Hope Burns

by Jaci Burton

  "Which doesn't mean you can't stay." Her mother grasped her hand and squeezed it. "I've gotten used to seeing your face all the time. And you have a job here. You could get a nice apartment and give it a try for a while."

  "Maybe. We'll see."

  Even as she said the words, she felt walls closing in on her, and that familiar sense of needing to flee.

  But that was the norm, what typically happened whenever one of her bosses offered her a raise or a promotion. It meant permanence.

  And Molly just didn't do permanent.

  Chapter 30

  "OKAY, WE'RE ON a quest tonight," Chelsea said, a fierce gleam in her eyes. She dug into her purse and pulled out her phone. "In here, I have my list. How about the rest of you?"

  They stood just inside the entrance to the mall in Tulsa. Molly, Chelsea, Emma, Jane, Samantha, and Megan. A small band of weary but determined women, armed and ready to shop.

  "I'm sorry Des can't be here," Emma said.

  "Yeah, but she's not sorry, since she and Logan are off on a two-week cruise in the Caribbean for the holidays," Chelsea said. "It was such a sweet surprise Logan gave to Des as an early Christmas gift. We're all going to take a few seconds to be supremely jealous of them."

  Jane sighed. "Can you imagine? Multiple ports of call, lots of sun and sand, and all that time for hot sex every day, with no kids to knock on the door saying, 'Mom? What are you and Dad doing in there with the bedroom door locked?' "

  Everyone looked at Jane, who squirmed. "Okay, so maybe Will and I need a vacation without kids."

  Emma laughed. "You definitely do. You should make that a priority after the new year."

  "I agree," Chelsea said. "Emma and I are going to bug you about it, and we'll even help with the babysitting and dog sitting. Now, everyone ready?"

  "I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be," Jane said. "I've gotten stuff for the kids, but I haven't shopped for Will yet. Why are men so hard to buy for?"

  "Because whatever they want, they go out and get for themselves," Emma said, wrinkling her nose. "I asked Luke for a list. Do you know what he told me he wanted?"

  "A new gun?" Samantha offered.

  Emma laughed. "No. Socks. The one thing he doesn't buy for himself. Does he honestly think the only thing I'm buying him for Christmas is socks? The man is delusional."

  "You could buy him some sexy and slinky lingerie and put yourself under the tree," Chelsea said as they made their way past the food court and toward the first store they'd targeted.

  "I like the way Chelsea thinks," Megan said. "But that's probably because neither of us is having sex with anyone."

  "Hey," Chelsea said. "Speak for yourself."

  Megan stopped. "Okay. Who are you currently having sex with?"

  Chelsea lifted her chin, then shrugged. "No one. That's why I have all the sex ideas."

  Molly laughed and shook her head. "I have a list. I've bought a few things for my parents. And for my lovely sister over there."

  "Yay," Emma said with a grin.

  "But I still have a few things to get."

  "Like something for your hot boyfriend?" Samantha asked.

  "Okay, yeah. Something for Carter might be nice. But he's not my boyfriend."

  They stopped at the bath and body store. Everyone looked around. "I could go in there," Chelsea said, "but it would just be for me."

  "I could use some body lotion," Megan said.

  Samantha nodded. "Me, too."

  "I need lip balm," Emma added.

  Thirty minutes later, they came out of the bath and body store, with bags filled with non-gifts.

  "That was fun, but not very productive," Chelsea said. "Maybe we'll have better luck at the next store."

  "I think we should split up," Molly suggested. "Compare lists, and see what stores we all have to go to. Otherwise, we could be here all night. And who wants that?"

  She was not a shopper. She liked to pop in, get what she needed, and get the hell out.

  "Well, it's probably more productive," Chelsea said, "but not nearly as much fun as it would be if we stayed in a group."

  "I'm with Molly," Samantha said. "This is a chore, the mall is crowded, and I need to get this list done."

  In the end, they agreed to split up. Molly and Samantha had similar lists, so they headed off to one of the major department stores together. They had two hours before they were all going to meet up again.

  "My grandmother needs new pajamas, though if you ask her, she thinks the old raggedy ones are still perfectly suitable."

