“This is Michael.” Unfortunately, Michael didn’t look like anyone Jack would deem to hire. He was dressed in clothes that were just big enough to make him look sloppy. His grooming, while not being offensive in any way, was not the perfection that Jack expected from his employees. Izzy groaned.
After shaking hands and sitting down, Izzy launched into the interview knowing that Jack wasn’t going to give poor Michael a fair chance. And what a shame that was, because Michael was perfect for the job. He had plenty of experience in bookkeeping, had worked at a clothing retailer before, and was super friendly and polite. But he wasn’t hot and apparently, that’s all Jack cared about.
The interview over, Michael departed after a hearty handshake with Izzy and a half-hearted wiggle of Jack’s hand.
“He’s perfect,” Izzy said before Jack got a chance to open his mouth. Jack shook his head, but Izzy was undeterred. “Seriously, Jack, you have to consider him. So what if he had a bit of facial hair and his clothes were not perfectly ironed!”
“These things are important, Izzy,” Jack insisted.
“Uh, no, Jack, not for a bookkeeper they aren’t.” Before the two could get into a knockdown fight, Izzy’s phone rang. Noel was home and wondering when Izzy would be done.
“I’m heading out,” Izzy said after promising Noel to be home in a few minutes. “Do not hire Damien.” Jack merely grinned and Izzy swore under her breath.
Chapter 6
I want to scream like a little girl and go hide
Now that Jack was looking forward to Damien starting work at Fabulous, Darling, he had no interest in keeping his blind date with Tommy. Because yes, of course, Jack had hired Damien as his bookkeeper. He at least had the decency to wait until the day after the interviews, but really that was just to be able to tell Izzy that he took the time to think about it. He couldn’t wait until Monday when Damien started. Work had never looked so yummy!
But a promise was a promise, and so off he went on Thursday to have dinner with the poor man. He had wanted to just get coffee in case Tommy wasn’t all that, but Tommy had insisted on dinner at a restaurant somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Jack suspected that someone was still in the closet.
After a thirty-minute drive, Jack pulled up to a steakhouse just off the main East-West Highway. Huh. It actually looked pretty decent. The place was dark with only dim lighting. He let his eyes adjust for a few moments before walking to the hostess. He beamed a smile at her and she sighed. She was beautiful, but the girlie parts did nothing for Jack.
The hostess lead him to a corner booth where another man was sitting staring at his menu. He stood awkwardly as Jack arrived. He wiped his hands on his jeans before reaching out to shake hands.
“I’m Tommy. You must be Jack,” Tommy’s voice stuttered a bit, but his handshake was solid. Jack took his time perusing Tommy before giving him his hand back. He was surprised to see that the knitting tribe was indeed correct. Tommy was hot. He was tall, which was important to Jack, as he was 6’ 3” and didn’t like to strain his neck. He had blond hair that was a bit long but styled in a ‘just got out of bed’ manner. Clear blue eyes, a square jaw, and a strong nose completed the picture. He looked like a former All-American quarterback.
Jack finally let go of Tommy’s hand and scooted into the booth across from Tommy. “So,” he said. “You go to church with my ladies.”
Tommy nearly choked on his water. “Ladies? We are talking about Betty and her gang, aren’t we?”
Jack tried not to take offense. No one could make fun of his knitters except for him and Izzy, but Tommy was too cute to get mad at. He let it slide.
“Look,” Tommy said as he looked anywhere but at Jack. “I appreciate you coming out here and all, but I’m not interested.”
Jack bristled. Not interested? How could the man not be interested in him? He was good-looking, owned a successful business, and was tons of fun to boot.
“Sorry, sorry. I’m saying this all wrong.” Tommy took a deep breath and leaned forward. “I’m not gay,” he whispered.
Okay, now Jack was confused. Normally men whispered that they were gay. Not the other way around. He leaned back in the booth and crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay. What’s going on?”
“Betty and her gals have been trying to set me up with every woman within a thirty-mile radius. It’s driving me absolutely batty. Do you know what it’s like to be the only single man at church and have every old biddy there trying to set you up with their daughter, niece, granddaughter, second cousin twice removed? Everyone!” He threw his hands up in surrender. “It’s fucking exhausting.”
