Shotgun Groom

by Kristin Morgan

  Without a doubt.

  Darn it.

  Where was he anyway?

  Chapter Six

  Beth glanced at Franko and smiled. But from the over-confident look in his eyes, she had the feeling that a dance with him was going to be a mistake. Since he already seemed to know so much about her—thanks, no less, to her good friend Jack—he probably knew that she loved to dance. How could she possibly refuse him without giving him a valid excuse? And, at the moment, she couldn’t think of a single one. After taking a deep breath, she offered him her hand. “I suppose one dance won’t hurt anything,” she said.

  He smiled. The next thing she knew, they were on the dance floor.

  And just as she had feared, what should have been a simple waltz turned out to be a tug-of-war. But not because she was having trouble keeping up with

  Franko’s footsteps. She had no problem with that. She just couldn’t seem to keep up with his hands. They were never where they belonged. But he was so discreet with his unwanted overtures, Beth felt certain that no one else was aware of her plight. And she knew if she made a scene, she was going to be the one who looked like a fool.

  Finally the dance was over. Beth gritted her teeth in lieu of saying what she thought of Franko as they headed back to their table. She felt certain that her stiff back and dead silence was telling him plenty. She would never make the mistake of dancing with him again. And to think, for all of five minutes she had thought this guy was Prince Charming.

  Obviously she had to do something about her first impressions of men.

  She was so lost in her thoughts of Franko that she was almost to their table before she realized that Jack had finally arrived. Thank heavens, she thought.

  In fact, she was so happy to see him that she didn’t notice the brooding expression on his face.

  “I see you finally got here all safe and sound,” she said, with a deep sense of relief, although her stomach was still in knots from her tug-of-war with Franko.

  “I could say the same about you,” he replied, a sharp, cutting edge to his tone of voice.

  Beth frowned. “What do you mean? And why are you so late?”

  By this time, Franko had reached their table. “Jack, my boy,” he said, “I see you finally made it back.”

  Back, Beth thought. Now what did that mean?

  But Jack was so engrossed in his conversation with Beth, he barely responded to Franko other than to say his name. He kept his glare on Beth. “Didn’t you get my message?”

  “Yes, I did, but—”

  “I arrived at your house at seven to pick you up. But you weren’t there, so I waited.”

  “For how long?”

  “Long enough. I tried calling you on your cellular phone, but I didn’t get an answer there, either. You obviously had it turned off.”

  “Well, I tried calling you today on yours, and I didn’t get through, either,” Beth replied.

  “Why weren’t you at home when I came to pick you up?” he asked.

  “I left you a message on your answering machine at home. Didn’t you get it?”

  “No, I sure didn’t,” Jack replied with a hint of sarcasm. “Actually I haven’t been home all day.”

  As though to ease the tension, Franko pulled out Beth’s chair and she automatically sat down. “Thank you,” she said to him over her shoulder. Because in that moment it was Jack alone who held her attention. “Well, that explains it then. We missed each other. I’m sorry, Jack.”

  Her apology seemed to have no effect on him. Instead, he smirked. “Didn’t Franko tell you that I brought him here, then left just before seven to go and pick you up?”

  Beth glanced up at Franko, who wore an expression of complete innocence. “No, he said that you had an errand to run. I assumed you had gotten my message, so I thought it was something else.”

  “Now, Jack, my boy—” Franko cut in “—let’s not get involved in all this detail. I can assure you, it will accomplish nothing. Apparently there was a misunderstanding of some kind. Now that we’re all here at last, let’s just enjoy our evening together. Besides, I want to tell you that you were right. Beth is a delight. I’m honored that she was able to join us tonight.”

  Yeah, right, Beth thought, recalling what she had just gone through with him on the dance floor. She was a delightful patsy, all right. But since Jack was here now, things were definitely looking up. Surely the rest of the evening wouldn’t continue to be a complete disaster. She only wished that she and Jack could have been left alone for a few seconds so they could clear up this misunderstanding between them. Normally it wasn’t like him to pout over something as minor as a miscommunication. It was probably the stress of his job, and the fact that they were getting ready to put her plan into action. What else could be bothering him? she wondered.

  Well, one thing was for sure. She had decided that it was pointless to tell Jack what she thought of Franko. After all, he had to work with the guy, she didn’t. Besides, she was quite certain that Franko now knew how she felt about him, and that was the main thing.

  Once they were all seated and the waiter approached, they ordered appetizers and then Franko excused himself momentarily, leaving Jack and Beth alone.

  “Another rough day at the office, Jack?” Beth asked, hoping to get him to talk about whatever it was that was troubling him. He’d hardly said another word.

  “Not particulary,” he replied, taking a sip of his wine and not bothering to glance her way. Instead, he was working his jaw and watching the couples on the dance floor.

  Beth glanced that way, too, and pretended that she hadn’t noticed him practically ignoring her. But soon she couldn’t take the silence, the not knowing what was wrong. She cleared her throat. “Jack, what gives? Are you tired because you didn’t get a full night’s sleep last night?” she asked, suddenly remembering the phone call he had made to her at three o’clock this morning. The one where he had unknowingly talked her into sleeping nude.

