Big Daddy Sinatra: There Was a Ruthless Man(54)

She got up early the next morning to surprise Charles with breakfast. She had no fear of him waking up and discovering her since he was no early riser and was hard asleep when she first woke up. She got out of bed, showered quickly until she had a chance to get to her suite at the Inn and shower properly, and then put on his dress shirt and headed downstairs. This was her first time in his home, and it was a grand affair: big, opulent, with the sweeping dual staircases and the cathedral ceilings and the expensive furnishings and wall prints and paintings she would have expected from a seemingly tasteful man like Charles. And his kitchen was a chef’s kitchen: big, bold, and classic. Bright cabinets, dark granite, marbled floors. Gorgeous, Jenay thought.

And she happily got to work. He had it all: bacon, eggs, hash browns. And she cooked it. As she cooked, she looked around too. Family pictures were everywhere: of Charles and his four sons. The two older sons looked just like Charles, with the wavy black hair, the vivid green eyes, and that attractiveness that was hard to deny. She remembered seeing them at his son’s reception, although she didn’t realize who they were at the time. The two younger boys, however, had a much lighter look: blonde hair, green eyes, fairer skin. One had been the groom at the reception. She remembered him. The other one she didn’t remember at all. But they were attractive too, even though their attractiveness was far softer around the edges than the older boys.

Not that the age differences seemed significant. None of them could have been more than a year or two apart. It was more their size that defined the difference in age, than their looks.

And just watching these gorgeous men on picture after picture, with no mother/wife in sight, made Jenay feel some kind of odd way. She was a stepmother before, and loved the role, but as soon as Quince wanted out, all of her contact with those beautiful kids ceased. He wouldn’t even let her say goodbye, which broke her heart.

Now she was in yet another relationship with yet another man with children. Grown children, but still they were his babies and they, she knew, would always come first. Not that there were all that many childless men in her age group out there to begin with, but there were certainly some.

But apparently that wasn’t Jenay’s fate. It did not appear that an unencumbered man was going to cross her path any time soon. Because with every passing day, with every time Charles held her in his arms, or took her by the hand, or just smiled at her with those lines of age on the side of his eyes, was a day that drew her closer and closer to him. It could get serious. The fact that she had come to Maine to begin her career at his hotel elevated it already. But spending time with him, and being with him was taking it to yet another level. Which was daunting. She wasn’t going to lie. This could get serious fast.

“I thought I smelled bacon,” Charles said as he entered the kitchen. He had on a bathrobe, and his wavy hair was tousled all around his round head, but he was smiling.

“Good morning!” Jenay said with a smile of her own. “I thought you were no early riser.”

“Only for bacon,” Charles said as he sat down at the center island, “will I rise.”

Jenay laughed and began turning her bacon in the pan. “It will be ready shortly,” she said.

Charles ran his hand through his already messy hair and looked at Jenay. He had woke up and found her gone and had actually panicked a little. Which disturbed him. He didn’t like reacting so emotional to anything. But he did question her absence. He did wonder if Paige’s little stunt scared her away. He did wonder if she was the strong woman he had her pegged as, or was she so weak that she would fold at the least provocation? He needed to know now, he felt, before he was in too deep and it would be too late for him to care. Because he was clearly heading toward the deep end. He had seen it on her graduation day, when she told him she was relocating to New Mexico. The idea of having her so far away made him feel as if he had been broadsided. And now, with her in Jericho, those feelings were only magnifying. This was getting real.

“How do you feel this morning?” he asked her.

“I feel good,” she said, glancing back at him. “You?”

“I’m good, thanks. That little episode with Paige Springer didn’t upset you too much I hope.”

“No,” Jenay said. “I can handle her.”

Charles smiled. That was what he wanted to hear. “Good,” he said.

“So what’s on tap for you today?” she asked. “I’m still going to spot-check rooms to make sure Edna gets it, and continue to go over the books. What about you?”

“I’ll be on conference calls with my various groups of partners most of the day, but since I was supposed to still be in New York, I don’t have any set schedule as of right now. But stay tuned. And next week I’ll be in Saginaw.”