“Just about,” Casey replied. “We had a little issue with the lobby, but it got fixed this morning.”
When he was satisfied, Casey unhooked the USB cable from the junction box of the security system.
“We’ll run live tests on Sunday when you’re closed, and then we’ll call this one done. Alexa is threatening to skin me if I even so much as mention the second job until we get back from our honeymoon. She said she liked me better when I was a poor retired Marine.”
Jim laughed. “Even I know Marines never retire. Sorry about her luck. I have a lot more for you to do.”
Casey grinned. “She got too used to me dropping by the office all the time. I think she misses the attention.”
“Alexa? Missing your undivided attention? You think?” Jim asked in a disbelieving tone that made Casey laugh.
Casey continued to smile at Jim even as the laughter faded. Alexa’s need for attention wasn’t any larger than his need to give her all she needed, and he figured Gallagher was well aware of the fact. Jim was a good employer, but he was also a great guy.
“Why haven’t you RSVP’d for the wedding?” Casey demanded. “You are coming, aren’t you? You won’t want to miss Sydney being Alexa’s Man of Honor. He’s designing their outfits. I’m sure the wedding will be the fashion talk of the town for at least a week afterwards.”
“You wearing one of Sydney’s suits?” Jim asked conversationally.
“Nope,” Casey said flatly. “I’m wearing my uniform. It’s not officially sanctioned at my rank, but I don’t give a damn. It’s between me and Alexa. Nothing against Sydney’s suits though—they’re awesome, and I own two of them. But I’m going to let Kaiser model the SydneyB line at the wedding.”
Jim nodded as he laughed, the grin never leaving his face. They both loved teasing Ben about his clothes. “I hate to miss what is sure to be the fashion show of the year, but I think I might have to decline for personal reasons—nothing to do with you or Alexa.”
Casey stopped packing his equipment for a moment to glance at Jim. “If you’re worried about Lauren McCarthy, don’t. I think her interest in you has been resolved. She has a date for the wedding. You should be safe from her attentions.”
“Lauren’s dating?” Jim repeated the words, not liking the way they vibrated off his tongue. “I hadn’t heard she was seeing anyone.”
“Don’t think there is just one. She’s been working her way through quite a few guys from what I hear,” Casey said, turning away so Jim wouldn’t see the look of mischief he was never good at hiding. “Seems our little, quiet Lauren had an emotional blowup during dinner last week. I’m not sure what prompted it, but she starting swearing at Regina and giving Alexa the bird in front of everyone at Lucinda’s. After that happened, Lauren changed—suddenly started dating two or three guys. I think Alexa and Regina are getting a little worried about what Lauren might be doing with all those men.”
Jim closed his eyes, took some deep breaths, and fisted his hands in his pockets to keep them constrained. His mood was moving toward violence, and he could feel the jealousy building. But this was what he had wanted Lauren to do, what he all but ordered her to do, wasn’t it? He’d told her to find someone else to date, and it looked like she was doing it at last.
Damn it all to hell anyway.
“Jim?” Casey asked, struggling not to smile at the murderous look on Jim’s face. “You okay?”
“What? Oh, yeah. Just—just tired,” Jim said. “It’s been a hard couple of weeks. Kaiser’s wedding seems like an eternity ago, doesn’t it.”
Casey snorted. “Tell that to Kaiser. He’s still all mushy over it. I can barely get him to stop talking about Regina. Well, listen—get some rest and think about coming to the wedding. Alexa and I both would really like you to be there,” Casey said sincerely.
“Sure,” Jim said. “I’ll think about it.”
But he probably wouldn’t. It was going to be hard to think about anything else except the fact Lauren was dating other men.
*** *** ***
The next day, Jim headed to the country club just to have a drink and relax. Or at least that was the story he told himself. When he asked and was told Lauren hadn’t been by in several days, Jim refused to panic.
Not sick, he was told. She was just busy. Lauren was busy.
Fine, Jim thought. That was fine. He was busy too.
