all. Over the past few months of their arrangement she'd opened up to his brothers. Somehow in the short time, they'd gone past the point of being just lovers and now seemed as if they were fast becoming friends. That is everyone except him.
When he and Camille weren't making love, their time together was awkward and tense. He knew he was partially to blame. Unlike his brothers, he just didn't put the kind of effort they did into getting to know her, although it wasn't because he didn't want to. He'd seen her with his brothers, how she interacted with them. She was different around them. He didn't make the effort to get to know her because when she was with him she put up a wall between them. He frowned at 46
Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
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that thought. Why the hell was he the only one she kept at arm's length?
"What are you mad about now?"
He'd been so deep in thought that he hadn't heard anyone come in. He dragged his gaze to Jackson's face as his brother strolled into the room to plop himself down on the other end of the couch.
"Who says I'm mad?"
Jackson grinned. "That sour look on your face kind of clued me in." He leaned back against the couch and folded his arms across his broad chest. "So, what's up?" He shrugged. "I don't know. Nothing really," he lied. Jackson arched a single eyebrow and studied him. Jacob frowned under the weight of his brother's intense scrutiny. "What?" he finally snapped unable to take the silence any longer.
Jackson curled his lips into a small grin. "I think your woman upstairs is to blame for your bad mood."
"She's not my woman."
"But you want her to be."
He glared at his younger brother, and opened his mouth to protest, but Jackson didn't let him get a word out.
"Why don't you spend more time trying to get to know her?"
He scrunched his face up into a frown. "Because she doesn't want me to get to know her."
"That's not true and you know it. I just think it's hard for her to let her guard down with you. You still blame her family 47
Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
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for dad's death and she knows it. I imagine it's hard for her to trust you."
"Did she say that?"
"Not in so many words."
But she had said something to the effect, which proved his point. She had no interest in getting to know him better. He shoved a hand through his hair as a sigh escaped his lips.
"It's hard for me to just let go of the past, Jackson. Her parents, each in their own way, destroyed dad. I don't think I can ever forgive them for that."
Jackson stood to his feet, placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly.
"No one's asking you to forgive them , but it's not fair to Camille that you continue to hold her responsible for her parents' mistakes."
His gaze shot to his brother's face. "So you want me to terminate the contract then?"
Jackson's eyes twinkled with mischief. "Hell, no. We're all having way too much fun, Camille included. I just want you to try to put aside all of that bitterness you carry inside of you long enough to get to know her better. I know you want to," he said softly before he quietly slipped out of the room. He grimaced at Jackson's departing back. His brother was right, but Jackson just didn't understand. As the oldest, he'd been the one to shoulder the burden of raising his brothers after their father's heart attack. He'd wanted to go away to college to become an attorney, not attend the local university and take over his family business, and the raising of his teenage brothers, but at eighteen he'd done it. 48
Sleeping with the Enemy's Daughter
by Nadia Aidan
As Jackson had so bluntly pointed out, he was attracted to Camille and wanted to peel away her layers to reveal the woman that his brothers were starting to see, but it was difficult to unlearn years of bitterness and resentment. No, Camille wasn't responsible, nor was she to blame for her parents' mistakes. Yet it was as if a tug of war raged inside him. He
Angela B. Macala-Guajardo