  Molly laughed. "That's because she's stubborn. And from the Depression era, where they used items until they fell apart."

  "This is true."

  They wandered the nightwear aisle, and Samantha found a really nice pair of warm and pretty mint green pajamas.

  "I think she'll love those," Molly said. "I would love those, though I have to admit, I'm fond of these with the dinosaurs on them."

  Samantha laughed. "I like those, too. But I think I'll get these green ones. And the purple ones with the daisies on them as well. Now to hunt down some socks for her, and that should take care of Grandma."

  While Samantha wandered the sock aisle, Molly found a sweater that would look amazing on Samantha. Since she knew Sam's grandmother couldn't get out much to shop, and since Samantha's parents were gone, there was no one around to buy gifts for her, so Molly bought the sweater and tucked it in her bag. She also found a blouse for her mom, and a sweatshirt she knew her dad would love.

  Then it was on to the next store on their lists.

  Two hours later they met up at the mall entrance, then headed over to the sushi place and had dinner.

  Molly was stuffed by the time they left, so Chelsea suggested they stop at one of the nearby dance clubs and work off dinner.

  "Are you kidding?" Megan said as they stood outside the restaurant. "My feet are killing me from wandering around the mall. How about we go sit somewhere and drink?"

  "I'm with Megan," Emma said.

  Chelsea sighed. "You all have no stamina. Fine. Where would you like to go?"

  "How about Bash's bar?" Jane suggested. "That way we're all closer to home."

  "I agree with that," Molly said.

  They convoyed over to No Hope At All. It was busy for a Saturday night, to be expected since Bash's place was where everyone gathered to drink, watch sports on the big-screen televisions, and play pool.

  Tonight, basketball and hockey were prevalent. Chelsea wrangled them a large table near the back by the wall, which was perfect and out of the line of fire, since it was rowdy tonight.

  "I'll get us drinks since the waitresses look slammed," Chelsea said. "I've decided we should all start with a holiday martini. Any objections?"

  They all looked at each other.

  "None here," Molly said.

  "Great. I'll be right back."

  "Does Bash even know how to make whatever fancy martini Chelsea has in mind?" Samantha asked.

  "If not, I'm sure she'll educate him. Or go behind the bar and do it herself," Megan said with a smirk.

  Emma laughed. "This is true."

  "I'm so glad you objected to going dancing, Megan," Jane said. "I don't know where Chelsea gets all her energy, but between running after the kids and doing everything to get ready for the holidays, I was exhausted after three hours at the mall."

  Emma nodded. "I'm not a shopping person on the best of days. During the holidays? It's the worst."

  Molly stayed silent while they all complained of long lists and sore feet. Her feet hurt, too, but if she were honest with herself, this had been the best holiday she'd had in years. Normally, she shopped alone and shipped gifts home, received packages from her family, then spent Christmas Day eating a small turkey breast she'd prepared for herself while she watched all the holiday movies. She'd swear to herself she wasn't lonely and loved her life, but Christmas was always the worst day of the year for her.

  She'd spent every Christmas alone
for the past twelve years. By her own choice, of course, but still, shopping with all these women had been an absolute blast. Spending time with them over the past months had been wonderful. She'd renewed old friendships and made new ones.

  She was going to miss all of them when she left.

  At least this year she'd spend Christmas at home, making memories she could cherish for years to come.

  "Drinks for everyone." Chelsea balanced a tray, pulling drinks off one by one.

  "This looks amazing, Chelsea," Jane said.

  Molly had to agree. Whatever was in there was a dark pink and looked delicious.

  "Thanks. Well, Bash made them. It turns out there is no drink he hasn't heard of before or can't make. And here I thought he was just a beer and hard liquor guy. Damn him."

  Molly laughed, then took a sip. "It's a great martini. Is that pomegranate I taste in this?"

  Chelsea put the tray aside, then lifted her glass to take a drink. "Yes. Pomegranate vodka and peach schnapps."

  Emma took a sip, then licked her lips. "Oh, yum."

  "Yum is right," Megan said. "I love this."

  They had their drinks, and then discussion turned to work life as well as personal.

