Jack (The Family Simon Book 2) (3 page)

“You can’t show it to him,” she said finally. She had nothing else. What was there to say?

“Trust me darlin’, the last thing that I want is for Jack to see that. I’ve just drawn a line and if you cross it, I’ll make sure he sees every goddamn minute. Got it?”

“How could you...that could destroy his bid for senator. The press would have a field day.”

“Maybe. But on the upside, he’d bounce back. He’s a Simon. And as a bonus, he’d finally see what a slimy bastard Derek is. That guy has always wanted what belonged to Jack, and you made it so goddamn easy.”

Donovan’s throat was tight, and those damn tears poked at the corner of her eyes. Easy? He had no idea.

Cooper paused, his voice low. “Either way it would keep Jack away from you, and in the long run that’s what’s best for him, don’t you think?”

She couldn’t argue that kind of logic.

“If you ever had any real feelings for him, you’ll walk away and never look back. Just forget all about Jack Simon and go find yourself someone else to play with.”

“Why are you doing this?” It’s not as if she’d ever done anything bad to Cooper.

“It’s nothing personal, Donovan. I just see something in you that I recognize, because the same thing lives inside of me. We’ll never be good enough for people like Jack or my brother Maverick, because there’s a fatal flaw inside us. Some quirk with our chromosomes, I guess.”

God, he sounded as if they were discussing the weather.

“The least I can do is make sure that Jack has a chance with someone who deserves him. Someone who hasn’t fucked a guy he considers his best friend. He sure as hell doesn’t deserve to know about what you did, because as much as he’s over you, it will hurt him.” He shrugged and smiled that cold, steely smile. “But he will if you cross that line.”

Cooper disappeared just as a wave of laugher from inside rolled over the patio. Donovan was trembling. Her legs were like limp spaghetti, and she was having a hard time breathing.

In less than five minutes, all the walls she’d built up over the last five years came crashing down, and she bent over the fragrant hydrangea bushes alongside the patio and vomited. Chest heaving, she pushed back a tangle of blond hair and stared dully into the night. She could hear Jack speaking now, his rich voice carrying on the breeze as he thanked everyone for coming out and supporting a cause that meant a lot to him. To all the Simons.

And that right there was the thing that would always separate Donovan from Jack. Family.

To the Simons, family was number one—which was alien to Donovan. She knew that Cooper wouldn’t think twice about making good on his threat. And not because he was being vindictive or nasty. He would do it because he loved Jack like a brother. He would do it because Jack deserved better than a trailer park brat who brought nothing but trouble to those who loved her.

And he’d be right.

She dug her cell out from its hiding spot in the bodice of her dress and called her bodyguard, Michael. After hopping the railing, Donovan ran across the ninth green and met her car near the south side of the facility.

Within minutes, she was whisked away, and as she turned to look back at the elegant Club house, she couldn’t hold back the sob that erupted from inside her. It was guttural. Animalistic. Gut wrenching.

She caught sight of her reflection in the window and closed her eyes, sinking back into the soft leather because it hurt too much.

When had her life become such a sad, pathetic mess? The world thought Donovan James had it all. Money. Fame. More men than she could deal with. They thought she lived this glamorous life, jetting here and there, spending money on ridiculous clothes and expensive cars. Touring the world and lapping up all the love her fans bestowed on her.

Even though her reality shared some of those things, the truth of it was, she was lonely and in a bad place.

Her relationship with her mother was almost non-existent. Firing Jayleigh James as her manager pretty much nailed that coffin shut. And as for her love life? What a joke. She hadn’t had sex in nearly two years and hadn’t felt any kind of love in over five. Not since that last week she’d spent with Jack. That last week when she’d destroyed the both of them.

Ironic really. She sang about heartache and cheatin’. Hell, she’d made millions singing about that stuff. It just totally sucked that her life somehow always managed to mirror the songs she sang. Because none of them ever ended with a happily ever after.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes. Maybe it was time to get away. Time to shed all these layers of pain and try to find some kind of balance.

Donovan James thought about that for a few moments and then knocked on the partition separating her from the driver.

“I’ve changed my mind. I’m not going to the hotel.”

“Where to Miss James?”

