by Gina Wilkins
“You did tell Gavin that you’re seriously involved with Thad, didn’t you, Jenny?” Tess asked curiously. “I mean, the way he looked at you, I’m not sure he understands you’re fully off the market. And he bought you shoes.”
Snatching up her purse and the shopping bag, Jenny stood. “I really do have to go. I’ll pay at the register on my way out. I’ll talk to you both later, okay?”
Her friends probably watched her hasty departure with open mouths of surprise. They would certainly be unable to resist speculating about why she’d felt the need to bolt. But she had a sudden, almost desperate need to find someplace quiet where she could just be alone to think.
She was well aware of the irony that it was the same aspiration that had gotten her into this mess in the first place.
* * *
After mentally debating for a couple of days about whether he would attend, and then going back and forth on whether to ask one or more of his friends to come along, Gavin showed up at the Saturday-night event alone. Even as he’d made the drive to the venue, he’d almost turned around a couple of times and headed back home, asking himself why he was doing this. He wasn’t a party guy, and he wouldn’t know anyone here other than Stevie and Tess...and Jenny, of course. His suspicion that spending more time with Jenny was his primary motivation for going almost made him change his mind again.
He’d thought of asking Avery, but since Avery and Jenny didn’t get along—not to mention the bad history between Avery and Stevie—that hadn’t seemed like a great idea. So he’d come stag. He had nothing better to do that evening, anyway, as it would be another week before he was cleared for duty again. The fund-raiser seemed like a worthy cause, though he wondered if it was simply an excuse for a party. And yes, maybe he wanted to see Jenny again, if only because he’d been wryly amused by the expression on her face when Stevie invited him.
It wasn’t that he expected anything to happen between them, he assured himself. After all, she was seeing another guy. She was considering getting engaged, if she hadn’t already. Yet, he’d noted the lack of a ring on her finger, which could mean she hadn’t yet made that leap. She certainly hadn’t seemed all that sure about it when she’d broken the news to him. If she wanted to marry the other man, wouldn’t she have jumped on the chance to accept his proposal? If she really loved the guy, would she need to go off by herself to “consider all possible ramifications” before giving her answer?
None of those things were any of his business, of course. If Jenny wanted a practical, socially advantageous marriage which probably had her snobby grandmother salivating in delight, then it was entirely her choice. Hell, maybe she’d even be happy in such a union. But if she really loved that Thad guy, would her skin have flushed, her eyes dilated, her heart have pounded in her throat when Gavin had impulsively kissed her? He’d looked at her closely when he’d drawn reluctantly away, and he’d seen every one of those reactions. Had her response to him been due to nothing more than surprise? Had he only imagined that the sizzling attraction between them had flared back to life the moment she’d stumbled into his bedroom? Did those old feelings still burn only in him?
Maybe he just needed to make one last attempt at finding out for certain before he closed the door on their past again, this time for good. He wasn’t one to encroach on another man’s claim, but the last he’d heard, Jenny hadn’t given an answer yet. It wasn’t a done deal until she made that pledge, right?
Maybe he’d meet the guy tonight, and see for himself that Jenny was happy. Wasn’t that all he’d ever wanted for her? For himself?
The band was playing on the open-sided, covered deck of a Little Rock restaurant and club located on the bank of the Arkansas River. The sun had just set when he arrived. The big deck glowed with gold fairy lights hanging from overhead and strung in numerous potted trees. Soft floodlights were tucked discreetly into corners. A dais was set up for the band with the river view behind them, but as he paid his cover, he was informed by the hostess that the band was on a short break. Recorded music played from speakers until they took their places again.
He scanned the milling crowd for familiar faces. Surprisingly, he spotted a few, though they weren’t people he knew personally. Quite a few were young movers and shakers not yet in the upper ranks but on track to get there. People who didn’t blink at spending twenty bucks just to get into a club, not to mention whatever they’d stuff into the donation box or spend on drinks. As for himself, this was a fairly expensive evening.
