by Treva Harte
"I don't think Jack counts as a date." Jennifer dismissed the idea.
"A lot of other women would count him as a date," Cee Cee told her.
"Yeah, but I know Jack. I really want to know about this new guy." Molly wasn't going to be diverted. "I can't believe you're going to go out with someone you haven't known since high school."
"Yeah, well maybe she needs to go out with someone she hasn't known since high school. You know, like a normal person." Cee Cee gave the words her most sarcastic twist.
"Will you two be quiet!" Jennifer snapped. "I'm nervous enough as it is. His name is James. James Wystall. He's an attorney."
"Well, that figures." Cee Cee rolled her eyes. "Who else would Jennifer meet? She never goes anywhere but to work."
"Is he at your firm?" Molly asked.
"No, of course not. Our firm has a policy against employees dating each other. People have been fired for doing it. James' firm has a lot of work with our firm and we got to know each other while he and Jack deposed the same people. Anyhow, when I mentioned it was my birthday, he invited me out for drinks. It's all very simple. Got it?"
"Sure. I just never figured you would," Cee Cee muttered.
"Shut up." Jennifer responded with as much dignity as she could.
Truthfully, she wondered if she would have even noticed James, much less accepted his invitation, if it hadn't been for her night out with Jack. The undertones of that evening had left her disturbed. She felt a little itchy. Achy.
If she could imagine making love with Jack after all these years, she must be ready to go out and meet a member of the opposite sex. Damn that kiss. She couldn't stop thinking about how good it had felt. It had been two years since she last had made love and she was now frustratingly aware of how much she missed sex. Not, of course, that she planned to immediately try anything with James. But maybe it was time for her to make a fresh start into the whole man-woman jungle.
"So what is this guy like?" Molly asked again.
"Well, he's a little older—"
"Forty? Fifty?"
"Probably around thirty-five or forty, I guess. He's in good shape, OK? Not heavy, umm, about medium height."
"Balding?"
"N—no. Not really."
"Receding hair?"
"Maybe a little."
"Receding chin?"
"No! Now stop it, you two! I won't have you grilling him like—like annoying little sisters when he comes to pick me up tonight. He is a pleasant man who invited me out for a pleasant night out at the Kennedy Center and that is all you two need to know. In fact, I'm starting to wonder if you needed to know that."
"What're you going to wear?" Cee Cee asked next.
"I suppose I'll wear what I did with Jack this week. Everyone seemed to think that looked good," Jennifer thought out loud.
"It might be too good for someone we don't know about." Her sister scowled. "Jack can handle it. I don't know if this guy can."
With that bit of help and encouragement, Jen decided it was no wonder she was so nervous when it came time for James to pick her up. The girls had spirited Vicky off since they explained there was no need to spring a baby daughter on a first date. Jen hesitated, then agreed. Otherwise that could involve explanations that she had no intention of making so soon. Still, it made her feel odd.
He arrived promptly. That shouldn't have been any surprise, but at the sound of the doorbell Jen almost dropped the perfume bottle she had been holding while she tried to decide if she should put that particular scent on.
She heard one of her sisters answer the door. Jen made a face. Now her sisters would be in position to ask questions of the man before he even got in the door. She put the bottle down and hastened down the stairs.
James Wystall stood as she walked in the room. He smiled at her while he did. She relaxed. Everything was fine. Cecilia sat in the room, looking demure, as James bent to pick up his coat.
"It's a little chilly out," he said. "Let me help you on with your coat."
He said good-bye very nicely to Cecilia as they left. Jen thanked him as he opened the door for her. She told herself firmly, once again, that she was going to have a very pleasant, very grown-up evening with him. Very, very pleasant.
It was probably the knowing look on Cecilia's face that made Jen's heart drop as they left the front door.
Jen walked into the house, her head throbbing and her mouth hurting from the fixed smile she'd had on her face throughout the evening. She opened the door as quietly as possible, then stopped. The light in the living room wasn't on just to guide her in. Her sisters were sitting up and—oh horrors! Jack was there, too.
