“I’ll check it out,” she promised as she bent to kiss him. He watched her flounce off towards the bathroom before he reached for the decanter of scotch sitting on his nightstand.
Jena’s sister, Nicole, picked her up a little before eleven o’clock that Sunday morning. They had hoped to beat the church crowd to Lillian’s Place, so that they could get on with their afternoon shopping and planning for the party. The place was still pretty packed once they got there. They waited in the line that reached all the way out towards the parking lot. Jena spotted Xander first, since he was the one greeting all the customers at the entrance. Her eyes swept over his tall frame with appreciation. “That must be the new manager,” she said to her sister, who, though she was still technically a newlywed, couldn’t take her eyes off of the dark-headed hottie with the dazzling smile.
“He can manage me any day,” Nicole teased and Jena playfully swatted her.
“Hey, you’re married.”
“So? You’re taken, too.”
Jena shook her head. Of all the things she and Russell talked about, exclusivity was not part of the deal. “I know better to settle down before all my wild oats are sown.” Her eyes traveled over Xander’s body. He was a tasty little morsel indeed. No wonder Joely had undergone such a dramatic transformation. Reeling in someone like Xander took the right kind of bait.
Deftly Jena unbuttoned the top button of her blouse. She was glad she didn’t wear a bra that day.
Kari, who was working the morning shift that particular Sunday, saw Jena before Jena saw her. She took a break from filling water glasses to pop over by the line to say hello. “Jena! What are you doing here?”
Jena immediately reached for a hug. “Hey, girl! I heard you were working here. Look at you, all grown up.”
Kari merely shrugged. “It’s just something to do. Are you here for lunch?”
“Sort of. This is my sister, Nicole,” she introduced quickly, “and we wanted to talk to your mom about some customized cookies for a baby shower. Is she here?”
Kari shook her head. “She had a late night baking the cookies. But I’m sure Xander could help you.” She referred back to the handsome man. “Let me tell him you’re here.”
Jena watched as Kari approached Xander. She touched him lightly on the arm and he bent down to hear her speak over the din of the loud restaurant. He smiled instantly as he looked over to where they stood. Even though Jena was used to male appreciation, the way his eyes swept over her body left her feeling a little breathless.
This might be a fabulous Sunday after all.
Xander handed off the seating chart to the hostess on duty before he walked with Kari to where Jena and Nicole stood. He offered his hand immediately. “Hello. I’m Xander Davy,” he introduced with a smooth British accent. “I’m the restaurant manager. Kari tells me you’re interested in some of our customized cookies.”
Jena nodded. “Someone gave me one as a gift and I just loved it. I think it’d be perfect for the kind of event we’re planning.”
“What kind of event is that?” he asked.
“Baby shower,” Nicole answered as she reached out her hand.
“Who’s the lucky mum-to-be?” he asked, glancing between them. They both giggled.
“A friend of ours,” Jena answered.
Kari leaned towards him. “Jena is dating my dad.”
Xander processed this information quietly. “I see. Well, we have a portfolio upstairs in my office, if you’d like to look things over.”
Jena didn’t bother hiding her complete appraisal of him, head to toe, as she leaned forward with a grin. “I’d love to.”
Kari’s eyes narrowed as she watched the interaction. She suddenly saw Jena in a new light. She wasn’t just the cute, fun girl who had taken them all to the lake to hang out for a weekend. She was a woman who went after what she wanted, even if it included another woman’s husband.
For the first time since The Event, she felt sorry for her mother.
It drove Kari bonkers that she had to stay downstairs as Xander led both Jena and Nicole up to his office. She hated the way he touched them both on the back as he led the two attractive women where he wanted them to go. Lillian, who had come to the door to welcome new guests, recognized the sour look on her face immediately. “What’s up, buttercup?”
“Dad’s new girlfriend is here,” Kari told her with a deepening frown. “She just went upstairs with Xander to talk about Mom’s cookies.”
Lillian’s eyebrow arched. “You don’t say.” Kari nodded. “Is that a problem? I mean, I thought you liked this new girl.”
Kari thought about how Jena looked at Xander like he was some prime cut of beef. Worse, she was attractive enough, and old enough, to get him. “I did,” Kari said before she grabbed the water pitcher and headed off towards the tables.
Up in Xander’s office, he took his spot at his desk after his guests had been seated. “When are you planning your event?”
“The sixth of December,” Nicole answered. “I know that’s not very far away, but honestly I had already ordered a cake for the event. Jena was the one who insisted we change it for the cookies.”
“Jena is right,” Xander told her with a smile. “Joely’s cookies are about to get a huge media push that will make it the hottest party favor around. You’re lucky, in fact, that she still has that date open.” He handed them Joely’s portfolio. “Prices, of course, depend on the design you pick and the time taken to prepare the quantity of cookies you order. How many were you thinking?”
“At least two dozen,” Jena answered as they flipped through the book. “I love this idea!” she exclaimed when they got to the photo of place card cookies for seating arrangements. Each guest would get a personalized cookie with their name on it, along with a dozen other cookies decorated for the shower itself.
