if he really loved her, he would never, ever talk about it again, when in truth she was scared. Scared of changing and scared of being the same.
She stood and stared at the closed dorm room door. “I hate you, Jack,” she said as tears slipped down her cheeks. “I hate you and I’ll make you suffer. I’m going to grow up and be so beautiful you have to sleep with me. Then I’m going to walk away and break your heart. Just watch me.”
Present day
Jack Howington III had driven two days straight to get to Lake Tahoe. He could have flown his jet, then picked up a rental car for the month he was going to be forced to stay at Hunter’s house, but he’d needed the downtime to clear his head.
His assistant had been frantic, unable to reach him in the more rural parts of the country, but he’d enjoyed the silence. There hadn’t been enough silence in his life for a long, long time. Even when he was alone, there were still the damn ghosts to contend with.
He drove down a long driveway toward a barely visible log house. The place stood surrounded by trees with a view of the lake behind. There were windows and stone steps, along with a heavy double wood door.
Jack parked, then climbed out of his Mercedes. Hunter’s house had been built just recently, nearly ten years after the death of his friend, but Jack had a feeling that Hunter had left detailed instructions on what it should look like. The place reminded him of Hunter, which was both good and bad.
It was just a month, he told himself as he walked around to the trunk and grabbed his suitcase and computer bag. If he stayed in here for a month, per the terms of Hunter’s will, the house would be converted to a place for cancer patients and survivors to come for free. Twenty million would be given to the town or charity or something like that. Jack hadn’t paid attention to the details. All he knew was that Hunter had asked him for one last favor. Jack had failed his friend enough times to know that this time he had to follow through.
He took a single step toward the house, then stopped as the front door opened. The lawyer’s letter had promised quiet, an office he could work in and a housekeeper to take care of day-to-day necessities.
Easy duty, Jack had thought at the time. Now, as a petite, pretty woman stepped onto the porch, he wasn’t so sure.
Next to Hunter, who was long dead, she was about the last person he wanted to see.
“Hello, Jack,” she said.
“Meredith.”
Her blue eyes widened in surprise. “You recognize me?”
“Sure. Why not?”
She drew in a breath. “It’s been a long time. We’ve both changed.”
“I’d know you anywhere.”
Which wasn’t exactly the truth. He’d kept tabs on Meri over the years. It was the least he could do after he’d promised Hunter he would look after his sister. Jack hadn’t been able to deal with her in person, but distance made things safer. Easier. The regular reports from his staff meant he wasn’t the least bit surprised by her appearance. Although she looked more…feminine than usual. He’d known she’d been working in California on a temporary assignment with JPL—Jet Propulsion Laboratory, but not the details. He hadn’t known she was here.
She muttered something under her breath, then said, “Good to know.”
Her eyes were still as blue as he remembered. The same color as Hunter’s eyes. The same shape. Other than that and an easy laugh, the siblings had had little in common.
He hadn’t seen her in years. Not since Hunter’s funeral. And before that—
He pushed the memory of her heartfelt declaration and his piss-poor handling of it out of his mind. Let’s just say they’d both traveled a lot of years and miles, he told himself.
She’d grown up, he thought as she walked down the stairs and stood in front of him. The baby fat was gone. She looked like what she was—a beautiful, sexy woman who was confident of her place in the world.
Under other circumstances, he could have appreciated the changes, but not with her. Not with the promises he’d made.
“Obviously you received the letter from the lawyer or you wouldn’t be here,” she said. “You’re required to stay for a month. At the end of that time, there will be a brief but meaningful ceremony deeding the house to the town, handing over the keys and the money. You and the other Samurai are free to mingle and catch up, then you’re free to go.” She glanced at the single suitcase and computer bag. “You travel light.”
“Makes it easier to move around.”
“But it doesn’t give you many choices for that unexpected costume party.”
“Is there going to be one?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Then I’m good.”
She tilted her head slightly, a gesture he remembered. Funny how he could still see the girl in the woman. He’d always liked the girl. He didn’t plan to get to know the woman.
He looked her over, then frowned. Was it just him or were her shorts way too short? Not that he didn’t appreciate the display of leg, but this was Meredith—Hunter’s baby sister. And should her shirt really be that…revealing?
“I’m staying here, too.”
Her voice was low and sexy, and had she been anyone else, he would have welcomed the distraction.
“Why?” he asked bluntly.
“I’m the housekeeper. The one you were promised. I’m here to make your life…easier.”
There was almost a challenge in the statement. “I don’t need a housekeeper.”
“You’re not being given a choice. I come with the property.”
“That’s ridiculous,” he said flatly. He happened to know she worked for a D.C. think tank and was currently on loan to JPL and some private company, helping them develop a better solid rocket fuel.
“Such language,” she scolded gently, then smiled. “It’s what Hunter wanted. We’re both here because of him.”
He frowned. He didn’t buy her story. Why would Hunter want his sister at the house for a month? But then, he’d asked all his friends to spend time here, so it was possible. Besides, it wasn’t as if Meri would want to be in the same house as him. Not after what had happened on her seventeenth birthday.
He’d hurt her. He hadn’t meant to, but he had, and after the fact he’d been unable to figure out a way to make things better. Then Hunter had died and everything had changed.
Or maybe he was making too big a deal out of all this. Maybe Meri didn’t give a damn about what had happened… or not happened…between them.
“Let’s go inside,” she said and led the way.
They walked into a large entryway with a staircase and a stone floor. The place
