He never wanted her to leave, but he couldn’t wait for the torment to end.
“It’s a sad, sad case.” Dean’s smooth drawl finally broke through Jack’s haze, and he glanced up to discover his friend standing only inches away. More like squatting, his head in line with Jack’s. The smartass had pulled an old-fashioned detective’s microscope from somewhere, and was peering through it, one eye squinting at Jack, a forlorn expression on his face.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jack demanded.
“Elementary, my good man. I’m looking for your motivation.” Dean dodged out of the way as Jack swung at him. “Also, your sense of humor. Both seem to have vanished recently.”
“Fuck off.”
Parker’s brows rose. “Well, I thought Dean was kidding, but you are being an ass. I agree with him—what’s up with you?”
“Nothing.” As if he was going to admit to Parker that his issue was a certain redhead who used to follow them around. Back then one of her worst sins was dropping her licked lollipops on his jeans. No way would he admit he’d been getting an entirely new type of sticky over Parker’s little sis.
Thankfully, Parker stopped the inquisition. “All right, let’s get to work. We’ve got that end-of-summer gala we need to get moving on.” He gave Jack another concerned glance. “This isn’t something to do with you and Charlene, is it? You’re not having any trouble working with her, are you?”
Hell, discussing the anniversary party planning was a welcome distraction. “I’m not dating her anymore—I already told you that—and things are okay between us. Talking with her about the details isn’t a problem.”
“Good, because she asked to have you as point man. You’ve got a Skype meeting with her and her parents next week.” Parker rifled through some papers Didi had arranged for him. “We’ve already secured the venue—good job on that one, Dean.”
“Easy enough when you’ve got contacts.” The other man shrugged and offered a grin. “The coordinator of bookings and I go way back.”
Maybe it was because Jack wasn’t getting any these days, but for once Dean’s hound-dog ways weren’t so amusing. “Is there anyone in all of San Francisco you haven’t slept with?”
“Nope. I thought we already established that the other day,” Dean said cheerfully, and his smug face had both Jack and Parker looking for something to throw at him.
Dean’s phone went off, and he grabbed it, glancing at the screen. “Sorry, guys, I need to take this.” He gave Jack a serious glare. “Michael Frederick, the bookings coordinator at the hotel, is finally able to give me the tour.” He got to his feet and grabbed his jacket. “Catch me up when I get back. If I go now, I’ll beat rush hour.”
Parker handed over the sheaf of papers. “I’m confused. You mean you actually organized an event without sleeping with someone?”
“It’s a rare change to my modus operandi, I admit it. Don’t expect it to happen too often. I was trying it out for variety.”
Jack closed his eyes for a moment while Dean and Parker bantered a bit more. Only when the room went silent did he look up to see what was going on.
“You really okay?” Dean had vanished and Parker had settled on the edge of his desk, and his expression as he stared down was full-out concern. “Maybe it’s not my business, but I haven’t seen you like this for a long time. Not since you went through the hell of your dad dying.”
This was an entirely different type of torture than that had been. Part of his exhaustion came from being teased with what he still couldn’t take, Pepper, and the rest from the guilt of keeping a secret from Parker.
“I’ll be fine. Just a lot on my mind.”
“As long as you know you can talk to me about anything,” Parker offered.
If Jack had his way, they’d be putting that one to the test soon enough. “Let’s get back to work. What else is on the master timeline? I’ll make sure I cover as much as possible when I meet with Charlene and her parents online, since the rest of the time it will just be Charlene dealing with us.”
Not even fifteen minutes later, a firm knock rattled the door. An all too familiar dark head popped through the opening, makeup concealing the fading marks around Pepper’s right eye. Her bright gaze shot straight to meet his, even as she spoke to both of them. “I suppose it’s not kosher but I evaded you guys’ secretary. I figured you kind of already knew who I was, so I didn’t need an introduction.”
Did she realize she licked her lips before changing her focus to her brother?
Parker left the paperwork to open his arms wide, obvious pleasure on his face. “Finally. Good to have you home, sis.”