Page 37 of Sexy Dare (The Sexy 1)

Savannah looked from Jason to Faith, following the conversation although obviously not understanding the reasons behind their argument.

“Then you can stay in my room and my mother can take the guest room,” Jason said. “Unless you want to go home and be a sitting duck for Colton to find you?” He folded his arms across his chest, daring her to challenge him.

Faith’s shoulders, the evidence of her strength and defiance seconds before, wilted as he made his point. “Okay. Thank you. I realize I’m putting everyone out, but you’re right. I have nowhere else to go.” Her hands came up to her neck as she obviously remembered being hurt by her brother.

He hated having had to bring up those memories in order to get his way and keep her safe.

“Obviously the person who should go to a hotel is me,” his mother said when they’d both gone silent.

“No,” Faith and Jason said at once. They both knew they were sleeping together. The chances of him letting her go back to her own bed while she was under his roof were slim to none anyway. He wanted to get his fill of her while he could.

He ignored the voice in his head telling him he’d never have enough of her and faced his mother. “Looks like you’re staying.”

“Okay.” His mother smiled at them both.

Faith smiled back. “I’ll go pack up my things and move them into your room,” she said, her cheeks only slightly red at this point.

“Great. Now that that’s settled, Mom, come in, take off your coat, and make yourself at home.” He met Faith’s gaze, shooting her a grateful look he hoped she could translate, along with an apologetic one.

This was a turn of events he’d never expected, having his mother and his … Faith, under one roof. And he had no idea how to handle the situation.

* * *

An hour after Jason’s mother arrived, Faith found herself at an upscale restaurant, sitting next to Jason and across the table from Savannah Dare. She was a lovely woman with blonde hair and light blue eyes, a warm smile, and an easy air of acceptance of having found Faith all but in her son’s bed.

Once Faith had recovered from her embarrassment and accepted the fact that she really had nowhere else to go if she wanted to be safe, she realized she’d have to move into Jason’s room. His mother seemed to handle it easily enough.

Savannah drank a mimosa, Jason and Faith coffee, and after the waiter took their orders, Jason glanced at his mother. “So Dad wants you back?”

Faith held back a shocked sound.

Savannah looked to Faith.

“She knows,” Jason said. “I told her everything about my family situation.”

Savannah raised her eyebrows, obviously surprised her son had opened up. But she nodded her head and launched into her story. “Before Robert ran off to Barbados with his mistress, he told me he wanted a divorce. For reasons I can’t fathom, he’s returned with a change of heart. He wants me back.”

Jason grimaced and Faith knew what he thought of that idea.

“And what do you want?” he asked his mother, to his credit not giving his own verbal input. Yet.

Savannah lifted the glass and took a sip of her drink. “I had already resigned myself to a divorce, but more than that, your father’s behavior forced me to take a good look at my past.” She glanced down at her plate. “I might not have known he was married when we met, but when I found out, I didn’t leave him. That makes me complicit.”

Faith squirmed in her seat, but Savannah seemed comfortable enough talking about personal issues in front of her.

“Mom–”

“No. It’s true. I justified it by telling myself his marriage to Emma hadn’t been for love, but that doesn’t make what I did right. The truth is, the man is a cheater. If I take him back, he’s bound to do it again. It isn’t like it’s only happened once, after all.”

Jason nodded in agreement. “I hate to admit that you’re right because he’s my father … but you are. And as long as you’re saying these things yourself, I can say I agree with you and your decision.”

Listening to mother and son, Faith marveled at a few things. One, how close they obviously were, but then Jason had said his family was everything to him. Two, the burden he carried on his shoulders. A father he couldn’t look up to, a mother he obviously loved and wanted to take care of, and a past of his own that was heavy and painful. No wonder he didn’t want to add any more people to his responsibilities.

“Faith, honey, I’m so sorry to put you in the middle of listening to my problems.” The sound of her name shook Faith out of her musings.

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