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Mathias returned and took his seat. “Everything is fine,” he told Carol. “Devon’s asleep and nothing is wrong.”
Their eyes locked. “I want to go home,” Carol said softly.
“Thank God. Me, too.” Mathias sprang to his feet. “Sorry about this, but it’s a baby thing.”
Renee waved her hand toward the door. “Go be with your beautiful baby. Great progress was made tonight. Next time you’ll stay the whole first hour.”
Carol laughed. “Thanks for understanding. See you at lunch tomorrow.”
“You will,” Renee told her.
Seconds later, they were gone. Jasper looked at Renee. “I guess the odds of one of us heading to the finals just went up.”
“They did.”
She held his gaze a second past what he would consider normal, friendly interaction, shifting them into the maybe I’m interested category. Or was that just wishful thinking on his part? He really had to get this whole man/woman thing figured out. At sixteen, being socially awkward could be considered a little charming. At his age, it was pathetic.
“Monopoly is less fun with just two players,” he said. “Could I buy you a drink instead?”
RENEE TOLD HERSELF there was absolutely no pressure. Jasper had invited her for a drink and she had said yes. Big whoop. Men and women met for drinks hundreds of times a day and it was all completely normal. Boring even. Only sitting across from Jasper wasn’t anything she would describe as normal, and it could never be boring.
For one thing, the guy was hot. He was tall, with broad shoulders, but more than that, there was an air of casual strength about him. As if he could handle himself in any situation. Should scary-looking bad guys burst into the place, Renee knew Jasper would handle the situation. She, on the other hand, would run screaming into the night. Or hide. Or faint.
He also had that hint of slightly wounded male about him. He’d been damaged in his past and it showed. It took a stronger woman than her to resist that kind of yumminess. Although this was just a drink, she reminded herself as Jasper walked over to small corner table they’d moved to. He set a cosmo in front of her before taking a seat across from her and picking up his gin and tonic.
He took a sip, studying her over the glass. She had no idea what he was thinking, nor did she know what to say. Nerves gripped her tightly, making her feel awkward. She hadn’t been on a date since moving to Happily Inc, and before that she’d been getting over a shattered heart, and before that she’d been in a nearly three-year relationship, and before that...
“So, how was your book tour?” she asked brightly, hoping the question and his answer would distract her brain. “You were gone a long time.”
“I was. My publisher tried something new, sending me out in an RV.”
“I’d heard something about that but I thought maybe people were kidding. You really traveled the country in an RV for a month?”
“Three,” he said with another one of his sexy smiles. “Before that I spent a few weeks in Europe. Traveling more conventionally.”
“You must have a lot of fans. I knew you were a successful author, but you’re internationally famous.”
She meant the words to be teasing, but didn’t think they came out that way. Probably because she hadn’t actually put together who Jasper was. In her mind, he was the slightly mysterious, former military guy who kept to himself and provided plenty of take me now, big guy fantasies. Apparently he was a little too close to, say, Chris Pine territory for her purposes.
Not that she was going to smile brightly and offer a night of hot sex. Because while everything went fine in her head, in real life, there were serious pitfalls. Hysterical laughter followed by a look of extreme pity. Not that Jasper seemed like the hysterical laughter type. But the pity was a real possibility. Or revulsion. That would be depressing and she wasn’t looking for another boy-girl setback.
The smart decision would be to enjoy the drink, pretend she’d never once undressed him with her eyes and retreat to her charming apartment where she would tell herself she didn’t care that she was never going to have sex with a man again.
“I’ve been lucky,” he said easily. “The books have to work for people, of course, but there are a lot of authors who struggle in obscurity. I had breaks early on.”
“Like I said—internationally famous. What’s touring like? Is the Europe part different from the US part?”
“Very, especially with the RV. Here I was able to drive from place to place. I’d park near a big city, then head in for the events. Sometimes I’d do a morning show, or drive-time radio. I might have media interviews during the day or drop in to a few bookstores and sign stock. In the evenings I would have organized book signings where I’d talk for a few minutes, take questions, then sign books. Then back to the hotel or RV and start it over in the morning.”
“That’s less glamorous than I thought. What about in Europe?”
“That’s a different schedule. I would arrive in a city, usually in the morning, have lunch with whomever the publisher wanted me to meet, do media, then have a signing, followed by a late dinner. Get up in the morning and drive, fly or take the train to the next city and do it all again.” He flashed her another smile. “All while not speaking the language. It’s an endurance sport.”