Jack chuckled. “I can only imagine, darling.”
“Exactly. I thought if I told them I’m gay, I’d be off the hook. Because, let’s face it, you don’t want to be on their bad side.” Tommy leaned forward and whispered, “You know some poor woman pissed them off and they put Ex-Lax in a batch of brownies to teach her a lesson. I don’t touch the cookies anymore.”
Jack let his gaze slide up and down Tommy’s upper body. “No, I don’t imagine that you do,” he drawled.
“Thanks.” Tommy might not be gay, but he had absolutely no problem with Jack checking him out. What a shame he didn’t play for Jack’s team. “Anyway, I’m really sorry about this but I didn’t want to say this on the phone. Plus,” Tommy’s eyes pleaded with Jack. “I would really appreciate it if you didn’t tell them I’m straight.”
Jack chuckled. This was new. He was, unfortunately, used to hiding people’s secrets, but usually it wasn’t because they were straight. “What do I get out of it?”
“Dinner?”
Jack waved his hands. “It’s fine. I totally understand. The old broads can get a bit pushy.” Tommy snorted. “Yeah, yeah, more than a bit. But I love them.”
“I don’t know whether I love them or want to strangle them. When their attention is on someone else, I want to worship at their conniving little feet. But when they sink their claws into me, I want to scream like a little girl and go hide.”
The waitress arrived to take their orders and Tommy raised an eyebrow at Jack. Jack smiled and turned toward her to place his order. She blushed at Jack’s predatory smile before turning to Tommy and widening her eyes in a pleasant surprise. After a second she looked from Tommy to Jack and back again. Her smile wavered and she shook her head slightly before walking off.
Tommy laughed as he watched her butt sway toward the kitchen. “Does that always happen?”
Jack shook his head. “Not really.”
They didn’t speak again until their beers arrived. “So,” Tommy said as he raised his glass at Jack. “Do we have a deal? You won’t out me to Betty and her entourage?”
Jack clinked his glass and nodded. “Nah. No worries.” He took a sip and put his mug down before leaning forward. “But you gotta share the goods. What have the girls been up to at church?”
Tommy strummed his fingers on the table. “Well, they’re always up to something but my favorite story is the scarlet letter.”
Jack giggled and leaned forward. “Do tell.”
Tommy leaned closer as well and whispered, “Well, there was a rumor that one of the women in the choir, a middle-aged divorcée, was having an affair with a married man. Worse, the married man’s wife was pregnant.”
Jack scrunched his nose in disapproval. “Oh, the ladies wouldn’t like that one bit.”
“No,” Tommy continued, shaking his head. “So anyway. The ladies snuck into the choir room and jimmied open the locker with the choir robes. I don’t even know how to do that! How do those old women know? Anyway, they stole the divorcée’s robe and brought it back the next day. Only it wasn’t the same robe. They sewed the letter ‘A’ onto the front of it.”
“Oh no, they didn’t,” exclaimed Jack. “What happened?”
“Well, the woman was obviously humiliated, claimed she was sick, and ran out of the church like it was on fire.” Tommy shrugged. “She never showed up at church
again. Remind me to never get on the bad side of Betty’s crew.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” Jack began but was interrupted when the waitress brought their food out.
“Spill!” Tommy insisted as soon as the waitress was out of hearing range.
“Well,” Jack started and then he told Tommy the story of how he and the knitting team together with Izzy and Noel chased down Izzy’s grandma’s murderer. By the time he finished the story, their food was finished and Tommy was wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.
“Oh, my God. What are we gonna tell them about us? I don’t want to be set up on any more dates, but I don’t want to piss them off. I don’t enjoy salt in my coffee.”
“Salt in coffee?” Jack’s nose curled in disgust.
“Yeah. I don’t know who pissed them off that time, but they decided to pour a ton of salt into the coffee at fellowship.”
Jack laughed but then got back to business. “We’ll just say we didn’t hit it off romantically but that we’re friends.”
“Works for me.”
