by Laura Drewry
Jayne was already gone, leaving Duke standing in the doorway, his tail wagging slowly.
“Jayne, wait!” Nick kicked the door closed, stepped over Duke, and hurried after her. He tried not to laugh, but he’d never seen her that mad, or look that wild. “I’m sorry.”
“Did you ever think to leave a note? Or maybe take your phone with you?”
“Why would I—”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she stormed, her hands slicing through the air. “Maybe so I’d know you hadn’t been kidnapped!”
“Kidnapped?”
“Or hit by a bus!”
“Buses don’t run this time of night.” He moved toward her, offering her his best apologetic grin. “I thought you were sleeping.”
“Well, I wasn’t! And Duke kept whining and pacing between your room and the front door, so what the hell was I supposed to think?” Her eyes flashed blue fire. “You scared the crap out of me.”
He took another step toward her and when she didn’t move away, he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed.
“Jerk.” She pressed her face against his neck, but refused to hug him back. “I thought something happened to Katie or the baby.”
He felt her sigh against him, but a second later she pushed her fists between them and shoved him back.
“You stink.”
“Nice.” Nick laughed as he reluctantly let her go. “I’m sorry I scared you.”
“Whatever.” She wouldn’t look at him, but kept her head down and her arms crossed over her chest. “I’m going to bed. Again.”
“Night.” He watched her shuffle away before heading to the shower. Then he spent the rest of the night tossing and turning.
The next morning he rolled out of bed, pulled on the closest pair of jeans, and followed the smell of coffee. Jayne was slumped over the kitchen table, her left ear pressed against her left arm, and her right hand wrapped around a mug.
At least she’d managed to get dressed and brush her hair.
“Slept well, did ya?” He poured himself a cup of coffee and joined her at the table.
Her only response was a long blink and a groan.
“Still mad at me?”
“Yes.”
Damn, she was cute. “Want some breakfast?”
She held up her mug and grunted. “Not unless it comes in hot liquid form and smells like a piece of South American heaven.”
He refilled her cup, but she continued to hold it up above her head.
“Sugar?” he asked, even as he reached for the bowl on the island. He dropped in a spoonful, stirred, and waited. Still, she held it up.
“Kinda pushing your luck, aren’t you, especially since five hours ago you told me I stink.”
She didn’t respond, just held her mug up until he’d added milk and stirred again. Only then did she lift her head.
“It’s possible that I might have overreacted slightly, but considering you scared the crap out of me, you’re getting off kind of easy this morning.”
“Fair enough,” he conceded. “Sure you don’t want to stay home?”
“Can’t.” She swallowed a mouthful of coffee. “Busy, busy, busy.”
“Okay. Give me five minutes and we can get—”
“Oh no.” She sat back in her chair and shook her hand. “Your sister just had a baby and I know your wallet’s going to spontaneously combust if you don’t go burn up some of that money on her.”
“Combust might be a bit of an exaggeration.”
She downed some more coffee, then set her mug down. “Seriously—go see the baby. Go do your Uncle Nick thing; spend lots of money. Just remember, she’s a little young for a Corvette.”
“Damn,” he grinned. “Now I’ll have to think of something else.”
“Don’t hurt yourself.” She ducked out of his reach and set her mug in the sink. Before he knew it, she was gone.
* * *
Jayne climbed the stairs to the apartment and took a minute to get the music going. If she played it loud enough, maybe it would drown out the thoughts ramming around inside her brain.
Like why the hell did Nick think it was okay to wander around the house in nothing but his jeans? Seriously. She certainly didn’t walk around half-naked. Sure, it was his house and he should be able to do whatever he wanted, or wear whatever he wanted—or didn’t want—but … seriously! Did he think she was a nun or something? God’s sake.
And now what was she supposed to do? In her rush to get away from Nick, she’d come straight to the store; it was completely gutted, and even if she had the To-Do list, she wouldn’t know how to do most of it.
