Jack & Jilted by Cathy Yardley Read Free Book Online

particular charter voyage to quit. Still, it was easy, and he didn’t want Chloe to whip up breakfast, as well as dinner.
    She was turning into a really nice lady and a great charter passenger. If he could only get over the niggling guilt—and his growing infatuation—this could be a pleasant cruise.
    He knocked on the door, hoping that it wasn’t too early. They’d had dinner at eleven o’clock at night, but he got the feeling she was a morning person. “Chloe?”
    He didn’t hear anything for a long minute and was about to turn around and head for the galley when he finally heard her respond, “Yes?” in a muffled voice.
    “It’s Jack,” he said. “I brought continental breakfast, if you’re interested.”
    Another long pause, and he was starting to feel more and more badly about this idea, when finally she opened her door. “Thanks,” she said, reaching for the tray.
    He noticed immediately that her eyes were red and slightly puffy. She’d been crying. “Oh, man,” he said. “Are you all right?”
    He followed her, watching as she set the tray down on the bed. “No. I’m not all right,” she said, and tears crawled down her pale cheeks.
    Okay, Einstein…how did you want to handle this one? You’re the one that got her here.
    “Want to talk about it?”
    “No. Yes.” She shook her head, then rubbed at her temples with her fingers. “I don’t know.”
    He took the carafe of coffee and poured her a cup, which she took, sending him a smile of gratitude. She sighed as she took a nice long sip.
    “There you go. That’ll clear your head a bit,” he said, rubbing at the back of his neck absently with one hand. He had problems of his own that he had enough trouble with—and he’d certainly never been in the kind of trouble she was facing. He’d only lived with one woman, and that had been a consummate disaster. He certainly hadn’t gotten anywhere near the old ball-and-chain act.
    “Thanks,” she said.
    She was wearing the robe, and he realized she looked as she had the night before—only more rumpled, her hair tumbled in sexy, crazy waves all over the place. She also wasn’t wearing makeup, which made her look less guarded and far more vulnerable. It made him want to smooth the tears off her cheeks with his fingertips, maybe pull her onto his lap and hug her, assure her that everything would be all right.
    She brought out the damnedest reactions in him. He had no doubt that she could handle anything that life threw at her…he knew that from that first phone call, when she’d sounded like a cross between a sexy receptionist and a no-nonsense bill collector. She could take care of herself. But seeing her looking so fragile despite her abilities made him wish that she didn’t have to take care of herself. That, just for a minute, somebody could take her troubles away. He’d pay cash money to see her laugh and smile without a care in the world.
    He didn’t think that cash was the solution, though, and he didn’t think he was that somebody to take her troubles away. He never had been for anyone. Why would he start now?
    “I guess I’ll leave you alone then,” he said awkwardly, starting to move toward the door, only to be stopped by her voice.
    “It’s just that I’m not sure we ever really loved each other, you know?”
    Oh, crikey. What can of worms had he opened up here?
    “I was his secretary,” she said, pausing only to have some more coffee. Jack slowly sat down at the foot of the bed, careful to keep as much distance between himself and Chloe as possible. “He was handsome and successful, and…I don’t know…charming.”
    Jack nodded. He figured the guy had to be charming—Chloe had to have seen something in him, right?
    “I didn’t even think he noticed me at first,” Chloe said. “But he was so disorganized, so crazed. So I did little things to make his life easier. He appreciated it.”
    Jack made a noncommittal noise, a sort of sympathetic grunt.
    “Then, one