Jace took the stool next to her and signaled the bartender. “Jack Daniels, rocks.” The bartender poured and set his drink in front of him. “And another margarita,” Jace added. “For the lady.”
“No, thanks.” She shook her head at the barkeep and he left them alone. Then she turned to Jace and granted him a patient look from that fine pair of enormous brown eyes. “No offense,” she said.
“None taken.”
“And don’t even think about it, okay? I’m on a solo vacation and right now, I hate men.”
He studied her face. It was such a great face. One of those faces a guy could look at forever and still find new expressions in it. “Already, I really like you.”
“Didn’t I just say I hate men?”
“That makes you a challenge. Haven’t you heard? Men love a challenge.”
“I’m serious. Don’t bother. It’s not gonna happen.”
He faced the rows of liquor bottles arrayed in front of the mirror over the bar and shrugged. “Okay, if you’re sure.”
She shot him a look. “Oh, come on. Is that the best you’ve got?”
He leaned his head on his hand and admired the way the dim barroom light somehow managed to bring out glints of auburn in her thick, wavy dark hair. “Uninspired, huh?”
She almost smiled. “Well, yeah.”
“Story of my life lately. I’ve got no passion for the game.”
“What game?”
He shrugged again. “Any game.”
She considered that. “Wow,” she said finally. “That’s sad.”
“Yeah, it is, isn’t it?”
She frowned and then looked at him sideways. “Wait a minute. Stop right there, buddy. I’m on to you.”
“Oh? What am I up to?”
“You sit there looking gorgeous and bored. I find I have a longing to bring some life back into your eyes. I let you buy me another margarita after all. I go home with you. We have wild, hot, incredible sex. But in the morning, you’re looking bored again and I’m feeling cheap and used.”
He decided to focus on the positive. “You think I’m gorgeous?”
“That was not my point. It was a cautionary tale.”
“I think you’re gorgeous,” he said and meant it. “And that’s kind of a breakthrough for me.”
“A breakthrough.” She was not impressed. “You’re kidding me.”
“I am as serious as a bad blind date. You’re the first woman I’ve felt attracted to in months. Who’s Kenny?”
She shook a finger at him. “You listened in on my phone call.”
“Not exactly. I overheard your phone call.”
“I’m just saying it was a private conversation and I don’t even know your name.”
“Jason Traub. Call me Jace.” He offered his hand.
She took it. “Jocelyn Marie Bennings. Call me Joss.”
It felt good, he realized, just to hold her hand. It felt… comfortable. And exciting, too. Both at once. That was a first—for him anyway. As a rule, with women, it was one or the other. He didn’t want to let go. But in the end, it wasn’t his choice.
She eased her hand free. “My wedding was supposed to be a week ago today. Kenny was the groom.”
“Supposed to be? You mean you didn’t marry him?”
“No, I didn’t. And I should have backed out long before the wedding day. But Kenny and I were together for five years. It was going to be a beautiful wedding. You should see my wedding gown. I still have it. I couldn’t bear to get rid of it. It’s fabulous. Acres of beading, yards of the finest taffeta and tulle. We planned a nice reception afterward at my restaurant.”
“You own a restaurant?”
“No. I mean the restaurant I was managing, until I quit to marry Kenny. I gave up a great job for him. Just like I gave up my cute apartment, because I thought I wouldn’t need either anymore.”
“But then you didn’t marry Kenny.”
“I already said I didn’t.”
“Just wanted to be sure. So what went wrong? Why didn’t you marry the guy?”
She ran her finger around the rim of her margarita glass. “Who’s telling this story, Jace?”
He gave her a nod. “You are, Joss. Absolutely. Carry on.”
“It was going to be the perfect wedding.”
He nodded once more, to show her he was listening, but he did not interrupt again.
She went on. “And after the wedding and the lovely reception, there was the great getaway honeymoon right here at the Thunder Canyon Resort. Followed by a move to San Francisco. Kenny’s a very successful advertising executive. He just hit the big time and got transferred to the Bay Area.” Joss paused. She turned her glass by the stem.
