HOT MEN: A Contemporary Romance Box Set

by Ashlee Price

  “I was just trying to help, Daddy!” Jenna protested.

  “Help what?!? Help… what?! How could you possibly help with this situation?!? What did you think was going to happen?!? Please explain to me what you hoped to accomplish by speaking to Sean Hannity!”

  “Well, I only spoke to Mr. Hannity for a minute or two. I mostly talked with a woman he called Ma.”

  “This isn’t just something you wing! You spoke to Ma Hannity?”

  “Yeah, she was pruning… I think that’s what you call it, yeah, trimming, cutting, pruning, whatever,” Jenna shrugged, “She was making a bouquet that was going to lean against a casket. Had these really long scissors.”

  “Are you doing this on purpose? Are you trying to give me a heart attack? What were you trying to accomplish here? Other than pissing off Mr. Hannity, because you did that just fine!”

  Jenna plopped onto the couch with her face buried in her hands. “I don’t know! I thought that since he listened to me on paying more for the back room, maybe he’d cut me some sort of deal on the money you owe. I thought maybe we could figure out a deal to get him out of The Wheel!”

  “He’s not a bank!” Paul chuckled and shouted simultaneously. “He’s a gangster who breaks legs when people don’t pay their debts! His mother is even worse than he is; he learned everything he knows from her! When I told you that I had this under control, what did you think I meant by that? I really need to know, because if I tell you again, I have to make sure I’m using the right vocabulary so you don’t interpret it as ‘go visit the gangster on the other side of town!’“

  “Dad!” she cried.

  “Jenna! I need you to understand how dangerous he is and stay… away… from him! What kind of man do you think this is that I would intentionally keep you away from him?!?”

  “You try to keep me away from Tanner all the time!”

  “That’s ridiculous! And you know it! Don’t be naive, and don’t pretend to be stupid! You got into too many schools for that to be true! You know good and well that me keeping Tanner away is to keep you focused. Me keeping you away from Hannity is for your safety and my sanity!”

  Taking a deep breath, Paul tried to calm himself down. He sat next to Jenna on the couch, patted her on the knee and asked her, “Why are you trying so hard to save me from someone I’ve been dealing with for the last three years?”

  “I worry that when I go away to school, it’s going to get worse.”

  “I’m sorry that you’re so worried about me, but you really don’t need to be. I told you, and I’m going to keep telling you, I already have a plan in motion to get Hannity out of my hair for good. Please trust me. For heaven’s sake, why won’t you listen to me when I tell you I’m okay?” He stared at her.

  Jenna’s floodgates opened once again. “Because you’re not! You’re not okay, Daddy! Mom died two years ago, and the bills still haven’t been paid! You won’t touch her desk. You won’t change the room. You have her stuff in the garage, and everything is just wrong! I need to help you move on so I can! I need to help you because I couldn’t help her!”

  Paul’s tears began streaming just like his daughter’s. “My goodness, you’re just like her. You have already helped me by going back to school and graduating when most people would have crumbled. Look at me, I did. I lost my wife and I let the world around us fall to pieces. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, and I swear to you on your mother’s grave that Sean Hannity will be out of our lives soon, before the new year. Please, for the love of everything that is still good in my life, believe me. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you. Leave him alone. No more deals. No more negotiations. Promise me that.”

  “Okay, Dad, I promise.” They hugged long and tight, never quite ready to let each other go.

  After they both managed to calm down, Paul and Jenna sat uneasily in the silence of a home that still felt incomplete. To fill the emptiness, Jenna took a deep breath and talked about grad school. She grabbed the sheet of paper she’d been working on and brought it to her father to show him.

  Paul sat there looking at it for a while, simply nodding his head. “So when are you leaving?”

  “A week or two after my birthday. I figured I can spend that last week of July on the road and then I’d have all of August to visit Gram and some of my college friends before we officially start the rest of our lives.”

