Secrets of a Shy Socialite. Wendy S. Marcus

the astronomy club because of it.” She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “So daddy would buy me a high-powered telescope.”

      She closed one drawer and opened another. “Did you know with the assistance of said high-powered telescope it was possible to see from the walk-in attic in the new wing of our house directly down the hill into your bedroom at your dad’s house?”

      He smiled. No he did not know that. “So you and Jaci—”

      She whipped around. “Not Jaci. Only me. She didn’t know. I swear.”

      Did she think he was mad? Actually, it kind of turned him on to think of her watching him in his bedroom.

      She played with a Band-Aid wrapper. “You did a lot more studying than you let on in school.”

      Because no one gave his dad a free ride so he shouldn’t expect one. Funny how that memory presented itself in his dad’s booming voice.

      “You need to burp her.” Jena came over, spread a cloth on his shoulder and showed him what to do. He breathed in her scent, similar to Jaci but more floral and fresh. He made a mental note of the difference.

      “I did a lot more than study in that room and you know it.” He watched her reaction to that statement and sure enough she started to look away, but not before he caught the tinge of deep pink on her pale cheeks. “You voyeur,” he teased.

      She didn’t apologize or try to explain. “You looked gentle, like you truly cared for each one of them. Sometimes you lit candles.”

      Whatever it took to get the girl of the moment into his bed.

      “Before we’d met up at the bar, I’d had a terrible fight with my brother over him pressuring me to marry a man I didn’t know and had heard terrible things about.”

      Abbie must have sensed his tension because she started to fret. Or maybe it was the burp that followed that’d riled her up. “Good, girl,” Jena said. “Now you can give her some more of the bottle.” He got Abbie set up to finish the bottle on his own. And felt a bit proud of that, as stupid as it may seem.

      “Anyway,” Jena went on. “When the bartender told me to take you home the first thing that popped into my mind wasn’t ‘Ooooh goodie, now’s my chance to get him into bed.’ I wanted to get you home safely. And I figured I’d have a better chance of you coming with me thinking I was Jaci than knowing I was Jena.”

      She had that right. “You made the first move,” Justin pointed out. For what reason he had no idea, just he felt it needed to be said.

      “I know.” She did not look at all repentant. “In your condo, you and me alone, I remembered how good it’d felt to have your hands on me down at the lake. I wanted that again. I wanted more. With you. I didn’t want to lose my virginity to a man I had no feelings for, one who would only be marrying me for my trust fund. I wanted to share the experience with you.”

      Because she’d seen him treat other women gently. Yet he’d been too drunk to notice her inexperience or have a care with her untried body or even protect her. If Abbie wasn’t in his arms he’d have banged his head against the wall until he achieved a level of pain he deserved. Or went unconscious. Whichever came first.

      “Anyway,” she shrugged. “It’s done. And the next time will be better because I’ll know what to expect and hopefully the man I’m with will be telling me how special I am and how good I feel.”

      Justin had spent so much time wondering why she’d done the switcheroo he’d never considered what it must have been like for her. “I’m sorry.”

      “Oh, it’s not your fault,” Jena said.

      Then her words registered. “Next time it will be better.” “When you say ‘next time it will be better’ does that mean you haven’t been with anyone since me?”

      Jena plucked a wooden tongue depressor from a canister on the counter by the sink and tapped it on her palm. “Turns out morning and evening sickness, exhaustion and maneuvering around with a big, fat pregnant belly didn’t put me in much of a mood to go looking for love. Therefore, as of this moment, you remain my one and only,” she said.

      It shouldn’t matter, but he kind of liked being her one and only.

      CHAPTER THREE

      JENA ended her call to Jaci and looked over at Justin in the driver’s seat. He’d been quiet since they’d left the urgent care center. Introspective. “Jaci said Annie’s sound asleep.”

      Justin stared straight ahead at the road. “Mm mm.”

      “Since Abbie’s sound asleep, too, I was wondering if you’d do me a favor?”

      He glanced her way. “Depends on what it is.”

      “I need to stop by the house.” Since Mary had hired her on the spot and she’d be starting work the next afternoon, “I need to pick up the nursing uniforms I wore while taking care of my mom.” Since she’d given back the maternity ones she’d borrowed down in South Carolina.

      “Is it even legal for you to start work so quick?” he asked. “Mary could not have checked your references at eight o’clock on a Friday night. Do you even have experience in pediatrics?”

      “Wow. Someone’s grumpy.” But he did turn in the direction of the estate.

      “Abbie screamed for hours tonight,” he continued. “What’s going to happen if she does it again tomorrow night? And her mother isn’t there to take care of her?”

      “It’s not like I plan to leave her home alone, for heaven’s sake. Have a little faith in me, will you? Before I accepted the job I called Jaci to make sure she was willing to watch the girls. And if there’s a problem she’ll bring them to the urgent care center, like we did tonight, and I’ll be waiting, with a doctor, to take care of them.”

      “If you need money—”