In Bed With The Devil by Susan Mallery Page A

dining room with her team, although Betina had told him she was in the house somewhere. He checked out his bathroom, but no beautiful, naked women waited for him. Damn. There were days a guy couldn’t cut a break. Then he saw something move on the balcony and stepped out to find her sitting on a chair, staring out at the view.
    She looked up as he joined her. “I was going to use the telescope, but it’s kind of hard to see the stars with all the sunshine getting in the way.”
    He glanced at the bright blue sky. “I can see where that’s a problem.”
    “I thought about spying on our neighbors—you know, catch someone sunbathing nude. But I just can’t seem to get into it.”
    Her big eyes were dark and troubled. The corner of her mouth drooped. She looked sad and uncomfortable, which was so far from her normal bouncy self that he found himself saying, “You want to talk about it?”
    She shrugged. “I’m confused. And before you ask why, I’m not going to tell you.”
    “Makes it hard to help if I don’t know what’s wrong.”
    “Maybe you’re the problem.”
    “Am I?”
    She sighed. “Not really. A little, but it’s mostly me.”
    He took the chair next to hers and stared out at the lake. It was huge, stretching for miles. “Did you know Lake Tahoe is nearly a mile deep?”
    The droopy corner turned up. “Someone’s been reading the chamber of commerce brochure.”
    “I got bored.”
    She looked at him. “Why aren’t you married?”
    The question made him shrug. “No one’s ever asked.”
    “Oh, right. Because you’re so eager to say yes?”
    “Probably not. I’m not the marrying kind.”
    Now she smiled for real. “Sure you are. You’re rich and single. What was it Jane Austen said? Something about any single man of good fortune must be in search of a wife? That’s you. Don’t you want to get married?”
    “I never much thought about it. My work keeps me busy.”
    “Meaning, if you have too much time to think, you take on another job.”
    How had she figured that out? “Sometimes.”
    He liked to stay busy, involved with his business. He had some guys he hung out with occasionally. That was enough.
    “No one gets close?” she asked.
    “No.”
    “Because of Hunter?”
    He stretched out his legs in front of him. “Just because we slept together doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you everything I’m thinking.”
    “Okay. Is it because of Hunter?”
    He glanced at her. “You’re annoying.”
    “So I’ve been told. Do I need to ask again?”
    “I should hire you to do interrogations. And, yes, some of it is because of Hunter.”
    “People die, Jack.”
    “I know. I lost my brother when he was still a kid. It changed everything.”
    He hadn’t meant to say that, to tell her the truth. But now that he had, he found he didn’t mind her knowing.
    “It was like with Hunter,” he said quietly. “He got sick and then he died. We’d been close and it hurt like hell that he was gone.”
    The difference was he hadn’t kept his brother from going to the doctor. When Hunter had first noticed the dark spot on his shoulder, Jack had teased him about being a wimp for wanting to get it checked out. So Hunter had waited. What would have happened if the melanoma had been caught before it had spread?
    “You didn’t kill Hunter,” Meri told him. “It’s not your fault.”
    Jack stood. “I’m done here.”
    She moved fast and blocked the door. She was small enough that he could have easily pushed past her, but for some reason he didn’t.
    “You didn’t kill him,” she repeated. “I know that’s what you think. I know you feel guilty. So what’s the deal? Are you lost in the past? Are you afraid to fall for someone because you don’t want to lose another person you love? Or do you think you’re cursed or something?”
    Both, he thought. And so much more. He wasn’t allowed to love or care. It was the price he had to pay for what he’d done. Or, rather, what he hadn’t