Taking a Shot

by Jaci Burton

Page 13

  Author: Jaci Burton

  Nothing. Not even a little twinge of interest. Nothing had tingled, peaked, exploded. Not even a tiny little pop.

  Robert had smiled at her and told her he’d call her the next day, but she already knew she wasn’t going to see him again, because there wasn’t that burst of chemistry she’d had with Ty.

  She wanted chemistry, dammit. Surely there was another guy out there she could have fireworks with.

  Now that she’d thought about it, it had been a week and a half since she’d seen Ty.

  Not that she’d noticed or anything. She’d been busy at the bar, had caught up on her sleep, and had been busy dealing with all the new guys who’d suddenly entered her life. Since she had the night off tonight she was headed over to her parents to see Mick and Tara, who were back from their honeymoon.

  Liz was meeting them there, though Gavin was headed to Florida to get ready for spring training.

  Jenna was beyond ready for spring, though in late February it was anything but spring-like in St. Louis.

  She wished she were in Florida right now. But cold weather and hockey season brought people into the bar, which was good for Riley’s.

  As soon as Mick and Tara walked through the door, Jenna was green with jealousy.

  “You’re so tan,” she said as she hugged Tara, then kissed her big brother. “I hate you both. ”

  Tara grinned. “We had so much fun. We laid on the beach and soaked up the sun, went parasailing and snorkeling, swam with dolphins and scuba dived, and we even took a sunset sailing cruise that Mick booked for just the two of us. It was so romantic. ”

  Tara tilted her head toward Mick, who kissed her.

  “You two are so sickeningly romantic. ”

  “We’re newlyweds. I’m pretty sure that’s how it’s supposed to be,” Mick said, grabbing her in for a hug and a kiss to her cheek. “But you’ll always be my second favorite girl. ”

  She shoved at him. “Oh, stop. You’re being mushy and that’s not like you. ”

  He laughed a big, booming chuckle. “Hey, I’m happy and I’m in love. I’m entitled to be mushy. ”

  “You are. It’s disgusting. When will it end?”

  He pulled Tara in front of him. “Not anytime soon. ”

  She rolled her eyes and went to the kitchen to help her mother fix dinner.

  “Those two are nauseating. ”

  Her mom laughed. “They’re in love. ”

  “Yeah, isn’t everyone,” she mumbled low as she went to fetch the tomatoes for the salad.

  “Maybe it’s your turn next. Gavin and Mick have found the loves of their lives. ”

  She tried for a smile, but knew it looked more like an expression of pain. “No thanks, Mom. Not ready yet. ”

  Her mother, busily fixing meat and cheese on the tray, arched a brow. Jenna knew all her mother’s facial expressions, so she knew what that one meant.

  “Doesn’t seem to me like you’ve been trying very hard. ”

  “Actually, I have been trying. Trust me on this. ”

  “You just haven’t found the right man yet. ”

  She opened her mouth, about to say that she didn’t have the time to find the right man because she was always working at the bar.

  But that would hurt her parents, and she wouldn’t do that.

  “Yeah, that’s it. ”

  Her mom paused, lifted her head. “Something’s bothering you. ”

  “No. ”

  “Yes, there is. What is it?”

  “It’s nothing, Mom. Really. I’m just a little tired. I had a late night last night. ”

  Her mother wiped her hands on a towel and came over, swept her hand over Jenna’s forehead. “Are you okay?”

  Jenna laughed. Sometimes around her parents she still felt like she was six years old. “I’m fine. Just busy. ”

  “Are you feeling overworked at the bar?”

  “No. ”

  Her mother gave her a disbelieving look. “You don’t take much time off. You know your dad or I can help. ”

  “I don’t need help. I have an assistant manager, and I do take time off. ” She laid her hands over her mother’s. “Everything’s fine at the bar, and my love life is good. ”

  “Really. How good?”

  Liz just had to walk in then, didn’t she?

  “Hi, sweetie,” her mother said, beaming when Elizabeth kissed her on the cheek. “We were just talking about how tired Jenna looked. ”

  “No,” Jenna said. “Mom was talking about how tired I look. I was assuring her I was okay. ”

  “So is this about work, or is this about a guy?”

  “Both,” her mom said. “I think she’s spending too much time on work, and she’s not dating anyone. ”

  Liz studied her. Liz, of course, was perfect, her hair pulled up as usual, makeup done, lipgloss on and she wore some designer outfit—an oversize white sweater and pale, tight pants with killer boots—that likely cost more than Jenna made in a month.

  And God, Jenna loved her. They’d had a rocky start once she and Gavin had started dating, but Liz had been family before she and Gavin had fallen in love, and she was like a sister to Jenna now.

  “Well, far be it for me to criticize anyone for working too hard. I’m the queen of all work and no play. ” Liz drummed her fingers on the counter. “But Mom is right, Jen. You need to go out. ”

  “I had a date this week. ”

  “You did? With whom?” her mother asked.

  Jenna shrugged. “Some model. ”

  Liz and her mother looked at each other. “Ooh, a model,” her mother said.

  “Do tell. ” Liz had a gleam in her eye.

