Plain Jayne (17 page)

Delmar hoisted his bottle in salute. “Later, Boss.”

He stepped outside but paused just to the side of the door to take a look at the job they’d done on the siding.

“What’s with him?” Todd’s voice, though not loud, drifted out to Nick.

“He’s busy.”

“So busy he skips out on us a couple weeks ago and only hangs around for one beer?” There was an edge to Todd’s voice. “I bet that chick of his is givin’ him the gears.”

For half a second, Nick almost went back inside, but what good would it do? It wasn’t like Todd was right, but he wasn’t far wrong, either. Four o’clock Friday afternoon was downtime for him and his crew. In all the years he’d been doing this job, nothing had ever kept him from it, and even after he lost Abby, he’d gone right back to the old routine of two beers
with his crew, hoping it would help put things back to normal.

It hadn’t, but he kept it up anyway.

Nick fired up his truck and headed for home with one clear thought making him smile: Jayne would be there. She still thought their living together was weird, but he liked having her there when he got home. In fact, knowing she’d be there was enough to make him drive faster. It was hard enough juggling their time with him dating Lisa, but if Jayne and Martin hooked up, that was going to cut into more of their time together, so Nick was going to have to get in as much as he could while he had the chance.

He found her just inside the front door, tying up her running shoes.

“You going out?” he asked, swallowing a mouthful of disappointment.

“Just going for a walk.” She stood up, tugged her ponytail through the back of her ball cap, and grinned up at him. “I thought you were meeting Lisa.”

“Not till six, so hang on, I’ll go with you.” He traded his work boots for running shoes and grabbed Duke’s leash. “Let’s go.”

They cut between the two houses and the end of the cul-de-sac and pushed through the trees until they found the trail that led around the edge of the golf course.

“Knee’s bad today, huh?”

“Hmm? Yeah, no, I’m good.”

“Liar.”

Nick stuffed his left hand in his pocket and let Duke’s leash dangle from his right as he tried to force his knee to behave; it would be better once he had a hot shower. Jayne was still watching his limp when Nick shot his arm out and stopped her dead in her tracks.

“Look at that.”

Jayne’s gaze followed his line of sight as Duke stuck his nose in the air and sniffed, slowly at first, then with increased interest. A huge black bear lumbered over the rolling green of the seventeenth hole, followed by two chubby little cubs, who couldn’t seem to decide if they wanted to keep up with Mama or just roll around on the fairway.

Jayne’s breath caught; she didn’t move, but Nick knew it wasn’t because he held her back, and it wasn’t because she was scared. There was something amazing about seeing bears wandering around like that, and no matter how often he saw it, it still amazed him. Jayne obviously felt the same.

They stood stock-still as the mother bear swung her head around and stared straight at them. He felt Jayne’s hand curl around his forearm just as Duke finally locked in on the scent. His low growl grew steadily into a long, mournful howl that did little to scare off the big bear.

After a few seconds, she swung her head forward and continued to plod along the course until she and her cubs disappeared into the surrounding trees.

“That was …” Jayne stopped, exhaled, and blinked a few times. “Wow.”

“Lucky,” Nick snickered. “If we’d been a few minutes earlier, she might not have been quite so friendly.”

A slow smile curved against Jayne’s lips and crinkled around her eyes. He’d seen that smile thousands of times before, but this was the first time it zinged through him like that.

Like lightning.

“You know what they say,” she laughed. “You don’t have to be fast, you just have to be faster. And with that knee of yours …”

Nick did his best to shake off what her smile did to him and tried to look hurt. “You’d leave me and Duke here to fight off a bear?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’d never leave Duke.” Her hand fell away from his arm but it took him a couple seconds to move.

“Nice.” He chuckled slowly. “Come on, let’s go this way.”

They headed back the way they’d come, following the trail in the opposite direction. Better safe than sorry.

“What’s the matter?” Her voice sounded wary. “And don’t say nothing, because you have your worried eyes on.”

“I don’t have—”

“Nick.”

“Okay.” He shrugged slowly. “I was thinking about tomorrow night. What if you hate this guy?”

“Why would I hate him?” Something just short of panic filled her voice. “What’s wrong with him? Is he a jerk?”