“The airport, please.”

The car sped into the night and for the first time in a long time, Donovan felt some kind of peace.

“What is it going to take to keep you focused?”

Jack glanced up at the man seated across from him and frowned. He wasn’t in the mood for work, and he sure as hell wasn’t in the mood to be lectured. He closed his laptop and sank back into his chair ignoring Derek McKenzie.

Late afternoon sun shone through the screened in Florida room where he’d been working since early morning, and though the view of the ocean was spectacular this time of day, he could have been staring at the walls in his office for all it did for him.

Derek was right. Jack just wasn’t into it. Ever since the fundraiser, he’d been distracted and grumpy and…

“You need to get laid,” Derek said, settling back in his white wicker chair. The old furnishings had been in Jack’s family since the forties, and they creaked a bit under the man’s weight.

“Really.” Jack tossed his pen and linked his hands behind his head as he studied his campaign manager. Aside from politics, the guy thought of nothing but sex. Kind of inconvenient for a married man who liked variety.

“Really,” Derek replied, his dark eyes unwavering. “You haven’t been laid since you and Monique broke up.” Derek raised an eyebrow, a crooked smile in place. “Why don’t you call her? She’s not stupid, she’d come crawling back in a second if you told her you wanted her. She’s just grandstanding. Waiting for an apology and truthfully, Jack, I don’t blame her. Hell, who would? Donovan fucking James? Your memory that screwed up?”

“Derek,” Jack warned. Donovan James was off limits. He wasn’t discussing her with anyone.

“I’m just saying,” Derek tossed back at him.

He’d known Derek McKenzie since fourth grade, and for most of his life, he’d considered Derek to be his best friend. They’d shared a lot of firsts together, including the bottle of lemon gin Jack’s father kept at the back of his liquor cabinet. They’d smoked their first joint together, lost their virginity within days of each other (to the same girl). They’d attended Harvard, did a tour of Europe and just for the hell of it, took a year off— one that they dubbed danger—to climb a mountain in Peru, ski the Swiss alps, explore the jungles of India and surf the coast of Australia.

Hell, for a while there, he’d been like an honorary Simon, always around the family. But something had changed over the past few years, and the two men weren’t as close as they once were. Jack wasn’t exactly sure when it had started, but he knew that sometimes people grew up and they grew apart.

Still, Derek McKenzie had a nose for politics like no other, and he was heading up Jack’s bid to become a senator.

Derek raked his hands through his thick crop of dark hair and shrugged. “I’m just telling it like it is. She wasn’t good for you five years ago, and she sure as hell would throw a wrench into our campaign now. Jesus Christ, you saw what happened with those pictures a few months back. The press would have a field day if you guys got together, and I’m not gonna let that happen.”

Again.
The word was unspoken and Jack’s eyes flattened as he watched the play of emotion on Derek’s face. He’d never liked Donovan. Jack wasn’t exactly sure why, but the two had never gotten along.

“Derek,” he repeated, but his campaign manager plunged forward as if he never heard Jack.

“She might be a goddamn win in the sack, but she’d be a loss at the polls. We both know she’s nothing but an uneducated, backwoods hick who has no talent other than her tits and ass—”

“Enough,” Jack growled and this time Derek got it.

Jack got to his feet and faced the ocean, shoulders tight as hell and anger barely kept in check. “You and I are not having this discussion. My personal life is hands off and who I choose to spend time with is none of your business. You don’t want to push this Derek.”

“Am I interrupting?”

Both men glanced over at the young woman who stepped onto the porch and tossed a bright pink tote onto the low slung settee near the door. Jack’s eyes narrowed as he perused his younger sister from head to toe. Her skirt was on the short side, her top a little too low and—

“What the hell did you do to your hair?” Derek asked.

His sister Grace practically jumped up and down. “Do you like it?” She twirled around, that damn skirt lifting, and Jack swore when he caught sight of black underwear covering not nearly enough of her butt. The left side of her head was shaved, the top spiky and the rest hung nearly to her waist, the blond ends now a vibrant pink.

He sighed and hid a smile. Only Grace.

“Betty Jo’s stylist suggested it, and I love it.” She giggled. “I don’t think Mom is gonna be a fan but whatever.”

