by Kira Archer
Jenny watched Jared schmoozing with Anna and some of the guests the sister of the bride brought over to meet him. That woman was completely diabolical. Of course, Jared didn’t look like he was suffering all that much. Apparently there were some responsibilities he didn’t mind having. Not that it was Jen’s business anymore. Or ever had been.
She found Gina in a quiet corner with Rick. Rick had his arms around his wife from behind as they swayed slightly to the music, their baby happily snoozing in her seat by their feet.
“Hey, are you guys ready to leave?”
Gina glanced up at Rick, who shrugged. “Ready when you are.”
“Okay,” Gina said. “I do need to get home and get Lindsey in bed.” She glanced back at Jenny. “You don’t want to stay and enjoy the party with Jared?”
Rick gave his wife a sharp look, but she ignored him and focused on Jenny.
“Jared is busy,” Jenny said, nodding over at him.
Gina frowned a bit. “That’s just Jared being Jared. It’s not real.”
“How can you tell? He’s like that with everyone.”
“Not with you,” Gina said quietly.
Jenny shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I’m ready to leave. Jared can drive the van back.”
“All right,” Gina said, straightening up.
“What’s going on?” Rick asked as they headed out to the car.
Gina glanced back at her. “You want to tell him?”
She snorted. “Not really.”
“You can’t keep it from him forever.”
“I can sure as hell try.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t, so unless you want me telling him, you better do it.”
“Someone needs to tell me what’s going on,” Rick said.
Jenny sighed. “Fine. But not while you’re driving.”
He glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “It’s that bad?”
“Not really, but you’ll think so.”
He nodded. “All right, then. When we get home.”
“Good call,” Gina said, though which sibling she was speaking to Jenny wasn’t sure.
When they got back to Rick and Gina’s, Gina went upstairs to feed the baby, leaving her alone with her confused, glowering brother.
“You know, when you’re standing there looking like you’re about ready to go knock someone’s head off, it really doesn’t make me want to say much.”
“When my little sister is standing there looking like she’s on the verge of tears and throwing around words like ‘baby,’ it’s kind of hard to rein it in. I guarantee you my imagination is much worse than what’s actually happening, so I’d appreciate it if you told me already.”
“Fine. Just…don’t freak out.” She took a deep breath. “Jared and I sort of hooked up and it was totally my idea, so don’t go getting all bent out of shape about it. But then the condom broke and we thought I might be pregnant—”
“What!” Rick bellowed. The faint cry of a baby sounded from upstairs.
“Shhh! Calm down or I won’t tell you the rest.”
“I was wrong. It’s worse than I imagined.” He sat back down, elbows resting on his knees, fists clenched and ready to do some damage. It was a damn good thing Jared wasn’t there.
“I’m not pregnant,” she said. It was almost amusing how quickly her brother relaxed. Oh, he was still pissed. His fists were still clenched. But not so tightly that they’d gone white as they had been a moment before.
“I’m still going to kill him,” he said, forcing the words out through clenched teeth.
“No, you aren’t. It takes two to get into the mess we did, and I wasn’t only fully consenting, I was the one who seduced him.”
The look on her brother’s face was priceless. Almost worth the entire fiasco.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You probably didn’t even realize that he was manipulating you into thinking that you…that you wanted…”
“To have sex with him?”
She’d never seen someone’s face go so completely white while the tips of their ears burned bright red. “I’ve gotta say, I’m kind of surprised at how big of a prude you’re being. I’m pretty sure you weren’t a virgin when you got married. What’s with the judgment?”
He blinked and frowned at her. “I’m not judging you.”
“Yeah, you are. I’m just waiting for you to clutch your pearls while waving your lace hankie in your face. I’m twenty-three, Ricky. Not some high school kid. I’m old enough to know what I want and who I want. Jared was a perfect gentleman who was very aware that I was your sister and that you wouldn’t approve and gave an admirable try at shutting us down. But it was probably hard to remember that when I…took the situation in hand, if you know what I mean.”
“Ugh. Yeah I do. Thanks for the visual.”
“You’re welcome.”
He glared at her, so she gave him her sweetest smile. “I want you to remember all this next time you see him. This is not his fault. He’s a good guy. He treated me with nothing but respect. Give him a little credit. He’s Eric’s best friend. Your wife’s, too, even if she’ll never admit it.”
Rick finally relaxed enough to lean back against the cushions. “All right. So if he’s treated you so well, what’s with the tears? And why are you here while he’s still at the wedding flirting with that food woman?”
Jenny shrugged. “We sort of had a fight before you guys showed up tonight. I think he wants to make it work between us.”
“And you don’t?”
She sighed and rubbed her arms. “I don’t think it’s that simple. I’m supposed to go back to Paris in less than two weeks. And I want to go. I love it there, and another couple years and I’ll be a fully trained Parisian pastry chef. Pretty nice to put on a résumé. I can’t throw that all away for a guy I’ve known a couple weeks.”
“Agreed.”
Jenny rolled her eyes. “But… I want to. And that’s seriously freaking me out.”
