The Only Thing

by Marie Harte

  Del sipped from her drink. “Oh, this hits the spot. Rena and I decided to spend our Sunday walking around Green Lake. Want to come?”

  J.T. stared at his sister. “Wait. You’re telling me you wanted to exercise? Voluntarily?”

  Rena laughed. “Yeah, that sounds pretty weird to me too.”

  “Hey, I keep in shape.”

  J.T. shrugged. “Luck of the genes. Pretty much the only thing I’ve ever seen you run is your mouth.”

  “Seriously? When’s the last time your fat ass got up on a treadmill?”

  He snarled, “My fat ass is amazing. Tell her, Hope.”

  Hope nodded. “It’s amazing.”

  “Any number of women would die to get a shot at this ass.”

  “Any number,” Hope repeated.

  Rena snorted.

  “I mean, Hope can barely look away, and we’re just playacting this relationship. Imagine if we were really dating? Hope, you’d be glued to my ass.”

  “Glued,” she said, then snickered.

  “Why does she keep repeating you?” Del asked. “What are you two drinking, anyway?” She sniffed at his drink, and J.T. gently pushed her back by her forehead. Well, mostly gently.

  “Easy, Del. Don’t want to scar the baby, you know, by making me spank your ass. So how’s the seed? Did the doctor say it’s germinating yet?”

  “It’s officially a kid.” Del grinned. “A real one. I mean, we need to wait a few more weeks to make sure it’s all smooth sailing, but after three months, barring any complications, it’s safe to tell people. So consider yourself told.”

  “So cool! And don’t worry. You’re too mean to let a kid slip away. Unless Mike scares him with that wimpy voice.”

  She shook her head. “Really? Would you please get off my husband?”

  “Shouldn’t I be the one saying that? Seems to me you wouldn’t be pregnant if you’d get off the poor guy.”

  * * *

  Hope watched brother and sister argue.

  “I find them almost as entertaining as my books.” Rena sipped from an iced coffee. “And I live to read.”

  Hope grinned. “So what are you guys doing out here? Are you really walking around the lake, or did you somehow track us down to torture us?”

  “That would have been a nice plan, but no.” Rena’s eyes clouded. “We’ve been wandering, checking out retail spaces.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, I work at Ray’s Bar. I think you know that. But I’m actually a hair stylist. I’ve been slaving away for years to get enough money to open my own shop.”

  “Oh, that’s great. But no luck on finding a space?”

  “One that won’t cost me a kidney and my firstborn? No.” Rena looked depressed. “I had the perfect spot all picked out. Even talked to the landlady about it and got her okay. Then she gave it away before I could come up with the rest of the money.”

  “Are you trying to buy it or lease it?” Hope didn’t think the woman would need that much money to rent, even for a year. And if she didn’t have the funds for just a year, it might be prudent to wait a bit longer.

  “Oh, I’m leasing. But I have a set amount I wanted to have before I enter into any contracts. It’s all planned out, has been for years.” She sighed. “And trust me, I looked for a long, long time. I found the perfect space. Close to home, close to the garage, to places I feel comfortable being near and where I’ll get great foot traffic. Then, she rented it right out from under me.”

  Hope felt for her. “Tell me what you’re looking for, and I’ll get someone to help you.” Her mother was a massive pain, but she was a good woman. And she loved helping independent businesses get started whenever possible. “I know a big-wig real estate guru. She normally sells houses, but she’ll know if something comes up you could rent for a great price. What area are you looking at?”

  They talked for a bit before Hope realized she and Rena had become entertainment for the Websters.

  She looked up to see J.T. and Del staring at her. “What?”

  J.T. leaned over the table and kissed her. On the mouth, with tongue, in front of his sister and cousin.

  “What was that for?” He’d scrambled her brain.

  “For being you.”

  She didn’t understand, but Del looked like the cat that had eaten the canary, and Rena soon mirrored her. “What are you two smiling at?”

  “Oh my gosh. She’s even starting to sound like him,” Del said and slapped her leg.