“Yeah,” he grunted. “I sorted through everyone I knew and came up with the biggest prick I could think of.”

“God, Nick, I’m freaking out enough already, I don’t need you making it worse.”

“Sorry.” He kicked a rock off the path and wished he could kick himself just as far. “He’s a good guy. It’ll be fine.”

“Who is he? Just tell me his name and I’ll ask Katie about him; she knows all your friends, doesn’t she?”

“No way, I don’t want you to have an opinion before you even get there. Besides, he’s not exactly a friend, more like someone I know. It’s not like we go out for beers or anything.”

“How do you know him?”

“Through work.”

“So he’s in construction?”

“Nice try,” he laughed. “No hints.”

“Damn it.” The bushes beside Jayne shook, making her jump, but Nick just laughed when a squirrel shot out and darted up a nearby maple.

Two steps later, a large raindrop landed on Nick’s cheek. Then another.

“Maybe we should head—” Thunder boomed across the sky.

“Back,” Jayne finished.

Nick whistled for Duke and they started for home, but they’d only gone about twenty feet when the skies opened.

“You wouldn’t like to waddle a little faster, would you, buddy?” Nick laughed as he tried without much success to hurry the old dog along. “Why don’t you run home,” he said to Jayne, “and we’ll meet you there. No point in both of us getting soaked.”

“Little rain never hurt anyone.” Jayne tipped her face up to the sky and blinked over the raindrops. “Unless, of course, you were too cool to bother with a jacket or a hat before you left the house.”

Nick gave her a shove, then laughed as he swiped the rain off his cheeks. Duke’s ears seemed to hang a little lower as he trudged along, his droopy eyes looking as pathetic as ever. Rain bounced off the parched trail and lightning streaked across the golf course, illuminating the sky in brilliant slashes. Thunder cracked, louder and longer each time, until it was almost in perfect time with the lightning.

At the edge of the cul-de-sac, Nick scooped Duke up and they ran the rest of the way home. By the time they got to the door, Nick was soaked to the skin, his knee was about three steps from giving out, and Duke was more than a little insulted at being bounced around like
that.

“Throw me a towel,” Jayne called after Nick as he bee-lined it for his room. She wrapped it around Duke and rubbed him down as best she could, then led him over to the rug in front of the fireplace where he curled up with a long moan.

Nick jumped in the shower, leaving his soaked clothes draped over his hamper. He’d give anything to be able to call off dinner with Lisa tonight. All he wanted to do was flake out on the couch with his leg up. The hot water was helping, but not enough.

The second he stepped out of the shower, he heard Jayne in the final verse of what sounded like a Springsteen song.

He pulled on his jeans, jerked a T-shirt over his head, and headed to the kitchen where she was standing over a couple of pots on the stove and was well into her best Billy Idol.

“So let’s sink another drink …”
She turned as his bare feet hit the kitchen floor, her mouth open, her eyes huge, but a few seconds later, she picked up the chorus, albeit much quieter than before.
“And I’ll be dancin’ with myself.”

Nick walked straight toward her, grabbed her by the hand, and twirled her around the kitchen. She stumbled, he righted her, and he gripped her hand tight enough that she couldn’t pull away. Pull her in, let her out, twirl her under the arm, then pull her in again, all the while avoiding chairs, stools, the table, and the island.

Her face flushed as she tried to keep up, but she tripped on almost every turn and his toes were taking the brunt of it. His knee, however, was holding up great. As the song neared its end, Nick slowed, then whipped her around in a final twirl that brought her straight back against his chest.

“Sorry.” She laughed and ducked her head but she couldn’t hide her blushing from him. “Guess I need a little work on my dance moves.”

“Your dancing’s fine,” he grinned. “It’s your singing that could use some work.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but he tugged her close again and took up where they left off, only slower, as Bono sang from the laptop.

See the stone set in your eyes. See the thorn twist in your side …

He tucked Jayne’s head under his chin and closed his eyes. God, she smelled good. And she felt even better. Soft, curvy, she melded into him, moved with him, her hip pressed perfectly against his as he slid his hand over the small of her back, holding her a little tighter, a little
closer. His heart thrashed against his ribs and a fire burned deep in his belly—what were they doing?