He wanted to prompt her to tell him what went wrong, but he didn’t. He waited patiently for her to go on, as he’d promised he would.
Finally, she continued. “I got all the way to the church last Saturday. Camellia City Methodist in Sacramento. It’s a beautiful church. And I was born and raised in Sacramento and have lived there all my life. I like my hometown. In fact, I didn’t really want to move to San Francisco, but I was willing to support my future husband in his powerhouse career. And I would have gone through with the wedding in spite of my doubts.”
He’d promised to let her tell it her way, but still. He had to know. “What doubts?”
She shook her head. “Kenny used to be such a sweet guy. But the more successful he got, the more he changed. He became someone I didn’t even know—and then I caught him with my cousin Kimberly in the coat room.”
“Hold on, you lost me. What coat room?”
She shook her head again, as though she still couldn’t quite believe it. “The coat room at Camellia City Methodist.”
Jace let his mouth fall open. “Kenny canoodled with Kimberly in the coat room on the day of your wedding?”
“Oh, yeah. And it was beyond canoodling. Kimberly was halfway out of her hot-pink satin bridesmaid’s dress and someone had unzipped Kenny’s fly. Both of them were red-faced and breathless. Kind of ruined the whole experience for me, you know?”
He made a low noise in his throat. “I guess so.”
Joss picked up the cell phone, studied it for a moment and then set it back down. “So I threw his engagement ring in his face and got the heck out of there—and I’m here at the resort anyway. Having my honeymoon minus the groom.”
He tipped his head at the phone. “But Kenny keeps calling.”
“Oh yes, he does.”
“What a douche bag.”
She sipped her margarita. “My sentiments exactly.”
“I hate guys like that. He blew it already. He should show a little dignity and leave you alone. But instead it’s, ‘Joss, please. I love you. I just want to work this out. Come back to me. I’m sorry, okay? And that silly thing with Kimberly? It meant nothing and it will never happen again.’”
Joss laughed. She had a beautiful, husky, warm sort of laugh. “How did you do that? You even captured the slightly wounded, whiney tone of his voice. Like I’m the one with the problem.”
Jace stared at her wide, soft mouth in unabashed admiration. “I like your laugh.”
She gave him her sternest frown. “Didn’t I tell you not to go there?”
He was about to argue that he wasn’t “going” anywhere, that he only liked the way she laughed. But before he could get the words out, Theresa Duvall sauntered up behind him and took the stool on his other side.
“Jace.” Theresa’s hand closed over his arm. He looked down at her fingernails, which were long and done up for the holiday with glittery red stripes and tiny, sparkly little stars. She leaned close and purred, “I’m a determined woman and there is no way you’re escaping me.”
Okay. He knew he only had himself to blame if Theresa considered him the perfect candidate for another no-strings night of meaningless sex. But he really liked Joss. And he’d never have a chance with her now, not with Theresa pulling on his arm, eyeing him like
a starving person eyes a steak dinner.
And it wasn’t even that he wanted a chance with Joss. Not that kind of chance anyway. He just liked her a lot, liked talking with her, liked hearing her laugh. He didn’t want her to leave.
Shocked the socks off him when she didn’t leave. Somehow, she picked up on the desperate look he sent her. And not only did she stay right where she was, she wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pulled him away from Theresa, drawing him close to her side.
Wow. It felt good—really good—to have her holding on to him, to feel her softness and the warmth of her. She smelled like soap and starch and sunshine and roses. And maybe a little tequila.
“Sorry,” she said to Theresa, her tone regretful. “This one’s taken.”
Theresa blinked. And then she let go of his arm and scowled. “Jace, what is your problem? You should have told me you were with someone. I want a good time as much as the next girl, but I would never steal another woman’s man.”
He was totally lost, awash in the superfine sensation of having Joss’s arm around him. But then she nudged him in the side and he realized he was supposed to speak. “Uh, yeah. You’re right, Theresa. I’m an ass. I should have said something.”