"Well?" Molly looked at her, expectantly.
"We had a bite to eat at a very nice restaurant in the city and the play was very well done," Jen said evenly, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.
"And?" Cee Cee prompted.
"And then he brought me home." Jen turned away. "Here, let me take these shoes off. My feet are killing me."
She kicked them off, still refusing to meet anyone's eyes. The silence spread for a long moment. Jennifer idly fingered the flower arrangement she had put up on the coffee table. No one said anything still. She looked up.
"We talked about his job. We talked about my job. We talked about politics. He talked about golf. Eventually we stopped talking and went outside the Kennedy Center to see the view from the plaza. It was spectacular. He kissed me there—once, very lightly on the lips—since there were other people around. He asked me out again. I said I'd think about it."
"And will you?" Cee Cee asked.
"I doubt it. There, does that sum it all up for you?"
"I could have told you that whole scenario the second I looked at him." Cee Cee looked smug. "The man didn't have an interesting bone in his body. No sexiness at all. Face it, Jen, you're used to better."
"Stop it." Jen was suddenly close to tears. "I had to try, didn't I? What I was used to before doesn't count."
"I'll go make some tea." Molly moved away, sensing danger.
"And bring some aspirin." Jen held her forehead. "I can't stay up late at night any more. It just kills me."
"I'll go get it," Cee Cee moved quickly.
Jen wheeled to look at Jack, who was still sitting quietly in the easy chair.
"Well, why did you have to check my date out?" For a moment the anger at seeing him here almost drove out the headache. "You know James. I suppose you'll claim you knew how it would turn out."
"Hey, Jen, I'm sorry you didn't get lucky tonight," Jack said, almost quoting her words back to her. "Hearing the post-mortem on the date almost gave me the chills. It makes me wonder what women tell their friends and sisters after I drop them off."
He stood up, his hands in his back pockets, smiling. The smile didn't quite reach his eyes however.
"I was here because I needed to see you were all right," he told her. "I thought I knew how you would react to Wystall. I was more concerned how he would react to you. You're a very sexy lady. I'm glad you're starting to poke your head up out of the sand and take a look around at the world. But you need to start picking better men to go out with. You could do better."
"I appreciate your advice." Jen got the words out through her teeth.
"Now me, I wouldn't care if there were other people around if I wanted to kiss you." He stood there and watched at her. "You'd just have to give me a look—one look—and I'd kiss you witless. I might not stop there, depending on the situation. But then I don't consider myself boring."
"No, you aren't boring. Sometimes you are boorish, however." Jen snapped the words out.
"Oh, I think I've been quite gentlemanly with you, Jen." Jack took a step closer to her. "When we went out, I was very restrained, wasn't I? I took my cues from you."
Why was she feeling more sparks than mere anger would create? Jen knew what the tingling awareness meant. It tightened her breasts. It weakened her knees.
Damn celibacy. She was finally losing her s
elf-control. But why now? Why Jack?
"We quarreled in the middle of a parking lot," Jen reminded him.
"That was much more restrained than what I wanted to do with you." Jack looked grim.
"You did kiss me, Jack."
"I stopped. Don't I get points for stopping?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jen said, crossly, and turned when Molly came with the tea and aspirin. "Thank you, Molly. I thought I was going to die from this headache."
"No, damn it, I don't suppose you do yet." Jack retreated a few steps. "That means, I'm afraid, that it's time for me to go home."
"Good-night, Jack."
"Sweet dreams, Jen."
Jen gave a bitter laugh. If only he knew!
Cecilia came into the room, hesitantly, standing close to Molly as Jack left. The two of them looked at her, suddenly big-eyed and looking about as young as Vicky. The worst was that she wasn't sure if that was how they felt or they had decided to pretend to feel that way. Jen gulped her aspirin and sighed.
"You have something more to discuss?" Jen asked.