No—what was
he
doing?

This was Jayne, for Christ’s sake. Jayne, who was willing to give up whatever it took to make sure she didn’t get between him and Linda. Jayne, whom he’d set up on a date with Martin. A date he was also going on with Linda.

Lisa!

Nick gave himself a hard mental shake. Maybe he had been spending too much time with Jayne and too much time away from Lisa. Maybe he—

Did Jayne just sigh? Did she just squeeze his hand? Did she—

The neglected pasta sauce bubbled up and burst over the side of the pot, sizzling against the flame beneath, making them both jump. Jayne jerked out of Nick’s arms and dashed over to turn the heat down and stir the sauce.

She adjusted her ball cap and cleared her throat noisily. “There’s, um, lots here if you and Lisa want some. It’s just plain sauce, no meat.”

His arms were empty, his throat was dry, and his jeans were uncomfortably tight when his conscience reared back and kicked him hard.
Really hard
. And then it kicked again until he finally got moving again.

“Yeah. Um, okay, sure.” He scrubbed his hands over his face and tried to keep his eyes, wide with panic, averted. “I’ll, uh, give her a call.”

After what seemed like a thousand years, Nick blinked hard and grabbed a beer from the fridge. He started chugging as he turned away, and was still chugging as he dialed Lisa’s number.

Oh, this was bad. This was very very bad
.

At first Lisa balked at the idea, but Nick couldn’t work up the energy to get off the couch at that moment, never mind trying to make it through a restaurant meal, so he did something he never did: he pulled the sore knee card, muttered something he hoped was appreciation when she became sympathetic and caring, then hung up and let his head fall against the back of the couch.

Sure, he was going to save himself from having to leave the house, but at what cost? He had about ten minutes before Linda …
Lisa
 … showed up and somehow between now and then he needed to find a way to get a grip.

He honestly hadn’t meant to do anything more than twirl Jayne around the kitchen once or twice, but then … shiiiiit. His fingers just wouldn’t let her go. And then she was pressed up against him, every breath matching his, making it seem so natural, so … right.

If she had any idea what he’d been thinking in there, she’d have been out of the house so fast she’d have left skid marks. And even though she’d only been there a couple weeks, the thought of her
not
being there anymore made him want to throw up.

Shit!

Nick set his beer on the table, pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, and blew out a long slow breath. He could fix this. All he had to do was act like nothing happened, as though it was perfectly natural to hold her that tight, with his stupid heart all but pounding out of his chest. He’d just pretend it meant nothing; they’d go on that stupid date tomorrow night, and maybe Martin would be just what she wanted.

The fire in his belly grew bigger, hotter, a burn that raged against Martin and the possibilities he offered, a burn that still raged when Lisa came through the front door.

“Hi, sweetie.” Her soft, feminine voice, usually a welcome sound, raked against Nick’s eardrums like nails down a chalkboard. “Hi, Jayne.”

“Hey, Lisa. Dinner’ll just be a couple minutes.”

Nick pushed off the couch and met Lisa in the kitchen doorway, purposely not looking at Jayne, who was chugging her water like crazy.

“How’s your knee?” Lisa wrapped her arms around his waist and inhaled slowly. “Mmmm. You smell like strawberries.”

Glass shattered all over the kitchen floor.

*  *  *

Jayne picked up Nick’s sister and drove them both to Regan’s salon. To say Katie was very pregnant would’ve been a gross understatement. Her huge belly seemed to hang below her hips, and what should have been a walk was nothing more than a waddle with one hand pressed against her back.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Jayne asked, staring in complete shock. “Maybe you should stay home.”

“Not a chance,” Katie groused. “My baby will not come into this world being greeted by a mother with split ends and ragged fingernails. And if I have to be the size of a freakin’ Volkswagen, I’m at least going to be a freshly painted one.”

They managed to get Katie into one of the chairs at Regan’s, and after a short discussion about what she and Jayne did and didn’t want, Regan went to work on Jayne’s hair while the other girl started on Katie’s nails.

“How are things going at the store, anyway?” Katie sucked in a short breath, shifted in her chair, then released it.