by Virna DePaul
After several seconds of awkward silence, Grace said, “Jamie will be there.”
Lucy let out a genuine if slightly watery laugh. “You’re like a bulldog, aren’t you?”
“What?” Grace said, innocently. “I was changing the subject, like you asked.”
“He’s in town already,” Melina added. “Rhys told me they had lunch earlier. He’s here for his sister’s fiancé’s bachelor party tonight. He and his friends were in the limo when they picked up Max and Rhys.”
“Those men are all so different yet all so incredibly sexy,” Grace said.
“Different how?” Lucy asked, surprising herself by how curious she was about Jamie’s life outside the university. “I mean, he talked to a few of his friends on the phone sometimes when we dated. I even saw a picture of one of them—a cutie in a fire fighter’s outfit. But he never told me much about them.”
“The fireman is Ryan,” Melina said. “Very handsome. Looks a bit like the boy next door until you see his devilish smile.”
“Definitely the tom-cat’s kitten. There was also this mysterious guy with sunglasses,” Grace said. “Luke, I think. He looked like he could be carved out of granite. He had this quiet intensity about him. Like a cop. Or a drug lord. Knowing Jamie, I’m betting cop.”
“I’d take that bet,” Lucy said. “What about the friend who’s marrying his sister?”
“That’s Eric,” Melina said. “Super model gorgeous in a buttoned-up kind of way.”
“So who’s left?”
“Cole, who looks like a cross between a Mack truck and a clean Hell’s Angel. And Gabe. So exotic and elegant, but so obviously a bad ass. I can just imagine the sound of women sighing and panties dropping when that crew walks by.”
“Well, I’m sure it’ll be a fun time,” Lucy said even as she wondered if Jamie would avail himself of any of those pantie-less women. How would he let loose with his friends? Strip clubs? Lap dances? More? She felt something perilously close to jealousy but quickly shut the emotion down. “I still don’t know what I would have done if he hadn’t been there when I found out about Gail. He’s called several times since, checking up on me. He offered to attend the funeral with me, too, did I tell you that?” Just as it had with her friends, his offer of continuing support had thoroughly touched her.
“Maybe you should have him around more often,” Grace said with a slow smile.
“He has his own life in Los Angeles, and it’s an extremely busy one now that’s he’s working with his father again. Besides, he’s not what I need.”
“What’s that?” Melina asked. “A good friend, a shoulder to cry on, a handsome face, a hot body, and an intelligent mind?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. He’s a nice guy who comes from an upper class background. I’d never be accepted in his world and I’d get tired of trying to be what people expect me to be.”
“You’re being ridiculous about all of that,” Melina told her, far more bluntly than Lucy would have ever expected. Obviously seeing she’d taken Lucy aback, she quickly said, ‘I’m sorry, Lucy, but as much as you tout living only for yourself, you let the opinions of others matter too much. You’re fun and refreshing to be around. All you have to do is be yourself and acceptance will come. There are always going to be people who don’t accept you for whatever reason. That’s just life. You deal with it and move on.”
“She’s right,” Grace said. “Besides, Jamie cares an awful lot about you. Even if there are those who don’t understand you at first, he’d do everything he could to make sure you’re accepted and treated well.”
“Besides myself,” she said, trying to explain, “the only people I need acceptance from is the two of you. I’m not going to grovel for it from anyone else. Even if Jamie championed me, that kind of thing gets old fast. Imagine having to defend your significant other against things that people say, which in my case would probably all be true. I don’t conform and therefore I make people uncomfortable. In high society, I’m like a red rubber duckie in a bathtub full of yellow ones.” Of course, Mason had used much more hurtful words when he’d broken up with her. And so had Lucy’s father, when he’d been encouraging Mason to break up with her. Words like “vulgar,” “shameless,” and “embarrassing.”