"I'm sorry, Sis," Cecilia said. "We're both sorry. You just—well, we aren't used to having you go off on dates and changing things. I guess it kind of shook us up a little. You've been really great to us when we try stuff out and like, well, when I go out with guys. We weren't very nice to you."
"Well, I guess it was an experiment for all of us." Jen could feel the headache fading just a little bit with the words. "It's too bad it didn't work out, but that's what an experiment is for."
"I think you should experiment more with someone else," Molly told her.
"I suppose I'll have to, if I ever want to get the hang of this dating thing." Jen smiled, ruefully. "It may be more trouble than it's worth."
"No, I mean one particular someone else. I think you should go out with Jack."
Jen saw Cee Cee's elbow graze Molly's ribs.
"Yeah, right." Jen laughed a little. "I think I should go out with a guy I've been friends with ever since high school, too. Friends are all we have ever been for years now. I think we should leave Jack alone."
"What's wrong with him? He's handsome, he's funny, he's rich, he certainly is sexy." Molly stepped away from her sister's prodding and glared at her. "Just stop it, Cee Cee."
"He is my boss, he was Victor's best friend and we have no interest in each other," Jen said, firmly. "I think those are plenty of good reasons. Besides, Jack deserves better than having me experiment on him, too. And much better than having two pesky little sisters prying into his love life."
"He wouldn't mind," Molly muttered and took another hasty step away from her middle sister.
"Well, I would. Enough." Jen stood up. "It has been a very long evening and I'm ready for bed."
"Well, it could've been worse." Cecilia was thoughtful. "You could've had old James in it."
Jen took a pillow from the couch and threw it at her. All of them started to laugh.
Then Jen walked up the stairs and to her daughter's crib. Vicky was sleeping, looking as angelic as a sleeping toddler could. Jen very lightly touched her dark hair. Vicky looked so beautiful and so much like her father, just as intense asleep as awake.
What was she doing, dating men she hardly knew and hiding her daughter from them? The whole thing was ridiculous anyhow. She didn't have time to meet some man, much less get to know him well enough to tell him the story of her crazy life.
Jen heard upraised voices below her and wondered what the girls were arguing about now. Cee Cee had certainly been trying to tell Molly something. Oh well, it hardly mattered. She would find out soon enough if it was important.
"Anyhow, baby, I know you're the important thing." Jen whispered to her little girl. "There's nothing else in the whole world as important."
Chapter Two
Jen thought about it while she put together files the next day. Routine had gotten her through a lot. But routine wasn't everything. She was ready for a change in her life. Being willing—or desperate—enough to go out with James proved it.
But Victor had spoiled her for most men. If she had to hold out for another man like Victor, she was in for a long wait. Then again, as long as she was having these insane dreams about Victor being alive and thinking of her, she just might not be ready to see other people.
Going out with men wasn't the only thing in the world, though. She needed to do something besides work and stay home or else—
"I'll go nuts." Jen said the words aloud, realizing the truth for the first time. "This just isn't enough for me."
"Those files aren't enough?" Laura asked in surprise, looking up from the receptionist's desk. "They look like plenty to me."
"No, I wasn't thinking about that," Jen answered. "It was something else. Laura, I need some excitement."
"Don't we all." Laura nodded.
"I need to do something more than what I am doing." Jen tapped her fingers on the desk. "I'm just not sure what it should be yet. Maybe I should go back to trying my hand at some journalism. I used to be good at that about a million years ago."
"Well, that may spell excitement for you." Laura shook her head. "Personally I need a new man in my life. That's my kind of excitement."
"I can't make one ride up and sweep me off my feet." Jen sighed. "I need to do something I know I can handle on my own. Maybe I should take a few classes at night to work on finishing up my degree. Maybe I should go and try to work on getting a law degree."
"Oh, now that's a thrill." Laura was at her most sarcastic now. "Hey, I know! I just read about this in the newspaper today. Look!"
