Thigh High!

by Tracey Pedersen

  Jasper said a quick hello and then spent the whole night on the other side of the bar. He joined in the festivities and the laughter, and Mimi was glad to see he seemed happy. A tiny sliver of hurt pierced her heart; she’d kind of hoped he’d have more trouble moving on, but it was definitely better this way.

  She’d hit it off with Shawn that first day at the hall and soon found herself in a booth chatting to him. He described the fire they’d attended earlier in the day and the way smoke had billowed from the windows above their heads. Apparently, Jasper had stopped them all from going inside when they’d arrived, and the windows above them had finally blown out, showering the carpark in glass. If they’d ignored Jasper, they could have been seriously injured.

  The last thing she wanted to talk about was Jasper, but Shawn couldn’t seem to shut up about him. He’d had a few beers and was determined to tell anyone who would listen what a great guy his leader was.

  I know how great he is. I have first-hand knowledge of how great he is… in bed.

  No, she couldn’t have those thoughts now—not when they’d been getting along so well. Jasper had offered to run a sport workshop each weekend for the kids who were waiting to use the hall. He’d sourced a donation of balls and other gear from a local store and had kept a group of twenty children busy the last two weekends. He’d been nothing but polite to her and had even joked with Alyssa about next year’s calendar being a ladies-only affair. He was his usual cocky self, as far as she could tell.

  “Did he fess up, yet?”

  “Oh, this sounds juicy.” She nudged Shawn and encouraged him to continue. “Has who confessed, and what exactly would they be confessing to?”

  “How long it’s been.”

  “How long for what?”

  “Since he got lucky!” He laughed and took a drink of his beer. “Rumour has it it’s been two years.”

  “Who are you talking about, Shawn?” She laughed as he swayed in his seat.

  “Jasper, of course. Haven’t you been listening to me? I’ve just spent the last ten minutes telling you we can’t work out why he’s all droopy and sad.”

  “Sorry, I thought you were telling me what a hero he was today.”

  “I was, but then I changed topic. Anyway, like I said, it’s been a long drought.”

  “Two years? You must be more drunk than you look. There’s no way he’s gone more than a month, tops.” The words stuck in her throat and she picked up her own drink and zeroed in on Jasper chatting across the room. “Look, even now there’s a woman hanging off his arm.”

  “Well, that’s what he’d like you to think. He’ll humour her and might even make it look like they’re leaving together. Nothing will come of it, though. He’s holding out for the real deal, he says. We thought maybe he found her a few weeks ago, but he hasn’t said a word about it—very out of character.” He chugged the rest of his beer and slid out of the booth. “You want another?”

  “No, I’m great. Thanks.”

  I thought he would spread it far and wide that we slept together. Now he’s told his workmates he’s holding out for a real relationship?

  She watched him deftly dispose of the blonde, and before Mimi could look away, he’d glanced in her direction and caught her eye. He smiled and she returned the gesture.

  Why, oh why didn’t I believe him when he said he’d been waiting for me?

  Shawn returned with another drink, but she’d had enough of his rambling, so she said her goodbyes and slid out, ready to call it a night. She stood and turned smack-bang into Jasper’s chest.

  “Oh, sorry.” A few drops of his beer spilled on her shirt and he apologised again.

  “No problem. I’m going home, anyway.”

  “So soon? Didn’t you organise this party?”

  “I did, and I think you’re all doing a great job of enjoying yourselves. I have an early start tomorrow, so I better get going.”

  “Did you walk here? Can I walk you home?”

  “I did walk, but really, I’m fine.”

  “Please?” His eyes pleaded with her as he put his beer onto the table. She realised she hadn’t seen him take a second one all night and this one was still half-full. “I’d like to know you’re safely home.”

  She smiled and rolled her eyes. “I’ve been getting myself home for years all by myself, but if you insist.” She waved to Alyssa and Cate as Jasper led the way to the door.

  The outside air was cool, and she pulled her jacket around her and tucked her hands in her pockets. They walked quietly down the street until Jasper spoke. “I’ve missed you.”

  She smiled down at the ground. “Same.”

  “You should have lunch with me sometime—or we could grab dinner, go to the footy. Whatever you like.”

  “Jasper, we already agreed. You’re not getting the other three dates.” She smiled at him. Trust him to be so full of confidence that he would try again.

  “Not dates—just friends. Friends do things like that. We’re not quite friends again, yet, but we could be, if you give it a chance.” They’d reached her front gate, and all of a sudden, she knew she didn’t want him to come to her door. There were too many memories attached to that space in her home; both dates they’d been on had ended with kissing near that door. “I’d rather be a friend than not see you again.”

  “Okay. We’re practically partners in crime with the calendar—we couldn’t have gotten this far so quickly without you.”

  “Don’t forget you wouldn’t have even had this idea if it weren’t for me.” He grinned, and it was obvious he knew she and Alyssa had lied about having the idea before they saw him that day in the office.

  “True. You and your fireman uniform were the catalyst.”

  “Ha! I knew it!”