  Rena snorted coffee out her nose, then clamped a hand over her face.

  Soon all of them were laughing and making fun of each other. And Hope realized she never had a bad time when she was with J.T.

  Chapter 16

  Hope waited all week at work for something to happen. When nothing did, she felt both glad and annoyed. Sure, it would be great if her secret admirer problem would just go away, but she’d rather she knew the identity of the gift giver, to allay her fears she’d attracted the attentions of some psycho.

  Bad enough she had her own psycho to deal with…in bed.

  She smiled to herself, still unsure where she stood with J.T. but having too much fun to call things off. He constantly made her laugh. He’d convinced her to sit still so he could draw her. Then he showed her pictures of herself looking ridiculous. Her face on a shark’s body. Her as a cartoon with a huge head and butt. Hope as an anime character dressed in a slutty Sailor Moon outfit. But her favorite was Hope as Wonder Woman, which had been very cool, especially because he’d made her tall and curvy instead of vertically challenged and simply cute.

  Either he or Cam walked her to her car after work, and Cam had started arriving earlier in the mornings so she didn’t have to walk up the stairs to the office by herself. She hadn’t received any flowers, treats, or notes. Just blessed quiet.

  Today she’d turned thirty, yet she couldn’t say she felt any differently than she had yesterday. The day had been mostly uneventful, with the exception of Cam’s surprise birthday cake for her during lunch and his gift certificate to a trendy dining spot she’d had her eye on for a while.

  “Any plans for tonight?” Cam asked as they wrapped up for the day.

  “Noelle and I are going out on the town.”

  “Nothing with J.T.?”

  She shrugged, swallowing her disappointment. Again. “We’re not joined at the hip.”

  “Ah. Well, happy birthday. Just one more appointment today, and you’re free to be thirty.”

  “Gee, thanks, Cam.”

  He laughed.

  “Joe Gregory should be here in another twenty minutes.”

  He nodded and went back to his office, humming “Happy Birthday” along the way.

  No, Hope and J.T. didn’t need to spend every waking moment together. It had surprised her that he hadn’t mentioned doing anything tonight. They’d spent the last two weekends together. And though they hadn’t seen each other every night this week, on those evenings he had a late appointment, they talked before bed.

  She’d gotten used to her pretend relationship, which J.T. continued to tease her about. She didn’t know how to handle him, exactly. As they both well knew, the reason for them coming together had been to convince her mother that Hope wasn’t as immature as she knew herself to be. Her lame rationalization to stay together afterward, to make it convincing when they broke up, was embarrassing. But that didn’t explain why he’d agreed to remain an item. Or why he called her more on the phone than she called him.

  Yet on her birthday, he hadn’t said a thing other than for her to have a great day. He knew she and Noelle were going out, but not where. Noelle hadn’t told her, wanting it to be a surprise. And J.T. hadn’t even asked if he could come.

  “Hope, you should celebrate with family, with your best friend. I’d only be in the way, and we’re keeping it cas
ual, right?” he’d said while getting ready for work. “I mean, me hanging with you on your special day feels a little off for what we have.”

  “Good points.” She’d faked a smile, waved goodbye, and left for the day.

  She tried not to feel hurt about it, but she couldn’t help it.

  Even her family was doing something nice, everyone congregating on Sunday for brunch to celebrate. With that in mind, Hope needed to get her act together. No time to freak out on her mother again, not when it did no good to try to convince Linda that Hope had her own mind.

  Ten minutes later, she looked up when the door chimed.

  “Hi, Hope. I have an appointment with Cam at four thirty.”

  She smiled and buzzed Cam to let him know Joe had arrived a few minutes early. The owner of a small IT firm making its mark had been smart to get Cam to help invest for his personal retirement. Slender, funny, and a nice-looking man in his mid-thirties, Joe had been someone her mother had talked about setting her up with. Fortunately, Cam had intervened before Linda had all his single male clients lined up to take Hope out for a test drive.

  “We’ve been looking forward to seeing you again, Joe. How was Hawaii?” They made small talk as she walked him back to Cam’s office.