  Paul mumbled something under his breath. Jenna assumed it was because she’d mentioned her grandmother, but she’d never understood why they were always at odds. So she asked him, “How come you and Gram don’t get along?”

  “Who said that?” He was obviously trying to hide his disdain for the woman.

  Jenna cocked her head to the side. “Daddy, come on. You two have never really gotten along, and I was just wondering why. It doesn’t make sense. Going through what we did tends to bring families closer together.”

  “Not Gram,” he said, rubbing her knee and pushing himself off the couch. “Don’t start. I’m still really upset with you about going to see Mr. Hannity. I don’t want to talk about it. Let it go.”

  “But, Dad—”

  “Jenna! Let it go!”

  She didn’t want to, but there wasn’t much wiggle room for her. She was lucky that all he’d done was yell. She was certain that if he’d been in a different mood, he would have taken his rifle out the gun case. So instead of staying in a house still full of sadness and subsiding anger, Jenna left to go for a walk.

  Flashes of her childhood brought a smile to her face while she walked up and down the street. It wasn’t until she heard the ringing of her phone that she stopped reminiscing. Tanner’s smile… You’re going to be the death of me, she thought to herself.

  “Hey,” was all she could muster.

  “Hey,” he chuckled, “I was thinking we could grab dinner or something later. I go into work tomorrow, and I picked up some extra days for guys going on vacation, so I won’t be home for a while.”

  “Why don’t you grab dinner with your girlfriend?” she said angrily and hung up the phone.

  As she expected, he called her right back. “What are you talking about? Please don’t talk to me in riddles, Jenna. I don’t have the patience for this.”

  “That’s fine, because you only have to be patient with your girlfriend. That’s not me,” she told him and hung up again.

  He called her again. “Stop hanging up the phone! That’s really annoying. Talk to me and stop speaking in circles!”

  “Tanner, let me tell you what’s annoying. Sleeping with someone you care about who’s lying to you.”

  “What did I lie to you about, Jenna?” he huffed with exhaustion.

  “Are you back together with Brandy?” she asked him.

  “No!”

  “See, you’re lying.” She hung up the phone for the final time. There was no doubt in her mind that she was right, and the next time he called she sent him straight to voicemail. She realized that he’d eventually come to her house if she continued to ignore him, so instead of waiting for that to happen, she jumped in her car and headed into town. She still needed to figure out a theme for her birthday party, and there never was any better distraction than shopping.

  However, as Jenna moseyed down the street, her thoughts were everywhere else but on the stores she walked by. Her mind wouldn’t shut off, and there wasn’t really that much to distract her here. She was starting to think her father was right; Doveport was nothing but a huge waste of time. She would be better off leaving, ASAP.

  As it turned out, an opportunity to tie up one loose end before she did presented itself as she strolled by a small cafe.

  Bold blue eyes beamed with joy and excitement under soft blonde hair as Brandy sat at a table, blissfully unaware of the storm coming her way. She was happy, but her expression changed noticeably once she and Jenna locked eyes. Jenna sashayed through the dining area and sat down at Brandy’s table.

  “He’s all yours. I’m out,” Jenna t
old her with finality.

  Brandy sighed and rolled her eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  “Tanner!” she snapped, practically shaking the table “I know you guys are back together, and I just wanted to let you know, woman to woman, common courtesy, that you don’t have to worry about me. He’s all yours.”

  Brandy laughed and giggled somewhat uncontrollably. “He’s damaged goods, sweetheart. That’s why we worked out so well. The hurt like to hurt, and when they do it together… the results are spectacularly orgasmic. Every other aspect of our relationship was a crapshoot, but that was one area we never had any complaints about.”

  “Thanks for the TMI, but Tanner’s not hurt, he’s just hung up on you. Although I guess that could be considered damaged,” Jenna said, more to herself than to Brandy.

  “Listen, I hate to rain on your pity party parade here, but I’m expecting someone and they’re not expecting you, so… shoo,” she waved her away with both hands.

