by Laura Drewry
“Please be honest. This isn’t one of those ‘do I look fat’ things. Well, I guess it is, but I really need to know and I’d rather you tell me now than let me go out in public looking like …”
She took a breath, straightened her shoulders, and turned. One look at Nick and Jayne’s heart all but shattered in her chest. Fresh from the shower, his hair was still damp and his cheeks were freshly shaved. He wore a pair of tan chinos and a dark blue twill shirt with the sleeves rolled up past his wrists. His eyes were huge, as she was sure hers were.
Blink, Jayne. Good. Now smile. No! Smirk. That’s better.
“Look at you,” she pressed her hand against his collar and arched her brow at him. “You don’t look half bad all cleaned up.”
His mouth opened slightly, his Adam’s apple bobbed twice, and he blinked hard. “You look …”
Was it a good thing that he kept shaking his head? Because generally speaking, that was a bad thing, and when his eyes kept getting bigger, Jayne tried to close the door on him, but his hand shot out and stopped it.
“Wow.” He pushed the door wide and blinked again. “You … wow.”
Jayne eyed him carefully. “Is that a good wow, or is it a ‘what the hell was she thinking’ kind of wow?”
Nick’s fingers tightened around the knob and he couldn’t seem to moisten his lips enough. “That’s a ‘Martin’s going to owe me huge for this’ kind of wow.”
A rush of warmth flooded through Jayne from the top of her head right down to the tips of her freshly painted toes. She was so caught up in the way Nick was looking at her, it took a few seconds for her to realize there was someone else standing behind him.
“Carter! When did you get here?”
His mouth hung open, too, but the twinkle in his oh-so-dark eyes meant only one thing: trouble.
“Just now.” He all but shoved Nick out of the way, grabbed her hands, and pulled her out into the kitchen. “You’re smokin’, Jay. What’s up?”
Jayne faked a curtsy and stifled a groan. “Blind date with one of Nick’s buddies.”
“Who?” Carter asked, talking over her head to Nick, who’d followed them into the kitchen.
“Martin.” Nick’s voice was low and tight.
“Martin Kendall?” Carter almost choked on the words.
“Yeah, why?”
“Yes, Carter,” Jayne said, grabbing his jaw and forcing him to look back at her. “Why? And who’s Martin Kendall?”
“Oh, this is awesome!” Carter’s laughter wasn’t helping Jayne’s nerves. “I’m coming with you.”
“No you’re not,” Jayne and Nick cried at the same time.
“Then I’ll drive myself, but I’m not missing this for anything.”
“Why?” Jayne grabbed Carter by the shirt front and shook him. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothing,” he said, hands up in surrender. “He’s a great guy. You’ll love him; all the girls do.”
“Come on.” Nick’s jaw was tight as he tapped his watch. “We’re late.”
“I need my wallet.”
“No you don’t,” Nick muttered. “I’m buying.”
He hustled her out to the truck, her nerves frazzled to the point of igniting. Nick’s shoulders could have snapped they were so tight, and Carter wasn’t helping with his constant snickering as he helped Jayne into the backseat of the crew cab.
Lisa was ready and waiting at her door when they arrived, and one look at her made Jayne realize why Nick must like this woman. Whereas Jayne had stressed over everything, from her plain Jane black dress to her hair and barely there nail polish, Lisa looked as though being that pretty was effortless.
Her red sleeveless dress, while simple, fit her perfectly, and it was no shock that her shoes and purse matched her dress, as did her nail color.
The drive to the restaurant, with Carter sitting beside her chuckling, was the longest five minutes of Jayne’s life. They’d barely cleared the door frame when Lisa excused herself to go freshen up.
What was that all about? How could her lipstick need refreshing so soon?
Carter charged ahead through the restaurant, but Nick took Jayne’s elbow and held her back a second.
“Martin’s my accountant. He’s a good guy, and you’ll like him.”
“But?”
