“You know how I feel about dreamers, Monica. He’s a waiter at The Morrison.”
“So? You wait tables, too. You both have that in common.”
Jessie rolled her eyes. “Great, so we’ll save money so one day we might actually be able to buy a decent car that we’d have to share in order to get back and forth to our go-nowhere jobs. It wouldn’t work.” Falling for someone like Jack would break her heart. Then what? She’d end up like her mother, hopping from one man to another.
No, the kiss was a mistake. The next time Jessie saw him she’d set him straight, make him promise to keep his distance, or their friendship needed to end. She liked talking to him, listening to his plans, but kissing her needed to be something they did once.
One amazing time…but only once.
Jessie glanced at her sister and pushed off the sofa bed. “I’m beat.”
“But I want to hear more about this date.”
“It wasn’t a date.”
“He drove you home.”
“That’s because my car wouldn’t start,” she said, explaining the situation.
“He kissed you at the door, and it’s almost three in the morning.”
“We talked in the back of the limo, watched the planes take off.”
“You were in a limo?”
Oh boy, not the information her sister needed to hear if Jessie was going to get any sleep before her son woke her up. “The hotel limo. Jack finagled it to give me a ride home. It wasn’t a date.”
“Sounds like a date to me.”
Jessie had spent the whole night in Jack’s presence, driven home with the guy, talked about their past, their futures. That kiss wouldn’t be forgotten any time soon. “Not quite a date.”
Monica pushed in between the covers of her bed with a catty smile. “If what I saw is ‘not quite dating,’ I want some.” She air quoted the dating statement and then turned off the light.
“Good night, Mo.”
“Night, sis. Have amazing, ‘not quite kissing’ dreams.”
Jessie tossed a pillow at her. “Brat.”
“If you want my advice, I’d suggest you send this wreck to its grave.” Max Harper owned a small auto shop a few blocks from the hotel. He had happily towed Jessie’s car and squeezed in time to work on it. Jack had met Max prior to Dean’s bachelor party. He had wanted his truck road-ready, and Max had taken care of him.
“Can’t do it,” Jack told him. “The lady who owns it can’t afford to dump this quite yet.”
Max wiped his hands with a shop rag and pulled a pencil from his blue shirt. “I can get it up and running without too much fuss. Needs a new starter.”
“It needs more than a starter.” Jack noticed the worn-out belts, the overheating radiator.
“It needs to collect dust in a junkyard. But if you insist on limping her along, I’ll get you out the door today with a starter.”
“The battery looks ancient,” Jack told him.
“It still has a charge, but I’d be happy to replace it.”
“Do that.”
Max moved around the car and to the back of the shop to gather parts.
The need to fix every possible problem with the car made Jack’s skin itch. The thought of Jessie driving around town or breaking down at night…
“You know what I don’t get?” Max asked.
“No, what’s that?”
“How someone with your money is driving around in crap like this. No offense.” Max was pushing sixty, weighed forty more pounds than he should, breathed too heavy for a man his age, and was honest to a fault. Dean had recommended the man and Jack knew now why. Even with the knowledge of Jack’s deep pockets, Max didn’t try and sell him more than he needed. Even now, as the two of them stared at the bleak engine in tandem, both of them agreeing the car should be shot, Max didn’t push.
And he didn’t hold his tongue, either.
“It’s not mine, and like I said, I’m helping out a friend.”
“You would help her by getting her something reliable. Not all mechanics are like me. And unless the woman knows something about basic auto repair, she’ll end up overspending every time the car needs so much as an oil change. Hell, the mechanic wouldn’t even have to be unethical working on this. He’d just have to start at one end and work his way to the other to find issues.”
Didn’t Jack know it.
But he couldn’t tell Jessie that someone had left a new car at the hotel and she could keep it. No, he’d have to work in something that big a little differently.
“I couldn’t agree with you more, Max. Just get her back up and running. If you can replace a few things my lady friend won’t notice, by all means do it. If she notices that I’ve spent money on it, she’ll insist on paying me.” As it was, Jack worried about telling her he’d taken it to a mechanic. A friend working on the car was one thing…quite another to hire someone to do the job. But if he was put to the test at some point, he might find that lie hard to continue. No, he’d tell her someone had helped him if he had to.
He needed to keep the web of lies as thin as possible.
“A woman who doesn’t want you to spend money on her? Seriously? I didn’t think they existed.”
Jack offered a smile. His did.
It was after noon when Jack finally picked up the phone and called Jessie. Although he’d thought of her all day it wasn’t until he heard her chipper voice that he was reminded of their kiss all over again. The kiss to end all kisses. The mating of lips that promised amazing things should they ever find the right time to touch in other places.
Jack knew Jessie would be miffed about the kiss, so he planned on acting as if it hadn’t happened unless she said something about it. He wouldn’t apologize for something he wasn’t sorry for and something he knew she’d enjoyed just as much as he did.
“Hey, darlin’, how did you sleep?” He’d tossed and turned all night, but he wasn’t about to tell her that and give her ammunition to hang up the phone.
“Hey, Jack. I-I, ah, slept good, fine.” Her voice wavered, making him wonder if she spoke the truth.
