What A Girl Wants (Harlequin Blaze)

by Jamie Sobrato

  “Maybe he only confessed to the least serious ones, and I know he has met my sisters at least once when they were here.”

  “Yeah, he’s probably just trying to cover his ass, but it’s my job to look at all the possibilities.”

  Was that it? Was he really just looking out for Jane’s best interests, or was he letting his dick do the thinking?

  No, he was definitely doing what he would do for any client, so the suspicious look she gave him felt like a blow.

  “You just want to keep hanging around here to draw out this sex thing we’ve got going on.”

  “No.” Yeah, sort of. But not for the reason she thought. “I want to do my job.” That part, at least, was true.

  “You have, and I can’t thank you enough. But I wouldn’t be doing you any favors by keeping you away from other paying clients who need your services now. I think your work here is done.”

  Her words, completely unexpected, hit him in the gut. “You’re firing me?”

  “No, I’m ending our professional relationship. Feel free to pack your bags and leave whenever you’re ready.”

  AT A RED LIGHT, Jane peered into the visor mirror and inspected her face for major flaws—no mascara smears, no lipstick on her teeth, no hairs sticking out from her head in odd places. She looked presentable, maybe even hot, if such a look was possible for her. Bradley Stone, it’s now or never.

  Tonight, at the wedding rehearsal dinner, she would ask Bradley out, once and for all. If he said no, she wouldn’t be heartbroken, and at the very least, she wouldn’t feel like a coward anymore. If he said yes, then maybe she’d be able to get her mind off Luke.

  It had been a month—what felt like the longest month of her life—since she’d told him she wouldn’t need his services any longer. She realized now that her decision had been a bit rash, based more on her desire to gain some control over her sex life again than any sort of common sense. She still had angry readers, still faced the possibility that someone could do more than just write a letter, but it didn’t seem likely.

  Ever since the lawn-service guy had been arrested, she’d actually felt safe. She went about her normal life free of fear, and it was wonderful.

  Well, except for the gaping hole Luke had left in her personal life. She’d underestimated how much she had come to enjoy his companionship, how much he’d become a part of her life. And then, he was gone. She’d wanted it that way. She’d made it clear that ending their professional relationship also meant ending whatever other connection they had.

  So why the hell did it hurt so much that she hadn’t heard from him even once? And why did she find herself wondering what he was doing, or letting her mind linger over memories of him?

  The traffic light turned green and Jane drove through the intersection and turned into the parking lot of the church where Heather and Michael were having their wedding. Cars she recognized populated the lot, and some members of the wedding party were standing near the church entrance talking.

  She spotted Brad right away. He wore a crisp blue button-down shirt with a tie, and he had a sports coat slung over one shoulder, looking for all the world like a catalog model.

  Strangely, her heart didn’t skip a beat upon seeing him. Instead, she found herself looking away from him, searching the parking lot for Luke’s SUV. Then she saw the familiar Land Cruiser, and her stomach clenched. Memories of their last night together flooded her mind—the way he’d tied her up and teased her, the way he’d made love to her, the way he’d looked at her with such emotion in his eyes.

  Her stomach tightened into a ball, and she banished the memories from her mind.

  Jane parked and got out before a case of nerves could send her speeding from the parking lot. As she walked toward the church, she rehearsed the steps of her Bradley plan in her head. First, she’d wait for a moment when he was alone and no one else was within listening range. Then, she’d casually approach him and…

  And what? Her mind was a complete blank.

  She smoothed the fabric of her little green dress over her hips as she climbed the steps to the door where Bradley still stood, oblivious to her approach. Now that she was close enough, she could hear that he and two other groomsmen were discussing some clandestine details of the bachelor party. She heard words like surprise and keg and G-string, and she suddenly wasn’t sure what bothered her more, the idea of Bradley attending a wild bachelor party—or Luke.

  Jane passed the groomsmen, tossing them a cursory smile. Instead of meeting Brad’s gaze like the bold and empowered woman she was supposed to be, she let her gaze fall to the ground and stared at his shiny black wingtips. Without saying a word to him, she entered the church.