“Yeah. But.” He cursed under his breath before looking back at her. “Guys are dogs, Jayne. One look at you in that dress and he’s gonna want to … well … yeah.”
“Shut up!”
“Serious like a heart attack.” He bobbed his head in a short nod and they set off after Carter, though much slower. “So if things start going too fast and you’re not sure how to stop—”
“Okay, seriously, shut up.” She inhaled deeply and pressed her hands to her waist, keeping her voice to a low whisper. “I’m going to go in there, have what I hope is a nice dinner, and then I’m going home. I mean, back to your house. And if I decide to have sex with him, I sure as hell won’t be discussing it with you!”
The restaurant was L-shaped, with a huge rock fireplace at the bend. Tables, decorated with small bouquets of pink and white carnations, were set up at different angles, with plenty of room for diners to have at least a little privacy. Soft music played through unseen speakers and huge widows overlooked a pond near the ninth hole.
Nick pressed his hand against her back as Carter pulled up a fifth chair and sat down, his grin just as big as it was at Nick’s.
Jayne tried to ignore both of them as the man at the table rose to his feet, a look of bemused disbelief on his face. Nice looking, with short, neat blond hair; he obviously worked out and wasn’t afraid to spend money on clothes.
“Martin.” Nick reached to shake his hand. “This is Jayne, the friend I told you about.”
A moment later he introduced Martin to Lisa and they all sat back and stared at each other. Wasn’t this nice?
“Anyone else joining us?” Martin took a sip of his martini, then set the glass down with slow, deliberate movements.
“No.” Nick thumbed toward Carter. “Sorry about him.”
“More the merrier, right?” Martin waved over the server. “A drink, Jayne?”
“God, yes.” That came out kind of fast, so she took a breath and smiled. “Cosmo, please.”
Nick ordered Lisa a glass of wine, and a couple beers for himself and Carter.
Something wasn’t quite right; there was a weird undercurrent coming off Martin, almost as if he was waiting for Nick to explain something. And what else could it be except her? Was he expecting someone else, someone more like Lisa? Taller? Thinner? Prettier? Someone with freshly applied lipstick? Or maybe someone who actually wore lipstick?
Jayne tried to ignore the feeling in her stomach, the one that warned anything she put in her mouth was bound to come right back up. This was a bad idea from the start and every angst she’d felt building up to tonight was now exploding all around her.
“So, Jayne,” Martin started, a small grin lifting the corner of his mouth. “How long have you known Nick?”
Small talk. Okay. She could do that. She set her napkin on her lap and immediately began to twist it between her fingers.
“Since kindergarten,” she said, smiling her thanks to the waiter as he delivered the pretty pink Cosmo. “He used to share his juice boxes with me.”
“Wow—that’s a long time.”
Jayne could feel Nick watching her, but she refused to look his way, and kept her gaze firmly fixed on Martin. Why did he keep smiling like that? And what the hell was so important that Carter had to come and watch?
“Nick tells me you’re his accountant.”
Martin nodded. “Pretty exciting, huh?”
“It might not be SEAL Team Six exciting,” she laughed. “But for those of us who are mathematically challenged and dread the tax man every April, you run a pretty close second.”
“Fair enough.” He tipped his glass toward her. “And what do you do?”
“I was a copy editor back east, but now I’ve taken over my grandmother’s store downtown.” Her mood brightened a bit. “So I’ll be looking for a good accountant in the near future—interested?”
“Sure, so long as you don’t do your bookkeeping the same way Nick does.” Martin rolled his eyes. “Scrap pieces of paper and loose receipts thrown in a doughnut box isn’t as helpful as you’d think.”
Jayne laughed. “Deal.”
The conversation turned to Lisa’s event planning, how she’d dealt with the flooding disaster at the Fairmont, a couple of upcoming weddings, and a trip to Montreal she’d be taking to check out conference sites.
“Nick’s going to come, too,” Lisa said. “So we can see the sights together.”
Since when did Nick ever care about seeing the sights of Montreal? Before she could ask, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He glanced down at the screen, frowned, and stood up.