Rick sighed and rubbed his face before leaning forward again. “Do you care about him?”
She didn’t answer right away. She already knew the answer, but it made things very, very complicated, and complicated wasn’t something she was good at handling.
Finally, she nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
Rick didn’t seem thrilled with the answer, but to his credit, he kept his opinion to himself. “Then what’s stopping you?”
“What do you mean, what’s stopping me? I live in Paris. He lives in Hoboken.”
“And this is the twenty-first century. We have a ton of nifty technology nowadays that makes long-distance relationships not so bad. It’s not like you’d be writing letters back and forth.”
“And yet I seem to remember a certain someone losing his shit at the thought of Gina moving to Paris.”
He opened his mouth to argue and then snapped it shut. He snorted. “That was different.”
“How?”
“Her life was here. Yours is already there. There’s a reason for you to go that she didn’t have. Besides, you and I are very different people. I’m a homebody. I’ve never wanted to be anywhere else. You and Jared, though, you’re more free-spirit types. I think you could survive a long-distance relationship if you put some effort into it.”
He watched her with that all-knowing, always-does-the-right-thing look he usually had going on. “What’s really stopping you?”
“I never considered myself the settling-down type. I’m not like you. I never wanted the house with the white picket fence and all the kids. And I sure as hell didn’t want to be the one sitting at home taking care of it all. And then there I was, thinking that some of that might be happening, anyway. I spent a lot of time over the last week playing the what-if game. And I don’t know. I think I changed, at least a little. I know that’s stupid…”
“No, it’s not.” A faint smile touched his lips. “When I found out Gina was pregnant, everything changed. Not just for me, for her, too. Your life doesn’t revolve around
you anymore. Suddenly, you’ve got this tiny little being depending on you. Decisions that might have seemed easy before aren’t so easy anymore. Hell, we even switched what kind of laundry detergent and cleaning supplies we use. Babies have a tendency to do that to you.”
“Yeah, but I’m not actually having a baby.”
“No, but you thought you might be. So I’m guessing you started thinking about what would happen if you were and what changes you might want to make.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“And Jared didn’t make the cut?”
Her gaze shot to his, but there was no judgment in his face. Nothing but love and concern for her.
“It’s not that, exactly. But I did consider what kind of father he’d make. He’s not the steadiest guy. He spends his nights partying, dates anything that’ll look at him twice, and isn’t serious about anything.”
Rick snorted. “Sounds like someone else I know.”
Instead of being offended, Jenny nodded. “Yes! Exactly. If I had been pregnant, that poor child would have been saddled with two parents who’ve spent their lives avoiding responsibility and don’t have a damn clue how to raise it. It kind of freaked me out.”
“Yeah.”
“And I know this is pointless, because it turned out to be nothing. But it’s like I started thinking about some changes I needed to make, wanted to make, and even though I don’t have that necessity anymore…I don’t know. Something’s still changed.”
“And you don’t think he’s changed. Or wants to?”
“I don’t know. He says the right things but…I don’t know. At least I’ve got my life going in the right direction. I’ve already changed a lot in the last two years, and I have plans in motion that’ll change things even more. But he doesn’t seem interested in making those kinds of changes. I mean, yeah, if we got together he’d probably stop sleeping around. But he’s still living the life of a college kid, shacking up with a buddy and making enough to fund his parties and car insurance. And he doesn’t seem all that interested in changing any of that. And even if he does, it doesn’t solve the other problem. The geographical one.” Before Rick could bring up the same argument, she raised her hand. “Yeah, I know. Twenty-first century. But come on, Ricky. This is me we’re talking about. My longest relationship was with Tony, Gina’s crazy ex. It lasted a week and a half and ended up with us getting arrested for breaking and entering and vandalism.”
Rick was back to scowling. “Only he got arrested. And he’s lucky that’s all that happened.”
Jenny smiled at him, fondness for her loving, overprotective brother welling up. She reached over and patted his knee. “You’re a good man, Ricky. Thanks for trying to help.”
“I didn’t though, did I?”
She laughed a little. “I don’t think there is help for me.”
He smiled. “Yes, there is. You’ve just got to be willing to take a chance.”
“Even if that chance is with Jared?”
“If he’s the one you want…”
She laughed again and stood to hug him. “Did saying that hurt as much as it looked like it did?”
“More,” he said, hugging her back.
She pulled away. “I don’t think wanting him is going to help. Even if we were on the same continent, there needs to be at least one adult in the relationship. I might get there at some point, but Jared is already thirty. I think if he was going to grow up he would have done so by now.”
“Maybe he hasn’t had a reason.”
“Maybe.”
He gave her another hug and gave her a slight push toward the stairs. “Go get some sleep.”
She smiled and did what he said, but she knew she wouldn’t sleep. If she closed her eyes, she’d see Jared. And that would just hurt too damn much. Then again, staying awake and obsessing over everything would hurt, too.
Which left her absolutely screwed.
