Riley wasn’t into pot even if it was legal. “No, thanks, Grammy.”
“Honestly, Mother,” Mom said, clearly annoyed.
“An old woman deserves some pleasure,” Grammy insisted.
“You are not deprived,” Mom informed her.
Grammy’s teasing smile disappeared. “You’re right, I’m blessed. I wish all those people in there had a family like mine and something nice to look forward to other than a Christmas dinner in the church basement.”
“They’ve got you for a friend and I’d say that makes them pretty blessed,” Riley said.
“Okay, you’re back in the will,” Grammy joked.
Once they got home Mom issued the hoped-for dinner invitation, and Riley hung around and played hearts with Dad and Grammy before getting treated to her mother’s Swedish meatballs. Grammy offered her brownies for dessert but nobody took her up on it.
“I’m driving,” Riley said.
“You can stick around,” Mom told her. “Spend the night.”
“I’m actually going out.”
“With a man?” Grammy wanted to know. “Way to go, darling.”
“No, with Noel. But we’re going to The Tree House.”
“Don’t let anyone buy drinks for you,” Grammy cautioned then lowered her voice and added, “They’ll slip you that rape drug.”
“I won’t,” Riley promised.
“And don’t leave your drink unwatched. Or your purse.”
“Mother, she knows all that,” said Mom.
“You can’t be too careful,” Dad said, siding with Grammy.
“Don’t worry, guys, I’ll be careful.” After hugging everyone, Riley went home and got ready for her big night out. She’d been saving her new dress for New Year’s Eve, but what the heck. Why wait? She slipped into it, put on some black peep-toe heels and the silver necklace with the small ruby (her birthstone) that her parents had given her for her twenty-first birthday, and she was ready to go.
She picked up Noel and saw she was wearing her new dress, too. “Good. You wore your dress,” she said as Noel grabbed her coat.
“I figured I may as well get my money’s worth.” Noel locked the front door and tottered to the car. “I just don’t know about these shoes.”
“They look great,” Riley told her. “You look great.” Indeed she did, with her red hair falling in soft waves to her shoulders. Noel was so pretty. Too bad she never saw herself that way. But tonight she was bound to attract a lot of men. Who knew? Maybe one of them would turn out to be a wonderful guy with a super-good job. Maybe he’d fall in love with both her and her house. They’d be able to buy the place and fill it with kids who would brag about their talented mom to all their friends.
“Aww, thanks,” Noel said as if Riley was just saying that to make her feel better.
“No, really, you do. You’re going to have men fighting over you.”
“I’ve never had men fight over me.”
“You’ve never worn clothes like that,” Riley pointed out.
“I have to admit, I do feel kind of sexy in this dress,” Noel said. “I wonder if Ben Fordham ever goes dancing,” she mused.
Hmm. “Are you falling for this guy?”
“Me? No, no. He sure is gorgeous, though,” Noel said wistfully.
“Just remember that he bought your house out from under you,” Riley cautioned. “No sleeping with the enemy.”
“No sleeping with the enemy,” Noel repeated.
“And keep your antennae up. You never know who you might meet.”
As for Riley, all she wanted tonight was to have some fun, flirt a little, shore up her sagging confidence. Whispering Pines wasn’t exactly the big city, but there had to be some decent man kicking around, someone she hadn’t met. Like a certain good-looking cop. Did Officer Knight have a girlfriend? If not, what sort of girlfriend would he be interested in? Did he like blondes?
The Tree House was located downtown at the end of Pine Street. Back in the sixties, the place had been a bowling alley. Then it was a fitness gym. Now it was a club, complete with pool tables and a huge dance floor. It offered pizza by the slice, nachos, microbrews and all manner of cocktails. The parking lot was always packed and you could hear the music half a block away. Two dwarf pines sat in pots on either side of the front entrance, decorated for Christmas. Inside, the walls were painted with murals of various trees—fir, alder, maple and pine, along with various blooming varieties. Tables and chairs were rustic and the music was frenzied, rather like the mob out on the dance floor. Everybody was in a holiday mood, many of the revelers sporting Santa hats. Yes, this was going to be fun.
Riley and Noel managed to snag a table and order a couple of drinks. Noel got daring and ordered something called Angel’s Delight that included triple sec and grenadine, which would satisfy her sweet tooth, and Riley opted for a Grinch, a green cocktail with melon-flavored Midori and lemon juice.
Their cocktails hadn’t even arrived before someone was at the table asking Noel to dance. “Go for it,” Riley encouraged her and she tottered off on her red stilettos. Noel was right. Fabulous as they were, those shoes were not a fit.
Riley sat back and watched the scene. Everyone was so happy, smiling, laughing, drinking. What was she doing here? Oh, yes. Having fun. The waitress brought their drinks and Riley paid up and took a guzzle. Yummy. Too bad she was driving. She’d have ordered another...three or four or six. Seven. Seven was the number of perfection.
Okay, she couldn’t sit around and get gooshed. She needed to dance. She scanned the dance floor. Maybe she’d just go out and throw herself into the crowd, boogie on over right next to a good-looking man like...
