Read Make Me Desperate for Free Online

Everyone froze for a few seconds. The tall, gray-haired man noticed them, too, but no one said anything for a tense moment.
    “Just follow me, then,” Elizabeth said in a muted tone to Harper after the awkward pause. A little bewildered, Harper jerked her gaze off Jacob and began to follow Elizabeth in the direction of the staircase and the corridor behind it.
    “Harper.”
    Harper stopped and turned. Jacob was stalking across the long stretch of the great room. He looked
good
, wearing a silver-gray suit, white shirt, and black tie. The coolness of the colors of his apparel seemed to set off the vibrant, warm tones of his bronzed skin and hazel eyes. From the corner of her vision, Harper noticed that Elizabeth had halted, as well.
    “I was just finishing up,” Jacob said as he neared her.
    “Don’t let me bother you,” Harper assured. “I’m happy to wait.” She smiled politely at the older gentleman when he trailed behind Jacob, approaching them. She recognized him as the United States secretary of defense, Stewart Overton.
Well, here’s confirmation of Ruth’s speculations about Jacob and Lattice still being involved with the Department of Defense.
Jacob glanced back at Overton.
    “Harper McFadden, this is Stewart,” he said.
    “Stewart Overton,” the man said, stepping toward Harper with his hand extended.
    Jacob’s shoulder twitched in a
whatever works for you
gesture. Clearly, Jacob hadn’t expected the secretary of defense to reveal his full name.
    “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Harper said, shaking hands. “Jacob has a lovely view here, doesn’t he?”
    “Magnificent. We were just enjoying it. Best view of the lake I’ve ever seen.”
    “Harper works for our local paper
,
but she used to be a reporter for the
San Francisco Chronicle,”
Elizabeth said tensely.
    A silence settled.
Awkward
. Jacob gave Elizabeth a repressive glance, scowling, while Overton assessed Harper with a sharpened gaze.
    “Well, Jacob knows how to keep his own house,” Overton said with an air of a man who had just made a decision. “I know he wouldn’t invite anyone into it who didn’t know the rules. Jacob? We’ll be in touch?” Overton boomed, briskly shaking Jacob’s hand. “No, Elizabeth, I can see myself up to the helipad. My pilot is waiting,” he said when Elizabeth began to hurry in his direction.
    For a few seconds after Overton left the room, the three of them didn’t speak. Harper glanced uneasily from Elizabeth—who looked worried—to Jacob, who was still scowling slightly at his assistant. For a few seconds, she wondered if he was about to call out Elizabeth in front of her—Harper—but then—
    “How about a swim before dinner?” he asked Harper suddenly.
    “I didn’t bring a suit.”
    “We have suits. In the pool house, right, Elizabeth?”
    “Uh, yes.”
    Jacob didn’t notice, because he was looking at Harper, but Elizabeth’s brow was knitted in consternation along with something else: disapproval. Elizabeth didn’t think Jacob should have allowed Harper and Stewart Overton to come into contact in his home. She disapproved of Jacob for allowing it. Apparently, she believed Harper shouldn’t be trusted, and that Jacob was being indiscreet—even foolish?—in allowing her to see too much of the secret inner workings of Jacob’s “house” as Overton had stealthily put it.
    “Then we’re all set,” Jacob said, reaching for Harper’s hand. His jaw looked tense, and he was obviously irritated at what had occurred during the brief, charged exchange, but he clearly didn’t plan to address it with Elizabeth presently.
    “Jacob, what should I tell Lisa about your dinner?” Elizabeth called.
    “Nothing,” he replied without turning around. “I’ve told her to go home. So should you. We’ll fend for ourselves for dinner.”
    Harper walked with him through the glass doors and out onto the magnificent terrace, going over in her head what had just occurred. The distinctive