“Your dad just knows we’re not suited. Sometimes I love being with you, Lucy,” Mason had said when he’d told her things were over. “But sometimes you embarrass me. Like when you went skinny dipping after the homecoming picnic. And showed up in that skimpy dress for my cousin’s wedding. And when you cuss too much…”
Squeals came from the baby monitor on the table, jarring Lucy from her thoughts.
“Oh, there are my twin terrors,” Melina said with a smile.
Lucy blinked, shaking off the painful memories, and clapped her hands. “Yay! I was afraid they’d sleep all day. I can’t wait to see them.”
“Let me get them changed and I’ll bring them out,” Melina said.
When she was gone, Lucy asked, “So where’s the bachelor party?”
Grace laughed.
“What?” Lucy asked. “I’m just curious what kind of boys’ night out a billionaire plans.”
“It’s at Divine.”
“Rick Tyler’s club? Isn’t that where they have Open Strip Night? It’s going to be pretty wild.”
Melina walked back in with a baby in each arm just as Grace said, “It sure is. Max and Rhys were like two peas in a pod—they didn’t even want to go. We had to convince them to go for Jamie and have some fun. Max swears he’ll be home in an hour.”
“Rhys, too,” Melina said. “He says he’d rather be here playing with his babies.”
Lucy held out her arms and said, “I can see why.” Melina put both Charlie and Tabitha in her arms and Lucy said, “Look at you two, you’ve gotten so big!”
She received a gurgle and a coo in response. “They’re so smart. I think they’re trying to talk already. Oh Mama, you are going to be in so much trouble when these two are teenagers. Imagine not only having the prettiest girl in the school, but the best looking boy, too.”
“Rhys already says he has a baseball bat to leave at the front door and beat away all the prospects,” Melina said.
Lucy cooed and gooed and baby-talked with the twins for half an hour before they began to fuss and Melina said they were ready for a bottle. Lucy insisted on carrying Tabby in while Grace carried Charlie. They watched Melina heat the pumped breast milk for the bottles and Lucy asked if she could feed her.
Melina handed her the bottle and Lucy took Tabby into the living room, sat in the big, comfy rocking chair, and rocked and sang to her while she drank her bottle. Lucy looked around at Melina and Rhys’s home. It was filled with wedding photos and pictures of their babies. There were playpens and toys strewn here and there, and the whole place smelled like baby powder. Sometimes Lucy wished that she could have all of this. Not the big house or the big bank account or even necessarily the babies, but the powerful and enduring love between Melina and Rhys, and Grace and Max.
That thought brought her back to Jamie again. She felt a sharp pang in her chest. She missed him more than she would ever admit, but she was determined to find a way to get past that. She had to, after all, if they were going to be friends. She didn’t want to lose him from her life completely. After Gail died and he was so kind, she’d actually begun to think about the possibility of making a life with him. And it seemed sometimes, when he called, that he was struggling to move on just as much as she was. But they had to move on. They had to.
How could she help them both move on, once and for all?
Sometimes I love being with you, Lucy, but sometimes you embarrass me.
Mason’s words came to her once more. She remembered the “skimpy” outfit she’d worn to his cousin’s wedding, a darling sundress she’d thought was cute and sexy, not trashy.
She thought about Jamie at Rick’s club tonight partying with his friends….
Suddenly
, an idea came to her.
She’d be taking a risk. If she did what she was thinking, it might result in Jamie not wanting to be her friend at all. But what other choice did she have? She was feeling desperate over her continued longing to be with him…and over her suspicion that he still had feelings for her, as well. They kept a spark of hope alive inside her that she had to extinguish.
She’d never fit in Jamie’s world as anything more than a friend. She could never be his girlfriend…fiancée…wife. She was too out there, too sensual, too outspoken, to blunt to fit into his world and make him a good mate. Maybe the way to convince herself was to prove it to him once and for all in a way he couldn’t possibly deny.
* * *
From a corner in the hottest nightclub in Vegas, a beautiful brunette flashed Jamie a wide smile. She was definitely hot, but instead of buying her a drink, he turned his back.
“Come on man, you can’t tell me she’s not your type,” his friend Gabe murmured next to him.
