“Wonderful—because I really need a drink,” Jenna said.
Alexa offered her still nearly full glass of red wine to her daughter who took it while still standing and drank greedily.
“Well, don’t you look yummy tonight. If I were a lesbian, I would make a pass,” Regina said, giving Jenna an admiring perusal.
“Thanks,” Jenna bent forward to brush her lips across Regina’s forehead, “I’m glad the dress is getting an appreciative response from somebody.”
Alexa’s eyebrows rose into her hairline at the comment, but Jenna looked away before she could ask the obvious question.
Lauren looked at Regina. “Lesbian? You? I can’t even imagine you giving up men,” she said snidely.
“I don’t know. How much harder could being a lesbian be?” Regina asked dryly, pushing her auburn red waves back from her face. “When I suggested male enhancement drugs to the last man I hoped to be intimate with, he told me I needed to grow up. I told him he needed to get it up, patted him on the hand, and left.”
Lauren looked at Regina in complete and utter shock, because that was appalling behavior—even for Regina.
“You didn’t really suggest your date take male enhancement drugs, did you?” protested Lauren, blushing at the thought. “You probably hurt his ego. If you’d just slipped it in the man’s drink at dinner, he’d have thought you inspired lust.”
“Lauren, I would never trick a man into taking male enhancement drugs. Besides, drugging someone is a felony. Don’t you ever talk about sex with the men you date?” asked Regina. “Communication is key, you know.”
“I have no need to discuss sex with my male companions. My dates are strictly platonic, and I like it that way.” Lauren insisted, saluting Regina with her mineral water. “You are the only person I ever discuss sex with, Dr. Logan.”
Regina rolled her eyes and took a long drink of her pomegranate martini. “I feel sorry for you then.”
Alexa breathed a sigh of relief when Jenna belly laughed at the argument between Regina and Lauren, and smiled the first real smile since she’d come into the bar.
Looking at her vital, lovely daughter, Alexa couldn’t help wondering for the umpteenth time what Jenna found so appealing about Seth Carter. The man was good looking, but not very physical. Jenna worried about his lack of desire constantly and complained about it now and again.
After meeting Seth’s cousin Casey, Alexa was baffled more than ever about Seth. Casey’s sexuality had plastered her over the kitchen counter with just a handshake.
Sighing at the irony, Alexa figured she was the only mother in history who ever worried about a man not putting the right moves on her child. But she wanted Jenna to have a real relationship, and well—she would like to have grandchildren someday.
“Sweetheart,” drawled Alexa, “if your ego needs stroking, all you have do is turn around. There are at least eight pairs of eyes glued to your lovely rear right now.”
Jenna sighed, walked around the table, and leaned over the stunning brunette who had borne her for a lingering hug.
“If you were standing up, Mama, you know every man would be looking at you instead of me,” she said.
Alexa crushed Jenna to her in a fierce embrace. “Not today. That shade of blue is amazing on you and matches your eyes perfectly, which is only secondary to what it does to enhance your—”
The sound of glasses dropping interrupted Alexa. It was followed by someone big hitting the floor with a loud thug and swearing.
The other women at the table giggled, and then laughed outright as Jenna straightened red-faced from the hug.
“I guess I shouldn’t have bent over so much,” she admitted, face flushed with embarrassment.
A booming voice yelled, “Jenna Lee Ranger, no more bending over the table. I can’t afford any more losses here, cutie pie.”
Several people in the bar laughed. The women at the table laughed louder than anyone. Jenna’s blush spread upwards to the roots of her hair. She pulled out a chair to sit, but could barely manage to wiggle into it because the dress was so tight.
“Sorry, Eddy,” Jenna yelled over her shoulder. “I’m sitting down now.”
Alexa patted her shoulder in support, while she worked to stifle her own laughter. It was not nice to laugh at your child—your only child.
“Well, that was mortifying. What makes an intelligent woman think a dress like this is a good idea?” Jenna whispered, complaining to the women.
