Chapter 7

When Jack’s phone beeped, he wished once again that he hadn’t caved and bought a cell phone. He blamed his customers: too many had had last-minute changes to their orders, which he’d miss because he didn’t have a cell phone. So he’d finally gotten a very basic flip phone that didn’t have GPS or Internet or any of that nonsense.

It did, however, have texting capabilities. Which Luke Wright had been taking advantage of the moment Jack had let slip he’d gotten a cell phone.

~Did you talk to Gwen yet? ~Luke wrote. ~She hasn’t contacted me yet.~

In the middle of his breakfast, Jack felt the eggs in his mouth turn to ash. How did he explain that Gwen was avoiding him still and that he didn’t know how to get her to trust him again? ~I almost kissed her, she flipped out. ~Yeah, Luke would enjoy that text way too much.

~Been busy, ~Jack replied.

~Time is money, dude. Get on it.~

Luke was right: Jack was wasting time. Grunting, he quickly finished his breakfast and headed into town. After a handful of errands for supplies, he parked his truck outside Gwen’s apartment.

He knew she didn’t work on Thursday mornings, every other week. Her car was still in her parking spot.

“Just fucking do it,” he muttered to himself.

When Gwen opened her door, he said, “I need to talk to you. About Luke. Nothing else.”

Gwen blinked. She was wearing glasses, something Jack had only seen a handful of times. It made her green eyes bigger. Her hair was in a messy bun that Jack wanted to sift his fingers through. And worst of all, she was wearing a see-through camisole and silk shorts that left little to the imagination.

“Um, okay. Do you want some coffee? I just made a pot.”

Gwen hurried to the kitchen. Jack had only been to her place once, and he hadn’t even stepped inside. As he’d expect of Gwen, her place was spotless. The only sign someone lived here was the used bowl and spoon next to the sink and the blanket left on the gray couch.

Gwen had gone to put on a robe, much to Jack’s disappointment. She gestured for him to sit on one of the barstools in the kitchen. After they’d both gotten their coffees, Jack launched into what he’d needed to say.

He told her about his meeting with Luke. He explained how Luke was interested in Gwen’s restaurant idea but that he wanted her to present him with a business plan first. Jack pulled out a business card of Luke’s.

“This is great,” said Gwen, staring at the business card. “I honestly didn’t think he’d be interested.”

“Why not?”

“Because...” She shrugged. “He’s a Wright. They have lots of money to throw around. Why invest in some piddly island restaurant?”

“Luke himself isn’t rich.”

Gwen’s smile was wry. “Okay, maybe not technically, but he will be. And I doubt he lacks for much. Regardless, thank you. You taking the time to talk to him means a lot to me. Not a lot of people would want to go to the trouble.”

Jack just grunted. He didn’t want her gratitude. He wanted...what? ~Whatever it is, you aren’t going to get it.~

Gwen was drumming her fingers against her coffee mug. She hadn’t sat down next to Jack, instead standing on the other side of the counter, as if she needed something between them.

Jack finally broke the silence. “You’ve been avoiding me.”

Gwen’s fingers stopped their drumming. A blush crawled up her cheeks. “You noticed?”

“Yeah, I noticed. I don’t know how to make things go back to the way they were.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong. Seriously. This is all me.”

Jack couldn’t help but snort at that assertion. “The ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ excuse? Come on, now, we both know that’s bullshit. I tried to kiss you, but you don’t think of me like that. I fucked it up.”

Jack was rarely this forthright, at least with subjects like this, but he was desperate. He hated that Gwen couldn’t be comfortable around him anymore. Mostly, he hated himself for screwing everything up.

“What? No. It’s not like that,” replied Gwen hurriedly.

Now Jack was getting irritated. “Then how about you explain it to me since I’m apparently too dense to understand?”

She bit her bottom lip. Not meeting his gaze, she said heavily, “My divorce messed me up.”

Jack just waited.

“Well, not the divorce itself. That was necessary. I mean, my ex. Or rather, he made me realize something about myself that I’m not proud of.”

She swallowed hard, meeting Jack’s gaze now. “I’m not good at dating or relationships. My marriage failed mostly because of me. I don’t want to repeat that mistake and make another man unhappy.” She shook her head. “I’m keeping my distance because it’s better for everyone in the long run.”

Jack just gaped at her. “That’s the biggest bunch of shit I’ve ever heard,” he spat.

Gwen’s blush deepened. “See? This is why I didn’t want to tell you. Now you’re telling me I’m lying—”

Getting up from the stool, Jack stalked to the other side of the counter, forcing Gwen to back up. “Lying? I don’t think you’re lying, except maybe to yourself. Do you really expect me to believe you ruined your marriage? Somebody like you?”

“For all you know, I cheated on my husband ten times over.”

Jack snorted. “Did you? Is that what you’re saying?”

Gwen had raised her chin, defiant, but she quickly looked deflated. “No. I didn’t cheat. Not in the usual way, I guess. But I betrayed my vows.” Her lower lip started to tremble, tears sparkling in her eyes. “If you really want to know, I couldn’t have sex. Okay? I’m broken. There’s something wrong with me and I can’t exactly be in a relationship or even date if I can’t ever have sex.”

Jack felt like the world was tipping on its axis. She couldn’t have sex? He’d never heard of such a thing. Either you wanted sex, or you didn’t.

Feeling decidedly uncomfortable now, he gave her a little more space. “You mean, it hurts, or—?”