Besides, it was none of his business—absolutely not his concern if she was too busy dating to come by the club. What was it to him if Lauren was planning to let some other guy enjoy the sexual fire Jim had started burning in her and refused to put out? He’d passed up his chance with her, willingly and knowingly.
“This is bullshit, Gallagher,” he said aloud, chastising himself as he headed back to his office.
And it was just that, plain and simple. Jim admitted to himself that he had absolutely no right to feel possessive of Lauren McCarthy, but he still did. Was he supposed to stand by and let her keep looking for a guy to give her what she wanted from him? Eventually, Lauren was going to find someone she liked and have sex with the guy, and then Jim would want to kill both of them. Or he’d want to die himself.
Worse—when she did take that step, it would feel like Lauren was cheating on him, and that—Jim concluded—was just proof positive of what a sick bastard he was about her.
He was still legally married, and had good reasons to stay that way, even if it was to a wife who hadn’t shared his bed in over five years. How could he bring that kind of baggage into a new relationship, much less to one with Lauren?
He was trying like hell to do the right thing, and trying not to forget the hard lesson he’d learned years ago. It had been one damn time, Jim thought bitterly—one damn time in all the long and lonely years without Cassandra, he managed to take another woman to bed. But he had still been mourning the loss of his wife, and being with the woman had brought only guilt. The experience had been empty, barely physically satisfying, certainly not emotional.
To say he and the woman never connected in any genuine way was an understatement.
Then to make matters worse, the woman he’d slept with had told everyone they both knew about sleeping with him, effectively branding him in Falls Church society as a cheating husband.
Out of desperation, Jim had finally told Dr. Regina Logan the truth. But even with Regina’s help and support, Jim had never been able to bring himself to try connecting with a woman again.
At least he hadn’t until he’d kissed Lauren McCarthy in Alexa Ranger’s garden.
If bedding a casual woman had been hurtful, it was utterly impossible to think of having a similar type of relationship with Lauren. His longing for her was anything but casual. He had desired her for years. But when he’d learned what her ex-husband had done during their marriage, Jim realized he absolutely couldn’t ask Lauren McCarthy to settle for nothing more than an affair.
Her ex-husband had already done a bang-up job of putting Lauren off men. The woman hadn’t even dated, hadn’t even shown any interest until—well, until him. Lauren had responded to him, had shown him more desire than he had expected from her. It had been the hardest thing he’d ever done to walk out of Alexa’s garden without having all he wanted of Lauren McCarthy.
All Jim had to do was close his eyes to remember every detail of what it had been like to kiss her, to smell the perfumed heat of her as she kissed him back. The need to seek her out and do it again resonated inside all the cells of his body. If he thought about it too long, he’d go to her—beg her to be with him.
“Damn it, Gallagher, you know you can’t have her,” Jim complained to his empty office.
He sat at his desk and put his head in his hands, trying to talk himself out of what he felt about Lauren.
*** *** ***
Lucinda’s was emptier than usual, but then they were meeting earlier than usual. Happy hour was all they could manage as a threesome because Lauren had a dinner date.
Alexa picked u
p her glass and pinged the side of it with her knife several times. “Now we’ll get this week’s dating report from Lauren McCarthy. Lauren, over to you,” she said, pointing the knife at her like a microphone.
“No luck yet,” Lauren said morosely. “Several excellent kissers, but barely a buzz from any of them even. I think something wrong’s with me.”
“Nonsense,” Regina said. “You just need some more practice, that’s all.”
“Seven guys is a lot of practice, Dr. Logan,” Lauren declared, lifting her wine and sipping slowly. “I don’t seem to be getting any better.”
The truth was Lauren was tired of kissing men trying to find one better than Jim. Regardless of what Kenneth said about it being the way relationships worked for most people, evidently kissing lots of guys wasn’t how it worked for her, which come to think of it was the argument she’d given Kenneth for not kissing him.
“If I keep this up, people will start comparing me to Alexa,” Lauren stated baldly, then blushed as she realized how what she said had sounded.