  "Settling into married life now, Emma?" Megan asked.

  Emma beamed a smile. "Perfectly. Not that much changed, really. We just went from cohabitating with different names, to doing it with the same name. And a lot of paperwork changes to go with it. But honestly, we're more in love every day."

  "Nauseatingly romantic, you two," Chelsea said, taking a long swallow of her martini. "You and Jane both. It's all blah blah blah love and sex, all the time."

  "I'll drink to that," Samantha said, clinking her glass against Chelsea's. Megan clinked as well.

  "You say that now," Jane said. "Only because some hot guy hasn't come into your lives and lit your panties on fire." Jane blinked. "And I can't believe I just said that."

  Emma laughed. "I can."

  Jane turned to Molly. "Okay, subject change. Molly, how's it going with Carter?"

  "It's going good. I've ordered new computer software. That's being installed next week and I think it'll be a much more efficient system. Plus we're moving to a new server that will link all the shops. I think Carter's going to be very happy, once everyone's up to speed on the changes, but it's a user-friendly system, so I don't think the learning curve will be great."

  "Awesome," Emma said. "But I think what Jane really meant was how are things going between you and Carter on the personal front."

  "Oh. We're fine."

  "In other words," Megan said, "Molly doesn't want to share all the dirty details about how Carter lights her panties on fire."

  "Aww, come on, Molly," Chelsea said. "You have to share the details with those of us not getting any."

  Molly stirred her martini. "Everything's fine. We're just friends, you know."

  She caught the look from Emma across the table, and continued to stir her drink. But she was going to stay silent on her relationship with Carter. How could she talk about something she didn't even understand herself?

  Besides, they were just friends. And occasional bed partners. Nothing else.

  Before long, one martini turned into two, though some of the women moved on to sodas and sparkling water.

  Molly had definitely had her fill of alcohol after two drinks, deciding someone had to be the designated driver. She'd noticed Jane had switched to soda as well. Chelsea, however, had decided to challenge Bash on his drink-making skills, eventually moving over to the bar. They all decided to do the same so they could have a front-row seat for the epic challenge.

  Bash--such a damn fine-looking man--leaned his forearms across the bar and leveled a sexy, pirate's smile at Chelsea.

  "You do realize this is my job, Chelsea. You aren't going to be able to come up with a drink I can't make."

  Chelsea shot one across the bow.

  "And I've done my share of barhopping, Mr. Know-It-All Bartender," Chelsea said. She drummed her nails on the bar, giving Bash the death stare.

  "A Manhattan," she finally said.

  Bash pinned her with a glare.

  "Isn't that a fairly common drink?" Megan asked.

  Bash got out a glass. "Yeah, but it's a tough one, because every customer likes theirs different, and the combination of ingredients can really screw it up if you're not paying close attention."

  He fixed the drink, then handed it to Chelsea. She'd been taking at least two good-sized swallows of every drink he made--and paying for them, as well. At least she sipped water in between his trips to take care of other customers.

  She was starting to sway a little bit on the barstool, though.

  "Are you doing okay, Chelsea?" Molly asked.

  She grinned. "I'm great. Getting a little toasted, though, because I'm mixing alcohol. But that's okay. Bash is like every woman's big brother and he'll make sure I'm well taken care of."

  Bash, who'd disappeared from behind the bar and into one of the storerooms, showed up just then, spun Chelsea around to face him, pinned her with his hands on either side of the bar, then whispered something in her ear that caused her eyes to go wide and her cheeks to go almost as red as her hair. Then he pulled back, gave her the kind of slow, sexy smile that had even Molly blushing, and walked back around behind the bar.

  "What the hell was that all about?" Emma asked.

  Chelsea shuddered in a breath, then turned back around to face the bar. "Oh. Nothing. He just told me to be careful with my alcohol intake, and if I needed a ride home he'd make sure I . . ."

  They all waited.

  "He'd make sure you what?" Jane asked.

  She swallowed, brushed her hair away from her face.

  Bash showed up right then.

  "I just told her that like the good big brother I am to all the ladies, I'd make sure she was well taken care of."