  “You know, I thought you’d be more appreciative of me telling you that Tanner’s all yours and you can have him, happily ever after, without my interference. But I guess I was wrong. You’re so lucky to be with him, and you treat him like garbage.” Jenna shook her head.

  “I don’t have him,” Brandy replied frankly, “and I don’t want him, either. In the grand scheme of things I never really wanted him. And getting a happily ever after is so farfetched it’s not even worth thinking about. Tanner is in love with his job. All he does is work. All he wants to do is work. There’s no relationship when you talk to your phone more than you talk with the person you’re planning a future with. But hey, that must have been just me treating him like garbage. Good luck getting him out of the fire station long enough to hold a wedding. Good luck keeping him home long enough to start a family. So let it go. He let me go, and I’ve said what I had to say to him. We’re on good terms, so there’s no need for the dramatics here. Now as I told you before, I’m expecting someone. Please leave.”

  Jenna got up from the table and left the cafe. It seemed like she owed Tanner an apology. From what she knew of Brandy, if she had gotten back with Tanner, she would have been only too happy to gloat about it. It would have been the ultimate ‘I told you so’ kind of moment. But instead of bragging, she’d given her a piece of Tanner she would never have gotten from him. That was what Jenna’s logic told her; but her paranoia got the better of her, and she hung around not too far from the cafe, waiting to see who Brandy was going to eat with.

  A tall, skinny guy, with a man bun and a beard she wanted to run her fingers through, appeared minutes after she left. She watched from afar as he headed into the cafe and planted a kiss on Brandy’s lips that was so passionate it made Jenna blush.

  Jenna could have kicked herself for jumping to conclusions, and she felt even worse about how she’d treated Tanner. It was time for them to have a reasonable conversation—and for her to start listening.

  When she arrived at Tanner’s house, he was just coming outside. He had all of his gear with him and a look on his face that combined surprise and annoyance.

  “I’m sorry,” she blurted out.

  Tanner swung his heavy duffle bag over his shoulder as he walked to the car with Jenna not too far behind.

  “Yeah? About what?” he snarled.

  “Not listening to you. If it makes you feel any better, I don’t listen to anyone really. I’m just flying by the seat of my pants here,” she laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

  A deep breath escaped his lips as he stared at her. “Jenna, what do you want?”

  “I want to apologize and take you to dinner,” she smiled. “I saw Brandy.”

  “Are you okay?” he asked suspiciously.

  “Yeah, she told me you guys aren’t together.”

  “Oh, did she now? I wonder where she’d get a crazy idea like that from.” He rolled his eyes, tossing his bag into the car. “I can’t do dinner. I picked up an extra shift tonight. We can talk later, or not. I’m starting not to care at this point. You’re making this way too hard, Jenna, when we know each other so well.”

  “No, we knew each other. Things have changed Tanner!”

  “That feeling between us still felt the same. Things happen, Jenna. Life happens every day. But you and me… that love we had, it’s still there for me. Well, at least it was. I’ve got some thinking to do. Maybe you were right. We should have just had some fun. I shouldn’t have tried to pick up right where we left off in high school. I gotta go,” he said, getting into his car.

  Jenna stood there as he drove off without saying another word to her. She swore she could feel her heart ripping as his car raced down the street. It was too late. She still didn’t know what she wanted from Tanner, but at this point, she was certain that it was too late for them to even be friends. The only man she’d ever truly loved was pissed, and she wasn’t sure if he’d forgive her.

  Giving him a few days to calm down was the best idea she could come up with. Until then, she’d focus on grad school and throwing the biggest birthday/going away party Doveport had ever seen. It was still summertime, and the bar never used that back lot. An idea was cooking, and she was certain she could turn it into a blockbuster event.

  Despite what her father said, she could help him one last time and help herself in the process. Resolving at least one of her issues before she left Doveport was something to look forward to. Getting Tanner off her mind was another. She’d screwed up with just about everyone in her life, but she was going to make it up to all of them.

