Secrets of a Shy Socialite by Wendy S. Marcus Read Free Book Online

or have a care with her untried body or even protect her. If Abbie wasn’t in his arms he’d have banged his head against the wall until he achieved a level of pain he deserved. Or went unconscious. Whichever came first.
    “Anyway,” she shrugged. “It’s done. And the next time will be better because I’ll know what to expect and hopefully the man I’m with will be telling me how special I am and how good I feel.”
    Justin had spent so much time wondering why she’d done the switcheroo he’d never considered what it must have been like for her. “I’m sorry.”
    “Oh, it’s not your fault,” Jena said.
    Then her words registered. “Next time it will be better.” “When you say ‘next time it will be better’ does that mean you haven’t been with anyone since me?”
    Jena plucked a wooden tongue depressor from a canister on the counter by the sink and tapped it on her palm. “Turns out morning and evening sickness, exhaustion and maneuvering around with a big, fat pregnant belly didn’t put me in much of a mood to go looking for love. Therefore, as of this moment, you remain my one and only,” she said.
    It shouldn’t matter, but he kind of liked being her one and only.

CHAPTER THREE
    J ENA ended hercall to Jaci and looked over at Justin in the driver’s seat. He’d been quiet since they’d left the urgent care center. Introspective. “Jaci said Annie’s sound asleep.”
    Justin stared straight ahead at the road. “Mm mm.”
    “Since Abbie’s sound asleep, too, I was wondering if you’d do me a favor?”
    He glanced her way. “Depends on what it is.”
    “I need to stop by the house.” Since Mary had hired her on the spot and she’d be starting work the next afternoon, “I need to pick up the nursing uniforms I wore while taking care of my mom.” Since she’d given back the maternity ones she’d borrowed down in South Carolina.
    “Is it even legal for you to start work so quick?” he asked. “Mary could not have checked your references at eight o’clock on a Friday night. Do you even have experience in pediatrics?”
    “Wow. Someone’s grumpy.” But he did turn in the direction of the estate.
    “Abbie screamed for hours tonight,” he continued. “What’s going to happen if she does it again tomorrow night? And her mother isn’t there to take care of her?”
    “It’s not like I plan to leave her home alone, for heaven’s sake. Have a little faith in me, will you? Before I accepted the job I called Jaci to make sure she was willing to watch the girls. And if there’s a problem she’ll bring them to the urgent care center, like we did tonight, and I’ll be waiting, with a doctor, to take care of them.”
    “If you need money—”
    This wasn’t about money as much as it was about creating the need for Jaci to take care of the twins, without Jena around, for more than an hour or two. An opportunity to put Jena’s mind at ease, to confirm that Jaci was, in fact, the right person to entrust with her precious girls. Just in case... And Jena was running out of time.
    But, “If I need money I’ll work for it, thank you very much.” And get paid for it, in an actual paycheck which she would put in her personal bank account which she had sole control over. “And for your information, Mary most certainly did check my references on a Friday night. I gave her the home numbers for the doctor who visited mom at home while I cared for her, for six years, and for the family practice MD I worked part time for while I was down in South Carolina. Both gave me very high recommendations because even though you seem to think very little of me, I am a hard worker and an excellent nurse.” Now he’d gone and made her crabby. She stared out the window at the darkened street where she used to ride her bike as a child.
    Justin turned up the long drive, slowing when the guard walked out of his little guardhouse. “You think there’s still a picture of me with orders to shoot on