  Chelsea cleared her throat. "You know what? I think I've had enough to drink. It's probably time for me to go home."

  Bash gave her a smirk. "Is someone driving you home, Chelsea?"

  She was still looking at Bash when she nodded. "Yes. Uh . . . Jane will."

  Jane blinked. "Of course I will."

  Bash started to clear the glasses, but kept his gaze on Chelsea. "Have a good evening ladies. Drive safely."

  Molly had no idea what Bash had said to Chelsea, but whatever it was must have been . . . very interesting.

  She could still feel the heat that had flamed between them all the way outside into the cold.

  Very interesting, indeed.

  CARTER WAS IN his garage working on Rhonda when he heard a car pull into the driveway. He swiped his hand across his face, no idea what time it was, except it was late.

  He punched the button to lift the garage door and saw Molly getting out of her car. She hurried into the garage and he put the door down. It had snowed the other day, and she lifted her feet to get around the pile he'd shoveled in the driveway.

  "This is a nice surprise. I didn't expect to see you tonight," he said as he grabbed a shop rag to wipe his hands.

  "I know. I tried calling you and you didn't answer, so I thought I'd drive by to see if you were home. Your lights were on . . ."

  He had to admit that he liked that she stopped by. She looked pretty in her skintight jeans, sweater and scarf, and those boots that made her legs look a mile long.

  "Yeah, I kind of lost track of time after I started changing fluids out here."

  She swiped her fingers across his cheek. "You look sexy covered in motor oil."

  He laughed, looking down at his white T-shirt, which was now streaked with black. "Yeah, doing a few tweaks to Rhonda. Wasn't tonight your big night out with all the women?"

  "Yes. We went shopping, out to dinner, and finished the night off at Bash's bar."

  "I see." He leaned against the front fender. "Did you have fun?"

  "I did. And how about you?"

  "Rhonda and I are having a great
time. Missed you, though."

  "I missed you, too. By the way, there were some serious sparks flying between Chelsea and Bash tonight."

  He stilled. "Chelsea and Bash? Really? They're not dating."

  "I don't think dating was on either of their minds. I think it was just a little drunken flirting on Chelsea's part. Or maybe she wasn't flirting. No idea what was going on, but whoever was in the general vicinity was going up in flames from the hot signals Bash was throwing out."

  Carter laughed. "Well, Bash likes the ladies. It doesn't mean anything."

  "Either way, it made me wish I was with you, which probably had a lot to do with me showing up here. I hope you don't mind."

  "Why would I mind? I said I missed being with you. Though I'm a little too dirty to show my appreciation at the moment."

  "Oh, I don't know," she said, moving into him, nestling her body up against his. "Did I mention the smell of motor oil is a huge turn-on for me?"

  Unable to resist, he grasped her hips, digging his fingers into the denim of her jeans as his body reacted to her. "Is that right?"

  "Yes." She curled her fingers around the nape of his neck, then pressed a kiss to the side of his throat. "A huge turn-on. Like . . . gets me hot instantly."

  He was already hard. "I'm going to get you dirty, Molly."

  She pulled her scarf off. "That's okay." She pulled up his T-shirt and snaked her fingers over his stomach. "I like dirty."

  His tangled his fingers into her hair and gave her a raw, hungry kiss that made him shudder with need.

  He'd been thinking about her tonight while he'd worked on the car, had wished she'd been there with him, was damn glad she was here now so he could breathe in her sweet scent, feel the way her lips moved against him, and run his hands over the soft curves of her body.

  He turned her around, cupping her neck and pushing her hair to the side so he could kiss the back of her neck, so damn satisfied when she moaned. He swept his hand over her body, needing to touch every part of her, starting with her beautiful back, and ending with squeezing her sweetly shaped ass.

  "Are you cold out here?" he asked.

  "No. I'm hot."

  "Good. Wait right here." He placed her hands, palm down, on the fender of his car. "Don't move."

  He dashed into the house, scrubbed the grease off his hands with soap and hot water, grabbed a condom, and came back, stopping at the doorway to see her, watching him, her hair swept over one shoulder, her butt tilted at an upward angle. She gave him a wickedly sexy smile.

  She was waiting for him.