Alexa just laughed, unoffended by the comparison. She personally thought it would do Lauren good to sleep with a few talented men, if for no other reason than to banish the ghost of Jared Smith. Lauren had gotten Logan-trained in pleasing a man in bed solely for the benefit of the selfish SOB she had married. That selfish bastard didn’t deserve a fraction of what she had undoubtedly given him trying to save the relationship.
As meticulous and innovative as Lauren was in real life, God only knew how the woman would carry those encompassing traits into bed. If Lauren’s sex training was more publicly known, Alexa was guessing Jim Gallagher would have to go to the back of a very, very long line.
“Careful with the blushing thing,” Alexa warned Lauren with a smirk. “We might have to start calling you Saint McCarthy again.”
“Not me,” Regina denied loudly and quickly, stringing the cheese from her pizza and wrapping it around her finger, before popping the bite into her mouth. “I keep my promises, especially to a woman who I now know can kick my ass kung fu style.”
Lauren laughed at Regina’s teasing, but it also made her consider something.
“Do you think Jim is still keeping promises to his wife, Regina?” Lauren asked, not caring about practically begging for information. “I know I’m supposed to be looking for other guys, and I’m trying—but I can’t stop thinking about him.”
Regina swallowed hard, the pizza sticking in her throat. “Lauren, I honestly don’t know why Jim is staying away from you. You know I can’t tell you anything he told me in confidence. If you want to know—”
“—I have to ask him myself,” Lauren replied, stung by Regina’s refusal, even though she knew it was the right thing to not tell.
She was just so tired of all the game playing. She was never going to find a substitute for Jim because there simply wasn’t one.
“Listen up, you two. Tonight is the last stupid date I’m going on until Alexa’s wedding,” Lauren declared, pointing a finger at Alexa. “I can’t believe I actually agreed to a blind date for your big day. You caught me at a weak moment.”
“You’re going to love the guy I’m setting you up with. He’s fun, good-looking, and going to think you’re hot. I wasn’t able to work it out sooner, or you wouldn’t still be kissing your way through the Falls Church frogs trying to find a prince,” Alexa said on a laugh.
Lauren giggled about the frog analogy, wondering if Alexa had read her mind.
“I just hope I don’t end up like that story where the woman kisses a frog and ends up getting turned into one herself. I don’t think I’d like being a frog,” Lauren said on a sad sigh.
“I don’t know,” Regina said wisely. “Maybe it’s good to be a frog. Sex in the animal kingdom is very straightforward. Well, except maybe with frogs. I guess it’s more like doggie style with them.”
“Frogs do it doggie style?” Alexa asked, surprised into laughing. Regina’s mind did not work like anyone else’s she had ever met.
The image was too funny not to laugh at, and Regina’s fake look of innocence didn’t fool Alexa or Lauren.
“Why have our conversations taken such weird turns lately?” Lauren interjected, puzzled over Regina’s comment, but mostly perplexed at her lack of enthusiasm for dating.
“If things seem weird, it’s probably because we’re discussing your sex life instead of mine or Regina’s,” Alexa said to Lauren around a smile. “I’m still not used to you having one yet.”
“That’s because I don’t have one,” Lauren said sagely. “There’s nothing to get used to at all. Trust me. Not taking men to bed is the one place I technically am still a saint—though I really do hate that label.”
“Semantics,” Regina declared to Lauren, waving a hand. “You just haven’t taken a man to bed yet. Kissing is foreplay. In middle school, it’s holding hands. In high school, it’s touching intimately. In adults, it varies.” She looked at Lauren. “It gets complicated the older you get. At forty-two, foreplay can certainly range between passionate hickies in a garden and kissing frogs-who-might-be-princes goodnight.”
“All I really want is something simple and easy,” Lauren demanded, tossing her hair as she talked. She was growing it out, a visible rebellion to the perfectly coiffed bob she’d worn for years. The animated motions of her hands sent the glittering bracelets she wore with her silver dress tinkling.
“Now what did I tell you about wishing for something simple?” Alexa asked, the question really a warning.
Lauren looked at the table. “Stop acting like my mother, Alexa. You might be wrong, you know.”