“One of our more popular selections,” Xander smiled. “Of course, I can only set the appointment for Joely. She’s the artistic genius who can turn your ideas into something amazing. But why don’t you take the book with you and I can give you a call when she’d be available to finalize any details?”
Jena smiled. “Sounds fantastic.” She grabbed a sticky note from the pad on his desk and scribbled her name and cell phone number on it, then handed it off to Xander. He put it on his computer monitor.
Likewise he handed her one of his cards. “You’re staying for lunch, I trust?”
Both girls nodded. “You know, I’ve heard so much about this place but I’ve never actually eaten here,” Jena told him.
He smiled wider. “We can fix that. Let me set you up with our best table downstairs,” he said as he rose from his chair. Both women followed suit. Just as they got to the door, however, Jena hung back, pulling his arm back before he could follow Nicole out of the room.
“Maybe it would be a good idea if you gave me your cell phone number, too,” she said as her blue eyes glittered. “You know. Just in case I needed to get in touch with you after hours.”
His eyes darkened as he stared back at her. He glanced out the door, where Nicole had walked a few steps ahead to give them some privacy. Finally he took one of the pens from his shirt pocket and grabbed her hand, opening her palm to write his number there. She gave him a triumphant little grin as she turned to follow her sister.
When Joely got to the restaurant later that afternoon, Nicole and Jena had already gone. Xander asked her up to his office so they could discuss the newest client. Her heart fell when she realized who it was. “Did you commit to anything?” she asked.
“No, I told them they’d have to talk to you directly. I thought about taking a deposit, since you know you’re going to be swamped with orders after the show next weekend.”
“Who says I’ll be accepting this order?”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“You do know who this is, right? This is the woman who blew my whole marriage apart.” He chuckled, which made her mad. “What’s so funny?”
“You do realize that if it hadn’t been Jena, it would have been someone else, right?”
She hated the way Jena’s name sounded on his lips. Like it belonged there. “So you’re saying anyone would have been preferable to me, is that it?”
“That’s not what I’m saying at all. But maybe that is where your mind goes is a big part of the problem.”
She glared at him. “So it’s my fault my husband cheated on me.”
“Maybe,” he answered. She hopped out of the chair and headed for the door. He shot around his desk and made it to the door just a millisecond before she could open it, slamming it shut with one hand. He pulled her around to face him, pinning her with an arm on either side of her. “It’s your husband’s fault he cheated. That was his choice and his choice alone.”
“At least we agree on something,” she snapped.
“But did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe, your constant tearing yourself down gave him permission to do the same?”
She tried to turn away but he only stepped closer, keeping her prone against the door.
“Jena is a pretty girl. She’s sexy. She can get any man she wants and she knows it.”
Her eyes flashed. “Is this supposed to make me feel better?”
“Yes,” he said flatly. “She is hot, but she’s not magical. She can’t convince an otherwise faithful man to cheat just because she flashes her baby blues his direction. A real man can and will say no.”
And that was the million-dollar-question. “Did you?”
“No,” he said just as bluntly. She wriggled against him to get free but he held her fast. “If I wanted to fuck her, I could have. This isn’t about that. It’s about business. Take her money. Who the fuck cares if she’s screwing around with your ex? I’m waiting for the day you can say, ‘Better her than me.’” His eyes scoured her face. “Unless that’s not really how you feel.”
“I’m allowed to be pissed,” she snapped.
“Why?” he asked, making her gape at him. “Do you want him back, Joely? Do you want that life back?” He pushed himself against her. “Do you want to go back to being unhappy and unsatisfied? Angry with the world and everyone in it? You weren’t happy, baby. Admit it. Just fucking admit it.”
She refused to look at him so he grabbed her chin in one hand and forced her to look into his eyes. He stared at her so deep and so long that tears sprang into her eyes. It was like he was revealing her very soul. “Xander,” she finally said, praying for mercy.
“I’m glad I met you now,” he said softly as his eyes drifted to her full mouth. “I don’t think I’d like you much then. You couldn’t, after all.”
“Fuck you,” she breathed.
“Don’t worry, love,” he grinned. “In five days, you will.”
Just as his mouth made its slow descent onto hers, someone knocked at the door. He allowed her to step away just before he opened the door. It was Kari. “Hey, Kari. What can I do for you?”
“I just got off,” she said. “You said you’d give me a ride.”
“I can do it,” Joely said from behind him in the office. She stepped around Xander just in time to see her daughter’s face fall. “Just give me a few minutes,” she said. Kari nodded before she turned away from the door. Xander held his arm in front of the door so Joely was forced to stay just a little longer.
“We’re not done talking about this,” he told her.
“Yes, sir,” was all she could mutter, albeit sarcastically, before she ducked under his arm and raced after her daughter.
Kari was just as sullen as Joely on the way back to the house. “You okay?” Joely finally asked. Kari shrugged.
“Long day. Busy,” she added and Joely nodded. Kari stole a glance at her mother. “Are you mad because Jena showed up today?”
