The Love Square
Page 2
“Are you a baseball player too, or just Cousin Pete’s date?” she whispered.
Alex smiled. The cousins’ laughter faded into the background when Jenna focused on him. When he caught a whiff of her perfume, he gulped his whiskey and shook his nerves away, finding his voice. “I’m both tonight. Along those lines, Cousin Scott, huh? Pete told me he was gay,” Alex whispered.
“He’s my best friend,” Jenna said, resting her head on her hand and smiling that big grin again, all for him. “And my dance partner.”
“Huh?” he asked, shifting his gaze from her lips to her eyes. He thought the tiny black mole next to her right eye was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.
“My dance partner. You are sitting next to the New York Regional Tango Champions.”
“The tango? No shit.”
“Yes shit,” Jenna said. “Uncle Nino’s a fan. He begged us to dance tonight, so I got to be Scott’s date. Uncle Nino has a bit of a crush on me, according to Scott.”
“He’s not a bad catch,” Alex teased, looking for Uncle Nino. Nino sat at the head table behind a half-full carafe of red wine.
Jenna followed Alex’s gaze and scrunched her nose. “He’s not really my type. Something about the pants pulled up to his armpits doesn’t work for me.”
“It’s not the worst look,” Alex said.
She smiled, hiding her grin with her hand. “So honestly,” she started, “how’d a cool guy like you end up spending your time at an eighty-year-old’s party?”
Alex could think of nowhere he’d rather be than at table five with the cousins. “Pete’s wife is out of town, and he blackmailed me into coming. I think he was afraid to come alone.”
“Blackmail? Interesting,” she said. “What does he have on you?”
“Let’s just say I owed him. Now I don’t.” When Scott tapped Jenna on the shoulder, taking her attention away from Alex, Alex offered to fetch the refills.
As Alex made his way to the bar, he decided he didn’t want to talk to anyone at the party except for Jenna, so when he returned with their drinks, he turned his chair toward her and gave her his full attention.
She told him about her fledgling career in advertising and her part-time job teaching dance. She described herself as “currently homeless” and mentioned checking out Brooklyn, which made Alex happy, as he lived there too. Alex filled her in on the rents in the decent Brooklyn neighborhoods as she typed the information into her phone.
Jenna asked him about playing minor league ball and his gig as a mechanic in the off-season. As soon as the initial nervousness wore off and the alcohol kicked in, Alex relaxed, keeping the conversation going during the entire meal.
Soon, though, it was time to tango, and at Scott’s prompting, Jenna stood for the first time all night. Alex checked her out as Scott dragged her away from the table to prepare for their dance and decided she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
“Ready to leave yet?”
Alex jumped out of his seat and glared at Pete, who laughed over his shoulder. “She’s way out of your league,” Pete warned, dropping into Jenna’s empty seat.
“Fuck you,” Alex said instinctively. Then, annoyed by Pete’s comment, he asked, “Why?”
Pete used his fingers to count the ways. “She’s smart. She’s not easy. She has a life.” Then he scavenged the table and grabbed a breadstick.
“So?”
“So that’s not your usual type.”
Pete and Alex watched as Jenna and Scott took the dance floor. Alex didn’t think he had a “type.” He did tend to go for the easy women, but only because they seemed interested in him for the same reasons he was interested in them. Sex. Alex’s two main goals in life were to get to the majors and get laid. One proved a bit more difficult than the other.
A large man with a cigar grabbed the mic. “Here to honor Nino on his eightieth birthday is his nephew Scott and Scott’s dance partner Jenna, performing their award-winning tango!” People clapped as harsh, emotional music piped through the sound system and Jenna and Scott began to move.
Alex knew nothing about ballroom dancing but couldn’t tear his eyes away from Jenna as Scott led her around the dance floor. Her long, lean frame glided across the floor as if she were on ice instead of tile. Scott’s light complexion and blond hair complimented Jenna’s dark, warm tones. When Alex tore his gaze from her body and studied her face, he saw happiness and confidence in her caramel-colored eyes. If he didn’t know better, he would insist they were lovers, given the ease with which they moved as a unit, like pieces of a puzzle perfectly attached. Alex wondered how she remembered all those steps, and how she could balance and spin after drinking three gin and tonics.