“No. I mean, I freeze up when it starts.” She gave a sad shrug. “It got to the point that my ex-husband just gave up trying. He said I was frigid, and he was right. I am. And I’ve tried dating again, but it keeps happening.”

Gwen looked so sad, so defeated, that Jack couldn’t stop himself from embracing her. She stiffened at first, but when she realized he was just offering a friendly hug, she let herself be comforted. Burying her face in his shoulder, she cried a bit, until she eventually stepped back and muttered an apology.

As he held her, Jack felt anger rising inside of him. ~What kind of a man says that shit to his wife? ~He wanted to find her ex and beat him black and blue.

Gwen forced a smile onto her face. “Ugh, I did not plan on crying this morning. And I’m sure you didn’t plan on having to deal with me crying when you stopped by.”

“It’s fine.” Jack had to shove his hands into his pockets to restrain himself from touching her again.

They stood like that in silence, Jack wondering what to say further. Thankfully, Gwen’s phone ringing saved them.

“I have to take this,” she said apologetically. “I’ll talk to you later?”

He nodded.

Gwen gave him a short hug, then added, “I’m glad we’re still friends.”

Jack didn’t have an answer to that.

* * *

Gwen threw herself into her work, along with putting together a business plan for the restaurant. She’d somehow managed to avoid writing one when she’d started the bed and breakfast, as the majority of the funding coming from her own savings.

Forcing herself to construct a concrete plan versus a flimsy idea was harder than she’d expected. It also shone a bright light on the fact that she still needed to do more research if she wanted this venture to be successful.

She was glad for the distraction. Along with running the inn, she spent her evenings working on the business plan, which didn’t give her much time to brood over Jack Benson.

After he’d left that morning, she’d instantly regretted telling him her secret. She hadn’t been able to read his expression when she’d revealed it. Had he pitied her? Or had he acknowledged to himself that he’d dodged a bullet?

Considering she’d spoken all of ten words to him in the last week, she had a feeling it was the latter. And she had to admit, that hurt. A lot.

It was late on a Friday night when Gwen was jolted from her thoughts by a knock on her office door by Jocelyn.

“Burning the midnight oil, boss?” Jocelyn slid into the chair across from Gwen’s desk. “It’s nearly eight o’clock.”

“It is?” Gwen groaned. “I lost track of time. I should probably go home.” But then her mind moved back to the business plan in front of her, and she turned her monitor toward Jocelyn. “Want to help me with this?”

“Do I want to spend my Friday night putting together some report? I mean, how is that even a question?” joked Jocelyn.

“It’s for the restaurant. And if you’re going to be the head chef...”

Jocelyn snorted. “Fine, fine. What do you need from me?”

Despite Jocelyn’s stubbornness and Gwen’s need to appease, the two of them worked together well now. Jocelyn must’ve sensed that she needed to have a gentler approach with Gwen. Gwen had accepted that she needed to stick to her guns so Jocelyn didn’t walk all over her. As a result, they spent two hours working, almost having fun in the process.

By ten o’clock, Jocelyn got up and stretched, yawning widely. “When did I turn into such an old lady? Once upon a time, I stayed out late and somehow managed to get to class on time in the morning.”

“I’m sure you’ll be signing up for AARP very soon,” said Gwen, grinning.

“Oh God. Next I’ll be carrying butterscotch candies in my bag and yelling at kids to get off my lawn.”

Right before Gwen was going to shut off her computer, an email landed in her inbox. It was from Luke Wright. Heart pounding, she opened it.

It simply read, ~I’m looking forward to seeing that business plan, Ms. Parker.~

“What’s got you smiling like that?” said Jocelyn. Before Gwen could close the email window, Jocelyn read over her shoulder, “Luke Wright. He’s the one you’re writing this for?”

Gwen hadn’t mentioned Luke because, quite frankly, she had no idea if he’d even give her funding. And looking at Jocelyn’s stone-cold expression, Gwen knew she hadn’t made a mistake in keeping that detail to herself.

Any time the Wrights were mentioned, Jocelyn bristled. Gwen had noticed it weeks ago. When she’d asked Alex about it, Alex had just shrugged. “I have no idea. She might just hate them because they’re rich.”

“He’s interested, yes,” said Gwen, trying to sound casual. “But who knows if he’ll say yes. It’s just one potential avenue for money.”

“You could go to a bank.”

“I did. They said no.”

Jocelyn had returned to the other side of the desk. “You don’t want to get tangled up with the Wrights.”

“Why not? They have money. I need money. And Jack is friends with Luke—”

“Luke is the worst of them all!”

Gwen stared in surprise. Jocelyn was chewing the inside of her cheek, her arms crossed.

In a calmer voice, Jocelyn said, “Just, be careful. I don’t want you to get screwed over.”

“Well, who wants to get screwed over? And it’s all legit, I promise you. I doubt Luke is going to send out a bunch of his minions to rough me up if I don’t repay the loan.”

“That’s what you think,” muttered Jocelyn.

“I might not know Luke well, but I trust Jack. If Jack trusts him, then I’m not worried.”

“Just because he’s been decent to one person doesn’t mean he hasn’t been shit to others.”

Gwen desperately wanted to press Jocelyn for more information right then. To her consternation, Darla came into her office right then, interrupting them. “Room 205 has lost power. I flipped the circuit breaker for the room, but no dice,” she said hurriedly.

“I have to take care of this. Are you all right going home by yourself?” asked Gwen.

Jocelyn snorted, some of the tension leaving her body. “It’s Hazel Island. What’s going to happen?”