“Hell, that girl is everybody’s type,” Cole, another friend, said.
Jamie shrugged. They were right; she could easily be his type if her conversation skills were half as good as her body. All he had to do was confirm that was the case by accepting her silent invitation to get to know her better.
He didn’t want to do that, however; hot or not, she wasn’t the woman he wanted.
He was in Sin City, at a bachelor party no less. He should have been having the time of his life, enjoying the hell out of all the hard bodies and naked flesh dancing around him.
Instead, he couldn’t get Lucy out of his head. He also couldn’t stop focusing on one thing…the fact that she was in Vegas, too. And that they’d both be attending the opening night of Rhys and Max Dalton’s new magic show tomorrow.
At the thought of seeing her again, Jamie’s cock twitched. He didn’t know how or why Lucy had gotten under his skin, but she had, and no matter how much she insisted they could only be friends, he could still feel her there. Only one other woman had ever made him feel that before, and she hadn’t been able to deal with the fact Jamie came from money either.
Except with Lucy, he’d thought she’d be able to deal. That her sense of self was strong enough that she’d be able to adapt and, if necessary, stand toe to toe with those who might try to lord over her.
He’d just wanted to enjoy more time with her before he told her about his background.
In the end, he’d been wrong about her ability to deal.
Hell, just the knowledge that he came from money had sent her into a tailspin.
Ultimately, that meant Lucy was right. They really couldn’t be more than friends.
He just had to keep reminding himself that.
“I’m not interested,” he finally said to Gabe. “You go for it. Or you,” he said to Cole.
Jamie had been friends with Gabe and the other guys at the bachelor party since college. They came from diverse backgrounds but without fail, they got together at least once a year, and even more important, they had each other’s backs. At least some things were meant to last.
“I think I’ll pass, too,” Gabe said. “Gotta keep my head space clear to focus on my best man duties in case Eric gets cold feet and decides to make a break for it.”
Jamie chuckled. “Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen.”
For some reason, Gabe’s jaw tightened for a few seconds before he said, “How’s the transition from academia to the business world going? Any regrets?”
“None,” Jamie said, though he knew it wasn’t that simple. It was true, he didn’t regret being back working for the family business. Didn’t mean he didn’t miss teaching. “I have to be up early tomorrow morning to sign a few contracts. Go over some reports,” he said. “Then as soon as Brianne’s wedding is over, I’ll be jumping into things full force.” His family was getting ready to embark on a groundbreaking enterprise—revolutionizing the way airplane parts were produced in order to reduce how often they had to be replaced—and it was up to Jamie to convince an entire town to go along with it. Summitville wasn’t exactly in favor of Whitcomb Enterprises’s latest endeavor.
Actually, they weren’t in favor of him. Back in college, he’d dated the current mayor’s daughter, only to have the relationship end in disaster.
“Well, I’m going in,” Cole said, interrupting Jamie’s thoughts.
Cole stood up, and for a moment his massive frame completely blocked Jamie’s view. He was one solid block of muscle from head to toe. His arms were covered with tattoo sleeves, which he now adeptly hid under his business suits when he went to work. The rest of the time, like now, Cole wore a tee, leather vest, worn jeans, and biker boots. Combined with the tidy goatee he sported, he looked like the bad ass he was.
The music in the nightclub shifted beats, morphing into something fast and furious. Jamie saw Eric talking to several women. Despite the lustful gleam in the women’s eyes, he was probably regaling them with stories about his fiancée.
Jamie made his way over to them, but not before handing a couple hundred-dollar bills to the bartender, who gave him a look of gratification when he said he didn’t want change. Jamie didn’t believe in squandering money, but he tipped well. He knew the value of hard work, and when someone gave him excellent service—the way the bartender had made sure the bachelor party attendee’s glasses were full all night long—Jamie figured they deserved it.