“Sorry. It’s Judy; if I don’t take this, she’ll just keep calling.”
He hurried to the far corner of the room with his phone pressed tight against his ear. Jayne watched for a second until Martin touched her arm.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and smiled a little sheepishly. “I had no idea.”
Carter, who’d been unusually quiet until then, snorted so loud he scared poor Lisa. “Neither did Nick.”
Jayne shot him a glare, but Martin kept talking.
“You’re gorgeous, Jayne, and that means something coming from me.” When Jayne frowned at him, Martin reached for her hand. “Nick said he had a friend he was looking to set up. He didn’t tell me his friend was a woman, and I just assumed he knew …”
Understanding dawned on Jayne in an instant. Her eyes widened, she looked at Lisa, who looked just as shocked, then at Carter, who was doing his very best not to laugh out loud, and finally back at Martin.
“No!”
“Yes.”
She jabbed her thumb in Nick’s direction. “And he doesn’t know?”
Martin shrugged in amazement. “Apparently not.”
“Carter,” Jayne cried quietly. “You jerk! You could have said something!”
“I could have, but this is way better.”
Lisa’s breath came out in a whoosh. “Oh my God.”
“What’s the matter?” Nick frowned at Lisa as he sat back down.
“Oh, this is so wrong.” Jayne pressed her napkin to her mouth, but one look at Carter and there was no helping either one of them.
Martin sat forward in his chair, fingering the stem of his glass. “Nick, how long have we known each other?”
“Three or four years, I guess.”
“And in all that time,” he said, smiling slowly, “have you ever heard me talk about the girls I dated?”
“I don’t know,” Nick answered slowly, his frown deepening. “No, I guess not.”
“And that never struck you as odd? You never thought maybe our … tastes … differed a little?”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” A blanket of ice fell over Nick’s expression. “You son of a—”
“Nick, wait. Carter, shut up!” Jayne rested her hand on his arm and tried her very best not to laugh at him because he was just trying to stick up for her. “You don’t understand.”
“Clearly,” Martin agreed, his eyes wide. “He doesn’t understand at all.”
“Then maybe someone should explain it to me.” The storm built in Nick’s expression, threatening to let rip any second. He gripped the arms of his chair and glared at Martin until the other man laughed softly and shrugged.
“Seriously, Nick. I’m gay.”
All color drained from Nick’s face. His mouth opened and Jayne was sure he’d stopped breathing for a second.
“You’re what?” he finally croaked.
Martin lifted his glass in a mock salute and grinned. “Like a picnic basket, baby.”
Tears rolled down Jayne’s cheeks, no doubt taking all her mascara with them, but she didn’t care. Poor Nick just kept staring at Martin and shaking his head.
“Really?” Color rushed over Nick’s face. He slumped back in his chair and grinned through his embarrassment. “Wow. Who knew?”
“Try everyone.”
“Son of a bitch.” He closed his eyes and groaned before finally pointing at Carter. “You knew!”
“Duh.”
Martin flagged the server. “Another round, please!”
When their glasses had been refilled, Jayne raised hers in a toast. “Here’s to the best blind date I’ve ever had. Can I go change into my jeans now?”
“No!” Carter and Nick in stereo.
“Please don’t.” Martin winked over his glass. “Women may not be my particular cup of tea, but I think I speak for all men—gay or straight—when I say ‘wow!’ ”
“Cheers!” Carter clinked his glass against Martin’s and Jayne’s, but it took Nick and Lisa a second or two before they lifted theirs.
Without a doubt, it was one of the most enjoyable nights of Jayne’s life. Martin was funny and smart, quick with conversation, and he and Carter weren’t shy about ribbing Nick all night. Just like at the Stomp, Lisa didn’t have much to say, didn’t seem overly interested in anyone except Nick, and going by the Carter’s expression, Jayne wasn’t the only one who noticed.
Their server had just cleared the plates when Carter’s phone buzzed.