It was Joely’s turn to shrug. “Surprised, I guess,” she said. She couldn’t possibly say what had been bugging her most – that Jena, sexy, perfect Jena, was a little too close to the man she now wanted more than she’d ever wanted anyone. She wasn’t pissed. She was terrified. But those were grownup problems her kids didn’t need on top of everything else. “I suppose it’s just business. She needs cookies and her money spends as well as anyone else’s.”
She knew that was what Xander had been trying to tell her in his office, in his own, roundabout, dickish way.
“I’d understand if you told her no,” Kari said softly. “It’s weird.”
Joely chuckled. “It is weird, isn’t it?” They laughed together. “Xander thinks it’s no big deal. And of course Xander thinks he’s right about everything.”
Kari could tell by the tone of her mother’s voice that she was annoyed with Xander. “Don’t all guys?” Kari asked.
Joely would have been surprised by her daughter’s cynicism at such an early age. But her father was Dr. Russell Morgan, after all.
That same Russell Morgan was just getting back to his house after a full day at the club. He smiled when he spotted Jena’s cute little hybrid pulling into the drive. He walked to her car door. “Perfect timing,” he said. “Productive day?”
She shrugged. “Not so much. Joely wasn’t available so we had to put off our appointment for another day. I did get a gander at the new restaurant manager though.”
“Yeah? And?”
“And your daughter is heads over heels in love with him,” she announced as she followed him to the front door of the house.
“What does that mean?”
“Kari has it bad for the hot Brit managing Lillian’s Place. She looks at him like he hung the moon or something. It’s really quite sweet.”
“Sweet until that guy makes some kind of move,” Russell gritted between clenched teeth. He regretted buying Kari that makeup kit now more than ever. No wonder Joely was so pissed.
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” Jena assured as he led the way into the house. They didn’t stop until they reached the kitchen, where he pulled a decanter from the cabinet. “I get the feeling he likes to play with girls his own age.” She thought about how he held her hand in his with a slight shiver. He was all man. And men like that didn’t play with little girls.
“So… Joely?”
Jena laughed out loud. “Please. Russ. You haven’t seen this guy. He is completely out of her league.”
That made Russell feel somewhat better, though he didn’t know why. Worse, Jena could see his immediate relief, though she didn’t call him on it. “I’m going to go take a shower,” he announced before he tipped the glass of scotch that had been his constant companion in weeks past. “Decide where you want to eat for dinner.”
He gave her a playful swat on her behind before he headed upstairs to the master bath. Jena stared after him thoughtfully before she pulled out her phone and texted the number still inked on her hand. “Hi, Xander. It’s Jena. Thanks for meeting with us this afternoon.”
His response was almost immediate. “It was my pleasure.”
She bit her lip as she typed out her next text. “Not yet, but it could be. ;) Are you free next weekend?”
The reply came a little slower. “Sorry, love. I’m out of town next weekend.”
“Boo,” she wrote back. “But all good things come to those who wait, I guess!”
“Indeed they do
Jena decided that it wasn’t a lot, but it’d have to do.
For now.
Chapter Sixteen
Joely didn’t talk to Xander the rest of the night. She was pissed and he deserved to know that. She didn’t return Jena’s call either. She wasn’t entirely sure that she wanted to work on that particular project yet. The way she figured it, that one order wasn’t going to make or break her $10,000 goal. She could afford to take a pass if she didn’t want to work any closer to Jena than she had to.
Unfortunately Xander had other plans. He kept emailing her ideas for her proposal to secure the order, including forwarded emails right from Jena’s email account. She di
dn’t respond to either.
She half-expected Xander to show up on her doorstep that Monday, like he always did, coffee in hand and something up his sleeve to get her even more out of her comfort zone. But Monday came and went without much contact, which unsettled her more than she cared to admit.
Worse, Monday was the first day that she didn’t get a text counting down the day to their weekend. She was nervous as she drove Kari to the restaurant that afternoon, figuring she would run into him, thinking maybe he had opted to work Monday to free up his schedule for the weekend. But he wasn’t there and her pride prevented her from finally calling him to figure out what was going on. If this was the way he wanted to play, that was fine by her.
She went back home and spent all that night baking enough goodies to last a couple of days. She sent the care package via her mother and her grandmother, then took the afternoon off. She met with Novanna for a noon lunch date at the mall. When Novi suggested they have a drink with lunch, Joely didn’t put up any objections. Halfway into their second margaritas, Joely had told Novi all about Xander and their secret affair. Her face skewered into a scowl when she told Novi that Jena was sniffing around.
“Excuse me if I don’t want to get cheated on before there’s a relationship,” she said before she drained her glass.
“Yeah, but it’s not really a relationship, is it?” Novi pointed out. “You’re both free agents. You can do whatever you want to do just like he can do whatever he wants to do. You knew going into this he was a ladies’ man.”
“It’s just that he’s so,” Joely struggled to find the word, “focused on seducing me. It’s not just about the sex. We haven’t even done the deed. It’s like… it’s like…,” she finally sighed. “I don’t know what it’s like.”
Back for Seconds (Lone Star Second Chances Book 1) Page 18