She got the newspaper and opened it to an inside page.
"They're running a contest for a columnist-for-a-day," Laura said. "Your dad used to write columns, didn't he? I bet it's in the blood. You could do it, too."
"Hmmm." Jen stared down at the newspaper thoughtfully. "It's an idea. And it's something different to try."
"I'd try some of the personal ads in the newspaper first." Laura shrugged. "But you aren't me. We all get our kicks where we can find 'em, I suppose."
Jack walked in just in time to hear Jen say, thoughtfully, "Maybe I should cut my hair. That would be something different."
She looked up and saw his face and began to laugh.
"No. Bad idea," he responded, promptly. "Very, very bad idea."
Laura registered Jack's return and responded by hastily grabbed some files that had been sitting at her desk for hours and walking toward the file room down the hall.
"I thought I might look—well, sexier," Jen ventured. "Cee Cee's haircut definitely does things for her."
"Cee Cee is Cee Cee," Jack told her. "You're plenty sexy with your hair the way it is."
Just for the fun of teasing him, Jen continued, "But I've had it this way ever since junior high school."
"And you've looked great ever since then," Jack said. "Take it from someone who saw you then and now."
"All right, all right." Jen gave in. "Could I dye it? Just a little bit?"
"I'd have to set the police on you before you did that." Jack looked solemn. "Maybe slap a restraining order on you."
"I guess it will have to be the body piercing then."
Jen snickered when he clutched his heart.
"This is Mrs. Jamieson," the voice said on the other end of the line. "I want to speak to Mr. Logan. Immediately."
Didn't she always? Jen stifled a sigh and looked over at Laura, who had switched the call over to her. Laura rolled her eyes.
"What I don't need is to be transferred from one subordinate to another. I hired a lawyer and I expect to speak to him, " the woman snapped.
"I am so sorry, ma'am." Jennifer gave it her most polished effort. "Mr. Logan's in a meeting right now."
"When will he be done?"
"Not for several hours," Jen told her. "Can I take a message or help you in any way?"
"When he's done I expect him to call and arrange a meeting with me. If he doesn't
, I'll call again until he does."
Jennifer almost made a face but she heard a strange catch to the older woman's imperious tone. Jennifer hesitated. Jack's client had caused a lot of talk when, after her first, decades-long marriage, she had immediately married Charles Jamieson. Charles was probably fifteen years younger. Maybe she had a right to a little shakiness now that her second marriage was ending in less than a year.
The gossip, which she had ignored by going out frequently and very publicly with her new husband, was going to be vindicated. Nancy Jamieson wasn't an easy woman, but there were plenty of nasty rumors about Charles, too. Maybe she could actually feel some hurt.
"I'll leave him that message, ma'am." Jen began to write on the message pad.
"Do. I don't want to have to waste my time again."
Jen clicked the phone down and looked at Laura again. Laura threw her hands up and began to laugh.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She kept laughing. "I know I should've dealt with her myself but she scares me. I could've laid money on her calling today, too."
"Oh?"
"I guess you don't read the gossip columns much," Laura said. "There is a nice little story there about Charles escorting some female who is probably half his wife's age to a charity ball. Mrs. Jamieson is probably ready to add a little tar and feathering to the divorce settlement."
"Well, she ought to do all right in the deal." Jen finished writing. "She brought a lot of money into the marriage."
"I'm sure Charlie will get his share," Laura said. "But I bet Mrs. Jamieson wants back every dime. With interest."
Jen shrugged and put up the message for Jack. It wasn't enough that he was going to court in a few days on a complicated tax transaction for another client. Now he had to placate Mrs. Jamieson, too.
Just then Jack strolled in.
"Lucky you." Jen held out the message.
Jack read it and shook his head.
"I bought you a little time—I said you would be gone for several hours," she told him.
"Naw. Might as well get it over with." He let out a sigh. "Call and arrange some time in the afternoon for her to stop by. Jen, I want you in the conference room with us."