“I should have your car up and running in the hour. Are you going to be home so I can drop it off?”
“Actually, I was taking Danny to the park around the corner so he can play with some of his friends.”
Even better. “I can bring it to you there. What’s the name of the park?”
She told him, then added, “You don’t have to do this. I can get Monica to drive me over to the hotel to pick it up.”
Only the car wasn’t at the hotel. It was with a mechanic at a shop, getting a new starter and a new battery, an oil change, air filter…“Not a problem.”
“You sure?”
“Jessie, please. I might not be able to help with much, but I can do this.” The lie tasted sour on his tongue, but he blurted it out all the same.
“What was the problem?”
“The starter, like I thought. I, ah, just had to find the part.”
“Was it a hassle?”
“No,” he said too quickly. After a breath he added, “There’s a place around the corner from the hotel that sells parts. It’s just gonna take a little longer to get it in and clean up. You’ll still be at the park in an hour?”
Jessie laughed. “Danny would make me stay there until dark if he could. We’ll be there.”
“I’ll see you in an hour.” Jack said good-bye and hung up.
A late November bite in the air was what Jessie referred to as a sweater-without-a-coat day. The sun was warm, but the air held a tiny nip. The kids filled the park while their parents sat on the benches next to the playground equipment and watched them play.
Danny concocted a game of follow the leader with three other boys. The kids led one another up and down the slides, hopped over the swings, and spun in circles in the sand. Within ten minutes of playing in the park, Danny was laughing, dirty, and jumping around. Days like this made her happy with her choice about working graveyard.
She didn’t miss out on her son’s day-to-day life so long as she worked during his sleeping hours.
It didn’t always work that way. Sometimes when he came down with a cold or had a nightmare, she missed being there to care for him, but Monica handled those times like a pro. If ever Danny really needed her, Jessie called in sick or would come home. By the time she was able to manage a day job, Danny would be spending his days in school, and Jessie could work while he was there. That was the plan, anyway.
“Hey, darlin’.” Jack’s voice purred behind her ear. She turned around and caught his grinning face only a few inches from hers. She pulled back, just in case he thought he was going to greet her with a kiss.
“Hey.”
She was sitting on the edge of a picnic table and decided to slide between the seat and the table to further the distance from him. Without a glance, Jack sat opposite her.
He dangled her keys from his fingertips. “All fixed.”
“So…it was the starter.” She gathered the keys in her palm, grazing his hand in the process. That innocent touch reminded her of their fondling fingers the night before. Even holding hands with the cowboy held appeal.
His hat sat firmly in place. His button-up shirt covered his muscular arms that had held her so close the night before, and she remembered the hardness of his chest and the sound of his sigh when she dropped her inhibitions and allowed the kiss to continue. His lips were just as plump as the night before. The sweater she wore suddenly felt hot. Jessie shook her head and looked behind her to see where Danny was.
“Your starter was fried.”
“Was that expensive?” She reached for her purse sitting beside her.
“A friend owed me a favor.”
“So you had to have someone else do the work?”
“Had to; Max had the parts, I didn’t.”
How silly of her. Of course Jack didn’t have the parts. She removed her checkbook, but Jack covered her hand with his.
“Max owed me a favor, Jessie. No charge.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“You have to,” he insisted.
“What if you need Max’s help for your truck? You’ll have used your get-out-of-jail-free card for me.” Jessie shook off his hand and started to write out a check.
“I’m not taking your money.”
“You’re right, you’re not. You’re giving it to Max. Now, how much does an average starter cost?”
Jack ignored her and peered over her shoulder at the kids playing on the playground. “Which one is Danny?”
“You’re changing the subject.”
He winked at her. A smile played on his lips. He wasn’t going to tell her what it cost, wouldn’t take the money willingly. Jessie knew she’d have to find another way to pay him back. She refused to mooch off someone’s goodwill.
“He’s five, right?”
“How much, Jack?” she asked, trying one last time.
“Not gonna happen, Jessie,” he fired back with a grin.
The man was impossible. She shoved her checkbook back in her purse. “This isn’t over.”
“Does your son have your color hair?”
Again, changing the subject and blowing off her words. Brat. He and Monica would get along great.
Swiveling in her seat, Jessie pointed out her son. “See the boys playing follow the leader?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s the one in front, with the striped sweatshirt.”
Jack’s face lit up. “He looks like you.”
“I think so, too.”
Danny’s head popped up to look over at her, then glanced beyond her to Jack. He said something to his friends before running her way.
“Hey, Mommy.” Jessie wiped his hair out of his eyes. He needed it cut.
“Hey, buddy.”
“Who’s that?” he asked, pointing at Jack.
“This is a friend of mine. His name is Jack. Jack, this is Danny.” It was strange watching the play of emotions stream over her son’s face. He went from curious to a little scared in a few seconds.
“Howdy, Danny.” Jack tilted his hat toward her son.
Danny’s eyes grew wide. “Are you a real cowboy? Do you ride a horse and everything?”
“I’m from Texas and have been known to ride a horse on occasion,” Jack told him with a tad more Texas in his voice.