“Mom is going to have something to say for sure,” Jack replied.

Betty Jo was their brother Beau’s fiancé. A former fashion model and now a bona fide movie star in her own right, she was a little bit crazy and a whole lot fierce.

“She’s lucky.” Grace giggled. “The alternative was to go bald.”

“Bald?” Jack asked. Wow.

“Yep. Bald. It’s like, back in you know? And I have the right shape for it.”

“What the hell does the shape of your body have to do with shaving your hair off?” Was it just him? ‘Cause he sure as hell wasn’t following his sister’s logic.

“The shape of my head, Jack.” Grace studied him intently. “You could pull it off, you know.”

Derek groaned.

“You’ve got the Simon genes, so your face is pretty hot and your head is round so…”

“He’s not shaving his damn head,” Derek interjected. “Christ, we’d lose ten points overnight. Don’t underestimate the power of that head of hair.”

Grace made a face at Derek. “So what are you two arguing about anyway?” she asked, falling onto the nearest chair and kicking off her flip-flops.

“Nothing,” Jack answered, shooting a warning glance at Derek.

“Didn’t sound like nothing to me,” Grace answered, chewing her gum and smacking it loudly. “Actually, it sounded like a lovers spat. Is there something you two aren’t telling me?” she teased.

Derek rolled his eyes and scooped up his laptop along with his briefcase. “Why don’t you make yourself useful and convince your brother to get away for a few days and clear his head. He needs to get back in the game. Just because he’s a Simon doesn’t mean this senator gig is all wrapped up.”

Derek looked at Jack pointedly. “It’s been ages since you’ve had a vacation. Go and get some R&R. I’ll hold down the fort.”

Jack didn’t answer him.

“Wow. What the hell is up his ass?” Grace said, jumping to her feet after Derek left.

“Nothing,” he said. His mood was shit, and he still had a bone to pick with his sister, but it could wait. Aside from the fact that he didn’t have the energy to argue with someone who made arguing look like an art form, he was done discussing Donovan James.

“I think you should,” Grace said making her way over to him until she too was looking out over the ocean.

“Should what?”

“Go away for a few days. I could stay here and look after Coco, and you could clear your head and maybe do what Derek suggested.”

He glanced down at his sister, noting the grin. He was almost afraid to ask.

“And what’s that exactly?”

“Get laid.”

He shouldn’t have asked. “Jesus, Gracie. I’m not having this conversation with you.”

She shrugged. “You do seem more uptight than usual is all, and like I said, I can stay and look after the little monster.”

“You’re just afraid to go home and let mom have a look at your new head.”

“There is that,” his sister said with a grin, linking her arms through his as she rested her head on his shoulder. “At twenty-three, it shouldn’t be an issue, but man, she’s got a way of making me feel like I’m a teenager again.”

God, he loved the kid. She was thirteen years younger than him and for most of his life, she’d been the biggest pain in the butt. She was still a pain in the butt, but she was also so much more than that. She was a complicated, vivacious, petulant, loving, intelligent young woman…who had the worst taste in men.

“You should go to Belize,” Grace said, swatting at a fly.

That was from left field. “Belize,” he repeated.

“Well actually, there’s this little island off the coast of Belize that Liam and I were supposed to be staying at for ten days. It’s super private and only one guest house but um…” She sighed and blew out a long breath. “We broke up.”

“Ah, kid. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Turns out Liam has a problem keeping his dick in his pants when I’m not around.”

Jack heard the hurt behind her words and gave her a hug. “Asshole move,” he said quietly.

“Yes,” she replied.

Jack held his sister for a few moments, staring out over the water. “Belize,” he murmured.

“Belize.” She nodded. “Go. It’s already paid for. Dickhead and I were supposed to fly out the night of the fundraiser but…”

Jack was silent for a moment. “I don’t know, Grace. I’ve got reports to go over, and I’ve got a board meeting in a few weeks. It’s not a good time for me to slip away.”

“Whatever. The campaign isn’t going to fall apart because you’re not here. Even Derek thinks it’s the perfect time for you to recharge your batteries and,” she grinned slowly. “Consider it a gift from me to you.”