“It sounds like it. What’s the best part?”
“Meeting the readers. It’s hard not to like people willing to line up to tell you how much they love what you do.”
“I hadn’t thought of that. I get the occasional thank-you note, but there’s never been a line.” She picked up her drink. “Anyone creepy? Didn’t Stephen King write a book about a crazed fan?”
“Yes, and we’re not going to talk about that.” He chuckled. “There are fans who know way more about my books than I do and want to talk themes and what I could do instead. Sometimes readers want to give me story lines, which I have to sidestep because of potential legal problems.”
“Your life is really interesting.”
“No, it’s not. Ninety percent of the time I’m sitting at a computer, trying to figure out what to say next. It’s a lot of hours by myself, sometimes with swearing.”
She liked him, she thought with some surprise. She hadn’t really spent time with him before, so had filled in the blanks with her own fantasies, which were more about his body than his personality. It was nice to know there was an actual person behind the gorgeous eyes.
Funny how she’d been thinking about him on and off for the past couple of days and tonight he’d walked into The Boardroom and sat down at her table, as if fate were stepping in.
“Tell me about the apple wedding,” he said, leaning toward her. “No one dresses up in an apple costume, do they?”
She laughed. “No. I promise, nothing like that. An apple wedding is more like a Christmas wedding. The theme inspires the decorations and the colors, not the clothing. Let’s see. The bridesmaid dresses are apple green, there are crab apples in the bouquet and the floral arrangements on the tables. The signature drink is an apple martini. That sort of thing.”
He stared at her, his expression blank. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“What’s confusing?”
“All of it. I get the bridesmaid dresses. I’ve seen women in those before. But the rest of it? You’re speaking a foreign language.”
“What about all the weddings you’ve been to?”
He took another sip of his drink. “I haven’t. I joined the army when I was eighteen. None of my friends were even thinking about getting married then. I got back for a few visits, but no weddings. After my dad died—it was always just the two of us—I never went back. My military friends went home to get married and I usually couldn’t get leave.”
Now he was the one speaking a foreign language. “You’ve never been to a wedding?”
“Nope.”
“That’s not possible.”
“It’s no big deal.”
“It’s a rite of passage. It’s how this town supports itself. Happily Inc is a wedding destination town and you have actually never been to a wedding?”
“Pallas and Nick got married in Italy and I was gone when Carol and Mathias got married.”
She stared at him. “Come by Weddings Out of the Box sometime and I’ll show you a video,” she told him. “They’re all variations on a theme, so once you’ve seen one, you’ll be wedding literate.”
“But not fluent?”
His voice was low and teasing. It sent ripples down her spine and made her wish she was the kind of woman who could look a man in the eye while inviting him back to her place. But she wasn’t and she couldn’t. She might want a let’s get naked night with Jasper, but the truth was she’d never once had sex with a man she wasn’t half in love with and it seemed unlikely she could find the skill set to change that now.
“I think fluency is a ways off,” she said lightly, hoping he couldn’t hear the disappointment in her voice. As he had no idea what she was thinking, the emotion would only be confusing and misleading. Man, even without a relationship, the whole boy-girl thing was really hard to navigate.
“You help brides plan their weddings, right?” he asked.
“Yes, although it’s better when the groom is involved, too. Weddings Out of the Box is a wedding venue. We specialize in theme weddings. We’ve done princess weddings and cowboy weddings and apparently the world’s greatest alien wedding based on a computer game, but that was before my time.”
“Interesting.”
She wasn’t sure it was, but it was nice of him to say it.
They looked at each other, then away. Silence stretched between them, grew awkward, got bigger and started making Renee uncomfortable. Crap, crap, crap, this wasn’t going to work. Who was she kidding? She was only confident in limited situations—like work. She was never going to be the kind of woman who could tell a guy she thought he was attractive and ask if he would like to have his way with her. Which left her sad and depressingly aware of the fact that she might never do the deed again, which made her want to stomp her foot. Or cry.
Neither response would go over well in public, so it was definitely time to go home. She looked at Jasper.
“It’s getting late. Thanks for the drink. I had a nice time.”
He studied her for a second before nodding. “I did, too. Let me walk you to your car.”
