“I’m pretty sure she meant for that offer to go to your mom,” Ella said with a frown. “That’s only fair.”
Hailey shook her head again. “Mom was standing right there and said she was too wound up for something like that but mentioned that we—as in the four of us—would probably enjoy it and would give honest feedback.”
“And she went for it?” Angie asked.
“Yes! Isn’t that great!” Hailey said with a smile, looking at each of her friends. “So? What do you say? Are you in?”
“I’m in,” Angie said instantly and then turned to look at Sean. “You’re going to be back up north all next week, right?”
He nodded. “That shouldn’t matter,” he said with a smile. “I would never stop you from doing something with your girls. I know better than that.”
There were some soft chuckles around the table.
Becca looked over at Max and then back at the group. “We sort of had plans…”
Max reached out and stopped her. “That we can reschedule. How often do you get a weekend away to get pampered?”
She blushed and was about to remind him of all the ways he’d pampered her last night but thought better of it. “Only if you’re sure,” she said to him softly. “I really wanted to go to the art exhibit with you.”
He cupped her cheek and leaned in and kissed her softly. “We’ll go Sunday night then. I’ll take Saturday night to work on some of my own art and maybe someday we’ll be going to an exhibit of mine.”
Her shoulders sagged with relief as she briefly kissed him back. “You’re amazing, you know that, right?”
Before they could say anything else, Angie called out, “Ella! What about you? Are you in?”
Looking up at all of the hopeful expressions, she simply shrugged. “Sure. It’s not like I’ve got anything else to do or anyone to ask about it.”
Hailey reached over to comfort Ella but Angie slapped her hand away. “That’s the spirit!” she cried out. “Glad you have a good attitude about it. It’s going to be great! Lots of fun. Very therapeutic!”
“I guess,” Ella mumbled and then went back to eating her salad.
Conversation flowed around the table with questions about the art exhibit Max and Becca were going to, then moved on to the spa the girls were going to and finally to the next Friday night show. Everyone had finished eating and the sun was setting.
“This was a good day,” Hailey said, relaxing back in her seat.
“Agreed,” Angie said. “The food was great.” She looked over her shoulder. “Do you think they’re going to bring out dessert soon?”
Sean stood beside her. “I’ll go check.” He leaned down and kissed the top of her head before walking away.
“Dessert does sound good,” Becca said. “Something chocolate…”
Taking the hint, Max stood. “I’m on it.” He followed Sean.
That left just the girls—and Jack.
Clearing his throat, he slowly pushed his chair back and stood up. “So…I guess I’m going to check and see if there’s any dessert out,” he chuckled and then looked down at Hailey. “Any requests?”
“I’m with Becca. Anything chocolate,” she replied with a smile.
He nodded and then reached over and picked up her empty wine glass. “You want another?”
Hailey nodded. “Please.”
With a smile, Jack carefully made his way around the table and then walked off to join the guys in their quest for dessert.
Hailey sighed and smiled and then noticed her three friends staring at her with knowing smiles on their faces. “What? What did I do?”
“Girl,” Angie began with a very satisfied smile, “you are so into him. There’s no denying it.”
Hailey’s eyes went wide. “Why? Because he offered to get me some dessert? Please,” she snorted with disgust. “That’s crazy.”
“No, not because he’s getting you dessert, dummy,” Angie said, leaning forward.
“More like because you looked at him like you wanted to eat him for dessert,” Ella said and then giggled.
“Twice in one night!” Angie cried and pulled Ella in for another hug. “I love it!”
****
It was late.
The yard was almost empty.
And Hailey was still sitting with Jack.
Becca and Max had left an hour ago with Angie and Sean not long after them. Ella was helping Judith straighten up and if Hailey heard things correctly, her mother had thanked Ella and told her she should head on home.
Which still left Hailey alone with Jack.
Over the course of the day she had learned about his job, his hobbies and his family. If she were honest with herself, this was the most perfect date she’d ever had. Jack was charming and funny and they seemed to have a lot of common interests, none of which she could recall because suddenly Jack wasn’t talking and he was studying her. She squirmed a little under his intense gaze until she couldn’t take it anymore. Straightening in her seat she huffed, “What? What are you staring at?”
He chuckled. “You know, Princess, I had a really good time today.”
Hailey relaxed slightly in her seat. “Oh,” she said, smiling shyly. “Me too.”
Leaning his arm on her chair, he was close. Hailey could practically see herself in his eyes. Her mind raced as she secretly hoped he’d simply close the distance and kiss her. There. She admitted it. Sort of. Scanning his face, she hoped he understood she wouldn’t mind if he kissed her—there was no way she was making the first move.
Again.
Swallowing hard, she whispered his name.
Smiling, Jack reached out and cupped Hailey’s cheek. “I’m going to see a friend of mine’s band play Wednesday night. They’re playing at a club in downtown. Would you like to go with me?”
He was asking her out.
Not kissing her.
Damn.
Although she had to admit, it was nice that he wasn’t being overly aggressive and this could work for them too. “I’d like that,” she finally said and couldn’t help but smile at the pleased look on his face.