  Inside, the sanctuary was quiet, except for echoes of the flower girl and the ring bearer playing somewhere nearby. With her parents, her sisters, and the bride and groom nowhere in sight, she allowed herself to relax a bit, let out a pent-up breath, and absorb some of the tranquility of the dimly lit setting.

  That is, until she saw Luke sitting in the last row. He stared straight ahead at the altar, seemingly deep in thought.

  She was about to turn around and walk back out when he saw her.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude,” she said.

  “You didn’t. I was just daydreaming,” he said, his tone neutral and his expression unreadable. He motioned to the empty space beside him. “Have a seat. Your sisters and parents are coming in the same car, and they just called the church to say they were running late.”

  “No surprise there.” She smiled, but the tension in the air between them was nearly palpable.

  “No more problems lately, I guess, since I haven’t heard from you?”

  “I haven’t had a single phone call since the arrest, and just a couple of angry letters, but not the crazy, threatening kind.”

  Luke nodded, studying her. “That’s good.”

  Jane crossed her legs and bobbed one foot nervously up and down. “Yep.”

  He nodded.

  Okay, so she owed him an apology. “I’m sorry for the way things ended. It was rude of me to just pretend you were nothing more than my bodyguard, and—”

  Their conversation was interrupted by the commotion of the rest of the wedding party arriving in the church lobby. Before Jane could say another word about her lousy behavior, her family came bustling into the sanctuary along with the rest of the wedding party and the minister.

  She endured the rehearsal, the entire time confused over her desire to finish her conversation with Luke versus her preconceived plan to approach Bradley tonight. Strange that when she was in the same room with both men, only one of them drew her attention now. And he was the one she already knew she’d be doomed to failure with.

  After the rehearsal, everyone drove the short distance to the restaurant where the rehearsal dinner would be held.

  Once inside the dining area, Jane was shocked to see seating assignments, with her name card located right next to Luke’s. Of course, everyone would just assume they were still an item. She’d avoided discussing anything about Luke with her family, so they had no idea the sexual frenzy had ended.

  Luke, already at his seat, noticed Jane hanging back and narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t worry, I won’t bite,” he said as he stood up and pulled out a chair for her.

  She forced a smile and sat down. “Let’s call a truce, okay? I want to enjoy my sister’s wedding, and I want you to know that I’m truly sorry.”

  His expression softened. “Apology accepted.”

  Waiters brought shrimp cocktails to the table, and as she ate, Jane scanned the room, taking in the crowd of family and friends that had been invited to the dinner. She realized that there was no one she would have rather been sitting next to than Luke, and she looked over and smiled at him again.

  “How’s the new book coming along?” he asked.

  “Not good. I guess certain things that I’ve done recently have forced me to reexamine my relationship theories. I may have
to do some major revisions.”

  Luke’s grin revealed that he knew exactly what she was talking about. “What sort of revisions?”

  “Stop looking so pleased with yourself,” she warned, but she couldn’t help laughing. “I was wrong about a few things.”

  She popped a shrimp into her mouth, just as she saw her mother heading straight toward them from the other side of the room.

  “What’s the matter?” Luke asked.

  “My mother,” Jane nodded her head in the direction of Luke’s left shoulder, “approaching at eleven o’clock.”

  Luke glanced over at her mother and smiled.

  “And how are you two lovebirds doing?” her mother said as she slipped one arm around Luke’s shoulders.

  “We’re fine, Mom. But Luke is my former bodyguard, not my boyfriend.”

  Her mother gave her a knowing look. “If that’s what you’d like me to believe, fine. I won’t meddle any further.”

  “You look lovely tonight, Mrs. Langston.”

  “Why, thank you, Luke. I’m surprised I managed to get myself pulled together at all, I’m such a nervous wreck about the wedding tomorrow.”