Not everyone was fortunate enough to be born into wealth. His father had drilled it into his head—like the Spiderman saying, only with a twist: with great wealth comes great responsibility. And no one could ever say Jamie wasn’t responsible. His father had raised both him and his sister to understand that someone had worked hard for everything they had. That didn’t mean you didn’t enjoy it, but you never took it for granted.
When Eric saw Jamie, the other man excused himself from his admirers and rose to greet him.
“Tempted?” Jamie asked, nodding at the three women he’d been talking to.
“Don’t get me wrong—this night has been fun—but I’ve been true to your sister since we started dating, and that’s not about to change. In fact…” For a moment, his mouth pressed into a grim line before his expression cleared and he shook his head. “Your sister never has to worry where my loyalty lies.”
Of course, that was exactly what Jamie had expected to hear. Eric had been in love with Brianne since college. He hadn’t even wanted this damn bachelor party, but Brianne had insisted, saying she’d feel guilty about partying with her girls otherwise.
“I’m going to sneak out and give her a call. Cover for me with the others, would you?”
“Sure thing,” Jamie said.
As he watched Eric head out, Jamie imagined how pretty Brianne would be in her white wedding dress.
Lucy had mentioned several times she didn’t even believe in marriage. That hadn’t stopped him from falling for her. Idiot that he was, he’d told himself that an exclusive relationship would be enough…at first.
Jamie’s friend, Ryan Hennessey, a firefighter from San Francisco, walked toward him with a beer in his hand.
“Where’s the groom?”
“He went to get some air.”
Ryan took a healthy gulp of his beer. “Maybe I should join him. I’m not really feeling it tonight,” he said with a frown.
Jamie raised an eyebrow at his friend. “Let me guess. Annie?” he asked.
Ryan sighed. “It’s complicated.”
“Complicated, my ass. You’ve put Annie on a pedestal, Ryan, but that’s the last thing she wants…”
Ryan’s jaw clenched. “Drop it. Please. It’s not like you’re going after what you want—who you want anymore than I am.”
“Yeah. Well, talk about complicated. You know—”
“Hey, guys.”
Ryan and Jamie both turned to see Rhys Dalton, who wasn’t part of the wedding party, but had been invited to the bachelor party anyway. At least, Jamie was pretty sure it
was Rhys. His identical twin brother, Max, was here as well, and Jamie sometimes still had a hard time telling him and his brother apart.
“Enjoying your night of freedom?” Ryan asked.
“There’s plenty of beautiful women here, but no one as beautiful as Melina,” Rhys said.
As if Rhys had conjured them, two extremely pretty ladies approached them. One was platinum blonde, her hair a color that didn’t actually exist in nature, and the other a brunette. They both had on high heels and short skirts and their long hair brushed against the tops of their practically bare breasts. They looked to be barely drinking age, if that.
“Hey, sexy,” the blonde said to Ryan, slurring that simple word. “How’d you like to buy a lady a drink?”
“If I were a betting man,” Ryan said, “I’d bet you’ve already had your fair share. I’ll tell you what though; I’ll buy you a bottle of water, any brand you like.”
Jamie hadn’t been paying attention to the other one and when he turned back she was on the stool next to him with her skirt riding up high.
Looking amused as hell, Rhys said, “Max and I need to talk about the big opening tomorrow before I head home. Have fun....” Jamie heard him laughing over the loud music as he walked away.
Jamie looked at Ryan, who was now completely holding up the swaying blonde. Then he spotted something over Ryan’s shoulder and immediately stiffened.
Near the entrance of the bar stood the club’s owner, a guy named Rick who Jamie had met once. He was a friend of both the Dalton brothers. Standing next to him with her arm around his waist, wearing the hottest little red dress on the planet, was Lucy.
“Excuse me,” he said. He took a step forward only to feel the brunette’s hand on his arm. One strap of her dress had fallen off her shoulder and her heavy right breast was threatening to escape the confines of her top. When Jamie looked back up, Lucy was looking right at them. Gently, he pulled himself free of the other woman’s grasp, leaving Ryan to contend with her and her friend. He immediately headed over to where Lucy stood.