Chapter Twenty
Jared arrived at the bakery the next day already on edge. Letting Jen walk out the door without him the night before had killed him. If it hadn’t been Street Treats’ rep on the line, he’d have blown off everyone there to run after her. He’d texted when he finally pried himself away, but she hadn’t responded.
Walking into the kitchen, he finally understood why. A large suitcase and carry-on bag stood by the back door. Jenny stood in the kitchen, obviously saying good-bye to her family. They all looked up when he came in—Gina, with sympathy. Rick…well, he’d obviously been let in on the secret. If looks could kill, Jared would be a pulverized pile of goo on the floor.
Gina glanced back and forth between them before taking her husband’s hand. “Come on, let’s give them some privacy.”
Jared was surprised when Rick actually followed her out to the front. Although he managed to get in a parting glare first.
Jenny waited for them to leave before she turned to him. “Jared…”
“I thought you had two more weeks before you left.”
“I did. A seat opened up on a flight today. A great deal on an upgrade. I couldn’t pass it up.”
Jared clenched his jaw to try to get a grip on the tornado raging through him. He was supposed to have more time. “Yeah, you could have.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Jared, I was leaving anyway. What difference does it make?”
“It makes a huge difference and you know it. Why didn’t you answer my texts last night?”
“I was asleep by the time you texted. You and Anna must have had a great time last night.”
“Oh, don’t turn it around on me. You practically shoved me at her. And no, for the record, I had a miserable time without you there. We talked about the cake and the bakery and I got the hell out of there as soon as I could.”
Jenny looked down at the floor and then shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Like I said. I was leaving anyway. Why drag this out?”
Jared closed the distance between them with two strides. He grasped her arms and pulled her to him. “Don’t do this.”
She looked up, met his gaze. Her hands lingered on his chest. He wasn’t sure she was even aware she was running her hands over him, caressing the lines of his body like she was trying to memorize it. “I’m going back to my life, Jared. You should go back to yours.”
“Jenny…”
She gently pulled away from him, and his gut ached like she’d sucker punched him. “I know people always say it won’t work because we are too different. But in our case, we might be too much alike.” She gave him a sad smile. “I think we both need someone who is steadier, more responsible. Together, we’d just get into trouble.”
He echoed her smile, pushing aside the panic that rushed through him. “You don’t think you’re responsible?”
She shrugged. “No. But I think I’m headed that way.”
“And you don’t think I am?”
“I think at this point, you’re pretty set in your ways, Jared.” She cupped his cheek. “There’s nothing wrong with that. You’re amazing. I’ve never met anyone like you. And that’s a good thing,” she said, her smile warmer, sweeter.
Gina poked her head around the corner. “Sorry to butt in, but Jenny, your cab is here.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll be right there.”
“Jen,” he said as soon as Gina disappeared again.
She rose on her tiptoes and kissed him, so sweetly, deeply, and absolutely his heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vise.
She pulled away. “Good bye, Jared.”
He didn’t try to stop her when she gathered her bags and walked out the door, despite every instinct in his body screaming at him to do so. But what was the point?
She didn’t want him.
Jared hadn’t moved from where he stood in the middle of the kitchen when Gina came back in a few minutes later.
“I can’t believe you let her walk out the door,” she said.
He turned to her, as close to yelling at her as he’d ever been. But it wasn’t her
fault for stating the obvious. He’d been thinking it, too.
“She doesn’t want me, Gene. I’m not going to beg her.”
“If you believe that, you’re even dumber than I thought.”
He scowled. “She just walked out the door. To go back to a different country. She didn’t say she wanted me to call, or email, or anything. She said good bye, walked out, and left me standing here.”
“Yeah. She did. And you didn’t go after her.”
Jared stared at her, completely confused. “She didn’t want me to! She all but told me I’m too immature for her.”
“Is she wrong?”
Jared almost blurted out yes! But if he were being truthful… “Maybe. I don’t know.”
Gina kept staring at him, and he finally shook his head. She had the “mom” stare down pat already.
“I suppose there are a few areas I could improve upon.”
“As could we all,” Gina said with a wry smile. She finally sighed and came over to where he stood.
“Look. She’s a woman who just had a major eye opener. It scared the hell out of her and now she’s running, trying like hell to make sure nothing like it happens again. Until she’s ready. It really has less to do with you and more to do with her. She wants to make some changes in her life. What you need to decide is if you want to be one of those changes.”
Jared was quiet for a moment, so many thoughts running through his mind he wasn’t sure he could process them all.
“I’ve already changed because of her. I don’t know how she did it…but I can’t picture my life without her anymore. Even if I never see her again, I think I’ll still compare every woman I meet to her. And they won’t come out on top.”
“Women rarely do with you,” Gina said.
Jared mock glared at her. “Very funny.”
Gina laughed. “Look, it’s simple. There’s only one question you need to ask yourself. Do you want to be with her or not?”
Jared rubbed his hands over his face with a defeated sigh. “That’s not the only question I need to ask. It doesn’t matter what I want. It matters what she wants. What she needs. And I think she’s made it pretty obvious. It’s not me.”
“Jared…”