Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Jen groped in the dark room, looking for Colby. Finding her cell phone, instead, she checked the time. Ten thirty?

Holy crap, she hadn’t slept in this long inyears.

She rolled over in the bed, her eyes adjusting to the dim light. Travis must have blackout curtains in his room. By the time she’d arrived the night before and with a few glasses of wine and champagne in her system, Travis had insisted she spend the night. Colby was asleep anyway, he argued, and she could have his bed.

The low buzz of conversation in the adjoining room told her Travis must have gotten up early with Colby. Poor Travis. She’d taken off work because she had no one to watch Colby, and Bunny had come back from her trip. But she’d never intended for Travis to miss another morning of work for her. She sat up, combing her fingers through her hair. The champagne had left her with a mild headache.

Jumping out of bed, her thighs twinged with pain. Ouch. The muscles on her butt hurt, too, and she smiled at the memory.

Travis had lent her a T-shirt, and her bare feet were cold against the hardwood floor of his bedroom. Her toes curled as she found her clothes on the floor. She changed quickly and pulled a hair elastic from her purse. She threw her hair into a messy ponytail. Grabbing her phone again, she looked through her texts. Nothing from Jason.

His last text to her had been a quick one to let her know he was on his way the night before. She stared at the screen, her thumb hovering over the keyboard. Should she text him?

I really like you . . .

She bit her lip hard. What the hell had she been thinking? Nothing like the high of an orgasm to make you utter stupidity.

Had she freaked him out?

She slid the phone into her back pocket and grabbed her shoes. She didn’t feel like putting heels back on this morning. Opening the door to the room, she blinked at the relative brightness in Travis’s living room. He and Colby were sitting on the couch, watching cartoons.

Travis eyed her with a knowing grin. “Morning, sleepyhead.”

Colby didn’t look up as his eyes were focused on the screen.

“Don’t look at me while I’m doing the walk of shame.” She crossed the room to his kitchen. “Do you have any orange juice? My mouth tastes like chalk.”

Travis hopped up from the couch and joined her in the kitchen. He grabbed her a glass while she rummaged through the fridge. She avoided his gaze, pouring the juice, and then sipped it. “Don’t look at me.”

“Why not?” Travis crossed his arms.

“Because I know what you’re thinking.”

Travis gave her a serious look. “I’m not Lindsay. I won’t try to get every detail out of you or whatever it is you women talk about.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not about to share details.” Jen chugged the rest of the orange juice. “But I may or may not have told him I wasn’t feeling so casual about him.” She grimaced.

“Yikes.”

She inspected her empty glass. “I know.”

“This is the guy who told you he’s only into one-night stands, right?”

She nodded. “But that was also after he asked me to be his fake girlfriend for the baking competition.”

Travis’s brows shot up. “Fake girlfriend?”

“He feels bad for the whole thing with Brad. And I told him about the eviction.” She’d told Travis about that whole mess the day before when he picked up Colby.

“And you said?”

Jen moseyed over to the sink and washed her glass. “I said yes. It’s twenty-five thousand dollars. And I need it. He said I could keep all the prize money since he doesn’t know a single thing about baking. Which reminds me. I need to tell Laura I’ll be late to work tonight.”

“So Mr. One-Night Stand—”

“Jason.”

“Whatever. He tells you he wants to get in your pants. Then he hangs out with you and your toddler, watches your kid while you work, and takes you out for a ridiculously expensive dinner.”

“That room he rented at the resort was seriously nice, too.”

Travis shook his head. “Exactly.” He frowned. “Jen, I hate to break it to you, but this guy’s words don’t match his actions. Which is fine in the sense that he’s clearly into you. Not so fine in the sense that he’s more than likely hiding something. Not to mention, his life is in Chicago. Nowhere near Brandywood. He could be married.”

“No, he told me he’s divorced.” She stared at Travis, then rolled her eyes. The last thing she needed was for Travis to get as overprotective and paranoid as her brothers. “What are you talking about? What on earth would he have to hide?”

“I don’t know. You don’t know. That’s sort of the point, isn’t it? You know next to nothing about this guy. He told you he’s a CFO, but what company? He went to UPenn, but when? You have no way of verifying anything about his identity.”

Determined to prove him wrong, she pulled out her phone. She typed his name, followed by “CFO” and “Chicago” into the search engine.

Nothing came up.

The refrigerator seemed to buzz more noisily.

Travis came and stood beside her, his arms still crossed. She moved her back toward him, feeling defensive. “His company might not be based in Chicago.”

“Except that he told you he worked there, right?”

He’d told Colby he took the train into work every day. Which meant an office. A sinking feeling went through her. “Maybe they’re not online.”

“Maybe they’re not a real company. Any company big enough to have a CFO is online, Jen. This isn’t the 1900s.”

She typed in “Jason Sutter” then “UPenn.”

Still nothing.

She closed the browser and put her phone away. She looked toward Colby and lowered her voice to a whisper, “This is stupid.”

“Is it, though?” Travis gave her a wary look.

“Not everyone is online. Just look at Kevin.”

Travis set his hands on her shoulders. “That’s the last person you should use as a yardstick of upstanding behavior.” Travis squeezed her shoulders. “You’re going to hate me, but I think you should ask Dan to look into him.”

“No way in hell.” Jen emphasized every word. She shot Travis a betrayed look, then left the kitchen. “Come on, Colbs. We have to get going.”

“I’ll drive you back.” Travis reached for his keys.

“I’m good, thanks.” Jen pulled her coat on. “I can call a ride and get my car seat from your car.” She’d left him with it last night in case of emergencies.

“I’m driving you. You don’t need to waste your money on a ride.” Travis’s voice was flat. He shut off the TV, then helped Colby into his coat. “I’m not trying to make you mad, Jen. I just want to make sure you’re not—”

“I know.” She put her hand on Colby’s shoulder and jutted her chin. “Everyone thinks I can’t handle anything. And that I make terrible judgment calls. But just let me be happy for like ten minutes, okay?”

Travis opened his mouth to argue, then snapped it closed. He nodded.

The drive back with him was tense, and she felt like a brat as she waved goodbye to him. He was the only reason she’d been able to go out with Jason last night. She should be grateful. But his words had also rattled her.

Rather than go inside, she re-installed the car seat into her own car and then plopped Colby in it. She needed to go get boxes for packing. Maybe if she listed her furniture for sale, she’d scrape together enough money to pay for some of her rent.

She didn’t want to even think about the fact that Christmas was coming up.

Getting in the driver’s seat, she checked her phone again. Still nothing from Jason.

She closed her eyes, releasing a slow breath. “Come on, Jason, please.” Her voice was a breathless whisper.

Starting the engine, she pulled forward and out of the apartment complex. She watched Colby in the back, staring out the window, his feet swinging gently in his car seat.

What was she doing?

She’d been so caught up with Jason. Too caught up.

Dan was her brother, and he loved her. He’d never seen eye to eye with her about her boyfriends, but he’d also been right about her boyfriends 100 percent of the time. He made mistakes—some huge ones—but he was a respected person in town.

And he genuinely loved Colby.

She went a block farther, then made a U-turn, heading toward the police station. Hopefully, Dan would be at the precinct.