He was rather proud of his compromise—not the part about chaperoning the dance, but the shared-driving idea. By the time Carrie had left his apartment, he felt like an expert. Raising children wasn’t so difficult if you applied a bit of common sense.
Now, though, he wasn’t entirely sure he should get involved. The dance was an issue between Charlotte and Carrie, and his instincts told him he was trespassing.
It would’ve been different if Charlotte had come to him for advice, but she hadn’t and he doubted she would. There wasn’t any reason for her to, at least not with regard to Carrie. Charlotte was the one with parenting experience, not him.
Despite his second thoughts over his role in this drama, he’d agreed to help Carrie—even though his instincts now told him he was going to regret this.
Carrie answered the doorbell and smiled brightly when she saw him.
Charlotte looked pleased to see him, too, but she also looked like she’d rather not be. Jason was learning to read her quite well, and that skill was coming in handy.
“Hello, Jason,” she said softly.
“Hi. I stopped by to see how Higgins is doing.” A weak excuse, and one she was bound to see through in the next couple of minutes.
The black dog trotted toward him, his tail wagging slowly. Jason squatted beside him and affectionately rubbed his ears. “How do you like your new home, fellow?” he asked.
“Do you want a cup of coffee?” Carrie called out from the kitchen. Her voice was enthusiastic. The kid wasn’t any better at disguising her emotions than her mother was.
“Please.” Jason glanced up at Charlotte. He didn’t know what was going on with her lately. She’d been avoiding him—that much he understood—but he was willing to give her the space she needed. For now. He was a patient man. She was attracted to him, fighting it as hard as she could, but her resistance wasn’t strong enough to defeat him.
For the first time in his life, Jason had met a woman who needed him. Unfortunately she was too self-sufficient and proud to admit it. Charlotte Weston brought out all his protective urges. And his intuition told him he’d begun to bring out qualities in her—a sensual confidence and an ability to laugh, have fun—that she’d been repressing for years.
The woman was a puzzle, but slowly, surely, he was putting together the various pieces she revealed. Once he had the whole picture, he’d be able to scale those defensive walls of hers.
He strongly suspected Charlotte’s problems revolved around her ex-husband and her marriage. She’d been badly hurt, and gaining her trust and her love would require time and patience. Where Charlotte was concerned, Jason had an abundant supply of both. Carrie brought him a cup of coffee, and Jason pulled out a kitchen chair, then nonchalantly sat down. Carrie did the same. Higgins ambled over and settled at his feet.
Charlotte glanced at the two of them and frowned. “Is something going on here that I should know about?”
The kid couldn’t have been more obvious, Jason mused again. “Carrie came to me earlier this afternoon,” he announced, deciding honesty was the best policy, after all. The way he figured, if they were forthright about what they’d discussed, then Charlotte might be willing to forgive them for discussing it behind her back.
“Jason,” Carrie muttered a warning under her breath.
“Carrie came to you?” Charlotte demanded. “About what?”
“The dance,” Carrie admitted sheepishly.
“You went to Jason about an issue that’s strictly between you and me?”
“I needed to talk to someone,” Carrie cried, pushing back the chair when she stood. She faced her mother, feet braced apart, hands on her hips. “You’re being completely unreasonable and Jason agrees with me. He came up with—”
“Carrie.” Jason could see he’d been wrong. In this case, honesty might not have been the best policy. “I didn’t ever say I thought your mother was unreasonable.”
His defense came too late. Charlotte whirled on him, her face red and growing redder. Her eyes, the eyes he’d always found so intriguing, were filled with disdain.
“Who gave you the right to intrude in my life?” she flared.
“Charlotte, it’s not what you think.” Jason could feel himself sinking waist-deep in the quicksand of regret.
“You’re undermining my authority.”
“Mom…please, hear me out.”
“Charlotte, give me a chance to explain.” Jason didn’t have much of an argument; he should’ve listened to his instincts and stayed out of this.
“You may think because…because I’ve let you get close to Carrie and me that you have the right to express your opinion on how she should be raised, but you’re wrong. What goes on between my daughter and me is none of your business. Do I make myself clear?”
Feeling all the more chagrined, Jason nodded. The best thing to do now was make a hasty retreat. “I can see I’ve—”
“Just go.” Charlotte’s voice trembled as she pointed to her door.
“Mom,” Carrie shouted. “The least you can do is listen to him.”
Charlotte ignored her daughter while Jason, calling himself every kind of fool, made his way out of the apartment. He paused long enough to cast an apologetic glance at Carrie, but he agreed with Charlotte. He’d butted in where he didn’t belong.
After Jason’s departure, Carrie went to her room, slamming her door with such force Higgins scrambled across the living room, frantically looking for a place to hide.
Charlotte was so angry, it was all she could do not to follow Jason and tell him she never wanted to see him again. She would have done it, too, if she didn’t know she’d regret it later. And if she didn’t need to coax Higgins out from behind the couch and comfort him.