Joss clucked her tongue and rolled her eyes. “We had a fight. He’s been sulking.”
Theresa groaned. “Oh, I know how that goes. Men. I don’t let myself get serious with them anymore. They’re just not worth it.”
Joss pulled him even closer. And then she kissed his ear. It was barely a breath of a kiss. But still, with her arm around him and her lips close to his ear, he could almost forget that he had no interest in women anymore. He was enjoying every minute of this and he wished she would never let go. “I hear you,” she told Theresa, her breath all warm and tempting in his ear. “But when it’s true love, well, what can you do?”
Theresa just shook her head. The bartender approached. Theresa shook her head at him, too. And then, without another word, she got up and left.
Instantly, Joss released him and retreated to her own stool. Jace felt kind of bereft. But then he reminded himself that he should be grateful. She’d done him a favor and gotten Theresa off his back. “Thanks. I owe you one.” He raised his glass.
She tapped hers against it. “Okay, I’ll bite. Who was that?”
“Her name is Theresa Duvall. Last year, she was working at the Hitching Post—it’s this great old-time bar and grill down in town, on the corner of Main Street and Thunder Canyon Road.”
“She seemed like she knew you pretty well.”
“Not really.” He didn’t want to say more. But Joss was looking at him, a look that seemed to expect him to tell the truth. So he did. “I had a thing with her last summer. A very short thing.”
“A thing.”
“Yeah.”
“What, specifically, is a thing?”
He tried not to wince. “See, I knew you would ask that.”
Joss accused gently, “You slept with her.”
“Only once. And technically, well, there was no sleeping.”
She laughed again. Really, she had the best laugh. “Jace, I believe you’re a dog.”
He tipped his drink and stared down into it. “Maybe I was. Not anymore, though. I have changed my ways.”
She made a disbelieving sound. “Right.”
“No, seriously, I’m not the man I used to be. Too bad I’m not real clear on who, exactly, I’ve become. I lack…direction. Everyone says so. I’m not interested in women anymore. I don’t want to get laid. Or married. Also, I’ve given up my place in the family business and my family is freaked over that.”
“You live here in Thunder Canyon?”
“No, in Midland, Texas. Or I did. I have a nice little spread outside of town there. But I’ve put my place up for sale. I’m moving. I just don’t know where to yet. In the meantime, I’m here for a weeklong family reunion—a reunion that is going on right now, here at the resort, over at DJ’s Rib Shack.”
“I have another question, Jace.”
“Shoot.”
“Is there anything you do want?”
“That, Jocelyn Marie, is the question of the hour. Please come with me back to the Rib Shack.”
She was running her finger around the rim of her drink again. “You didn’t answer the question of the hour.”
“All right. There is nothing that I want—except for you to come back to the Rib Shack with me.”
Her smooth brow furrowed a little. “And I would want to go to your family reunion because?”
“Because only you can protect me from my family and all the women who want things from me that I’m not capable of giving them.”
She shook that head of thick brown hair and sat straighter on her stool. “Before I decide whether to go with you or not, I need to get something crystal clear.”
“Fine.”
“I want you to listen very carefully, Jace.”
He assumed a suitably intent expression. “I’m listening.”
“I’m. Not. Going. To. Have. Sex. With. You.”
“Oh, that.” He waved a hand. “It’s okay. I don’t care about that.”
“So you say now.”
“Look, Joss, I like you. You’re the first bright spot in my life in months. I just want to hang around with you for a while. Have a few laughs. No pressure. No drama. Nothing hot and heavy. No big romance.”
She stared at him for several seconds. Her expression said she still wasn’t sure she believed him. Finally she asked, “So you want to be…friends? Honestly? Just friends?”
“My God, I would love that.” He put some money on the bar. “The Rib Shack?”
She downed the last of her margarita. “Why not?”
Chapter Two
Joss surprised herself when she agreed to go with Jace.
But then, she got what he meant when he said that he liked her. She liked him, too. And not because he was tall and lean and handsome with thick, glossy dark hair and velvet-brown eyes. Not because he smelled of soap and a nice, clean, subtle, probably very expensive aftershave. Not because he was undeniably hot.