  Jane saw her opportunity to escape, while her mother was still focused on her own worries. “If you two will excuse me—”

  “Just a minute, dear. It’s you I need to talk to, actually.” She turned to Luke and flashed her best beauty pageant smile. “If you could just excuse us for a few teeny-tiny moments.”

  Luke nodded. “I think I’ll go find a waiter and get this drink refilled.”

  When he was out of earshot, Livvy said in hushed tones, “Janie, darling, you really should think about wearing a support undergarment tomorrow.”

  “A what?”

  “You know, a girdle.”

  Jane knew she shouldn’t have asked, but she did anyway. “Why, exactly, should I wear a girdle to my sister’s wedding?”

  “I just noticed tonight, in that dress you’re wearing, it’s very obvious that you’re…jiggling a bit.”

  An image of strawberry Jell-O popped into Jane’s head. Strawberry Jell-O taking a ride on a hay wagon.

  “Um…” She was speechless.

  “I thought you’d rather I point it out to you than have someone like that hunky boyfr—ex-bodyguard of yours notice it, if he hasn’t already.”

  Oh. God.

  Jane thought of the way she’d felt totally comfortable with her body around Luke, the way she’d walked around naked in front of him, feeling like a ripe peach, when all the while she’d looked like Jell-O.

  “Gee, thanks, Mom. I’ll hurry right over to the mall after this and buy myself a nice, sturdy, support undergarment.”

  “Have you tried that new Hot Zone diet? I’ve lost three pounds on it in the past week. My dress for the wedding is almost too big!”

  Fad diets were all a part of her mother’s lifelong quest to remain a size two.

  Jane looked around, desperate for an escape. “Excuse me, but I need to use the ladies’ room,” she said, praying her mother wouldn’t decide to join her.

  Jane hurried out of the room and down the hallway, passing Michael along the way. He’d just left the men’s room, and he smiled and nodded as he passed. Jane went into the women’s rest room, then closed the door behind her and leaned against it, savoring the silence. After a moment, a shuffling sound from one of the stalls alerted her to someone else’s presence.

  She made her way to a stall and closed the door, before someone else could come out and start talking to her about lipstick or support undergarments or anything else.

  Doing the obligatory before-peeing check for toilet paper, she found a full roll, and the rest of the stall looked refreshingly clean too. For the prices at this restaurant, the rest rooms had darn well better be sparkling clean.

  Jane was searching for the top of her panty hose when she heard it.

  A moan, loud and clear, in the next stall.

  She froze and strained her ears to listen, then called out, “Are you okay?”

  Whoever it was didn’t answer, but she was almost positive she heard someone say “shh.”

  Bending down, she then saw something she could honestly say she’d never seen before in a women’s rest-room stall—two sets of feet, one a man’s, and one a woman’s, toes facing the same direction.

  Black trousers sagged around the ankles of the male feet, which were clad in a very large pair of black wingtips. Oddly familiar shoes, she realized, because they were identical to the ones she’d noticed Bradley wearing tonight.

  But when her attention focused on the woman’s feet, Jane’s stomach stopped hovering around her knees and dropped straight to the ground. Those were Heather’s strappy white heels, the same ones she’d bought with Jane a month ago, and that was undoubtedly Heather’s signature ankle bracelet, the tiny gold chain with a heart attached.

  What in the hell was going on?

  Jane blinked, and blinked again, waiting for her brain to process the incomprehensible. Heather couldn’t have been in a stall with Michael, because Jane had passed him heading back into the restaurant on her way in. And she couldn’t have been in a stall with Bradley, even if those did look exactly like his shoes…could she?

  Her heart racing, she irrationally tried to think of logical reasons why a man and a woman would be in a bathroom stall together, in what looked like a very compromising position. Maybe she’d dropped her engagement ring down the toilet and he was helping her find it? With his pants down? Okay, that made no sense, but maybe he’d…lost a contact lens…down his pants, and she was helping him… Helping him do what, exactly, while she was facing away from him and standing nearly between his legs?