Aack! What was Sean doing here? And Emily. There they were, out in the middle of the floor, having a wonderful time, gazing at each other as if they were the only two people in the room.
It felt suddenly very hot in this big, old place. And stuffy and close. Riley needed some fresh air. She darted from the table, trying to skirt the crowd. Did her ex see her running away, looking pathetic? She cast a quick glance over her shoulder and immediately ran into something solid, spilling her drink in the process. On the something solid...
Who was almost six feet tall, dirty-blond with green eyes and...a frown. “What the—?”
“Oh, my gosh, I’m sorry.”
The something solid frowned and brushed at his red sweater. “You might want to take it easy with those,” he said, nodding at her glass. “They pack a wallop.”
“This is my first one. Uh, was my first one,” Riley corrected herself. This man looked vaguely familiar. Where had she seen him before? The grocery store? Had he been at the gym when she’d stopped by to visit Sean? In a clothing catalog, modeling men’s suits? He was certainly attractive enough for that. “I’m sorry about your sweater,” she said.
The music was ending now. People were coming off the floor to rehydrate. And, oh, no! Here came Sean and Emily. She should scram. But that was the coward’s way out. Sean had to see that she was doing fine without him. Just fine.
Crap. Here they were and the only thing she was proving so far was that she was dangerous. “Could you do me a favor?” she asked.
He looked at her warily. “Maybe.”
“Good,” she said and grabbed his sopping sweater and yanked him up against her.
“Whoa,” he said just before she glued her lips to his. But then he got into his part. The guy sure could kiss.
“Riley?”
Riley took her time letting go of the stranger and turned to stare at Sean in faux surprise. “Sean, what are you doing here?” Having fun with the woman you left me for? How nice.
“Just out, uh... How are you?”
“I’m fine. I’m moving on.”
He frowned. “I can see.” He stu
ck out a hand. “Sean Little.”
The something solid took it. “Jack Logan.”
Sean leaned over to Riley. “You didn’t wait long, did you?”
“At least I waited.” She glared at Emily. Bad enough that she had to see the woman at school. She wasn’t going to stand around The Tree House and talk with her. Riley gave her fake love interest’s arm a tug and hauled him out on the floor for a slow dance.
“Thank you,” she said. “That was...awkward.”
He didn’t return her smile. “So, old boyfriend with new girlfriend. Make him see what he lost? I don’t like doing favors like that.”
“Well, that wasn’t what this was.”
“Yeah?” The expression on his face dared her to spill her guts.
She supposed she could clarify that this was more a case of convincing the fiancé who’d dumped her that she wasn’t home cutting herself. But it was all too humiliating to spill to a stranger. Anyway, this stranger had already judged her and declared her petty and vindictive. If there’d been anything left in her glass she would have dumped it over his head.
“Thanks for the kiss,” she snapped.
“Thanks for the drink,” he retorted, holding out his soaked sweater.
She marched back to her table, hoping that Sean wasn’t watching. A new song had started, the beat fast and pumping, and people were going crazy out on the dance floor. She hopped into the throng and went crazy, too. Take that, Sean. Take that, Jack Logan. Take that, every man here. Who needed a man to have fun, anyway?
The dance ended and she returned to her table and sat down, feeling hollowed out in spite of her empowering self-talk. This should have been fun, darn it all!
Noel came right after her, stilettos dangling from her hand. “My feet are killing me,” she said, falling onto her chair.
“Do you want to go?”
Noel took a gulp of her drink. “You’re not having fun?”
“Sean and Emily are here.”
“Oh, no.” Noel cast a longing look at the dance floor then gave a determined nod. “Yes, let’s go home.”
“You can stay if you want,” Riley said. “I’ll leave you money for a cab.”
“Not in these shoes. Let’s go back to my house, watch a Christmas movie and drink eggnog,” she suggested, slipping the stilettos back on.
“Good idea,” Riley said, grabbing her purse and coat. So much for her exciting night out. But trying to keep pretending there was life after Sean was simply too stressful. Hopefully, he wouldn’t notice her leaving with Noel.
But what if Sean saw Jack Logan by himself later on or dancing with another woman? Maybe she should try to find him, explain more of what happened, offer to pay him to leave with her. Offer to pay to have his sweater cleaned.
She scanned the crowd on the dance floor as they skirted it, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, but all she saw was Sean and Emily glued together for a slow dance. Never mind worrying that he’d see her alone. Sean was in his own little world—Emily World.
“Are you okay?” Noel asked as they picked their way across the slushy parking lot.
“I’m fine,” Riley said. Yes, she was. Absolutely. So what if Sean was out with Emily practically having sex on the dance floor? She was going to her friend’s house to drink eggnog.
Sean was probably going back to Emily’s house later and they’d drink eggnog, too. But Riley was willing to bet that they wouldn’t watch a movie. How cozy. Just the two of them, Sean the Cheater and Emily the Man-Stealer.
Riley ground her teeth as they got into the car. She revved it and backed out of the parking spot. She didn’t back too far before she banged into yet another something solid. What the heck?
“Oh, my gosh, we hit someone’s car!” cried Noel, stating the obvious.