“I might, but I’m not,” Alexa denied archly. “Regina knows sex. I know men. Be careful what you wish for, Lauren. The man you want has been holding back as much and almost as long as you have. If his reasons are half as intense as yours, all hell might break loose when he lets go.”
“Do you two have to be right all the time?” Lauren shook her head and stood, too mad to stay any longer. “Well, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life hoping Jim might eventually have sex with me. That man could write the damn saint’s handbook on how to deny yourself sexual gratification,” she said, rolling back her shoulders. “Since evidently I’m not alluring enough to seduce him into changing his mind, I guess I’ll just go kiss another damn frog.”
Alexa and Regina burst out laughing when Lauren was finally out of sight and earshot.
“Well, she’s awake—and very aware it seems,” Regina said happily. “I hope Jim isn’t suffering too much.”
“Casey said he’s ill from the thought of her dating,” Alexa said, smiling.
“Gee, that’s too bad,” Regina said. “Lauren’s the first woman Jim has let get so close. I’m glad you warned her about Jim. He’s definitely holding back with her. He wants her bad.”
“You can tell how much from the way he looks at her. But what exactly are you most worried about?” Alexa asked, laughing. “Maybe I could cover it in my next lecture.”
“When Jim’s composure crumbles, the sex isn’t going to be pretty, sister,” Regina said, doing a happy chair dance as she finished the excellent pizza.
“Tell me about it,” Alexa said. “I’m actually a little worried about their big moment myself.”
Regina laid a hand on Alexa’s arm. “Lauren’s a big girl, Mom. She’s going to be fine. Trust me, I go through this all the time with clients.”
“Well, she has us at least,” Alexa said, picking up her own pizza and taking a bite.
“Yes,” Regina agreed. “Lauren has us to help her get through this transition. She’ll emerge a beautiful sexual butterfly from her celibate cocoon one day.”
“Butterfly? Yeah, I guess that fits Lauren, but I like the frog analogy better. I really want to hear more about frog sex,” Alexa said around a smile and bite of pizza.
“Do an internet search on it then,” Regina suggested, laughing as Alexa looked at her oddly. “I don’t know anything a
bout frog sex. I just said that stuff to get Lauren riled up.”
“You lied about frog sex? Regina, you’re incorrigible,” Alexa said with a laugh.
“No, incorrigible is what the press says about you, remember? I have bad sex skills. That’s why Ben cheated on me with the brunette.” Regina picked up her drink and sipped. “Damn, that was my best disguise. I have some very fond memories of seducing Ben in that leather skirt.”
“So what are we going to do to help Lauren out?” Alexa asked, smiling at the picture of happily-ever-after that Regina made every time she talked about Ben. It was exactly what she intended to have for herself.
Regina leaned forward, her gaze darkening with mischief. “Well, funny you should ask. I strongly suggested Lauren and her flavor of the night have dinner at the same fundraiser Ben let slip a certain man is also attending.”
“You are a wicked woman,” Alexa said with a grin, “but also a good friend. I’m going to top your diabolical machination with an even more bold play—as soon as I think of one.”
“I took care of Plan A. I’m happy to let you concoct Plan B. Here’s to whatever it takes,” Regina said boldly, lifting her glass.
“I’ll drink to that,” Alexa said, lifting her glass as well and clinking it with Regina’s.
Chapter 3
So maybe attending the fundraiser hadn’t been the best idea for a date, Lauren decided, straining to hear what Chad was saying over the noisy crowd. Because she was so popular as a fundraiser herself, there was also a steady line of people constantly interrupting them during dinner.
Enjoying the friendly interruptions more than her date was also definitely not a good sign.
Chad Walters was a talented CPA and a perfectly good man, just not a very interesting one. It did make her feel bad though, and she sighed at her poor attitude.
Distracted as she was by her negative thoughts, Lauren almost missed the hairs on the back of her neck starting to tingle, and not in a good way. It was like standing under a power line and wondering if you were going to get electrocuted. It was the same sensation she’d had every time James Gallagher looked at her.
Dating A Saint Page 3