  Franko Malone, on the other hand, could have never convinced her to sleep in the nude. Not in a million years.

  But Jack, as she already knew, could talk her into anything. That was why they were such great buddies.

  “No, I’m not tired,” he replied flatly.

  It seemed this conversation wasn’t going anywhere, Beth thought. Inhaling a deep breath, she tried to think of a new angle. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought that he was upset with her. But why would he be so upset with her because of a mere miscommunication? That wasn’t like Jack.

  Leaning forward with a smile, Beth placed her hand on his arm. “Thanks for inviting me to join you and Franko tonight. You know how much I always enjoy the piano bar here.”

  “Yeah, well, when I arrived it looked to me like you were sure having yourself a grand old time on the dance floor, all right.”

  Stunned by the callousness of his remark, Beth straightened in her chair and gaped at him. Of all the things for Jack to have said to her. She could hardly believe that he meant it. “Is that what it looked like to you?”

  “Yeah,” he said sarcastically, plunking down his wineglass on the table. “That’s what it looked like to me.” He sat back in his chair, but continued staring straight ahead.

  The very idea that Jack could have seen the dance between herself and Franko as something she had enjoyed was enough to knock the wind out of her. In fact, in her opinion, it was such an unfounded, unjust idea, that it was enough to have knocked the wind out of a hurricane. Sure, to the other guests it might have looked as though she and Franko were having an intimate dance. But Jack was her best friend. For heaven’s sake, he should know her better than that. In one fraction of a second, Beth made up her mind that if Jack wanted to believe that she had been having the time of her life on the dance floor with his dear, old colleague, then he damned well could. She wasn’t going to bother correcting him. Actually all she wanted now was to go home and put this entire evening behind her. It was unfolding into a nigh
tmare.

  Frankly the last forty-eight hours of her life had been a complete nightmare. At times she hadn’t even known where she stood with Jack anymore. Could things possibly get any worse?

  Dumb question, she told herself. Life could always get worse, and with her luck these days, it probably would.

  She quickly scooped up her purse. “Look, Jack, I’m not feeling very well, so I’m going home. Give Franko my regards.”

  She stood up to leave.

  Jack rose, too. “You can’t go now,” he said. “We haven’t eaten yet.”

  “My stomach is upset. I don’t think I can swallow a bite.”

  Suddenly Franko reappeared. “What seems to be the problem?” be asked innocently.

  “Beth isn’t feeling very well,” Jack replied. “I think I’m going to take her home.”

  “I can drive myself home,” Beth replied, holding a tight rein on her emotions. The last thing she wanted was for Jack—or Franko, for that matter—to know that in their own individual ways, they each had upset her. But especially Jack. She was so flabbergasted with him right now. For him to think that she had actually enjoyed Franko’s advances on the dance floor...well, it was simply too much for her to deal with tonight.

  Jack took hold of her arm as if he had every intention of seeing her out.

  But then Franko grabbed hold of her other arm and smiled. “My dear, if you aren’t feeling well, you shouldn’t drive yourself home,” he said. “I would be honored to escort you there. That way you won’t be alone and it will put Jack’s mind at ease. He’ll know I’m seeing to it that you arrive home for the night all safe and sound.”

  Jack tightened his hold on Beth’s arm. “That’s quite all right, Franko. I’m used to taking care of Beth when she’s ill. I’ll take her home.”

  Franko smiled knowingly. “But why ruin your evening, Jack, my boy? You’ve just arrived. Besides, I’ll take a taxi back here later to join you—that is, unless Beth decides in the meantime that she would like me to remain with her for the rest of the evening. In that case—”

  “Forget it, Franko,” Jack said almost militantly. “Beth’s coming with me, and that’s final.”

  “Look, I’m not that sick,” Beth chimed in, hoping that both Jack and Franko would see how ridiculous they were being. “I can take care of myself.”

  “My dear Beth—” Franko began.

  But Jack cut him off. “Look, Franko, the way I see it, this isn’t really any of your business,” he said heatedly. “Beth is my friend. So just back off.” Then he turned his gaze to Beth. “Let’s go. I’m taking you home.”

  Suddenly Beth found she’d had enough manipulation for one night. She pulled herself free from both of them and stepped back. “No one is taking me home,” she replied. “I have my own car and I’m driving myself. I’m sorry if I’ve put a damper on the evening, but I don’t think it’s too late for the two of you to salvage the rest of it. Franko... us... it was nice meeting you. Jack, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Now, good night, gentlemen.”

  With that, Beth turned on her heel and walked off. She was out of the restaurant and just reaching her car when Jack suddenly came up behind her.

  “Beth, wait,” he said breathlessly, putting his hand over hers as she was turning the key in the lock of her car door. “Something’s wrong here. You’ve never walked out on an evening before, not even when you were sick. What’s going on?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it right now,” she said without bothering to glance back at him. After all, her feelings were hurt, and they had a right to be.

  “Well, I do.”

  “That’s too bad, Jack. Right now I just want to go home, go to bed and forget about this whole evening.”

  Taking her by the arms, he spun her around to face him. “That remark tells me that something is definitely wrong. I want to know what it is.”