She sighed, laid her head back in the chair, and slid down as unglamorously as possible into the seat. “I can’t sit comfortably. These three-inch heels are killing me. The dress is so tight I can barely breathe. I’m an idiot.”
Alexa thought Jenna looked more like a pouting twelve year old than an accomplished woman of twenty-seven. When Jenna walked into the bar, Alexa had internally raised two fists in the air and screamed “Yeah!” Being an architect in a profession mostly populated with men, Jenna rarely bothered with her feminine side.
Men, Alexa fumed. Only a few were even worth the expenditure of hormones.
“I bet you were thinking Seth Carter would want to chew that dress off you with his teeth,” Regina said, eyeing the dress with envy.
Jenna opened her mouth to reply, but Lauren interrupted and patted her hand.
“At your age Jenna, hormones cause a temporary form of female insanity. Men briefly look good for a few years, but the urge passes eventually.”
“Stop that!” Regina scolded Lauren, smacking her hand off Jenna’s. “You’ll scare her. Just because you swore off sex years ago doesn’t mean you get to warp Jenna.”
“Ouch! Your watch scratched me, Regina. And I did not swear off sex. I swore off men. It’s a different thing altogether. You of all people should know that,” Lauren protested.
Regina turned to Jenna and said seriously. “Sex with men does not have to ever go away. Or at least it doesn’t have to if you want to keep on living and not become a dried-up prune at age forty-two.”
Alexa looked at her friends in both amazement and wonder. There couldn’t be two more different women or two more differing views on men. Jenna certainly had unusual role models with the three of them.
She focused her piercing sapphire gaze intently on her daughter’s slumping form.
“Well, I bet you were thinking the dress would once and for all get Seth Carter’s attention off his cell phone and focused instead on you. Just like you thought the red dress, the pink shorts, and the black lace bra I gave you would do the trick.”
When Jenna didn’t reply, Alexa gave her daughter a long, knowing stare. “Sweetheart, you are one hundred percent sure Seth’s not gay, aren’t you?”
Jenna’s chin lifted at the question and she pulled herself completely upright in the chair.
“I’m sure, and—no,” she answered her mother. “Seth’s not gay. I don’t know what the problem is, but it’s not being gay.”
Alexa knew quite well the good and bad of men. She loved men, but in her experience, most men were better in bed than out of it.
Jenna looked away from the women staring at her intently, and then finally brought her gaze back. “I wanted to surprise Seth. When he answered the door, the phone rang. He took the call, turned his back to me, and left me standing in the doorway.”
“Left you standing the doorway? In that dress?” Shocked, Regina could only shake her head.
“Was it bad timing, maybe?” Lauren suggested, choosing to believe there had be an answer other than Seth didn’t want Jenna as much as Jenna wanted him.
“It’s always bad timing with Seth,” Jenna told Lauren, sighing and unable to keep the sadness from her voice.
She looked at her mother.
“Earlier this week Seth kissed me good night, and I know—damn it, I know he was interested in that moment. I mean I’m not completely stupid about men.”
“Jenna,” Alexa scolded. “You’re not stupid at all. Any man in this bar would happily take you to bed
. This is obviously about Seth and not about you. Don’t even go there.”
Jenny looked at her with huge eyes, and Alexa winced. She sighed and reached for Jenna’s hand. “It was an observation honey, not a suggestion to take a strange man to bed.”
Of all the people who thought poorly of her dating habits, her own daughter was the worst critic. But Alexa would never have let a man she dated make her feel as bad as Jenna felt because of Seth’s lack of response.
“Let me rephrase my comments,” Alexa said, having had a lot of practice soothing her daughter’s ego. “I admire your sincere affection and longing for Seth. He’s damn lucky you came to see us instead of picking up the first great looking guy you saw. If Seth Carter is worth the emotional investment, he’s yet to prove it to you. Most men would never have turned a sexy woman away. If you don’t believe me, ask Lauren and Regina.”
Jenna looked at Lauren.