  “God, you’ll be unbearable, now. Poor Ruben won’t know what to do with you.” He laughed loudly and a dog started barking three houses away. He quieted down, but she was pleased to see the worry slip from his eyes. For all his laughter and confidence, he seemed more serious than she remembered.

  “Anyway, you go inside. Let me know when you’re free for catching up.”

  She closed the gate behind her and heard his footsteps start up the street. She’d have to try harder to make it seem like she was over him. Being friends was part of that, and she’d specifically said she didn’t want to avoid him whenever they were out. Next time there was some reason to need help, she wouldn’t hesitate to contact him. That would show him that she was completely over him, even if it wasn’t remotely true.

  Chapter Eleven

  “We’re in trouble,” Mimi burst through the door of the fire station, startling the crew who sat around the lunch table in various states of undress. “Oh, I’m sorry!” She blushed a deep red as Jasper came toward her.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Can I talk to you in private, please?”

  She backtracked past reception, stopping to glare at Kelly who’d happily let her go into the lunchroom. “Thanks for the warning that they were half-dressed!”

  Kelly grinned in response while Mimi pulled Jasper onto the street, holding her hair back as the wind whipped around her face.

  His face was white as he grabbed her arm. “Mimi, are you pregnant?”

  She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She closed it and tried again. “How did you know?”

  “God, I’ve been worrying about it for weeks.”

  “Don’t you want children?”

  “Of course I do, and I’d happily have them with you, but you’ve barely spoken to me since that night. What do you want to do?”

  His concern overwhelmed her and tears welled up in her eyes—tears of laughter. “I’m sorry, but that’s not why I came.”

  “What?”

  “I’m not pregnant, Jasper.” He took a step back and let out a whoosh of breath. He fanned his face and she finally let a laugh escape. “You are really easy to get, you know that? You just handed that to me on a platter.”

&
nbsp; “I did, didn’t I? I believe that’s two I owe you, now?”

  “You better hurry up and get on that retribution. If you wait too long, you’ll have dozens of pranks to pull to catch up to me. You really thought I might be pregnant?”

  “I told you this, already: I feel so bad over what happened.” He shook his head. “Anyway, why’d you really come?”

  “We can’t do the calendar. The printer wants payment up front.”

  “How much money is that?”

  “Ten thousand calendars is six thousand dollars. I wish they’d told us this when we first contacted them. We assumed it would be a normal 30- or 60-day account.”

  “Can you talk to them and get them to extend the terms?”

  “Yep, already tried it.” She stamped her foot and he looked down in surprise. “They said they already discounted the price as a favour to us and they can’t take any more risk.”

  “Okay, stay calm. We’ll figure something out.” He put his hands on her upper arms and rubbed up and down. “Have lunch with me and we’ll come up with something.”

  “We’ve already been through this, Jasper. We’re not dating.”

  “Who said anything about a date? It’s a strategy meeting. Let me grab my wallet and I’ll meet you back at your car.” He flashed his pearly white teeth and laughter bubbled out of her.

  Hysterical giggles were not far from overflowing, and she nodded. She’d agree to anything, so she could return to her car and get away from the warmth of his hands, which were so close to soothing her taut nerves that it wasn’t even funny. The idea that he’d been about to support her if she’d been pregnant could be examined later.

  A minute later, he slipped into the passenger seat and she pulled out into traffic. “Are you on shift? Can you even leave them?”

  “It’s fine—we’re breaking for lunch. Keep in mind that, if I get a call, we’ll have to leave immediately and come back. No complaining if you haven’t eaten your food when that happens.”

  “Wow. Serious stuff.”

  “It is when I’m on call.” He fiddled with the radio, switching channels until he found some music. “When I’m off duty, I’m a lot more fun, of course.” He grinned at her as the newest chart topper began to play. She kept her eyes firmly on the road as the song about hooking up with your childhood crush filled the car. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him smirking, and she resisted the urge to look fully at him. Too much time spent staring at Jasper Collins was a bad idea.

  They parked the car and cut through one of the stores to the main street. As they walked up the street, Jasper paused, “Do you really need lunch?” She raised her eyebrows. “I mean, can you wait a bit longer? I have an idea.”

  “I can wait. What’s your idea?”

  “Let’s ask the bank. My friend, Nate, is the manager. He can probably help.”

  “We already went to our bank. They wouldn’t lend us anything—not even five thousand dollars to rent safety fencing.”

  “Humour me. It can’t hurt to ask here, with me on your side, this time.” He pulled her through the door and looked around the offices. Through a window, he saw Nate, who waved at him. He waved back and signalled he wanted to come in. A second later, the door opened and they were ushered into two seats in the corner.

  Nate plopped into the other and stuck out his hand. “So good to see you, man. Where’ve you been hiding?”

  “Me? You’re the one who never comes out, anymore. Too tight to spend that bank manager salary on a round of beers!”

  “Ha! You got me. I do like to sit at home and stack my gold coins into towers. It’s quite relaxing—you should try it.”

  Jasper laughed and waved his hand at Mimi. “This is Mimi Fletcher. She runs the March Street Community Centre.”

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Nate Black.” They shook hands and he looked thoughtful for a moment. “Didn’t the hall burn down?”