She sat on the floor, back against the wall, legs straight out in front, and pushed the Internet stick into the side of her laptop. No point in wasting time; she was going to need a buttload of books for the store, and where better to start than Craigslist?
She took her time, going through every listing and emailing the ones that sounded promising. She’d have to hit every garage sale she could find, too, but even then, her shelves were going to be pathetically empty.
The shelves—there was something she could do. It was too bad these ones didn’t come with illustrated instructions like the Ikea ones did. These weren’t even real shelves, just long uneven boards Gran had banged together as she’d needed them, then jimmied with extra chunks of wood to make them stable. Jayne was no builder, but even to her untrained eye, there was no question these shelves were anything but cut square. Hell, some of them angled so much they looked more like triangles.
Armed with a couple tubs of screws from T-Squared’s store, she set one of the boards up against the edge of another and tried to screw the two pieces together.
“Come on,” she grunted, willing the screw to go in a little farther, to pull the two pieces of wood a little closer, a little tighter. Nothing. “Damn it.”
She set it aside and started on a different end. Same result. The next set she tried wouldn’t even line up.
“Are you freakin’ kidding me? You couldn’t make any of this easy, Gran? Couldn’t maybe mark the boards so at least I knew which ones went together? Is that too much?!” She slumped to the floor and rested her forehead on her bent knees.
“Jayne?”
Great. Of course he would show up when her mood was about as pissy as it could get. It was mostly her fault for overreacting and embarrassing herself last night, but it was partly his fault, too. After all, he’d kept her up half the night, scared the hell out of her, and then had the audacity to walk around his own house without a shirt.
Jayne fought back a smile at her own lunacy. She was either running headlong into a full-blown case of PMS or she’d finally lost her mind.
“Unless you come bearing chocolate, I suggest you stay outside.”
His low, throaty chuckle eased her anger a little more.
“No chocolate, but will this do?” His footsteps echoed through the emptiness until she could feel him standing beside her. Blowing out a long breath, she lifted her head to find him standing over her with a large take-out cup of coffee held out to her.
“Thanks. How’s the baby?”
Nick’s grin widened. “Gorgeous. If all goes well, Carter says they’ll probably go home tomorrow.”
“That’s good.” Jayne eyed him suspiciously. “Do I even want to know how many thousands of dollars you dropped today?”
“Hardly thousands.” His face flushed a little, then he laughed and shrugged. “Couple hundred maybe.”
Damn, he was infuriating. How was she supposed to stay in the bad mood she’d worked herself into if he was going to smile at her like that? It wasn’t fair! And if her vehicle was loaded down with a portable workbench, electric drills, circular saws, and what-all, she could have banged those shelves together like they were pieces of Legos, too.
Instead, she was relegated to handing him screws and sweeping up the sawdust, and then spent the next two days driving into Vancouver searching out the listings from Craigslist.
By Tuesday night she was ready for a drink, and looking forward to meeting up with Regan and Ellie.
Chalker’s sat at the end of the main street near the yacht club. A log pub-style restaurant, the lighting was a little dim, but it had an open appeal that Jayne had always liked. The smell of warm nachos and garlic prawns wafted through the open door and flat screens hung in every corner, each one set to a different game. She peered around the room until she spied Regan at the table near the middle.
“Jayne!” Regan waved her toward the seat across from her. “Ellie and Maya aren’t here yet.”
Maya? The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it.
Regan shoved her red hair over her shoulder and leaned closer. “So how was the big date on Saturday?”
Had it only been three days ago? Felt like a lifetime.
“Great,” Jayne laughed. “But Ellie’s going to get an earful when she gets here.”
“What’d I do?” Ellie slipped into the chair next to Jayne and batted her eyes innocently.
“Nice try,” Jayne said, then waited while the waitress took their drink orders. “That was a dangerous little game you played there—what if it didn’t fit?”
Ellie reached for the bowl of pretzels in the middle of the table and scooped up a handful. “Bah—I knew it fit. I was the one who zipped you up, remember?”