  “It didn’t work out. ”

  “Why not?” Her mother looked disappointed, and Jenna wished they weren’t having this conversation.

  “No chemistry. ”

  “That’s too bad. But at least you’re getting out there. ” Her mom picked up the knife and went back to slicing tomatoes.

  Good. Maybe they could drop the subject of her dating life.

  “Doesn’t mean you have to give up just because of one bad date,” her mother said while slicing.

  And then again, maybe they wouldn’t be dropping the subject.

  “Clearly you need some help. ”

  Jenna’s gaze shot to Liz. “No, I don’t. ”

  “I know a lot of guys. ”

  “Yeah, guys in sports. You know my rule. ”

  “What rule is that?” her mother asked.

  “Jenna doesn’t date guys who play sports. ”

  She leveled a glare at Liz, who gave her an innocent look.

  “What? Is that a secret?”

  “You don’t date men who play sports?” Her mother looked confused. “Why on earth not?”

  She waved a hand. “No particular reason, Mom. Just that I’m surrounded by sports all the time, so I just don’t want to date it. You know?”

  “I guess so. This worries me, though. ” She laid the knife down again.

  The one thing she never wanted was her mom’s full attention. That meant she was focused on her, and that usually meant trouble.

  “What’s there to worry about?”

  “You hate sports. ”

  Jenna rolled her eyes. “I don’t hate sports. I grew up around them. I love them. I just don’t want to date them or marry them. ”

  “Hmmm. ”

  That was even worse. The examination by her mom when she pondered what she’d said.

  She needed to escape.

  “I think I’ll go see what Dad’s up to. You have things covered in here?”

  “Sure. You go ahead. ”

  She made a quick exit and hurried out to the living room. Her dad was in there with Tara, Mick, and Nathan, watching, of all things, hockey. And even worse, it was an Ice game.

  It was either that
or face more conversation with her mother about her job and her love life.

  The lesser of two evils, she supposed, and this was no different than being at work and having the game on at the bar.

  She flopped onto the sofa next to her dad.

  “What’s up, punkin?” he asked, slinging his arm around her.

  “Mom and Liz are trying to fix me. ”

  His dad frowned and looked her over. “Are you broken?”

  “Nope. ”

  He nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s watch the game. ”

  Thank God for her father. Everything with him was simple black-and-white. If you said you were okay, then you were. He believed you. Either that or he just wanted to watch the game and didn’t want to be bothered with girl things.

  More likely it was the latter, since he was a guy, which suited her just fine. As long as she didn’t have to explain her lack of a boyfriend and why she didn’t want to date anyone affiliated with sports, it was fine by her.

  She settled in, leaning against her dad’s shoulder.

  The game was still in the first period. Normally, she’d be so busy at the bar that she’d only catch cursory glances at whatever games were on. And she sure as hell didn’t watch sports on her days off.

  This was the first time she’d actually had to watch Ty in action—undistracted, anyway.

  “Your boys are looking good, Elizabeth,” her dad said as Liz and her mom strolled in.

  “Yes, Tyler and Eddie are great players. I’m very lucky to represent them. ”

  Liz arched a brow at Jenna, who shot her a warning look. The very last thing she wanted was for anyone to know about that night she’d spent with Ty. Especially after telling her mother she didn’t date sports players.

  “Anderson was a good addition to the team,” Mick said.

  “I have you to thank for that, Mick. If you hadn’t fired me, I likely wouldn’t have been scrambling to pick up new talent and I would have never landed him. ”

  “See? All kinds of good things came out of that mess. Mom and Dad ended up together. Liz and Gavin fell in love, and Liz got a whole bunch of new clients. And Dad and Liz made up and are friends again and now no one is mad at each other anymore. So sometimes bad things happen for all the right reasons. ”

  They all looked at Nathan.

  “Out of the mouths of babes,” her mother said with a smile as she came into the room.

  “You’re right, Nathan,” Mick said, ruffling the teenager’s hair.

  Nathan ducked. “Man. It took me a long time to get it to look like that. ”

  “And here I thought you rolled out of bed and did nothing at all to get that style,” Mick teased.

  “Dude. You just don’t know. ”

  “What I do know is that if you call me ‘dude’ again, you’ll be on toilet scrubbing duty for a week. ”

  Nathan looked at Mick with a horrified expression on his face.

  Tara smothered a laugh.

  “Uh, yes, sir. ”

  Mick rolled his eyes. “I don’t think we have to go that far. ”

  Jenna did laugh, then they all turned back to the game. She tried to watch the Ice as a whole team, but she couldn’t help but focus her attention on Tyler. He had a magnificent command of the ice and seemed to always gravitate toward the puck. Part of that was his position as a center, but he was fast on his skates and didn’t shy away from the hard action, which often got him double teamed or slammed up against the boards. He took a lot of elbows and hard knocks, ending up on his ass a lot of the time.

  He didn’t seem to mind. In fact he was as aggressive as the other players, shoving an elbow or body slamming someone, even if it cost him a penalty. He’d do whatever it took to get the puck and skate away with it or pass it to a teammate.

  And often enough it resulted in a goal, so obviously his methods worked.

  But the bottom line was, he was exciting to watch, and he got results.