Everyone applauded when Scott and Jenna finished their dance. The DJ opened the dance floor, and people stood and moved around the room.
Alex watched Jenna hug Uncle Nino on the dance floor. When he caught her eye, he flashed her his best smile. Her eyes popped, and she removed her hand from Uncle Nino’s back and pointed behind her, directing Alex’s gaze. Alex laughed when he noticed Uncle Nino’s hand square on Jenna’s ass. She smiled at Alex over Uncle Nino’s shoulder, shrugged, and gave the old man a squeeze. Lucky bastard.
About an hour later, Alex, Jenna, and Scott sat at the table, abandoned by the other cousins, drunk and joking around like old friends. Pete had disappeared, making the rounds and catching up with family, but Alex couldn’t care less, happy to be exactly where he was.
“Alex,” Scott slurred. Jenna sat between them, picking at her dinner plate.
Alex looked around her at Scott and tried to focus. “Hm?”
“I hear you’re a slut.”
Alex nearly choked on his drink. “Wuh?”
“Pete’s told stories about you.”
Alex made a mental note to kill Pete. “I’m not a slut,” he lied. He looked to Jenna, who picked at a roll. “I’m not a slut,” he said again to her.
Jenna shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m a slut too.”
Scott yelped. The people sitting around them turned and shot dirty looks their way. They had become the loud, out-of-control table.
“Hey!” Jenna said, shaking her roll at Scott. “I can have action anytime I want.” She looked to Alex. “I can,” she insisted. Alex had no doubt. “I just chose a celibate lifestyle.”
“I call bullshit,” Scott slurred. “You can’t get laid in a morgue.”
Alex scrunched his face. “Ew.”
“You know what I mean,” he said to Alex. “She’s waiting for the perfect man.”
“Am not,” Jenna protested.
“Are too. If not, why don’t you go get that guy who’s been staring at you? That guy over there—” He pointed across the room.
Alex scanned the room to compare himself to Jenna’s alleged admirer. Sure enough, across the way, a decent-looking dude was watching them.
“Go get some action, hot stuff,” Scott challenged. “I dare you.”
“What is this? Fifth grade?” Alex asked. “Are you gonna double-dog dare her?” He looked toward Jenna. “Stay here.” He didn’t want her going anywhere looking for action.
“I triple-dog dare you,” Scott said, ignoring Alex.
Jenna stared past Alex to Scott, then threw down her roll and stood, brushing crumbs off the front of her black dress. She grabbed Alex’s shoulder to brace herself as she wiggled into her heels and grew another four inches. “Bastard,” she said to Scott. “Which guy?”
Scott pointed him out.
“Watch and learn, boys,” Jenna said. She fluffed her hair and puckered her lips, then walked away toward her target.
Scott giggled uncontrollably as Alex sat back on his chair and crossed his arms. “What are you doing, man? She’s too drunk to be hooking up with strangers.”
“Watch,” Scott said. “That guy is registering a gazillion on my gaydar.” They watched Jenna saunter across the room toward the man. Alex stared at her perfect ass as she walked away.
>
“You are evil,” Alex said, secretly happy. He watched Jenna flirt. She looked back and forth between Scott and Alex and the man. She tilted her head. She flipped her hair. Laughed. Alex knew the telltale signs of a woman’s flirt-fest, and Jenna was doing some good flirting for sure.
Until she darted a look that could kill toward Scott.
Alex watched her legs as she marched back toward their table.
“I hate you,” Jenna said. She picked up her half-eaten roll and bounced it off Scott’s head.
Alex played dumb. “What happened?”
“He wants me to hook him up with Scott here,” Jenna said.
Scott feigned shock. “No. Really?”
She glared at Alex, who lifted his hands in surrender. “Hey, don’t be mad at me. I told you to stay.”
Jenna’s eyes shot daggers. She grabbed her handbag off the table and marched away.
