Page 37 of Tempting Eden

“This one?” I gestured toward the ocean scene.

She laughed mischievously. “He’s going to be none-too-pleased that I took that one and hung it. He did it when he was with you at the beach. Said it was only a draft, not good enough to hang, but I love it.”

“So do I.” I stood and walked closer to it, studying the brush strokes as if they were a decoder ring to Jack’s heart and mind.

“He took his creativity with him to the university. I’m good friends with several of the uppity-ups there because I went to school with them at Paramont.”

“Is that how you know my mother?” Paramont was the boarding school where all the wealthy Birmingham families—old money, mostly—sent their girls. It was one of the few things my mother remembered fondly, it seemed, though she only spoke of it in broad strokes. Georgianna Rochester definitely wasn’t one for detail.

“Yes, we were very close for a time.” She sounded almost wistful. “But then we grew up, grew apart.”

“So, you two were best friends?” I looked at her over my shoulder.

She regarded the tile floor, the first time she’d let her chin drop during our conversation. “We were. We had…” She waved her hand in the air, as if scooting the past away, and met my gaze again. “That was a long time ago. And you came here to find out about Jack, not about some schoolgirl days long gone by.”

I let her change the subject, though I was dying to know about her and my mother. Georgiana had no true close friends I could think of, just the crones from the country club and a few others who lived high above the city. To have what I suspected was her closest childhood confidant in my presence was like a window into my mother’s past. I was desperate to look through the panes and get some semblance of an understanding, but Maria changed the subject.

“Anyway, Jack’s SAT scores were pretty darn good for a kid who’d studied for it while under lock and key. Smart boy. He got out and made a fresh start. His record’s been wiped clean because of his juvenile status. So, on paper, when he got out, he was stainless.”

I turned back to her. The whir of the lawnmower from earlier grew louder, intruding on my thoughts and our conversation. “So he came to live with you?”

She pointed to the carriage house. “Right up there. I’d let him stay here in the house with me, but I suspect he’s more comfortable in his own space. Of course, he could move out now that he has a good job. I think he stays because he knows I like having him around. Him being up there makes me feel like he’s my guardian angel watching over me.”

I took a deep breath and let the question in my heart rise to my mouth. “Do you think it’s safe? I have a daughter. I can’t—I mean—is he safe?”

She quirked her head to the side. “Don’t take this the wrong way, because you seem like a lovely woman, and I’m pleased as punch that Jack is working for you. But, I trust him more than I trust you, and likely more than I will ever trust anyone else ever again. He is, in every sense of the word, solid. I’m sure you’ve noticed how he keeps his emotions in check, maintains a steady temper even when things get hairy?”

“Yes. That’s always sort of intrigued me.”

“He does that because he believes Helen would want him to. He controls himself. He tries to be a good man. He has a reason. And,” she walked to me, and we studied the painting together, “I think he may have yet another reason to be a good man, and she’s standing right next to me.”

My cheeks heated. Jack’s mom just called me out for getting frisky with her son.

Maria put her arm around me and gave a friendly squeeze. “Give him a chance. You won’t regret it. But I do have to warn you, he’s my son just as if he were my own flesh and blood. Despite his past, he’s far more susceptible to being hurt than he is to hurting others. Don’t hurt him.” Her grip on my shoulder tightened and then relaxed again.

“I don’t intend—”

The whirring noise of the lawnmower grew to a crescendo, ended in a clanging sound of metal on metal, then silence, and finally, a string of curses. We turned to look out the wide glass panes and saw Jack about ten feet away glaring down with disgust at a push mower.

My mouth hung open. He was shirtless, his perfect V-shape on display in the afternoon sun. Beautiful, flawless brown skin. Broad shoulders and rippling abs, made even more pronounced by his exertions. He was tattooed, dark ink marking his chest and upper arms. He put his hands on his hips in a pose of frustration. He huffed out a breath, though I couldn’t hear it through the glass, and leaned his head back, looking up to the sky. His Adam’s apple stood out against the long line of his neck. I followed the dark hair that curled at his chest, down his tight abs to where it ended at the top of his shorts.

Maria cleared her throat. I snapped my head around and found her watching me, a coy smile playing at the corner of her lips.

“Well, if you’re satisfied with my rundown of Jack’s character, why don’t you go on out and say hi? He’d love it, I’m sure.”

I very much doubted he would love an impromptu drop-in by me, but her tone—though warm—suggested an order more than a request. I was beginning to see how she was able to mold delinquents into fine upstanding members of society. The finest one was standing on her lawn at that very moment, smoldering hot and now looking right at me through the glass.

CHAPTER TEN

JACK

THE WATER FLOWED OVERmy head and down my body. I needed to cool off more than anything. Seeing Eden talking with Ms. Temple was a surprise. Eden volunteering to wait on me as I showered, an even bigger surprise.

I had no doubt they’d been discussing my past. I lathered up quickly, wondering what Eden must be thinking about me. Was she still afraid? When I’d dropped the bomb on her the night before, her thoughts seemed scattered and she withdrew, physically and mentally. She’d worked in her office and gave me only a cursory wave when I left for the night.

After rinsing off, I twisted the squeaky knobs to stop the spray and stepped out. I dried and dressed, donning a white t-shirt and some shorts. She rose quickly when I opened my bedroom door and walked into the living room.

“I really shouldn’t have made you rush or anything. I came over because Fairfax said I should talk to Maria. I was going to go, but she can be very, um—”

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