Man Trouble Read Free Page B

change the rules in the middle of the game.”
    “She fell in love with you. As your mother, I can hardly blame her for that. But what she's doing now is unforgivable.”
    Jake's mouth turned up slightly, humorlessly. “Hell hath no fury…” he quoted and shrugged. “I was always completely honest with Skye.”
    “I'm sure that you were,” Cora said, and sighed. “My dear, life is not just a series of photo ops. You're forty years old, and I want more for you. I want you to be happy. I want you to fall in love.”
    Love?
Jake felt a sourness in his stomach, as if old dreams had fallen there to rot. He remembered being in love. It had been a long time ago.
    “I am happy,” he said.
    “Not like you were. When you were in school, you were—”
    “A child. And then I grew up.”
    “Too fast. You had no choice. This was never the life you wanted. I remember when you didn't care about business, or money—”
    “I learned to care a lot about money once we didn't have any,” Jake said. “Funny how that happens.”
    But Cora was caught up in her sentimental reverie. “You would have finished school, married Karen…”
    “And lived happily ever after?” Jake's voice was suddenly harsh. He preferred his mother in her executive guise. “I doubt that. Hindsight suggests that it wouldn't have worked out anyway.”
    Cora looked hurt, and Jake felt a stab of guilt. She meant well, and it wasn't her fault that her misty-eyed memories brought up emotions that he preferred to keep buried.
    “It doesn't matter now,” he said, trying to soothe her. He gestured around the luxuriously furnished room. “It all worked out in the end, didn't it?”
    “It's not the end yet,” Cora said tartly, and Jake grinned, remembering from whom he had inherited his temper.
    “Oh, Jake,” she said. “I don't suppose you'd reconsider this business with Amanda? She's a nice girl.”
    “No.”
    “She's pretty. And she wants children.”
    “Not interested.”
    “If you'd spend some time getting to know her, you might become interested. And it would be good for you to get the Skye episode behind you. Publicly, I mean. You need to show the world that you've moved on. Amanda isn't high profile, but right now that's an asset.”
    “I don't care,” Jake said. “I'm not going to date Amanda Harper, publicly or privately. Give up, Ma.”
    “Hmm,” Cora said. “We'll see. Regardless, you need to do something about Skye. That girl is unstable, and she has the newspapers eating out of her hand. She's a talented actress, I'll give her that, but that's just what makes her so dangerous. She'll say anything to hurt you, and believe me, those reporters won't bother to confirm it before they print it.”
    “So what?” Jake shrugged. “You know my take on that. Publicity keeps us hot, and even scandal sells rooms. There's nothing Skye can say that can do us any damage.”
    “Don't be so sure. It would be much better if you spoke to the press yourself…”
    “No.”
    “The journalists are beginning to resent you for shutting them out. I can see it in the way they've been writing about you.”
    “I don't know why you read that junk.”
    “Because someone needs to keep an eye on these things, and I'm the only one who can make you listen! I see trouble, Jake. You're giving the reporters the impression that you think you're above them, and they're passing that feeling on to the readers…our customers.”
    “That's ridiculous. You know why I don't give interviews. It has nothing to do with snobbery.”
    “I know that,” Cora said. “But they don't.”
    “Too bad. I don't talk about my personal life to the press. Not now, not ever. That's where I draw the line.”
    “I'm not sure you still have the luxury of drawing a line,” Cora said. “The Berenger board is concerned about you, Jake. They say that your public image has become too frivolous. The world is calling you a playboy, and the analysts are questioning whether you're still an