Page 16 of Jason
Jason apparently didn’t see the issue.He scrubbed at the nape of his neck and frowned at her.“Why are you looking at me like you’ve never met me?And why didn’t you call or text?I would have come out and helped you.”
In a supreme effort to stop ogling her boss’s chest, Mallory made herself look at his eyebrows.“I tried.You said I was breaking up.”
He swept two fingers across his brow, as if he thought something was there.
“I thought this was an inn.But the little old lady in the garden—”
“Nana.”
“What?”
“That was my grandmother.Nana.She was picking flowers, right?Didn’t she tell you who she was?”
“She said her name was Fiona.And something about a mackerel sky?And that you lived in this house, which I thought was an inn.”
Jason looked past her, dipping a little to see the sky.“Yep.That’s a mackerel sky all right.You thought this was an inn?”He laughed.“This is not an inn.Why are you coming through the garden, anyway?You should have come in the front door.I thought you were calling the limo service.”
“Right.About that limo—it was awindowless van.Do you have any idea what kind of shenanigans go on in windowless vans?You said limo!”
“I said limoservice,” he corrected her.“Sometimes they have cars and sometimes, Ned drives.But usually, they come to the front of the house,” he said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder in the opposite direction.
“Well Ned the van guy let me out at a big gate on top of the hill.”
“Huh,” Jason said thoughtfully.Then he shrugged.“He must have been in a hurry.That’s the back way in.Why didn’t you call me?”
Mallory gave him a withering look.“I did,” she said.“Like ten minutes ago.I am somadat you right now.”
“You’ll get over it,” he said with cheerful confidence.Because Jason said everything with cheerful confidence.He pushed the screen door to stand open on its own and then arranged himself with one arm braced high against the doorjamb and studied her up and down.“You look tired, Mal.”
“Ya think?Someone woke me at three thirty and made me get a on a plane.”
Jason smiled, all dimples and showy white teeth.“It’s a pretty sweet ride, isn’t it?”
She wanted to argue, but she couldn’t.“Sosweet,” she admitted.“Every man, woman and child ought to be able to fly like that.”
“What about the carbon footprints?”
“Shut up.”She’d take on responsible stewardship of the environment another day.
His grin deepened.“So come in.You look like you could use a drink.”He turned away from the door, walking into the house.“I just finished in the gym.Are you hungry?I’m starving.I had Pam order something in for dinner.Should arrive fairly soon.”
Mallory tried to maneuver her suitcase inside, but the screen door shut in her face.
“Oh, sorry,” Jason said instantly and dipped back, pushed open the screen, and grabbed her bag.
“I really think I should check in, don’t you?”
“Check in?Check in where?”
“Check in…at a hotel.”Was it possible that Jason had actually thought ahead to that?No.Not possible.
“What are you talking about?You’ll stay here.”He picked up her suitcase as if it weighed nothing and walked down a wide corridor.“Look at this place.It’s enormous.”
“I can’t stay with your family,” she said, laughing at the absurdity of it.
“Family?There’s no one here but me.”
“Why?Have they gone somewhere?”