Lauren squirmed, then sighed. “Your mother is right. Most men would never have turned you away, not in a killer dress and those heels. The message you’re sending is loud and clear.”
Jenna swung to Regina. “So am I being a doormat? Am I letting Seth make me feel bad for no reason?”
Regina hesitated, but as usual opted for honesty over diplomacy.
“Yes.” Regina agreed. “It’s probably because you love him.”
“That’s just great,” Jenna pronounced, leaning down and banging her forehead on the table. “I am an idiot then.”
Alexa and Lauren looked across Jenna’s bent head to Regina. Regina tugged at her Rolex and pulled herself reluctantly into Dr. Logan mode.
“Jenna, listen. Seth may have reasons for rejecting your advances,” she softened her tone, “reasons that make sense only to him. You should consider dating other men. It might at least help you decide if Seth is worth the risk of more rejection.”
Jenna’s forehead was still pressed to the table, so Regina leaned over and touched Jenna’s hand to make sure she was hearing.
“If you keep repeating this specific rejection pattern with this particular man, you put yourself at risk of believing the problem is yours alone. Seth may be passive-aggressive about it, but he is rejecting you, not the other way around. You wouldn’t even be here if he had reacted the way you had a right to expect.”
Jenna raised her head and sighed in defeat. Alexa saw the decision in her eyes before she spoke, and she hurt for her daughter.
“No matter how much I care about Seth, I refuse to spend my time wanting a man who’s never going to want me back the same way,” Jenna reached out, linked her hand with Alexa’s and squeezed hard. “One Ranger woman already did that. I’m not repeating the same mistake.”
Alexa brought Jenna’s hand to her lips and kissed it in support. She was grateful there was at least some understanding between them. She was also grateful she’d always opted to tell Jenna the truth, even about her father.
“Okay—to hell with feeling sorry for myself. I’m so done with that,” Jenna said firmly.
She stood and lifted her chin as she smoothed the dress down.
“I love you all,” Jenna told them, her gaze scanning the table. “Thanks for letting me vent. I need to go home, change clothes, and try to forget about tonight. I’ll call you tomorrow, Mama. Is Daddy coming this weekend?”
“I left the invitation open. I’ll call you when I hear for sure.”
Alexa watched her daughter walk out, not acknowledging the men who looked longingly in her direction.
“Men,” Alexa spat the word like oath. “Life is so much less complicated when you don’t want one.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Lauren said, lifting her mineral water.
“Well, I’m not drinking to such foolishness,” Regina informed them. “And since when have you given up on men, Alexa? I consider you the ultimate optimist for trying so many for so long to find the right one.”
“Very funny, Dr. Logan,” Alexa said. “For your information, I haven’t seriously dated a man in a couple of years.”
Alexa paused for dramatic effect, sipping her now meager glass of red wine, thanks to Jenna.
“But it doesn’t mean I’ve given up sex.” Alexa winked at Lauren, who grinned back.
Regina saluted Alexa with the rest of her drink, and polished it off.
“Thank God for that at least. It’s use it or lose it after menopause starts, honey.”
*** *** ***
Behind them, Casey sat in silence trying to absorb all he had heard. First, a big one for him was Alexa was fifty instead of forty-five, which made the age gap between them even wider than he had thought. He would have to think about whether or not it bothered him. Certainly, knowledge of their exact age difference didn’t stop him from wondering if Alexa would heed her friend’s advice to use it or lose it.
Since the idea of Alexa using it with another man bothered the hell out of him, Casey supposed his reaction likely answered his question.
And just who was the red-haired woman talking so much about sex anyway? They called her Dr. Logan. Casey made a mental note to look her up online. She was the one scanning the room for men earlier. The other woman, a polished blonde, seemed to not like men at all.
The entire conversation made Casey wonder just what kind of woman Alexa Ranger was. Not that Casey was a prude or anything, he just preferred a woman with at least some modesty.
Okay, so maybe he was used to having more experience than the women he’d been involved with sexually. He had been his wife’s second lover and last one. The thought still pleased him. That didn’t make him sexist, did it?