Chapter 7
Hot! He’s hot
Jack pulled up to Izzy and Noel’s house, but he didn’t get out of the car once it was parked. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and tried to think of an excuse to turn around and go back home. His mind was a blank. He came over to watch football with Noel every week. He would miss once in a while, but he’d never skip an Oklahoma – Kansas game. He grunted and got out of the damn car.
The front door was unlocked, but Jack knocked anyway. He’d learned his lesson the hard way. Noel answered the door wearing an Oklahoma T-shirt and ushered him in. “Hey man,” Jack said in greeting and Noel clapped him on the back in response.
“Beer?” Noel asked, but he was already heading to the refrigerator to grab two bottles.
Izzy was bustling around the kitchen preparing enough food for an army. Noel smacked her ass and used one hand to grab her neck to pull her in for a kiss. Jack made a gagging sound.
Izzy blushed. “Hi Jack,” she said and moved to kiss his cheek. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Who are you expecting, Iz? There’s enough food here to feed the entire town.”
She shrugged. “Just felt like cooking.” Jack squinted his eyes at her. “Come on, grab a plate before we head down to the man cave.”
The three stood around the kitchen island snacking on nachos and drinking beer for a few minutes. The pre-game hadn’t even started yet, so they had plenty of time. Jack was just starting to relax when the doorbell rang and Noel casually strolled to answer it. “Who else did you invite Iz?” Jack asked.
“No one.” She said just before Betty’s voice could be heard. Of course, she wasn’t alone.
The entire knitting posse walked into the kitchen with Noel following, eyes twinkling. He knew a surprise attack when he saw one. Izzy grabbed lemonade from the refrigerator while the ladies busied themselves getting plates of food and sitting at the dining room table. Once they were seated, Betty called to Jack. “Come sit with us for a minute Jack.”
“How did they even know I was here?” He whispered to Noel, who was shaking in silent laughter.
“I saw your car,” Ally’s quiet voice responded. Her voice might be quiet, but obviously the woman had the hearing of a bat. Of course, Ally had called Betty and now the gang was all here. Awesome.
Izzy pushed him out of the kitchen and into the dining room. He sat on a chair and Noel handed him another beer. He smiled his thanks to Noel whose entire face had been overtaken by a smirk. Izzy plopped down next to him and grabbed a glass of lemonade. He raised an eyebrow at her, but before she had a chance to say anything, Betty decided it was time for the interrogation to begin.
“So,” Betty said as she folded her arms across her chest. “How did your date with Tommy go?” She leaned forward. “You did go out with him, didn’t you?”
Jack nodded. “Didn’t you see him at church? Why didn’t you ask him?” He refused to believe his voice sounded like a twelve-year-old.
“He was sick,” answered Martha. “He called me this morning coughing and wheezing.”
Why that little rascal. Leaving Jack to take fire from the ladies. What a wimp. He couldn’t blame him, but why hadn’t Tommy at least called to warn him? Jack was careful with his response. “Tommy is a nice guy,” he began.
“And hot,” chimed in Martha while the others nodded. Izzy coughed to hide her laugh and Jack sent a glare her way. She just smiled and wiggled her eyebrows.
“Yes,” Jack spoke slowly. “He’s good looking.”
“Hot! He’s hot.” Now it was Rosemary’s turn to make sure everyone understood that Tommy was hot.
Noel was no longer trying to hold in his laughter. “Just admit he’s hot and be done with it.”
Jack threw his hands up in surrender. “He’s hot. Okay. He’s hot. But we have zero chemistry. Zero.”
“Huh,” Betty grunted. Noel raised an eyebrow at Jack, but Jack just shook his head ever so slightly. Noel’s eyebrow went slightly higher before he lowered it and smirked.
“But maybe that will come later. Once you know each other better,” Martha suggested.
Jack shook his heads. “Sorry, but no. He’s a cool guy and we can hang out, but that’s it.”
Betty squinted her eyes and stared at Jack. He refused to look away. After all, what he was saying was true. There were absolutely no sparks between him and Tommy. Yeah, okay, this probably had something to do with the fact that Tommy was straight, but the group of grandmas didn’t need to know that. He’d promised to keep Tommy’s secret after all.