Tables of nibbly-type food flanked the sides of the deck, and drinks were served at a cash bar by white-coated bartenders. The chatter and laughter was lively and animated, but acceptably modulated. This was not one of the clubs to which he and his associates in uniform were regularly summoned for disturbance calls.
He glanced automatically down at his clothes. He’d opted for khakis, a dark green polo shirt and brown slip-ons. He’d even had a haircut. Outwardly, he supposed he blended in fine with the other men in attendance, many of whom wore similar attire, but he still felt like the outsider for some reason. He had to admit he’d be more comfortable in a sharply pressed uniform with his sidearm at his hip.
“Hello.” A busty brunette in a fluttery top and tight miniskirt approached him, making him wonder how she could walk at all in heels so high they practically put her feet at a vertical angle. She looked good, he had to give her that, but his tastes ran toward a more subtle beauty. “I’m Sandy. Are you looking for someone in particular?”
He smiled. “Hi, Sandy, I’m Gavin. And I’m trying to find Jenny Baer or Stevie McLane. Do you know them?”
She ran a hand over her hair, a gesture perhaps intended to hide her disappointment with his answer. “As a matter of fact, I do. I just saw them by the railing looking over the river. Behind that big ficus tree with the little gold lights in it?”
“I’ll find them, thanks.”
“Catch you later, maybe?”
He nodded. “Sure.”
Threading through chatting guests, he made his way to the railing. Stevie had her back to him, but he recognized her immediately. Her bright blond curls gleamed in the yellow lights from the potted ficus. She stood next to a tall, lanky man. Despite the warmth of the evening, he wore a wrinkled, long-sleeve, black-and-green plaid shirt over a white tee, black pants turned into cuffs at the hems and scarred brown work boots. A misshapen gray porkpie hat with a plaid band and a stupid little feather sat on top of his floppy hair, and he’d finished the look with horn-rimmed glasses and sideburns that covered his jaws almost to his chin.
Gavin almost groaned. Seriously? This dated hipster poser was Stevie’s latest? She might have done better to have stuck with the grunge drummer from college.
The poser shifted his weight and someone else came into view. Gavin swallowed. Here was the reason he’d cut his hair, ironed his khakis, shelled out twenty bucks and risked embarrassment to come to this gathering that was so far from his comfort zone.
Jenny looked cool and lovely in a sleeveless white scoop-necked summer dress that hugged her bust and flared out from her hips to just above her knees. Her dark hair was loose in soft layers around her pretty face and fell just to her bare shoulders. He noticed a touch of glitter on her eyelids and peach gloss on her full lips. His gaze lingered on those lips that he’d tasted so recently and which he suddenly hungered to sample again.
You are such an idiot, Locke.
Would he really even think about putting himself through it all again, even if she were willing to try? He recalled everything they’d been through, all the obstacles that had stood between them back then and hadn’t really changed since, all the pain he’d endured, the ache of missing her that had tormented him for a long time after he’d walked away from her. Was there any chance in hell that anything would turn out differently if she’d be willing to dump Prince Charming to give it another shot?
And still he wanted her. Had never really stopped wanting her.
Idiot indeed.
She’d been talking to someone when he’d approached. Tess, he realized, dragging his gaze away only long enough to identify the other woman and then feeling his eyes drawn inexorably back to Jenny.
He’d tried to love other women in the years since they’d split. He’d made a concerted effort to move on, focusing on his training, his job, his friends and a procession of women as different from Jenny as possible. He’d even considered one relationship fairly serious. It had never gotten as far as an engagement, but they’d flirted with the idea, until they had decided by mutual agreement that, while they’d had fun, they weren’t meant to spend a lifetime together. The night he and Blair had called it quits, he’d sat alone in his darkened apartment until dawn, drinking and thinking not of Blair, but of Jenny. And that had been several years after he’d last seen her, leaving him to ask himself despairingly if he was destined to end up a grumpy old bachelor cop, haunted by memories of the one who’d got away.