He pulled back and relaxed in his chair. “Good,” he said with a hint of satisfaction. “That’s good.”
Hailey waited for him to ask her to dinner first but he didn’t say anything. She was just about to question it when her mother walked over.
“Oh! There you two are! I was hoping I didn’t miss saying goodnight to you with all this running around,” Judith said, her hand fluttering over her heart.
“Mom, you hired a crew to handle all of the cleaning up. Why aren’t you relaxing?”
Judith waved her off. “Please, when have you ever seen me sit back and let anyone else do all of the work?”
Hailey chuckled. “Okay, good point. So other than the running around, did you have a good time today?”
“Oh, yes,” she replied, pulling up a chair and sitting down. “I am thrilled with the way everything went. It was a total success.” Sighing, Judith let her head fall back for a moment before it snapped back and she was looking at Hailey. “I am worried about Ella though.”
“Join the club.”
“No…it’s…I can’t quite put my finger on it. She’s not emotional, Hailey. She’s just not herself. She asked me to cancel her gown today.”
Hailey frowned. “Well…I guess it’s the next logical step…”
Judith shook her head. “No. Absolutely not,” she said firmly. “That girl needs to fight for her man! For their relationship!”
“Mom…she tried. We were there to see it for ourselves; it was awful. Maybe she’s realizing it’s not the relationship she wants. Maybe now that she’s finally standing up for herself she sees that Dylan isn’t the one for her.”
Leaning forward, Judith slapped Hailey on the arm.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“Do you hear yourself? You and Ella have been friends for just about your entire lives! Can you honestly sit there and believe she and Dy
lan aren’t right for each other? Well? Can you?”
Hailey was still rubbing her arm. “Look, I don’t like it either but it’s not our call to make! Maybe she needs this time to figure out what she wants. And why should she go into debt with wedding plans and preparations for a ceremony that might not happen?” She paused. “And as for emotional, she spent a week holed up in her house crying! She’s drained. She’s tired. Right now she doesn’t have much left in her to give. What are you expecting?”
Now it was Judith’s turn to frown. “I just expected…”
“We all did, Mom. Trust me.”
“And I can’t believe Dylan isn’t doing anything either. I would have thought for sure he’d have come to his senses by now and tried to make things right too.”
“I think he’s just as confused as she is.”
“If I could interject something here,” Jack said hesitantly.
“Oh!” Judith said, slightly flustered. “I almost forgot you were sitting there, Jackson. I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to exclude you.”
He smiled and shook his head before taking one of Judith’s hands in his and kissing it. “If you’d like the male perspective…”
“Absolutely,” Judith gushed and Hailey rolled her eyes at her mother’s exuberance.
“Dylan probably doesn’t know which end is up right now. From what I’ve heard—which isn’t much—Ella’s come to this revelation about her life and what she wants and doesn’t want. I’m sure Dylan’s equally confused because he has no idea if he’s still what she wants.”
Hailey and Judith looked at Jack and then at each other before turning back to him. “I’d say that’s fairly accurate,” Judith said. “I imagine the poor boy is probably afraid to make the wrong move. If he comes after her, he could be pushing her further away.”
“Exactly,” Jack agreed.
“But,” Hailey began, “if he simply sits back and does nothing—which has sort of been his M.O.—they’ll never work anything out.”
“I don’t think it’s that Dylan does nothing, Hailey,” Judith countered. “He’s more like the type of man who is laid back and waits to see how it’s all going to play out.”
“There’s a time and a place for that,” Hailey argued, “and by him sitting around and waiting, all he’s accomplishing is making Ella feel like she doesn’t matter enough for him to fight for. She left her comfort zone and maybe it’s time he did too.”
They grew silent and stayed that way for several moments before Judith stood and kissed Hailey on the cheek and then Jack. “Unfortunately, this isn’t our fight. Ella and Dylan will have to work it out.” She looked around the yard. “I’m going to make sure the staff is cleaning up.” Turning back to them, she smiled. “Jackson, it’s always a pleasure to see you. Thank you for coming. And Hailey, are you still coming for dinner tomorrow?”
Hailey couldn’t help but smile at her mother. As much as they could, they stuck to their tradition of Sunday dinner together. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
“Good. Have a good night, you two!” And with a wave, Judith was gone.
It was getting late and as much as she was hating that the night was coming to an end, Hailey knew she at least had her mid-week date with Jack to look forward to. It seemed like he wasn’t going to expand upon it—just going to see a band play—but she figured that was all right. She’d take it and see where it took them.
She stood and stretched. Jack did the same. Picking up her purse, she moved around the table. Jack followed. Silently they made their way across the yard out to the driveway where Hailey was parked. They stopped beside her car.
“So…Wednesday, right?”
He nodded.
Looking around, Hailey noted how there weren’t many cars left. “Where are you parked?”
Jack moved in closer until their bodies were practically touching and Hailey was forced to look up at him. He reached up and caressed her cheek. Everything inside of her was screaming Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! His name came out as a breathy sigh right before he lowered his head and captured her lips with his.