They went out into the night. It was mid-September, so still warm, but they’d passed through the burning heat of summer. In a few more weeks, there would be an actual nip in the air. At least in those hours close to midnight. It rarely got cold-cold in Happily Inc.
They walked to her black Mini with the white racing stripes on the hood. A silly car, to be sure, but one she loved as much as she could love a car. It was cute, it was zippy and with the back seats down, it held as much as she needed.
“This is me,” she said lightly.
Jasper glanced from the car to her and back. “It suits you.”
She smiled. “Thank you. I try to be worthy of its sassiness, but I don’t always succeed. I suppose that’s a metaphor for my life. I want to be wild, but I’m not quite sure how.”
“You mean that?”
She looked up at him. Literally. With them both standing, she was aware of how tall he was, how strong. He exuded power and confidence. He was all things male and maybe that should have scared her, but it didn’t.
“Renee?”
“What?”
“You didn’t answer the question.”
“There was a question?”
One corner of his mouth turned up. “I may be reading this all wrong, but just in case I’m not...”
He put his hands on her waist and pulled her toward him. The move was unexpected and she would have instinctively resisted, only there was something about the feel of his hands and her growing sense of anticipation. Because he was holding her exactly like a man holds a woman he means to kiss and kiss well.
She looked up to confirm her theory, which gave her exactly half a second to prepare herself for the impact of his lips on hers.
Her first impression was of heat. His mouth was warm, as was his body, but she was on fire. Need erupted long before he deepened the kiss. Just pressing against him, having him hold her and holding him back was unbearably arousing. When he actually got busy with the kissing part, she wasn’t sure if she was going to melt, scream or fall apart right there in the parking lot.
His tongue stroked her bottom lip. She parted, then groaned when he slipped inside. They circled and danced and explored. She raised herself on her tiptoes to get a better angle. He nipped her lower lip, then ran his hands up and down her back.
Everywhere he touched blazed with hunger. She was nearly shaking with need. He might not know much about weddings, but he sure could kiss and right now that was the superior skill.
But just when she was really getting into it, Jasper pulled back. He was breathing heavily and looked slightly dazed.
“That was unexpected,” he murmured.
“Good unexpected?”
He cleared his throat. “You have to ask?”
“Just checking.”
They stared at each other. Here it was, she thought. The moment of reckoning. She could wimp out and walk away or she could be strong and self-actualized by asking for what she wanted.
“Come home with me.”
The words came out more question than statement, but she’d said them, so good for her. Unless he said no. Then she would die—right there in the parking lot. They would find her stiff body in the morning and no one would know what had happened.
Jasper raised an eyebrow. “You sure?”
She hunched her shoulders. “I’ve used up all my courage, so I can’t ask again.”
He chuckled. “I’m not looking for you to repeat the question. I’m confirming this is what you want.”
She looked at him, starting at his very large feet and working her way up. It was too dark in the parking lot for her to be sure, but she was fairly confident he had an erection. She took in his broad shoulders, his handsome face and then thought about how sad and lonely her girl bits had been.
“This is what I want,” she told him.
That corner of his mouth turned up again. “How far is your place?”
“About six minutes from here.”
“Then we’d best get going.”
CHAPTER THREE (#u5bb222f3-68c1-54a6-a203-9a1f0ff96ef7)
SEVEN MINUTES AND maybe twenty seconds later, they were in her small apartment. Renee managed to turn on the lamp by the door and kick off her shoes before Jasper reached for her. Their lips clung even as he tugged at the hem of her T-shirt. It was impossible to pull off her shirt while kissing, but they tried before finally breaking apart.
“Bedroom,” she said, thinking of the box of condoms she had in her dresser. A box she’d bought when she’d moved to town and never had the opportunity to open until now.
Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned and saw Jasper had pulled off his shirt, leaving his broad chest bare. He was muscled and male and she couldn’t help moving closer and pressing her mouth to his warm skin.
She’d barely had a chance to do more than register the slightly salty taste of him when he was unfastening her bra and reaching around to cup her breasts. The feel of his fingers against her hungry flesh was perfection. He caressed her curves before brushing against her tight, sensitive nipples. At the first stroke, her breath caught. At the second, she cried out as pleasure burned through to her center. She was already wet and swollen. In seconds she shifted to downright desperate.
“Bedroom,” she said weakly, still thinking of that condom and him inside of her and oh, please could they get on with it.
“You are focused on getting up there,” he said, his voice teasing.