  “Do you?” she said haughtily. “Or do you want to just assume that you know what’s wrong? You seem to be quite good tonight at assuming.”

  Jack frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “Franko Malone. You assumed that I enjoyed the dance I had with him.”

  “Well, didn’t you?”

  Beth drew in a deep, calming breath. “Frankly, no.”

  “You didn’t? Well, according to what I’ve seen of the guy in action, most women do.”

  “Then I guess I’m not like most women. I mean, he’s nice and all... And he’s good-looking...”

  “You think he’s good-looking?” Jack asked.

  “Well...yeah...sort of. I thought he was a hunk, at first. But the guy has too much ego for me. But I could’ve handled that. He’s just another one of those egotistical men that women have to deal with from time to time. It’s you who upset me the most.”

  “Me? What did I do?” he asked, gaping at her.

  “You lumped me with all those other women whom you claim have fallen all over themselves because of Franko and then you didn’t even give me a chance to defend myself.”

  “Look, I’m sorry,” he said meaningfully. “Actually I don’t suppose I was thinking at all. I saw his arms around you, and it looked to me like—”

  “Well, you were wrong,” Beth cut in.

  “He wanted to go home with you,” Jack said.

  “Did I let him?” she asked heatedly.

  Jack smirked at his own ridiculous assumptions. “No, you didn’t.”

  “Thank you for finally recognizing that fact,” she said patronizingly.

  “I know I had that coming, but the truth is, I didn’t want to see you get hurt. The guy’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

  “We’re not in grade school anymore, Jack. I’m a big girl now. I can take care of myself.”

  Of course, at the time when she had been fighting off Franko’s advances on and off the dance floor, that wasn’t exactly what she had been telling herself. She had been in a near panic for Jack to save her.

  “Let’s just forget about what happened tonight,” she said, suddenly straightening his tie with the ease and self-assurance of a close friend. A slight smile turned up the corners of her mouth. “I’m exhausted anyway. I really should get to bed early. But you go back inside the restaurant with Franko and have yourselves a good time. I want you to.”

  Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the thought of all those women sitting at the piano bar, hungry for attention and just waiting for a nice, good-looking guy like Jack to arrive, made her stomach knot up again. It was the strangest thing. She didn’t like the idea of him dancing with all those other women. “Just don’t stay out too late,” she said in a motherly fashion, as a kind of paralyzing fear gripped hold of her heart. “You probably have a long day ahead of you tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do. I think I’ll just eat the appetizers we ordered and then go on home. If Franko isn’t ready to return to his hotel by that time, he can always take a taxi later.”

  “Now that sounds like a smart idea,” she said, smiling at him. It wasn’t much assurance for all the possessive thoughts going through her head, but it was better than nothing.

  Jack grinned at her. “Look, everything happened so fast a while ago that I didn’t get a chance to tell you that you really look great tonight,” he said, his eyes drifting slowly down her body.

  An intense heat rose up in her loins and channeled its way up to her cheeks, causing her to feel all flustered inside. “Really?”

  “Do me a favor, okay?” he drawled, his eyes coming back up to meet hers. “Wear this outfit the next time we go out to dinner together.”

  “Okay,” she said without argument. Frankly, in that moment, she would have done just about anything for him. Anything at all.

  He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips.

  “Why did you do that?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I just felt like it. Look, I might call you tonight when I get in, just to see how you’re feeling.”

  Her
heart fluttered. “I’m perfectly fine, Jack. Really, I am.”

  “I know. But do you mind if I call you anyway?”

  She remembered his phone call from the night before, and grinned. “No, I don’t mind.”

  From the look in his eyes, she knew that he was remembering it. He grinned back.

  Then he opened her car door, and she got inside and drove away. But as the miles passed, Beth realized she could hardly wait until he called her later on that night. It wasn’t just that she was slightly uneasy knowing that he would be out on the town with someone as notorious with women as Franko Malone, but she was honestly missing him already.

  But Beth never got her phone call that night from Jack. By morning, she didn’t know if she should be worried sick or just plain angry at him for causing her to stay awake most of the night, waiting for her telephone to ring. This was the second night in a row that she hadn’t had enough sleep because of him. It was getting to be a habit.

  Not that she seriously thought she had a right to be truly angry with him. The fact that he hadn’t called her was...well...nothing, really. He certainly didn’t owe her an explanation. When it came right down to it, he was an unattached male who could do what he darned well pleased. He wasn’t her property, after all. It wasn’t as if she was his wife or anything. Not yet, anyway. But the thought that he could have gone home from that restaurant last night with some woman and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it was suddenly driving her plum crazy.

  Halfheartedly, she dragged herself out of bed, made a pot of coffee and drank two cups.

  And then her phone rang. She practically dove forward to answer it.

  “Hello.”

  “Beth—”

  “Jack! Where are you?”

  So much for playing it cool with him, she thought.

  There was a hesitation. “It’s a long story, Beth. Look, do you have coffee made?”

  She glanced over at the pot of hot brew sitting on her countertop. “Uh...yeah...sure.”

  “Mind if I come by? I could use a cup.”