  Chapter 17

  Days passed with Jenna only being able to have full conversations with Hannah. Her father was still in a funk, giving her the silent treatment for the most part. His answers were short, and there wasn’t much else between them. Jenna hated it when things were like this. It had only happened one other time, and because her mother hadn’t been ready to kill Tanner alongside him, Paul had put her on ice too. They’d gone on for days like that. She wondered how long her dad would freeze her out for this time.

  Tanner had been at work the whole time, and he hadn’t called, hadn’t even sent a text message, nothing to signal her that it was okay to speak to him again. She could just pop up at the station, but the odds of that working in her favor were slim. So she waited.

  In the meantime, she’d been all over town looking for another store like Lucky Llana’s, but the only thing she came across were a few generic five-and-dimes and a craft store… none of which had the pizzazz she was searching for. Suddenly, the idea emerged like a phoenix through ashes. Weeks had gone by since the fire. Perhaps the Lucky Llana’s itself was up and running again.

  Much to Jenna’s disappointment, the store wasn’t open when she pulled up to it. But then she saw a familiar face coming out of it. She wasn’t too sure, but she called out to the woman anyway as she got out of her car.

  “Excuse me! Do you know where Lucky Llana is? I would love to know when the store is opening back up.”

  The woman, who’d once sported extravagant black hair resembling that of Albert Einstein, was looking plain at best. She wore a simple blouse and pants, and her hair was straightened into a bob with a slight curl at the bottom. Her eyes had lost the vigor, the excitement that used to glow when she smiled. The air of defeat lingered around her.

  “Lucky Llana isn’t here, sweetheart. Llana Samuels, on the other hand, is at your service,” she sighed. It was the saddest introduction Jenna had ever heard.

  “So it’s that bad?” she asked her curiously.

  “Well, why don’t you come on in and take a look?” she shrugged, heading back toward the door. The huge windows were boarded up, and there were still remnants of broken glass scattered across the pavement. Inside it was dark until she flipped a switch. The stench of smoke and mildew hung in the air. There were boxes everywhere; most of the inventory was apparently packed up.

  “So are you moving to a different location?” Jenna asked.

  Llana turned
to her with tears in her eyes. “No. Just closing up.”

  Jenna was ready to bawl along with the woman as she stared around what was left of the eclectic party store. The entire wall that separated it from the shop next door was blackened. There were holes through which she could see what used to be a restaurant. It was even worse off than Lucky Llana’s. Some of the mannequins were melted. There was still a considerable amount of debris. And the stench only got stronger the closer they got toward the dressing room where they’d been trapped.

  “How about we go someplace a little bit brighter and let me buy you a cup of coffee or something?” Jenna suggested.

  “Oh honey, that’s not necessary.” The woman forced a smile as she patted Jenna on the hand.

  “But I would like to. Besides, I think I could use the advice of a wise woman right now.” There was something about Llana that reminded her of her Gram. Gram always told her that no matter how old a person gets, they always want to feel needed. So she walked with Llana over to Mr. Donner’s bakery, where they sat at the little table in the corner by the window.

  The old man smiled even brighter when he saw Jenna walk back into the place. “One white hot cocoa coming right up!”

  “Thank you, Mr. Donner. And Llana, what would you like?”

  “Oh, I already know what she wants, too,” Mr. Donner interjected. “A slice of my blueberry tart with a nice hot cup of Earl Grey tea.”

  “You got it, Billy,” she smiled as she sat down.

  “I guess I’m not the only regular customer in here, huh?”

  “Not in the slightest,” she sighed. “Thank you for this. I just don’t know what to do. I don’t feel like doing anything else. I don’t want to rebuild the shop. I don’t want to fight with the insurance companies anymore. I’m just tired.”

  “Why are you fighting with the insurance company? The fire started next door, right? So none of that was your fault. They should just pay for the damages. You can open back up and people like me wouldn’t have to rely on crappy chain stores with no personality for their event necessities.”