From Mistake To Millions. Andrea Laurence
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On reflex, he reached out and took her hand. It felt small and delicate in his large, rough ones, rousing a protective instinct he wasn’t expecting. He’d come here today thinking he would satisfy his curiosity, scratch his itch to work in the field again and perhaps finally be able to move on where Jade was concerned. As she clutched him tightly, he felt the heat of awareness travel up his arm, warming his chest. He remembered this feeling. A feeling that happened only when he touched her.
This was all wrong. His plan had started unraveling the moment she opened the door. This was the exact opposite of what he wanted to happen. He couldn’t be attracted to Jade and not end up in the same mess as last time.
Or could he? Maybe he could compartmentalize the attraction and keep it separate from any emotional attachment. It wasn’t like they were kids any longer. He’d had plenty of women in his bed without strings, and it had worked fine. If Jade was open to the idea of indulging for old time’s sake, it might be exactly what he needed to close the book on the two of them for good. It was a risky proposition—one she might be completely uninterested in—but he had to find a way to get through the next week or two with her constantly on his mind.
“Thank you,” she whispered softly.
“I promise you that, and I’m a man of my word.” Harley’s attention was drawn away from her by a ring tone coming from the kitchen.
“That’s my phone. Excuse me one second.” Jade got up and left the room, answering the phone after a moment.
Anxious, Harley got up from his seat. He paced around the living room to burn off some of the excess energy running through his veins. Touching her, even just that little bit, had set off a chain reaction in his nervous system. He was suddenly on edge, ready to leap out at the enemy or jump from a plane. There would be no adrenaline payoff in this situation, however. At least not right now or he’d frighten her off. He needed to keep his hands to himself and get through this interview.
He turned and focused on a row of photographs that lined the fireplace mantel. The biggest was a portrait of her and Lance on their wedding day. It made Harley’s chest ache to realize how beautiful she’d looked that day. The dress and flowers didn’t matter to him; he focused in on her face. She was beaming with excitement, so happy for the future she was going to have with Lance. A future he didn’t think she got.
Would things have been different if she had married him instead?
Harley shook away those thoughts because they weren’t helpful. In reality, the teenage Harley Dalton would never have been enough for someone like Jade. He had been spinning his wheels, unsure of what he wanted to do with his life. All he knew was that he wanted to spend every waking moment with Jade. That didn’t pay very well. His life took the path it had only because of the choice she’d made to be with someone else. He never would’ve joined the navy, built his own company or made a whole new life for himself if she hadn’t walked away from him. If he hadn’t felt like he needed to better himself and his situation to be worthy of a woman like her, he might never have worked so hard.
He supposed he should thank her for that, but he wouldn’t. Instead, he’d just do his best to crack the case and get her the answers she deserved.
And if he was a smart man, he’d stop there.
* * *
“So that’s it? He held your hand and asked you a few questions?” Sophie looked across the kitchen table at Jade and wrinkled her nose. “I was expecting more when you said your first love showed up on your doorstep to take on your case.”
“That was enough,” Jade said with a sigh. “I don’t think my heart could’ve taken much more than that.”
Sophie had shown up for their usual Tuesday gathering, eager for all the juicy details. She hadn’t lived in Charleston back then, so she didn’t know Harley, but she knew Jade had a love that predated Lance. She was eager to dig into that, even if Jade wasn’t interested. For the most part, Sophie’s life was wrapped up in her work. Being a lawyer took up long hours, leaving her little time for much else. As such, Sophie was always interested in exciting tales to live vicariously. She would also push Jade into situations from time to time. Like doing that news interview after the hospital sent her a letter that politely told her to get bent.
“Was he as cute as you remembered?”
Jade twisted her lips in thought as she pictured the solid wall of man standing in her doorway. “Cute isn’t the word I’d use for Harley. Cute is for puppies and babies. He was...hot. Ripped-guy-on-the-cover-of-a-romance-novel hot.”
Just thinking about him holding her hand was enough to make her face feel warm and her whole body languid. It was an innocent touch. A supportive gesture not meant to titillate or entice, but the impact on Jade had been massive. It had been a long time since a man had touched her. Even longer since a man had looked at her the way Harley had. Her body could recall the feeling instantly, making her want to turn on the fan despite it still being February.
Maybe it was the red wine on an empty stomach. Or a bad mix of alcohol and unfulfilled desires.
“I think you need to sleep with him.”
Jade shot to attention in her chair. “What? You’re joking, right?”
“Not at all. I think after everything, a hot tryst with some serious man candy is just what the doctor ordered.”
“Harley is not the kind of guy for me to start a relationship with.”
“Who said anything about a relationship? I was just thinking about a hot tumble. You don’t have to keep him.”
Jade could only roll her eyes. It was a tempting thought, but a silly one. Why would someone as successful and handsome as Harley want someone like her? Even short term. He could do better and avoid dealing with the past in the process. “I wouldn’t even know what to do with a man like that, to be honest. I’m out of practice and he’s not rookie material.”
“I need to see a picture of this guy. He doesn’t sound like he could be real.” Sophie picked up her phone and immediately set off to search for him on the internet. “Nothing is coming up when I hunt for Harley Dalton,” she said. “No Facebook. Not even his company website has a photo of him.”
“I’m not surprised. With the kind of work he does, I imagine he has a limited online presence. You’ll just have to take my word for it.”
“For now,” Sophie said, making Jade worry that her friend would nose in where she didn’t belong. “Next time I come over, I expect you to have hauled out your yearbook, if nothing else.”
“What’s more important is that the hospital isn’t blowing me off now,” she said, trying to switch the subject from her hunky ex. “Hiring an investigator is a big step.”
Sophie grinned and took a sip of wine. “I told you I knew what I was doing. There’s nothing quite like public shame. Now they’re going to get to the bottom of the case and you don’t have to pay a dime. No reason to worry.”
Jade wasn’t so sure about that. At this point, she almost wished that her parents had just been lying to her about being adopted. That certainly would’ve been easier to cope with. Instead, they’d been adamant that she was the baby they’d left the hospital with. She had a tiny birthmark on her hip that her mother had noticed before they went home. What her mom couldn’t be sure of was whether or not the baby she’d delivered had had that same birthmark beneath her swaddling blankets and diapers.
“How am I not supposed to worry? This scenario can only end badly. My parents insist I wasn’t adopted. The only time and place something could’ve happened to me was while they were still in the hospital and I was in the nursery. Someone made a huge mistake and two families have paid the price for it.”
“That’s not an impossible mistake to make. Especially during Hugo.”
Jade shook her head and sighed. How had she gotten caught up in something like