And here she was again. Tying him in knots just like before. And no matter what happened from here, seeing her again had already put her firmly back into his...his mind, he substituted quickly, refusing to acknowledge the word that had almost formed in his thoughts.
She glanced his way, then froze momentarily. For one unguarded moment, he saw the reaction in her eyes. A flood of emotions he couldn’t quite decipher, but that he couldn’t mistake. And then she seemed to gather herself, hiding those feelings behind a placid expression and a polite smile. “Hello, Gavin.”
He returned the greeting and moved closer to her, nodding to the others as he did so.
Pivoting fast enough to make the fancy drink in her hand slosh against the sides of the glass, Stevie smiled brightly at him. “Gavin, I’m so glad you could come. Joe, this is Gavin Locke, the friend of Jenny’s I told you about. Gavin, this is Joe Couch, the bass player for Eleven Twenty-Five.”
Joe switched his beer mug to his left hand so he could stick out the right toward Gavin. “Hey.”
“Eleven Twenty-Five?” Gavin asked, briefly shaking the other man’s hand.
“My band. We’re about to start playing again.” Joe eyed Gavin somewhat warily through lenses Gavin cynically suspected to be clear glass. “So Stevie says you’re like a cop or something?”
“LRPD,” he confirmed.
“Uh. That’s cool, I guess.”
Gavin got the distinct impression that Joe was not a fan of police. Probably believed all the bad stories he heard and ignored the good ones. Gavin was all too familiar with the type. He had no intention of defending the integrity of law enforcement officers to this guy, though, so he merely turned back to Jenny. He nodded toward her empty hands, then glanced at Tess, whose hands were also free. “You two aren’t having anything to drink?”
“Tess and I just got here,” Jenny replied lightly. “I’ll probably have a glass of wine in a few.”
“And I’m the driver, so I’ll stick to strawberry lemonade,” Tess added. “They mix a really good one here.”
“Let me buy you both drinks. Strawberry lemonade for you, Tess, and still white wine for you, Jen? How about you, Stevie? Another beer, Joe?” He wasn’t trying to buy favor among Jenny or her friends. Just being polite, he told himself.
He was pretty sure Joe was about to eagerly accept the offer of a free drink, even though the one he had was only half-empty and even if it was being offered by a cop. But Stevie spoke up quickly. “I’m good, thanks. And, Joe, it looks like the rest of the band is getting ready to play again. You should probably join them.”
“Oh. Yeah, okay. Catch you later, Gavin.”
“Sure.” As the other man moved away, Gavin turned toward the line at the bar. “I’ll get the drinks.”
“You can’t carry them all by yourself,” Stevie pointed out. “Jenny, why don’t you help him? Tess, I see a guy I know who you might enjoy meeting. He’s still married, but separated, so he’s sort of eligible, right? Jenny and Gavin can find us after they get the drinks.”
Gavin wasn’t sure who looked more reluctant to agree with Stevie’s suggestions, Tess or Jenny. Jenny’s hesitation around him certainly wasn’t doing much for his ego. Yet, he still couldn’t seem to back away.
He placed a hand lightly on her back to keep her close to him as they made their way to the bar. He ordered the drinks and tipped the bartender.
“Thank you,” Jenny murmured when he handed her the wineglass.
He sipped his beer, then asked casually, “Where’s the fiancé tonight?”
Jenny’s brows creased with a frown that she quickly smoothed. She glanced quickly around, as if to make sure no one had overheard his question. “He’s not officially my fiancé yet,” she answered quietly. “I’m not ready to make any announcements. And he’s not here this evening. He’s been out of town for more than a week and won’t be back until Wednesday.”
So her suitor had been out of town when she’d headed for the cabin to consider the proposal. And she hadn’t seen him since she’d returned, meaning Gavin’s had been the last kiss on her lips.
For some reason, that gave him a sense of satisfaction.