Riley let down her window and craned her head. “Oh, no,” she groaned. “Not another accident.”
“We’ll have to take up a collection to pay for your car insurance,” Noel predicted. “Do we need to call the police?”
For a fender bender? She and the poor injured party probably only needed to exchange insurance information. Except if the police came... A vision of handsome Officer Knight popped into her head. On second thought, it was always good to call the police when there’d been an accident, wasn’t it?
“Call 911,” she said to Noel then got out of the car.
She practically ran into him, which would’ve made the second time that night.
“You,” he said in disgust.
Oh, no! “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you back there.”
“It’s a Hummer. What are you, blind?”
This man was the biggest jerk on the planet. “I said I was sorry,” Riley said stiffly.
Jack Logan let out a long-suffering sigh. “Never mind. Just tell me you have insurance.”
“Of course I have insurance.”
“Okay, let’s exchange information.”
“We have to wait for the police.”
“You called the cops? Seriously?”
Riley raised her chin. “There’s been an accident.”
“More damage to your car than mine and you were at fault. This seems pretty straightforward to me.”
Now Noel had joined them. “They’re on their way.”
Jack Logan frowned and shook his head. “I can’t believe you called the cops for this.”
“It shouldn’t take long,” Riley said to him. “And you’re not with anyone, so you can’t be in that big a hurry to get home.”
“I’m not with anyone because someone spilled her drink all over me and I need to go home and change,” he growled.
“I said I was sorry.”
“For the drink. No apology for using me to trick your ex.”
“Well, I’m sorry for that, too. I’m sure if your fiancée had dumped you for one of your groomsmen three weeks before the wedding, you’d have been much more noble.”
“What?”
Darn it all, she hadn’t intended to share that. He’d gotten her so mad she’d lost all control of her mouth. “Never mind,” she said, pointing to the approaching patrol car.
“Never mind? You might have told me that before you lip-locked me and got me all excited for nothing.”
Riley was aware of her friend gaping at her. It was pretty frosty out here in the parking lot but there was a roaring fire on her cheeks.
“There wasn’t time,” she said. “And what do you mean, got you all excited?”
“Well, I thought you were coming on to me.”
“I’d never seen you before.”
He shrugged. “Thought you’d had too much to drink,” he said as the patrol car rolled up.
“And you were going to take advantage of that?”
“No,” he protested. “What do you think, I was planning to haul you off to a dark corner and rape you? You kissed me right in the middle of a crowded club.”
“Is there a problem here?”
Riley turned, expecting to see Officer Knight in Shining Armor. Instead she saw mall cop Kevin James to the third power. “Where’s Officer Knight?”
The cop frowned. “He’s off tonight. This better not be a frivolous call.”
“It’s not,” said Jack Logan. “The ladies assumed calling the police was the thing to do. But really, we can handle this by exchanging information and reporting it to our insurance companies.”
“Well, I’m here now,” the cop said, sounding grumpy. “May as well fill out an accident report.”
“Bored,” muttered Jack Logan as the officer went to his patrol car to fetch his accident report forms.
Riley and Noel looked at each other. Obviously, this had been a bad idea.
Ten minutes later Riley had a citation for reckl
ess driving and a headache, and even though this latest mess was entirely her fault, she had an unreasonable desire to kick the irritating Jack Logan in the shins.
“I’m sorry I caused you so much trouble tonight,” she said to him. “Don’t worry about any damage to your vehicle. I have very good insurance.” And now it was also going to be very expensive insurance. She just hoped that after her back-to-back fender benders the company wouldn’t drop her.
“Your car got the worst of it.”
“And if you need a new sweater...”
“I’m fine. About what I said earlier...”
A total stranger now knew that she was a love loser. Well, what the heck, they’d already kissed. Heaven help her, what Christmas elf had put it in her head that it would be fun to go out tonight?
She nodded, feeling that flame spreading across her face again. Then, before he could finish his sentence, she got into her car, Noel taking up her position riding shotgun, and waited for Jack Logan to drive away. Far away, where she’d never see him again.
Chapter Thirteen
It was Monday and Riley had run out of excuses for canceling her venue. Of course she should have done it right after Sean and Emily wedding-bombed her, but even though she hadn’t wanted to admit it, she’d kept hoping Sean would realize what a mistake he’d made and beg her to take him back.
Watching them dancing at The Tree House had killed that dream, and she knew there’d be no resurrecting it after she saw him picking Emily up after school and kissing her. There’d be no begging. No wedding.
She tried not to think about that kiss as she drove to the golf club, but it had lodged in her brain like a burr. The image of Emily giving him a sweet, quick, we’re-a-couple kiss, kept playing over and over. And over. And...over.
Emily the Man-Stealer had probably already moved in with him. They were sharing breakfasts and toothpaste and the same bed and...
What was this? A patrol car right behind her, and he had his party lights on. Nooo.
She pulled over to the side of the road and began to cry. She was going to have her insurance canceled for sure. Sobbing and sniffling, she looked in her rearview mirror and saw Officer Knight approaching. Where was he on Saturday when she’d looked cute and wasn’t having a nervous breakdown accompanied by a runny nose?
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