Love Is Fear Read Online Free PDF Page A

have thought she’d be… otherwise engaged .” She made a motion for him to enter and wandered away, giving him her back.
    “ Do you know her name?” Jack asked.
    Rachel gave him a coy look. “You want me to say it? Should I get a wig, too? Little Valerie Dearborn. Oh yes, I know her name. I’ve talked to her. We go way back.”
    “ Has she been fucking him?” he asked, unable to wait or use any subtlety.
    Rachel laughed.
    “ Yes or no,” he growled.
    She took a sip of wine. “If she came running back to you after the shit that went down tonight, then my guess is no. But honestly, I’m not surprised Lucas screwed it up.”
    Jack was still standing, watching her as she sat on the couch, rolling the glass of wine between her palms. He crossed his arms, unwilling to sit down or move in any direction. He just needed answers. “He’s doing  something  with her.”
    She shot him a glance under her lashes. “Well, yeah. Have you seen him? Geez.” There was a pause while she refilled her glass. “So Val came back to you? Lucas is gonna go nuts.” She raised her eyebrows at him. “You better lock that down.”
    “ Excuse me?”
    “ You heard me. He’s a hot, hot man. With lots of experience. A bit cold, it’s true. Probably not up on all the TV shows, but once they hit the sheets, you don’t have a chance. If she’s come back to you, you better lock that down, sew it up—do something vaguely domestic with her.”
    “ Why hasn’t he slept with her?”
    Rachel made a snorting noise, then said “You men. How do you know  she  hasn’t slept with  him ? Maybe she’s the one stalling.”
    Jack scrubbed his hand across his face wearily. “I wish that were true. But that’s not how it appeared. He… fuck …I don’t think she’s the one saying no. Let’s just leave it at that.”
    She leaned forward a little and said in a conspiratorial voice, “Well, they don’t actually let me into the bedroom with them, so I couldn’t say. And I’m not exactly his favorite person at the moment. I don’t know why he hasn’t shagged her. But count your blessings and move fast.”
    He could feel his jaw lock in place. “What makes you think I’m going to get involved with Valerie?”
    “ Oh, please. The two of you? It’s like that show, the one where the two of them are supposed to get together, but never do.”
    Despite himself he asked, “Which one?”
    She scowled. “I don’t know. They’re  all  like that. Doesn’t matter. Point is, Lucas apparently let her slip away, and she’s come back to you, right?”
    He nodded, forced the words past his lips. “Yeah. She’s come back to me.” He watched as she stood and went to the kitchen, opening cabinets, shirt pulling taut over her breasts as she stretched. She pulled down a wine glass and came back, filling it, then handed it to him and sat across from him, a coffee table between them.
    “ She chose you. Congrats. Let me know how that works out for you,” she said tonelessly. Rachel gulped the wine.
    Jack muttered, “It’s going to be a fucking disaster.”
    “ I feel like there are undercurrents to this conversation, but it’s only you and me, so how about you fill me in on what I’m missing.”
    “ I’ve done it. I locked her down. We’re going…away. I guess.”
    “ And where do young people go these days to be unapologetically in love? Fort Lauderdale? Tijuana?”
    “ Hawaii,” Jack said in a dead voice.
    Rachel coughed, wiped the back of her hand across her mouth and leaned closer to him. “Oh shit. You’re serious. You and the little hunter girl are going to Hawaii? You have more game than I thought you did. Guess I know who to come to when I get back out into the dating world.”
    Jack was staring at the ground, her comments getting no reaction.
    “ Seriously. How is that possible?” Rachel asked.
    Jack looked up, had to swallow before he could speak. “I’m honestly not sure how it happened.” He took a sip of the wine.