He didn’t even want to contemplate how many lovers Alexa had had looking like she did. It was one more thing he would have to think about before getting involved with her.
Still, the worst bit of news to ponder was if something was seriously wrong with Seth. Did he really send Jenna Ranger away tonight? Holy shit if he did, Casey thought, swearing silently as he refused to believe it.
Casey would bet his entire military pension Seth was not gay. The boy had not slept around indiscriminately as a teenager, but Casey had bought him box after box of condoms when there had been a woman in his life.
Seth was not gay—incredibly stupid, definitely—but not gay.
Eavesdropping had seemed like a good idea to Casey when he’d moved around the bar. Now the only part of the conversation Casey was glad he’d heard was Alexa Ranger wasn’t currently dating anyone.
Chapter 3
Just a few more months was all he needed, Seth thought. The import and export business Seth started two years ago was taking off at last. Soon he would have to hire an assistant to help him keep up with it. After that, he could finally slow down and enjoy what he had accomplished. He could also pursue his relationship with Jenna without constantly being interrupted by work problems.
Seth tapped his phone and ordered flowers to be sent to her home along with an apology. Tomorrow he’d call in person and apologize again. Seth was becoming well practiced at saying “I’m sorry. I’m a jerk. I’m crazy about you, so you have to forgive me.”
Normally, Jenna didn’t hold a grudge, though Seth expected this time it might take longer. Before, she had at least complained about being ignored. This time Jenna had just left without saying anything. Silence was never good.
After finishing his apology note, Seth pressed send on his phone just before Casey came through the door. The look on Casey’s face instantly propelled Seth back to being a teenager again.
Casey glared at Seth. “What is your problem? Are you gay?” he demanded.
The question was so unexpected Seth dropped down on the couch and laughed. “Are you drunk on two beers? I’d be mad, but I can’t believe you’d ask such a stupid question. Have you seen Jenna? You know, the incredibly hot woman I’m dating?”
“Yes, I saw Jenna. In fact, I saw a lot of Jenna, and so did thirty other horny guys in Eddy’s bar when she bent over a table to hug her mother,” Casey informed
him.
Seth opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He closed it again and put his hands over his eyes.
“Did you really send Jenna away tonight?” Casey asked, his brain still not able to wrap itself around the thought. “In that dress?”
“No! I did not send Jenna away,” Seth protested. “I got a phone call from Japan I’d been waiting for all evening. Jenna must have left while I was talking. When I finished the call, she was just—gone.” Seth ran nervous hand through his hair. “It’s okay. I sent flowers and an apology note. Tomorrow I’ll call her. This will be okay. It’s happened before.”
Casey swore viciously and glared at Seth.
“Yeah, I heard all about how it wasn’t the first time when Jenna was complaining about it to her mother and friends,” Casey threw up his hands. “Do you have any idea how much trouble she went through to try and seduce you?”
Seth closed his eyes. “I know. I messed up—badly. I sent flowers,” he said quietly. “This will be okay.”
“I don’t think flowers are going to make up for Jenna sleeping alone tonight when she so obviously had other plans. You better hope she’s as much in love with you as you are with her. Otherwise, she’s going to be looking for a man without a cell phone,” Casey said, taking off his coat and hat.
“You know, I’m trying like hell to put my expensive Harvard education to good use by getting my business going. Now all the work is finally paying off, ” Seth insisted. “I just need a couple more months, and then I can have a different kind of life.”
“I hope you get lucky then,” Casey said, “because you sure as hell aren’t being very smart about Jenna. If you don’t have time for her, cut the woman loose.”
Seth watched as Casey walked off mumbling about dresses and stupidity, leaving him digging in a side table for the pills Seth took to settle his stomach.
Seth refused to think tonight was the disaster his cousin seemed to think it was. He was in love with Jenna, had been in love with her since the first time he saw her.
There was no choice except to believe things would work out. If not easily, well he’d just see to it they did anyway. Seth was very good at making things work out.
Dating A Cougar Page 3