“What are you talking about?” Regan asked.
Still grinning slightly, Jayne tipped her head toward Ellie as she spoke. “She sold me the dress I specifically told her I didn’t want and I didn’t notice until it was too late.”
“I did not,” Ellie corrected with an exaggerated eye roll. “I gave you the exact dress you wanted.”
“Yeah, except it was a size smaller than I wanted!”
“You should have seen her, Reggie, she looked fabulous!” A knowing smile tugged at Ellie’s mouth. “And?”
“And what?” Jayne frowned slightly.
“He thought it was hot, didn’t he?”
Jayne’s whole face flamed, her tongue twisted inside her mouth, and she had no idea where to look or what to do with her hands.
“It could have been a complete disaster,” she whispered hoarsely. “You lucked out.”
“So that’s a yes.” Ellie popped another pretzel stick in her mouth and grinned. “Just try and tell me I don’t know how to pick a dress.”
“Hold on a second.” Regan’s eyes narrowed a little and she pointed first at Jayne, then Ellie, and back again. “I think I’m missing something here.”
The waitress brought the drinks, then offered menus before moving to her next table.
“This was the double date you and Nick went on, right? The one he set you up on?”
“Yeah.” Jayne wasn’t sure she liked the tone of Regan’s voice.
“And didn’t he set you up with his accountant?”
“Y-yeah.”
“So tell me something.” Regan tossed a pretzel into her mouth and grinned at Ellie with a knowing look. “Since your date was gay, who was it that thought you looked so hot?”
Oh God. “What?”
“You said he thought you looked hot.”
“No.” Jayne shook her head hard. “No, Ellie said that.”
“You didn’t disagree,” Ellie said.
Crap.
“So who was it?” Regan’s eyes sparkled like Christmas lights. “It must have been someone pretty special to make you blush that much.”
Ellie snorted. “This just gets better and better. Do tell, Jayne. Who was it that thought you looked hot? Hmm?”
Why was the pub so quiet all of a sudden? And where was the waitress when Jayne needed a good interruption? There. Finally. Thank God.
“I … um … well … there was Martin. And Carter.” Jayne’s tongue froze in her mouth, and she half expected her cheeks to burst into flames. How was she going to get out of this?
“And Nick,” Regan finished for her, still grinning.
“Hang on.” Jayne set her Cosmo down and pointed back at Regan. “How do you know about Martin?”
“Everyone knows. It’s not like we have a big gay community in this town; he’s like a celebrity.”
“Not that,” Jayne said, waving her hand dismissively. “How did you know he was the one Nick set me up with?”
“Seriously, woman, have you forgotten how fast word spreads in this town?” Regan waggled her brow and took a sip of her drink. “Or that I was in most of your classes in high school, so I’ve seen firsthand how it is between you two? And, of course, I’m sleeping with Todd, and he’s worse than an old woman when it comes to gossip.”
“Who’s Todd?”
Another sip, another pretzel, another grin. “He works for Nick.”
“Oh, God.” Jayne pushed her drink away and buried her face in the crook of her elbow as the other two laughed right out loud. After a horrendously long mortifying moment, she looked up and exhaled slowly. “It’s not like that. We’re just friends, he gave me a place to live—”
“You’re living with him?” Ellie’s jaw nearly hit the table. “With Nick? Nick Scott?”
“Shh!” Jayne begged. “Do you know him?”
“I know who he is, but we’ve never met.” She stared at Jayne in utter disbelief. “And, what, he’s not hot enough, so you date other guys? Are you crazy?”
“Shh! He has a perfectly sweet girlfriend.”
Ellie snorted as she flagged down the waitress. “Yeah, we’re going to be here awhile, can we get another round please? And some nachos.”
When the waitress left, Jayne held up her hands, palms out, and laughed lightly. “I know it looks weird, but really, we’re just friends.”
“I like to think Nick and I are friends, too,” Regan said, clearly mocking her. “But I’ve never had him tell me I looked hot, and I’ve certainly never blushed like that at the mere mention of his name.”