She didn’t care about hot. Her life had pretty much crumbled to nothing a week before. Finding a hot guy—or any guy for that matter— was the last thing on her mind.
Jocelyn liked Jason because he made her laugh. Because, even though he carried himself like he owned the world, she could see in his eyes that he really was flummoxed by life, that he used to be one guy and now he wasn’t that guy anymore. That he wasn’t all that familiar with the guy he was now. Joss could relate to that kind of confusion. It was exactly the confusion she felt.
She entered the Rib Shack on Jace’s arm. The casual, Western-themed restaurant was packed. Jason Traub, as it turned out, had a very large family.
“Jason, there you are,” said a good-looking older woman with a slim figure and sleek light brown hair. “I was starting to wonder if you’d already left.”
“No, Ma,” Jace said, his charming smile not quite masking the wariness in his eyes. “I’m still here.”
Jace’s mother turned a bright glance on Joss. “Hello.”
Jace made the introductions. Joss smiled and nodded at his mom, whose name was Claudia.
Claudia asked, “Do you live here in town, Jocelyn?”
“No, I’m from Sacramento.”
Jace said, “Joss is staying here at the resort.”
“With your family?” his mom quizzed. Claudia had that look, Joss thought, the look of a mother on the trail of every bit of information she could gather about the new girl her son had brought to the family party.
“I’m here on my own,” Joss told her. “Having a great time, too. I love the spa. And the shopping in the resort boutiques. And I’m learning to play golf.” All of it on Kenny Donovan’s dime, thank you very much.
An ordinary-looking man a few years older than Jace’s mom stepped up and took Claudia’s arm. Claudia beamed at him, her golden-brown eyes glowing
with affection. “Darling, this is Jocelyn, Jason’s new friend. Jocelyn, my husband, Pete—we’re staying here at the resort, too. A romantic getaway, just us two old folks in the Governor’s Suite.”
Joss was in the Honeymoon Suite, but she didn’t say so. It would only be asking for more questions than she was prepared to answer at the moment—which was kind of amusing in a dark sort of way. She hadn’t even hesitated to tell Jace that she’d run away from her own wedding. But somehow, with everyone else, well, she didn’t want to go there. And she really appreciated that Jace was keeping his mouth shut about it.
He seemed like a great guy. And his parents were adorable, she thought. So much in love, so attentive to each other. There should be more couples in the world like Claudia and Pete.
Claudia said, “I hope you’ll join us for dinner tomorrow night, Jocelyn. It will be at the home of Jason’s twin, Jackson, and Jackson’s wife, Laila. They have a nice little property not far from town.”
“Yeah, you should come,” Jace said with enthusiasm. “I’ll take you.”
Joss gave him a look that said he shouldn’t push it and asked, “You have a twin?”
Claudia laughed. “A fraternal twin. Jackson is older by an hour and five minutes. That makes Jason my youngest son. I also have one daughter, Rose. She’s the baby of the family. Dillon, Ethan and Corey are the older boys.”
Joss did the math. “Wow, six kids. I’m jealous. I was an only child. My mother raised me on her own.”
Claudia reached out and touched Joss’s shoulder, a fond kind of touch. “Sweet girl,” she said softly. And Joss felt all warm and fuzzy inside. “You come to dinner tomorrow night,” Jace’s mom said again. “We would love to have you join us.”
“Thank you,” Joss said, and left it at that.
A few moments later, Jace led her out onto the Rib Shack’s patio where the band was set up but taking a break. They found a reasonably quiet corner where they could talk without having to shout.
“My mother likes you,” Jace said.
“You say that like you’re not sure if it’s good or bad.”
“Yeah, well, Ma thinks I got my heart broken and she really wants me to be happy. She’s decided I only need to meet another woman, the right woman, so I can get married and settle down like my brothers and my sister. Now she’ll be finding all kinds of ways to throw us together.”
The Last Single Maverick Page 2