“Sorry.” He yanked it out of his pocket and sauntered away from the table, but seconds later he was hurrying back.
“We gotta go.”
“What’s the matter?” Nick was already on his feet and Jayne was close behind.
“It’s Katie. Your folks are already at the hospital.”
“Go,” Martin said. “I’ll get this.”
“Thanks, man.”
Jayne and Carter were already heading for the door, but Nick hung back, his arm extended toward Lisa. Jayne was too far away by then to hear what was being said, but Nick was the only one who followed them out of the restaurant.
“What’s wrong?” Nick asked, his voice tight. “Why’d they call you?”
They piled into the front seat of the truck, with Jayne sandwiched between them, and Nick cranked the engine.
“The baby’s cord prolapsed.”
“English, Carter!” Nick squealed the tires ripping out of the parking lot.
“It’s when the umbilical cord comes out ahead of the baby. The weight of the baby pushing down on the pelvis basically squishes the cord, which reduces or completely cuts off its oxygen and blood supply. Your dad says they’ve already taken Katie down to the OR for a C-section.”
“But is our hospital equipped—”
“Just drive, Nick.”
They pulled out onto the highway and Nick reached blindly for Jayne’s hand. She wrapped both of hers around his and held it tight. Nick didn’t speak. He didn’t even look at her. He just pressed his foot down harder on the accelerator. The angst on his face was about far more than his sister having complications, and Jayne could have kicked herself for not thinking about it sooner.
“As soon as we get there, I’ll run down to the OR and find out what’s going on.” Carter wrapped his hand around the door handle as Nick took the next corner. “You guys head for the waiting room and I’ll meet you there as soon as I know anything.”
When they jerked to a stop at the hospital, Nick released Jayne’s hand only long enough to throw the truck into park, then he grabbed her hand again and pulled her out on his side. Carter was already sprinting through the emergency room door.
Nick hesitated at the door, took a deep breath, and strode inside, keeping a death grip on Jayne’s hand. His father met them in the waiting room with worried eyes and tight hugs.
“Any word?”
Doc shook his head. “She’s still in surgery, that’s all I know.”
“Where’s Mom?”
“She and Ben are waiting in the family room.”
Jayne took Doc’s hand in her free
one and squeezed it. “Can I get you anything? Coffee?”
“No.” Three shades past pale, he shook his head and waved toward the chairs. “Let’s just sit.”
Minutes ticked by in deafening silence, with Jayne sitting between Nick and Doc, holding both their hands and wishing Carter would come back with news. Any news. The Newport Ridge hospital had a surgeon who came up a couple times a month to do minor things like tonsillectomies, but anything else was done in the city, and if they’d had any sign that the baby was in distress, they would have been transferred down there. The fact they were doing the surgery here could only mean that there hadn’t been time, which meant …
No. Think positive. Katie was strong and perfectly healthy.
Nurses and orderlies walked back and forth, their running shoes almost silent against the floor, while bells dinged constantly at the nursing station down the hall.
After what seemed like half the night, Carter pushed through the doors, dressed in green scrubs.
“It’s a girl!”
“A girl,” Nick choked. “Is she … are they—”
“They’re fine,” he laughed. “Amazingly, they’re both fine. Katie’s still in recovery, but she’s awake, so they’ll be moving her into a room shortly.”
Tears streamed down Doc’s face as he laughed and hugged Nick first, then Jayne and Carter.
“Thank God,” he muttered over and over again. “Can I see them?”
“Of course,” Carter grinned. “Grandma’s already in there. You two sit tight. I’ll be back for you in a while.”
A second later they disappeared down the hall, leaving Jayne and Nick alone in the tiny waiting room.
“Hey.” Jayne wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. There was no one there to see, no one there to fly into a rage, so it didn’t matter how hard or how long she hugged him. “It’s okay.”
Nick’s arms tightened around her until she thought her spine would push through her belly button. His breath came in quiet jags, his heart thundered against hers, and all she could do was hold him until it calmed.