  “Half of it did,” Jasper spoke for her, “and that’s why we’re here. We’ve hatched a plan to print calendars to raise the fifty thousand dollars needed for the repair, but we’ve hit a snag. The printer needs payment up front—six thousand dollars of payment, to be precise. I thought if anyone can help us, it’s you.”

  “Hmm… okay. For a minute there, I thought you were going to ask for fifty thousand dollars! Do you bank with us, Mimi?”

  “No, I’m afraid not.”

  “No problem. It’s not a requirement to get a loan through us.”

  “Is there some kind of short-term loan? We’d only need it for a few months, until we start selling calendars.”

  “The minimum we have is a year. We could do a credit card, but that would have to be in a personal name for something like this. Six thousand dollars is quite a high balance for a first card with a new customer, too. If your financials are good and your credit is clean, it might be possible.”

  “Damn. I have a default on my report.” She looked straight ahead as Jasper’s head turned slowly in her direction.

  “Well, that’s a problem.” Silence filled the room and Mimi let her eyes fall to the carpet.

  One more person who won’t support us.

  “Is there any type of community programme the Centre could apply for? Maybe a grant?” She glanced at Jasper as he spoke. The man always had a plan B.

  “There are some, but they aren’t decided by me. I’ll get you the forms.” He rifled through his filing cabinet and pulled out a set of paperwork, which he handed to Mimi. “Here, there’s quite a lot of detail required. Money is distributed twice a year in January and July.”

  She pushed the papers back to him. “I’m sorry, but that won’t work. We need the money this week, so the calendars can be printed and we can start selling. We urgently need to rebuild the hall for our end-of-year show.”

  “Maybe you could postpone it? A grant is free money—you’d be crazy to pass it up.”

  “I understand what you’re saying, but I promised the kids the hall would be ready.”

  “I don’t think I can be of much help to you, then.” Nate looked from one to the other. “Maybe someone else could apply for a credit card?”

  Jasper stood and held out his hand. “Thanks for trying. We really appreciate it.”

  “I’m sorry I can’t help.”

  “We’ll think of something.” He held out his hand to Mimi and she took it, feeling so despondent over the hall that she didn’t question why he would do that. “See you at the pub on Friday?” he addressed Nate with a hopeful look.

  “Maybe,” he laughed, “though I wouldn’t hold your breath. It’s been weeks since I went out.”

  “All the more reason to catch up with the boys. I’ll keep an eye out for you.” Jasper pulled her from the room as she quietly thanked Nate before the door closed behind them. They’d only been in the bank for fifteen minutes, but to Mimi, it seemed like all the light had gone out of the day.

  “I’ll take you back to work. Thanks for trying.”

  He tugged her up the street before she could turn back toward the car. “Hang on, we haven’t had lunch—or that strategy talk.”

  “I thought that was the strategy talk. We just got torched in there.”

  “Come on, don’t give up. There’s lots of ways to skin a cat.” He pushed through a doorway and held it open for her before leading them to the back of the restaurant he’d chosen. They placed their orders, and Jasper sat back in his chair, watching her with the hint of a smile flickering around his lips.

  “Why are you looking so pleased with yourself?”

  “A variety of reasons, actually, but before we get into that, you need to come clean. What's on your credit rating?"

  “I'd like to say that's none of your business, but really, it's not that exciting. I had a phone bill that went missing about six months ago and it wasn’t paid. The phone company carried on about it and ended up listing me as a bad payer. Now I have to wait years for it to drop off my credit rating.”

  “The gre
at and responsible Mimi Fletcher has bad credit! I never thought I'd see the day.” Jasper grinned at her across the table, and once again, she was blinded by his smile. It should be a crime for one person to be so good-looking. “Anyway, let's talk strategy. I have a proposition for you.”

  “I’m wary of propositions from you. Remember what happened last time.” She gulped down her water, staring at him.

  “Of course I remember. How could I forget that night?” His voice was quiet and she stared at him, willing her eyes to stay dry—tears were not what he would want to see right when he was trying to help her. “If you remember it like I do, you won't be any more impressed with my latest idea.” She watched him across the table, hardly daring to wonder what he was about to suggest. “Curious?”

  “Terrified more than anything.”

  He laughed and took her hand; she resisted the urge to pull away. Holding Jasper's hand only ever led to daydreaming about his mouth on her body all night. She’d pushed all thoughts of him out of her head for these last couple of weeks and now was not the time to backslide.

  “There are two parts to my proposition. The first is that you need to honour the rest of the dates.” He held up his hand as she began to protest. “It's not negotiable. If you want my help, you have to agree to see me again. If you can do that, I’ll lend you the money for the printer.” He sat back in his chair, convinced he would be triumphant.

  She wanted to wipe that smirk right off his face, but an offer of lending the money was too good to pass up. How could she let the kids down just because she was avoiding Jasper and all the temptations he represented?

  “Where would you get that kind of money?”

  “From my savings account. You might see me as reckless and out for a good time, but I've been a saver since high school. I can lend you the money, Mimi. You just pay it back when the calendars start selling.”