Really? Did Heather have skeletons in her closet, too? She’d never let on. Then again, some things were just better left in the past. Another lesson Jenny had learned the hard way.
“I’m not heading back until tomorrow. Maybe I could swing by the salon in the morning for a tour?” Elena pepped up, her eyes bright again.
“Absolutely.” The waiter slid their bill onto the table and Jenny tugged it her way before Elena got any silly ideas. “We open at nine and I think my first client is a color job, so that should be perfect.”
“Great.” The skittish woman reached for her wallet, but Jenny waved her off.
“I got this. Business meeting and all that.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.” But her reassuring smile turned chilly when Reed approached their table from the bar. Great. She’d been so concerned about Elena that she hadn’t noticed the group of county workers assembled for one of their frequent ‘team building’ nightcaps. “Ugh, this is my past rearing its ugly head,” she muttered and Elena shot a not-so-discreet glance toward Reed.
“In that case, I’m going to scoot. I’ll see you tomorrow?” She stood and slung her purse over her shoulder. Her wispy blouse and snug leggings should’ve caught Reed’s perpetually wandering eye, but he never even acknowledged her. Just smiled at Jenny as Elena waved and snuck away.
Jenny gathered up the forms and scheduling info she’d shared with Elena and stuffed it into her bag. Maybe if she got up fast enough, Reed would leave her alone. Funny how having a man in your life that actually respected you opened your eyes to the ones who didn’t.
“Hey there, princess,” he greeted her in his too-smooth, typical Reed voice. “You’re not leaving already, are you?”
“That’s usually what happens when you’ve finished your meal.” She pasted on a fake smile and then felt bad about it. She didn’t want to hate Reed. She wasn’t even sure she did. She was just sick of the humiliation she felt every time he came around.
“I won’t keep you long, then. I just wanted to check in and see how things were going.” He gave a sincere smile and she sighed. See? He was trying. Maybe she should, too.
“Things are good. I just hired a part-time stylist.”
“That’s great. More time with your mom, right?” Casually, he slid into Elena’s vacated seat, his bulky, athletic body taking up too much room.
Brody was just as imposing. Not quite as tall, but built the same. Same pretty, bad boy glint in his eye, too, though a hell of a lot sexier with all that ink on his arms.
“Um, yeah. She’s doing better than expected at home, but she’ll want to get out more as the weather gets nicer.” She reached for her water to keep her hands busy.
“How’s your wounded Marine?” he asked, not as casually.
“Really?” she laughed, locking her gaze with his unapologetic one. “That’s what you really came over for, isn’t it? God, you really are a dog.”
He lifted a hand, his smile as unrepentant as his stare. “If worrying about how he treats you makes me a dog, then so be it. I’ve been called worse.”
She shook her head. “You’re unbelievable. You won’t even tell me who you’re seeing, but I’m supposed to share the details of my relationship with you? That’s ballsy, Reed. Even for you.”
His jaw ticked as he brought his beer to his mouth and took a pull. “So it’s a relationship now?”
“Oh my God, stop. Seriously.” She pushed a hand through her hair and sighed. “You don’t get to do this, okay? You don’t get to stick your nose in my personal life and act like it’s completely normal. We may be friends, but we’ve also seen each other naked.”
He quirked an eyebrow and rocked his head from side to side, considering her point.
“See, that’s weird. Why aren’t you weirded out by this?” Her face began to burn and she started to feel like Elena had looked. Twitchy and ready to jump out of her skin.
“Come on, Jenn, you know it’s easy for guys to separate sex and friendships.” He leaned back in the seat and tapped the bottom of his beer against his jeans, still looking her in the eye. “What isn’t easy for me is knowing you’re involved with a potential loose cannon like Brody Nelson.”
“He’s not like that.” He’d never been volatile with her. Even when he’d tossed and turned in bed that first night in Vegas, he hadn’t been aggressive. He thought he was a mess, but the truth was, he was dealing with what he’d been through a lot better than she ever could.
“You don’t know that, Jenn. You’re here and he’s there and all you see is what he wants you to see.”
Was he for real right now? She counted to five, then leaned in and spoke carefully. “I’m quite capable of judging his character on my own, thank you very much. I’m not, however, appreciative of your insinuation that he’s hiding something from me. He’s not, Reed. Not all guys are assholes.”
She wanted to tell him exactly how honest Brody had been. How they’d had this intimate connection from the start and how it already felt like she knew Brody better than some of the friends she’d had for years. But those were private things. They belonged to her and Brody.
“I’ve never seen you like this before.” Reed smiled and she scoffed, grabbing her bag from the seat beside her. Done. She was so done with this.
“You mean me having a spine when it comes to you? Yeah, it’s a new development.” She stood and grabbed the bill, stopping before she walked away. “Maybe I wasn’t clear at Josh’s, but you really do need to back off. Brody isn’t the monster you want him to be and, even if by some chance, he isn’t the man I think he is, I’d much rather find out on my own—not from you.”
“I’m won’t stop watching out for you,” he said calmly, despite her warning. “Maybe I am wrong—stranger things have happened—but I’d rather be wrong than let you get hurt again.”
Out of obligation or sincere concern? She couldn’t tell, and she wasn’t sure it mattered.
“Her name is Mia, by the way. And we’re not together. Yet.”
“What?” Jenny reared back, caught off guard. His timing was all kinds of awful these days.
Reed chuckled and stood, too, sudden vulnerability in his moments-ago so confident face. “Believe it or not, I want the real deal just as badly as you do. For both of our sakes, I hope we find it.”
She nodded. “I already have.”
Chapter Fifteen
“I miss you.” In the privacy of the stock room, Jenny sighed in her phone, half-heartedly mixing a boring natural blonde for sixty-something Lorna Miller. “It’s only been a week since I saw you and it already sucks.”
“I know, sugar. I hate it, too. But it’s what we’ve gotta do right now.” In the distance, she heard other male voices, more than a little raucous as they arrived at the training center for drill weekend.
“Good thing you’re busy for the next couple days or I’d cancel my appointments and drive across the state again.” So much for going slow. Brody consumed her mind twenty-four/seven. Wondering about when he’d text next, when they could talk, when she’d be able to smell him again...
He chuckled. “I’d already be in River Bend if it weren’t for training, believe that.”
She smiled and caught a glimpse of her pink cheeks in the mirror. When had she become this enamored woman? “So next weekend then...”
“Friday night. Like a jet, baby. No stopping ’til I’m at your door.”
Shivers raced down her spine. “Holding you to that.”
“You won’t have to try hard.” He paused and the noisy background faded away. Had he ducked into someplace private? “You thinking about me lots while we’re apart? Maybe taking care of business with the memories of what we did last weekend in mind?” he asked, his voice low and sexy.