Jace: The Pride of the Double Deuce by Kathi S. Barton Read Free Book Online Page B

of a problem.
    At five foot eleven inches, Jeff was tall for his family. But Holly was taller, even in her stocking feet. And she wore heels; admittedly not tall ones, but enough to make her a few inches taller than him. That would not do. He would demand…no, ask…for her to wear the flattest shoes possible when they were together. He looked at the clock again. Where was she?
    Picking up his cell phone, he tried again. This time the call was answered by a male, and from the sound of it, one that was not very happy. He started to inquire as to what had happened, thinking perhaps Holly had done something, when the man spoke.
    “Mr. Hardgrave, if you call here again I shall tell the master of the house to have the number changed. Miss Holly is seeing someone now, and there is no reason for you to call here again.” The phone was hung up but not slammed in his ear. But it felt as if it had been.
    “Seeing someone? How is…? Perhaps he thinks it’s me.” Shaking his head, he realized that wouldn’t work as an answer. The man had called him by his name. “She’s not seeing anyone. Not Holly. She rarely leaves the house but to go to work.”
    Pacing the smallish room, he tried to think who she might have been seeing. It wasn’t anyone he knew, that was for sure. He’d made it perfectly clear that Holly was his. He’d never told them of the money and how he was going to be rich, but he had hinted that he was the favorite choice of Mr. Snow as his future son-in-law. Now all he had to do was convince Holly of that and things would be great.
    Deciding to confront her and the person on the phone, Jeff dressed in his finest suit. He only had two and both of them were very nice, but he was always careful to change out of them when he was not at work. And he had enough shirts and ties that no one noticed that he wore the same two suits every other day. He prided himself on how frugal he was.
    “Well, my frugal is the next man’s poor situation.” The man at the front desk looked at him oddly when he passed him. That was another thing he hated about living there. Every little thing he did was noted…not just him, but everyone that lived there.
    As he made his way onto the street and waited for a bus, Jeff tried to think what was going on. Surely after all this time, she’d get that he was the only man for her. And she was it for him. Money was the main idea in their relationship. She had it and he wanted it, but they could work it out. A lot of marriages were based on a good deal less than that.
    The Snows lived about five miles out of town. Jeff had been to the house a few times; once to pick Holly up for a date, and the others he’d been looking for her. Not that he was stalking her or anything, but he wanted to make sure that she was alone and that no one was sniffing around what was his.
    As he made his way to the estate, he wondered what it was she didn’t like about him. Not that he really cared. There was a time and a place for love, and he certainly didn’t love her. Nor did she love him, he supposed. Grinning, he thought of their first date.
    “It had been an eye opener.” He shook his head, thinking he needed to get out more before he started answering himself as well. But it had been a…disastrous first date, one that he’d blamed on her. She could have taken a few minutes to think of his feelings and his wants when he’d taken her to dinner.
    “I don’t eat red meat.” The waiter had suggested the steak and a baked potato for their main course, and Jeff thought it a splendid choice. “I’ll have the salmon, grilled.”
    Jeff stopped the waiter before he left the table. “I don’t care for salmon and neither do you.” He turned to the waiter with a smile as he completed her order. “She’ll have the steak, rare, with the—”
    She told him no. Jeff still remembered the look on the waiter’s face. He looked like he couldn’t believe her either.
    “I will have the grilled salmon, baked