  As she left him, she caught Joe looking at her breasts before he glanced at her face and smiled. “Thank you.” He turned to meet Cam, who extended his hand in greeting.

  Hope shut the door behind them and went back down the hall, confused. Joe had never before given her any kind of weird looks, but he’d for sure been staring at her chest.

  Perhaps…he was her admirer.

  She had a mini freak-out, then did the math. Joe had never been anything but pleasant yet aloof in the six months he’d been a client. Cam really liked him. Plus Joe had been in Hawaii when she’d received the flowers. True, he could have ordered those, but a man had ordered her a pastry in person. Unless he’d hired someone to order it at the store?

  What kind of man could look a woman in the eye, yet not admit he was leaving her gifts? Following her around, knowing her routine?

  Hurrying off to the bathroom, Hope did her business and was washing her hands when she caught sight of herself in the mirror. A piece of pink fuzz from her sweater sat smack-dab in the middle of her chest. She plucked it off and threw it away.

  She had to laugh at herself. “I am such a moron.” Just because she liked her looks, and J.T. happened to feel the same, didn’t mean every man wanted to do her. Or buy me flowers.

  The rest of the day passed quickly, and before she knew it, she’d gone home, changed, and met with Noelle at a popular nightclub downtown. Dressed in a slinky black skirt, a dark-red top with a plunging neckline, and risky black heels, Hope felt pretty, sexy, and thirty.

  She sighed, toying with her drink.

  Noelle looked fabulous, dressed to kill in a short green dress that made her already long legs look even longer. “Isn’t this dress great? I got it at a consignment shop for twenty bucks. Go, me.”

  Hope laughed. “You truly are the bargain shopper.”

  Noelle held up her glass. “A toast to my dress and your birthday. To us.”

  Hope clinked it and took a sip of a cosmopolitan done just right. “So what’s the plan?” Noelle had told Hope to do nothing but enjoy herself. Hope had taken the bus so as not to have to drive home, and had shown up content to let her best friend make magic happen with the rest of her night.

  “I have a private room reserved for us in the back.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah. You’re going to love this.” Noelle grabbed her by the arm and took her back down a hallway. “This is just for you, Hope. Happy birthday.”

  Noelle pushed them through a door and closed it behind her. A raised platform had been set up at one end of the small room. A minibar sat at the other end, and small tables and chairs faced the stage. On the table closest to the stage, a cake with candles sat. A glance over the doorway showed a HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HOPE banner.

  “Aw, Noelle. This is so nice.” Hope teared up.

  “Stop! You’ll ruin your mascara.”

  Hope laughed.

  The door opened, and a bunch of her friends filed in. Amber, Sarah, Collette, more buddies from the gym and a few of her past jobs. They made small talk before the girls grabbed some seats. Ava and Zoe arrived soon after, looking around with wide eyes.

  “Happy birthday, Hope.” Zoe hugged her.

  Ava grinned. “Wow. Thirty. Welcome to the big leagues.”

  They chatted a bit. Then her cousins’ wives entered, along with Del and Rena.

  “Wow. You really did invite everyone.” There had to be close to twenty women filling the room.

  When a buff, shirtless man dressed in black dress pants, dress shoes, and a bow tie entered and took position behind the bar, Hope blinked in surprise. The club wasn’t a strip joint, and it didn’t employ half-dressed, gorgeous men either. Her friends immediately surged to buy drinks. Enough cocktails, and they’d be filling his tip jar with more than bills. Knowing her friends, the bartender would get a fair amount of phone numbers.

  Yep. Collette hadn’t waited for the drinks. A business card already sat in his tip jar.

  Hope had a feeling the night was about to get wild. “Ah, Noelle, did the bartender lose his shirt or what?”

  “Eye candy, milady.” Noelle laughed. “Wait until you get a look at tonight’s entertainment.”

  “Oh my God. This is a strip show!”

  “Hell yeah. You only turn thirty once.”

  Hope had a scandalous thought. “Please tell me J.T. isn’t going to strut his stuff onstage taking off his clothes.” Not that she wouldn’t mind seeing that—at all—but she didn’t want him naked around other women. And certainly not Collette.