It wasn’t wild and untamed like their first kiss the previous weekend. No. It was deep and sweet and all-consuming on a whole new level. Hailey’s purse and keys dropped to the ground as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed up against him. It didn’t matter that they were in her parents’ driveway. It didn’t matter that the catering crew was still walking around. She’d been waiting for this kiss and wasn’t going to let something like people moving around stop it from happening.
Slowly Jack raised his head. His eyes scanned her face before he rested his forehead against hers. “I’ll text you the info for Wednesday night,” he said softly, placing one last kiss on the tip of her nose before pulling back.
What the…?
“Wait,” Hailey said, trying to clear her head. “You’re…you’re leaving?”
He nodded.
“But…”
Jack chuckled softly. “Believe me, Princess, I’m tempted. Very tempted.”
She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to finish the thought. “But…?”
“But,” he finally said, “I don’t think it’s smart for us to act on anything tonight.”
He was seriously killing her. “I don’t understand.”
Taking a step back toward her and closing the distance between them once again, Jack rested his hands on her waist. “Last weekend was…fantastic. It was unexpected and you completely took me by surprise.”
Hailey couldn’t help but smile and she placed one hand on his chest, meeting his gaze. “All the more reason we should act on this tonight.”
Slowly Jack shook his head.
Now she pulled back. “I still don’t understand then.”
“Hailey, you and I have been…I don’t know…dancing around each other for the better part of a year. In all that time, I was really into you and you treated me like something you wanted to scrape off your shoe.”
Shame washed over her. “That’s not…completely true.”
He cupped her cheek. “It’s okay,” he said sincerely. “I’m not going to lie to you. There were times you came off like a complete bitch and I didn’t like it. But eventually I came to see that part of your reaction to me was because of how you were feeling about Logan.”
At the mention of that topic, she felt herself blush.
“And then last weekend happened,” Jack went on. “I had no idea what I was thinking when I took you to my room. It wasn’t planned; it wasn’t something I had thought about…sort of,” he chuckled, “but once I had you there, I wasn’t sure what the hell was going to happen. But the first time we kissed, I knew immediately I wanted more.”
“Jack…”
“And the thing is, I thought you felt the same way too. That entire night was something beyond anything I’d ever experienced before.” He paused. “And then you sneaked out without a word. Nothing. Not a note, a text, a call…nothing.”
“I…I didn’t…”
He held up a hand to stop her. “I was mad as hell when I woke up and you weren’t there. I searched the whole damn hotel looking for you. When I found out you and the girls had cut out early, I figured it out.”
“What?” she asked quietly.
“That you were running scared.”
Nailed it in one. She wasn’t even going to try and deny it. “I was.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “Glad you can admit it, Princess,” he said softly. “And that’s why we’re going to say goodnight here and see each other on Wednesday.”
Her brows furrowed in confusion.
“Slow, Hailey. From here on out, I think we need to take the time to get to know each other. I’m not willing to just be a way for you to scratch an itch and then hightail it out of there while I’m still asleep again. It’s not gonna happen that way ever again.”
She swallowed hard and then nodded. “I understand,” she said and then tried to look away.
“H
ey,” he said, gently forcing her to look at him. “Believe me, there is a part of me that is fighting to go home with you and spend the night. I’m trying to be decent here. If I were only looking to get laid, then that’s where we’d be heading right now. But like I said, I want more.” His eyes scanned her face again. “What is it you want, Princess? Just a night or something more?”
Right now her body was saying the night would be fine, but she knew in her heart that it wouldn’t be enough. She was beginning to see an entirely different side of Jack and he intrigued her. She was beyond attracted to him and genuinely wanted to see where this all could go. With a steady gaze, she met his. “I want something more too.” Her breath was husky as she said it and she knew Jack was affected by it.
Hauling her close, he kissed her again, kissed her so thoroughly that Hailey thought she would combust right on the spot. And then he released her and moved away. “Give me your phone,” he gently commanded and Hailey obeyed. Jack quickly scrolled around and entered his contact information. “Call me when you get home,” he said and handed her phone back to her before turning and walking away.
In that instant Hailey was thankful her car was behind her.
It was the only thing holding her up.
****
Ella sat in her car and stared at her house and sighed. It was dark. It was late. The thought of going in there alone was almost too much to bear. Going to the party had been a great distraction but there was no way it could possibly go on forever and Ella knew this was how her day was going to end.
Alone.
It didn’t matter how long she sat out there; eventually she was going to have to go inside and deal with the reality—Dylan wasn’t there and she was going to sleep alone. Again.
Honestly, it didn’t matter how many times she reminded herself of that fact. It still hurt to know he wasn’t there. They had never gone this long without at least talking to each other. It felt like a part of her was missing.
With a small groan, Ella climbed from the car and walked listlessly into the house. Locking the door behind her, she didn’t bother turning on any lights and opted to just go straight up the stairs to the bedroom. When she turned on the light in there, she was disappointed. In the back of her mind she still kept hoping Dylan would surprise her and just be there.
Friday Night Brides Page 21