Jessie sent him a Don’t encourage him look, or at least she hoped he understood her body language.
“I want to ride a horse, but Mom says it’s dangerous.”
“People fall off horses and get hurt all the time,” Jessie told him.
“I fell from my scooter; it didn’t hurt very bad.”
“Horses are a lot farther off the ground,” Jack told him.
Good, Jessie thought, he was watching his words.
“But riding is easy to do and not dangerous at all with the right horse.”
Jessie beamed Jack an angry look. “We don’t know anyone with any kind of horse, so there’s no need to get excited about something that isn’t going to happen.”
Jack met her gaze. “Actually, my dad lives on a ranch in Texas. He has lots of horses, young and old.”
Jessie pressed her lips together. “We aren’t in Texas.”
“Could we go sometime, to your dad’s ranch?” Danny asked.
“I think that’s a great idea.” Jack kept looking at Danny and ignored Jessie’s facial expressions. “Maybe someday we can do that.”
Danny tugged on Jessie’s sweater until she lowered her eyes to his. “Wouldn’t that be fun?”
“Texas is a long way away, Danny. You’ll have to settle for the pony rides at the fair for now.”
Disappointed, Danny turned toward his friends on the playground. “Hey, I wanna play,” he called to the kids and then ran over to them.
“Why did you do that?” Jessie asked Jack the minute Danny was out of hearing range.
“Do what?”
“Encourage him to visit your dad’s ranch? You know I can’t afford a trip to Texas.”
Jack actually started to look guilty. Which was good, considering the position he’d put her in. Disappointing Danny happened on a daily basis, from the toys she couldn’t afford to the backyard he didn’t have to play in. Promising pony rides in Texas was just mean.
“He seemed so excited.”
“He’s five. He gets excited about bubbles.”
“Texas is a three-day drive from here,” he told her.
Jessie crossed her arms over her chest. “Stop. OK. You know I can’t go. Between taking time off work, the cost of driving…Maybe in the five-year plan that would be doable, but it isn’t right now. I’ll be lucky if I can scrape enough together to give Danny any Christmas at all. A trip to Texas isn’t something I can make happen.” Jessie hated to admit it, but things were too tight for words. She’d even considered taking on a part-time job, but that would mess up the schedule she and Monica had worked out. All the fun things in life would just have to wait.
Jack looked as if he wanted to say something, something profound, but instead he lowered his gaze and offered an apology. “I’m sorry.”
The words sounded as if they were new to him, so Jessie didn’t push it. “It’s OK. I know you didn’t mean any harm.”
“No, it’s not OK. I should have kept my mouth shut.”
Jessie eased the tension with a smile. “Your dad really has a ranch?”
“Texas is a big state; lots of people have land there.”
“Seems like no one in California has land, outside of the farmers midstate. Heck, I’d settle for a yard and a fence.” She couldn’t even get a dog for Danny if she wanted to.
“I have a feeling one day you’ll get everything you want.”
Jack. The ever-optimistic dreamer. Cute, great kisser, selfless, giving, ambitious, and, she needed to add again, dreamer. Dreamers fluttered to a different flower when the need hit.
“Listen, Jack, about last night…” Jessie
looked away from his gray eyes to study a couple of ants that had found a crumb on the table to attack. “That shouldn’t have happened.”
“What, the ride in the limousine? I brought it back, no one even missed it.”
Jessie’s shoulders slumped. Darn the man, he wasn’t going to make this easy. “Not the limo. You know that’s not what I’m talking about.”
“Oh,” he said, acting surprised. “You mean that amazing kiss.”
She shushed him and took in the people around them to see if anyone was listening to their conversation. “It was a mistake.”
“It didn’t feel like a mistake to me.”
Although she knew she probably should tell him it felt wrong, Jessie knew he’d see right through her, call her out on a blatant lie. His kiss had been amazing. She-couldn’t-fall-asleep-for-hours-after-going-to-bed amazing. “It can’t happen again.”
Jessie met his eyes long enough to see the smirk on his face. “This isn’t funny, Jack. I told you before I can’t date you.”
“Right, and why is that again?”
“You know perfectly well why. You’re a dreamer, Jack. You have great plans for a bright future, and something tells me you’ll make all those lofty goals a reality…someday. But right now, you’re still dreaming. Maybe if it was just me, if Danny…” She shot a glance over her shoulder to make certain Danny didn’t hear her. He played on the other end of the playground, oblivious to her and Jack. “If I didn’t have to consider my son, then maybe you and I could have dated, seen if we were good for each other. When you’re a parent, and all your decisions affect another human being, you have to be smart about who you date.”
The smirk faded from Jack’s face. His brows pitched together briefly. “What is it you’re afraid of, Jessie?” he asked softly.
“My mom said once, don’t date anyone you don’t see yourself falling in love with. I didn’t listen to her advice when I was a teenager, and Danny is the result. I love him more than anything on this earth, wouldn’t change him in my life for the world. But I can’t do it again. It wouldn’t be fair to him, or me. You’re a great guy, Jack, but we need to just be friends. Friends who don’t kiss. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it has to be.” So why did saying the words hurt already?
Not Quite Dating Page 8