“Alright,” Betty finally conceded before digging into her food.
Thirty minutes later, half the food was eaten and the women had left. The pre-game had started so Izzy was quickly cleaning things before heading downstairs. Not that there was much to clean. The ladies may be troublemakers, but they were good guests, never failing to clean up after themselves.
“You gonna tell us the truth about Tommy,” Izzy asked just when Jack started to breathe normally again.
“Nothing to tell.” He shrugged.
“Oh come on, I recognize stonewalling when I see it,” Noel pushed.
“I promised Tommy I wouldn’t say anything to the ladies.”
Izzy pointed to herself and then Noel. “We’re not the ladies,” she said while continuing to motion between the two of them. Noel grunted in agreement.
“Fine,” Jack threw up his hands in surrender. “Tommy’s not gay.”
Izzy giggled.
“Let me guess,” Noel stopped cleaning and crossed his arms over his massive chest. “He was tired of the ladies trying to set him up and thought telling them he was gay would get them off his back.”
“How did you know?” Jack stared at Noel, who just shrugged.
“It’s what I would have done if they were bothering me.”
Izzy whipped a dishcloth at him. “But you’re married now so that won’t be happening.”
Noel grabbed the dishcloth and used it to pull Izzy to him. He grabbed her head and tilted it before going in for a kiss. Jack let them go at it for a few seconds before he cleared his throat – loudly. Noel released Izzy and went to grab two more beers.
Jack was on the first step of the basement stairs when Izzy pounced. “Not so quick there, Jackie boy.” Shit. He lowered his head in defeat. How had he ever thought he would get away without her interrogation?
“What’s up?” He asked, innocent voice firmly in place.
Izzy grunted. “Don’t give me that ‘I wouldn’t hurt a fly’ voice. What’s going on with the bookkeeper position?”
“Why does it sound like you already know?” She snorted but made no other move to reply and instead planted one hand on her cocked hip and waited. Damn Noel and his helping Izzy learn some patience. He shrugged. “If you already know, why are you asking?”
“Because you’re being a fool, Jack Harris!” She stomped her foot in
case he didn’t get the message.
“Hey! That’s not fair. Just because the man is fine doesn’t mean he can’t do the job!” He huffed.
“I know that! But you don’t since you didn’t pay one lick of attention to his interview.”
“I did too!”
“Seriously? You’re just gonna stand there and lie to me?” Her voice was raised and her face had turned red in anger.
“It’s my company!”
“I never said it wasn’t!” She was nearly screaming now. Noel rushed out of the basement and ran over to her. He got behind her and pulled her close. “Shhh, baby. Don’t get so upset. It’s not good for the… you. It’s not good for you.”
Izzy nodded. “Fine. But don’t come crying to me when he quits because you screwed him and then didn’t want seconds.”
“Seriously Iz? You think I’d do that?”
“I know you would. Do I need to start naming names?” Jack took a deep breath and tried to control his anger because, shit, she was right. He had dabbled a bit in his employees. But he’d learned his lesson, hadn’t he? Apparently not. Crap. Now he couldn’t date Damien without looking like a complete ass.
“I’m going home,” Jack said and walked out without another word. Noel called to him but he just silently waved his goodbye.
Chapter 8
Just spit it out
Even though Jack was less excited about Damien starting work at Fabulous, Darling now that he couldn’t pounce on him, he was still awake and at the office at the ungodly hour of 9 a.m. to welcome Damien to the team. When the doorbell to the back entrance of the store rang, Jack jumped up to answer it. Okay, he was still pretty excited to see Damien. Maybe they could date in a month or two?
Damien looked like six feet of man candy when Jack opened the door. Jack took a moment to study the picture of perfection in front of him: dark hair with just a hint of curl in it, green eyes with lashes so long the mascara companies would be jealous, and a body to absolutely die for. Jack liked slim and lean just fine, but he absolutely adored a man with more meat on his bones especially if that meat was tight with muscles. He caught himself before he started to drool.
The Gray-Haired Knitting Detective Series: (Books 1 - 3) Page 18