  Okay, so every explanation except for one made absolutely no sense. Jane swallowed the tight, burning sensation in her throat that came with accepting the horrible truth—that her sister, who was about to get married tomorrow, was in the next stall doing it doggy-style with a man who was not her fiancé.

  With a man who was wearing the exact same shoes as the object of Jane’s nearly decade-long crush.

  A faint shuffling, and the motion of their legs, suggested that they’d continued with their little bathroom tryst in spite of Jane’s unwelcome presence. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and sat down hard on the toilet seat.

  A few moments later, a muffled grunt—the unmistakable sound of a man coming but trying not to be noisy—came from the stall and Jane felt her shrimp appetizer coming up the wrong way.

  She stood and turned to the toilet just in time to lose her shrimp into it, the sound of her sickness echoing throughout the rest room. She grabbed some toilet paper to wipe her mouth as lots of shuffling took place in the next stall, and she turned around just in time to see, through the gap between the stall and the door, a male figure pass by. Tall, blond hair, blue shirt.

  Bradley.

  She turned back to the toilet and heaved again.

  A toilet flushed, and a moment later, Heather’s voice asked, “Janie, are you okay?”

  Frozen with anger and betrayal, Jane didn’t know whether to cry or stick her size nine shoe under the stall and stomp her sister’s dainty little foot. Instead, she flung open her door and went to the sink, rinsed her mouth out with water, and stared in the mirror at her tear-streaked face.

  How could she have been such a fool? How could she have believed for so many years that Bradley was different, worthy of all her pining and idolizing? And how could her traitorous bitch of a sister be screwing that very same guy the night before her wedding?

  Suddenly it all made sense—Heather’s prewedding cold feet, her efforts to talk to Jane about her “big problems,” Jane finding Heather and Bradley alone at Heather’s house early in the morning. Jane realized in a rush of horrible understanding that she knew nothing. She wasn’t just a fool, she was naive and misguided, the biggest idiot in the state of Texas.

  Heather’s stall opened, and Jane swung on her.

  “What the hell we
re you doing in there?”

  Her sister blinked her blue saucer eyes slowly, taking in Jane’s appearance. “Janie, I’ve been wanting to tell you—”

  “Tell me what? That you’re screwing around on your fiancé?”

  Heather’s face crumpled. “It’s not like that…. I mean, it is, but it’s not, but…”

  “Either you are or you aren’t, Heather. I heard what just happened in there.”

  “Stop! Please, we can’t talk about this here. Not right now.”

  She removed a makeup kit from her purse and began touching up her face with amazing skill. But Jane saw that her hands shook as she dabbed at her eyes and reapplied her lipstick.

  “Where then? Tomorrow during the wedding photos? Or maybe right after you say your vows?”

  Heather winced, then rolled her eyes toward the ceiling to keep tears from ruining her reapplied makeup. “Janie, I’m ashamed of what I’ve done, but I need to explain it to you. And I need more time than we have now. Everyone is probably wondering where I am right now.”

  “Did you know how I felt about Bradley?” Jane heard herself ask through clenched teeth. She didn’t want to make this about her, but she couldn’t help herself.

  “I’m so sorry.” Heather looked at her then. “I tried to tell you what was going on, but you didn’t want to listen.”

  Jane thought of her big-sister strike, of all the times in the past few months when she’d been too stressed-out to deal with Heather’s problems on top of her own. Little had she known….

  “Are you calling off the wedding?”

  “No! I love Michael.”

  “So much that you’re screwing one of his groomsmen? What if he finds out?” Jane, for one vengeful moment, imagined telling Michael, not so much for him, but just to get even with Heather and Bradley.

  But then she remembered that it was her own cowardliness that had kept her from pursuing her attraction to him, and now that she knew what kind of guy he really was, she was pretty damn happy with her cowardly tendencies.

  “Jane, you aren’t going to tell him, are you?”

  In spite of the perverse impulse to keep Heather wondering, she glared at her sister and said, “No, that’s your job.”