  “Now that’s one heck of an idea. I met him, you know, when we put this party plan together.” Noelle sighed. “If I wasn’t so into Jean-Luc, I’d fight you for him.” She checked her phone, then grabbed Hope and dragged her to their table. “Wait here. Cosmo, right?” She pointed at the drink Hope had set at the table.

  “Yeah, but—”

  Noelle left, and Rena arrived to take the unoccupied chair at the table. “Hi, Hope. Happy birthday.” Rena had put her hair back in a clip, and she looked different. Less cute and wholesome and more dangerous and seductive.

  Hope blinked. “Holy cow. You look vampy.”

  Rena grinned. “Thanks. I can do a look besides sweet. I’m trying it out here before I put it to good use later.”

  “Oh? On who?”

  “It’s whom, and I bet I know,” came a deep voice from behind her.

  Hope whirled around to see J.T. standing there, in pants and a shirt, thank God. “Oh good. You’re wearing more than a tie.”

  He raised a brow as he leaned in to kiss the breath out of her. A ton of whistles and catcalls from her friends made Hope blush. He handed her a single long-stemmed red rose, minus the thorns.

  So sweet. “Aw, that’s so nice.” She blinked again, telling herself to stop getting so emotional over the simplest things.

  “Have fun, baby. I’ll see you when you get home.” He left before she could ask him what exactly he meant by that. But the fact he’d shown up to wish her a happy birthday, with a flower, no less, made her so very happy.

  Music started pumping from overhead speakers, and the lights flickered. A low male voice announced, “Everyone, the show’s about to start. If you could all please take your seats.”

  Hope sat. Noelle hurried back, put drinks on the table, and rubbed her hands together. Multicolored lights flashed on the small stage, and the room around them darkened except for the slight glow back by the minibar.

  “Noelle, seriously, tell me this isn’t some cheesy stripper show,” Hope whispered.

  Rena nodded. “They stuff their b
ikinis with socks. So I hear.”

  “Nothing cheesy about it or their bikinis.” Noelle grinned. “Shh. Enjoy the drink.” She put a stack of ones in front of Hope. “Happy birthday.”

  Hope groaned.

  “Ladies, may I present Turf. He’s a landscaper who likes to dance. And he’s crazy good at trimming bush.” The women groaned. “He’s also found that sometimes wetting down the bush makes it that much easier to care for.” The groans soon turned to cheers.

  “That was horrible,” Hope murmured to Noelle.

  Rena laughed along with several others.

  When six and a half feet of oiled Turf walked onto the stage, those cheers became shouts. Nothing cheesy about the handsome guy with muscles to spare who smiled and asked for the birthday girl.

  No, not so cheesy at all.

  * * *

  Hope caught a ride home with Noelle, having spent all of Noelle’s money. Fifteen ones, but it had been worth it. She’d gone to exactly one stripper show about five years ago, and it had been nothing like the one she’d seen tonight. The guys had been fun, could dance, and seemed to really enjoy the evening. It helped that her crowd hadn’t been too obnoxious; thankfully, Collette and the bartender had found a quiet place to enjoy themselves on his break.

  The company had been grand, the show more than enjoyable, and the booze flowing freely, which had gone nicely with the cake.

  Hope was still singing that last number Guns—Oh my God, his ass, and I’m not an ass girl—had been dancing to when Noelle parked in front of her apartment.

  “You are the best friend ever.” Hope gave her a tight hug, only slightly buzzed since she’d spent more time dancing than drinking. The show had turned into a dance party at the end, with everyone laughing it up.

  “I am. And I have a secret for you.” Noelle grinned wide. “Guns is Jean-Luc.”

  “What?”

  “I know. Well, I have to go. He’s giving me my own private show in half an hour. Au revoir.”

  Hope left the car and waved to Noelle. Best. Friend. Ever. But as she turned, a large figure loomed near the entry.

  “About time you got home,” J.T. said as he walked into the light.