“Shit,” Alex said, suddenly nervous. “She’s not coming back.”
“She’ll be back,” Scott said. “Oh man, that was too funny.”
By the time Jenna returned, Scott had disappeared to talk to his new admirer, and for the first time that night, Alex had Jenna all to himself.
If what Scott said was true, that Jenna was waiting for the perfect guy, well, that pretty much took him out of the running. The concept of talking with a beautiful woman without the goal of having sex boggled and excited him at the same time. He laughed at her stories and teased her as she devoured her cake. He watched her twist her hair up into a bun and listened when she explained that she hated it touching her face while she was tipsy.
He found her delightful.
And when the dance floor quieted and the DJ played a slow song, she asked him to dance, and he couldn’t say yes fast enough.
When Jenna took Alex’s hand and led him to the dance floor, Alex felt the softness of her skin and rubbed her palm with his thumb. She smiled as she stopped in the middle of the crowd to face him and then arranged his arms, lifting their joined hands and placing his other hand on her waist.
“You’re not going to do any of your crazy tango moves on me, are you?” he asked. His face inches from hers, he studied her eyes, her eyelashes, that cute little mole.
“Hell no,” she said. “I’m way too inebriated for the tango. Perfectly happy doing the drunken sway.”
As the song reached its midpoint, Alex tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t sound stupid. “I had fun hanging out tonight,” he said, suddenly nervous again. He rubbed a thumb over her waist to remind her of his presence.
“Me too,” she said, intertwining her fingers through his. In her heels, she was almost his height, and when he leaned closer, her hair tickled his nose.
The music ended, but they stood there, still linked. “Are we ever going to see each other again?” he asked, trying not to sound desperate.
She pulled away and smiled but didn’t answer his question. Instead, she leaned in to kiss his cheek. “Thanks for the dance.”
Alex followed her back to the table, disappointed to see most of the guests wrapping things up. Pete stood at the cousins’ table gulping down the last of his coffee. Nearby, Scott held Jenna’s handbag and tapped his foot, and Uncle Nino stood at the doorway entertaining a line of departing relatives.
When Alex reached the table, Pete shuffled him away from Jenna toward the door. As Alex looked back to find her, she caught his eye, shrugged, and then waved. “Bye,” she mouthed, smiling as Pete pushed Alex outside into the night.
Chapter 2
Jenna
Jenna jolted awake on Scott’s futon when her obnoxious alarm buzzed the morning after Uncle Nino’s party. She had stupidly scheduled a full Sunday, including a meeting with the realtor for more apartment hunting, and dance rehearsal with Scott. As her head pounded, she wondered if she could actually die from lack of sleep.
What was I thinking, drinking so much? She’d known she had a busy day ahead of her, but that didn’t stop her from gin after gin after gin. Damn Scott for not controlling her alcohol intake. And Alex.
Alex. Flashes of cute, witty, and adorably nervous flipped through her mind, blurred by alcohol. By their dance at end of the night, she’d been so buzzed that she hadn’t fully appreciated the color of his eyes or the sturdiness of his shoulders. He certainly made the night worthwhile, she thought as she dragged herself to the shower.
Jenna sighed as she stepped under the hot water, bracing herself against the walls, willing her head to stop pounding. When she heard the bathroom door open, she peeked around the shower curtain.
Scott held out three pills. “Take them,” he ordered. He looked as bad as she felt.
“You’re an asshole for letting me drink so much,” she barked in her throaty morning voice.
“You were having fun, God forbid.”
Based on the intensity of her headache, Jenna was sure she was having a stroke. She gulped the pills with a mouthful of shower water, then picked up the shampoo and squeezed some into her hand. Her self-administered scalp massage made her feel a bit better.
“Are you trying to cook yourself? It’s about a hundred and fifty degrees in here,” Scott complained.
“Then get out.”
“Grumpy.”
The sound of male peeing inspired Jenna to get moving for her appointment with the realtor. She couldn’t wait to have her own apartment with her own bathroom.