Chapter Seven
“Hi, Jenny.” The woman Gavin had met when he’d first arrived—Cindy? Sandy?—rushed toward them with an avidly curious look on her made-up face. She rushed into speech before Jenny could even respond to the greeting. “I’ll be coming into your store this week. I’m going on a week-long Caribbean cruise with some of my sorority sisters from college next month and I need all new beach and party clothes. Since I’ve started my new workout program, all my clothes are just falling off me.”
“You look wonderful, Sandy,” Jenny assured the woman with cheery warmth. “And make sure you come in. If I’m not in the store, tell Amber I said to give you a ten percent discount. I’ll leave a note in your account file.”
Sandy’s face lit up. “Really? Thanks, Jen! I’ll definitely stop in.”
“I’m sure you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for. We have a whole new line of cruise wear and accessories that should meet your needs.”
“I can’t wait to see it.” The woman eyed Gavin again, open speculation in her expression as she looked from him, then back to Jenny. “So, where’s Thad this evening?”
He noted that Jenny’s smile didn’t waver as she answered lightly. “He’s in LA on a business trip. I’ll be sure and tell him you said hello. But where are my manners? Sandy Powell, this is Gavin Locke. He went to college with Stevie and me.”
“We met when I arrived,” Gavin replied smoothly. He wasn’t thrilled about the offhanded way Jenny had introduced him, but he let it stand. “Sandy welcomed me quite graciously.”
He thought he heard just a hint of a wry note in Jenny’s voice when she responded, “I’m sure she did. Don’t forget to ask Amber for that discount, Sandy. And let her or me know if there’s something else we can do to help you prepare for your cruise.”
“I’ll do that. Thanks, Jenny.” Perhaps Sandy decided that the discount was more valuable than digging for more gossip fodder. With a little wave, she hurried off as quickly as her tight skirt and ridiculously high heels would allow, to join a small group of women gathered nearby.
Gavin suspected there would still be some speculation about his presence at Jenny’s side while the man she’d been seeing was out of town. Though he could only guess how Jenny felt about that, he decided it didn’t really bother him all that much.
Moving out of the way of other thirsty guests, Jenny looked up at Gavin with a somber expression. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but was interrupted when Tess descended on them to pluck her lemonade out of Gavin’s hand.
“Thank you,” she said, her smile strained. “I’m going to try very h
ard to pretend this is something stronger than lemonade.”
Coming up behind her, Stevie sighed heavily. “Art’s not that bad, Tess. Obviously he thinks you’re hot. That’s a good thing, right?”
Their auburn-haired friend sighed and took another gulp of her tart drink before replying. “He asked if I have any moral objections to sleeping with a man who’s still technically married. He said he wanted to get that little detail out of the way before we went any further. Doesn’t like wasting time, he said. And we’d barely shaken hands!”
Jenny gave a little gasp. “Seriously? Gross.”
“Right?” Tess motioned dramatically with her glass, nearly splashing her drink over the rim.
“He’s just going through that awkward stage between married and single,” Stevie explained with a shrug. “It’s been a while since he’s dated and maybe he’s a little...”
“Desperate?” Gavin supplied drily.
She chuckled. “Maybe. And sure, he needs to take it down a notch.”
“Or a dozen notches,” Tess muttered darkly. “No more attempted fix-ups tonight, okay, Stevie? Let’s just enjoy the music.”
The band had taken their time setting up again, chatting with one another and with some of the people hanging around the dais, but now the first chords of a song began. Some of the guests turned expectantly to pay attention, while others carried on with their avid conversations, the evening’s entertainment being merely an excuse for professional and social networking. Jenny located a table with three recently vacated chairs, and Gavin snagged another from nearby, dragging it up to join them.
The volume of the music wasn’t earsplitting, but it was loud enough to make conversation more difficult now. Gavin leaned back in his chair and sipped his beer, content to listen and to watch Jenny with her friends. Stevie managed to make herself heard as she chattered away, though occasionally she remembered to try to look as though she were paying rapt attention to her boyfriend’s performance.
