’re a Manning,” she lashed out. Her heart pounded in her temples and she gulped for breath. Now that the showdown had come, she feared and dreaded it.
“I was hurt by your family once before, and I don’t intend to open myself up for any more pain.”
“My family. Not me,” he asserted.
“Isn’t it the same thing?”
“No! Haven’t you learned by now that my values are as different from theirs as night is from day? My God!” He slammed one fist into his other palm.
“Not necessarily.” Katherine was warming up to her argument now. She was intimidated by the anger which emanated from every pore of his body and flashed like fireworks out of his eyes, but she was determined to state her case and make it sound convincing. She couldn’t tell him that it was impossible to live with him when he was in love with another woman. That was an untenable situation when she was in love with him herself.
“You have behaved just as I expected you to, Jace. You’re manipulative, charming your victims into letting down their defenses, then moving in for the kill. What small amount of trust I was beginning to have in you, you’ve betrayed.”