Page 26 of Just One More Affair
“Hello, beautiful.”
A light flush stained her cheeks. “Hi, yourself, handsome.”
He’d take the compliment.
“I appreciate you coming to get me but I could have met you at the restaurant,” she said.
He held out an arm and she hooked hers with his.
“Then it wouldn’t be a proper date, now would it?” He guided her to the exit and out of the building. He led her to the limousine where the driver held open the back door.
She stopped and stared. “Jared, where’s your car? Or a rideshare?”
“Again, proper date.” He stepped aside, gesturing for her to enter the vehicle, and he slid in beside her. A partition gave them plenty of privacy.
The driver shut the door and walked around, settling in his seat and starting the car.
Jared turned to Charlotte, who looked uncomfortable. He lifted a finger and twirled it in one of her curls. “Hey. Are you okay?”
She turned to face him and he dropped his hand. “I’m overwhelmed. By the lengths you went to today, the limo… I’m not used to this.” She ran her hand up and down, indicating her entire outfit.
“I, for one, am glad you went to the extra effort, but you should know I think you’re gorgeous with or without the glam.”
She ducked her head. “Thank you.”
“And the limo is because I want to wine and dine you, and make you feel special.”
“Well, you are and I appreciate it. I’ll stop making a big deal about it all.” She leaned back in her seat and he draped an arm around her shoulders.
“It’s going to take time to get downtown, so let’s talk. Tell me more about you. Where did you grow up?”
“In a small town in Connecticut. Easy enough for Mom to take the train into the city when she worked. I told you about her.”
He nodded. “And you mentioned you had a brother?”
“Dan. He tends to get into trouble and right now he’s playing coy, so I haven’t really spoken to him enough since I’ve been back.” She twisted her fingers in her lap and he covered them with his hand.
“So he doesn’t know you’re pregnant?”
She shook her head.
“What about your father?” he asked.
She moved her head from side to side.
As she discounted family members, he realized how alone she was, especially compared to his large group of relatives. Even Lizzie and Brooke were family. But he wasn’t only asking about hers because he wondered what her childhood was like. He was also curious about what had caused the walls she’d built and why they were so high.
She glanced out the window as the car made its way downtown. “I don’t like to talk about him,” she murmured. “But so you know, because we’re sharing a baby, my father won’t be in our child’s life.”
“Okay. Do you speak to him at all?”
“No,” she said, turning back to face him. “He wasn’t there when I needed him after Mom died. I was sixteen and had lost my mother. I needed an adult, someone to turn to, to share my pain.”
His chest hurt as she revealed her past trauma and he regretted asking. On the other hand, he was glad she’d shared this with him, that she’d let him in.
“I’m sorry. I know how hard it was for Fallon losing our mom when she was ten.”
Her eyes grew soft. “I’m sorry I’ve been so selfish about my own past when yours—”