Jayne groaned. What a disaster. “Can we talk about something else, please?”
After a few seconds, the other two grinned back at her and nodded.
“Okay,” Ellie agreed. “But only because this is your first time out with us. We expect details in the coming weeks and if you won’t cough them up, Regan can get the info from Todd, or better yet—we’ll just make shit up.”
Jayne chugged three big gulps of her drink and set down the glass. “I’ll be here.”
“There you go,” Regan laughed. “I knew you’d come around. Here’s Maya.”
A thin woman with a head of blond curls and light blue eyes slid into the chair beside Regan. Her smile was tired, but she pushed it anyway.
“Jayne,” Ellie said. “This is Maya; she owns the flower shop just up from you. Maya, this is Jayne, Tilly’s granddaughter.”
“Nice to meet you.” As Jayne reached to shake Maya’s hand, an odd look fell over the other woman’s face.
“So you own the bookstore?”
“Yup. Just trying to get it ready for reopening.”
Maya nodded, then took a sip of Ellie’s beer. “Did you like the flowers?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Nick doesn’t usually ask for anything specific, but he told me yours had to be purple.”
Right. Maya owned the flower store; that’s where Jayne had heard her name before.
Silence filled the space around the table for a few seconds before Ellie and Regan both snorted and laughed until their next round of drinks arrived. Jayne couldn’t do anything but try and keep her skin from bursting into flames at the table.
“They’re just friends,” Ellie chortled.
“Uh-huh.” Maya didn’t seem to believe that for a second. “I wish more people dropped that kind of money on flowers for their friends.”
“Okay,” Jayne surrendered. “Yes, he bought me flowers. But he bought them for Lisa, too.”
“Well, I’d sure as hell hope so.”
The waitress set a huge plate of nachos in the middle of the table and handed them each a plate
. “Enjoy.”
“So how’s it going?” Ellie reached for Maya’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze, but Maya just shook her head as she twisted the ring on her left hand.
A look passed between Ellie and Regan that spoke volumes. Whatever was going on with Maya wasn’t good, and Jayne wasn’t familiar enough to be brought into it.
“Maybe I should go.” She reached for her wallet, but Maya’s voice stopped her.
“No. Stay.” Tears sparkled in her eyes, but she forced a wobbly smile. “Please, Jayne. This is nothing, just a bad day.”
Jayne wasn’t the least bit convinced, but Regan’s eyes pleaded silently with her not to make a big deal about it, so she tucked her wallet away and nodded.
Maya dashed the back of her hand across her eyes, then reached for a pile of the cheesiest nachos she could find. “So you’re going to reopen the store?”
“That’s the plan,” Jayne said. “I just need to find stock.”
“What happened to all her books?” Regan asked with a frown. “I was in there a few days before she shut it down and the shelves were full.”
“I don’t know.” Jayne averted her gaze, hoping they wouldn’t press the issue. “We’ve been through all her stuff, but there weren’t any books.”
“None?” There was a moment of quiet at the table, with a few more pointed looks among the other three, before Ellie sighed. “What? Are we all supposed to sit here and pretend we didn’t notice the dumpster and the U-Haul?”
Ellie lifted her glass to her lips, then added, “Seems that would be more awkward than just putting it out there.”
“That’s our Ellie,” Regan said quietly. “The Queen of Tact.”
When Jayne looked up, Regan’s green eyes twinkled back at her, this time in compassion instead of mirth.
“It’s okay,” she said. “She’s not wrong.”
“See?” Ellie tipped her glass at Jayne and nodded. “It’s hard to believe that with all the stuff you hauled out of there, there weren’t any books.”
“Tell me,” Jayne chuckled. “God knows we found everything else.”
Regan squinted through a half smile, half grimace. “Bad?”
“Worse than bad.” Jayne shuddered. “But it’s all cleaned out, so now we can focus on getting the repairs done.”