“Alex was a cutie, huh?” Scott asked.
Jenna moved out of the stream of water, waiting for him to flush the toilet. “Yeah, he was nice.”
“What color would you call those eyes?”
Jenna had imprinted the image of Alex’s eyes in her head and answered right away. “Teal.”
“Teal. You’re right.”
Time to distract the gossip queen. “What about you? What happened with the guy from across the room?”
“I told him I was involved.”
“Good—”
“—then I went to his hotel.”
“Oh,” Jenna said. “What about Dom?”
“I have a problem keeping myself away from cute boys,” Scott admitted. “I may need therapy.”
“We all do, Scotty. Don’t be too hard on yourself. You and Dom will have your happily ever after. I just know it.”
“Fairy tales don’t always happen.”
“Of course they do.” They had to. Achieving her happily ever after was what got her out of bed some mornings. “There are princes out there for us.”
“Maybe yours is teal-eyed. Save me some hot water, Princess,” he said as he shut the door behind him.
Jenna shut off the water and wrapped herself in a towel. She then dripped her way through the apartment and rummaged through the pile of her clothes on his living room floor. She dug out a pair of clean jeans and a short-sleeve, button-down shirt, applied lip gloss, and tied her hair up into a ponytail. Soon, though, she winced from the pain and released her hair, opting for a soft headband instead.
The sun peeked into the apartment, and Jenna doubted her alcohol-laden body could handle the brightness. She snagged Scott’s sunglasses off the kitchen counter and grabbed her bag. “See you later,” she yelled through the apartment. “Rehearsal at noon?”
Scott mumbled something from his bedroom as Jenna locked the apartment door behind her and headed out into the world.
After stopping for a much-needed cup of coffee, Jenna headed for the subway, en route to Brooklyn and her realtor, Linda, in an attempt to find herself a place of her own. For two hours she stumbled through apartment after apartment with no luck. Somewhere near the Brooklyn Bridge, Jenna’s cell phone rang and Scott’s face glowed at her.
“What’s up?” Jenna answered, collapsing onto a bench in the busy neighborhood. She looked toward the bridge to Manhattan’s skyscrapers in the distance, silently reciting a quick prayer in hopes that Scott was calling to cancel rehearsal.
“Pete just called. Alex wants your number. Can I give it to him
?”
Jenna hesitated. They’d had a nice time at the party, but now what was she going to do with him? She thought about his shoulders and conjured up a list of a couple of things to do with him but none were very…productive. “From what I gathered last night, he’s not the prince I’m searching for,” she told Scott, rubbing her temples. “Nationals, work, blah, blah, blah.” She was too busy for casual dating.
“Well, whatever you want, Princess. I’ll only say this—nice ones don’t come around often. Especially nice ones with teal-colored eyes. You don’t have to marry the guy.”
Jenna didn’t feel like a lecture, and she knew Scott would never let this go. “Fine. Give him my number. Are we still having rehearsal later?” She crossed her fingers, hoping he’d say no.
“Yep,” he said, but added, “I have to warn you—I’m pretty useless today. Maybe we’ll just work on choreography.”
“Sounds good to me. Maybe we should skip the whole thing and work on a nap instead.”
“Jen…” Scott started.
“I’m joking. Choreography. Yes. See you then.”
She disconnected and texted Linda to return so they could continue the never-ending search for her new home…and then her phone lit up with an unknown number.
My teal-eyed prince.
***
Dylan
Dylan left the movie set, joined his agent for a dinner meeting, then drove his rental car downtown to the Books, Etc. store. The insurance company needed Clare to sign off on paperwork, and although Dylan had no intention of using her insurance to pay for his car, he took advantage of the opportunity to see her again.
He’d been thinking about Clare since she’d dropped him off after the accident, feeling sympathetic to her West Coast adjustment issues, and for some reason, responsible for her happiness. There was so much more to California than Downtown Los Angeles.
He snagged a prime parking spot and darted into the busy store, glancing around, scanning the aisles for Clare. When he couldn’t find her, he headed for least populated part of the store, which happened to be the art section.