Read A Better Reason to Fall in Love Online
Authors: Marcia Lynn McClure
Tags: #Romance, #General, #Contemporary, #Fiction
“And you’re a redhead,” Jocelyn unnecessarily pointed out. “Aren’t you supposed to be all hot-blooded and confident?”
“Hot-blooded?” Tabby asked, almost giggling at the suggestion.
“Come on, Tabs,” Emmy pleaded. “Just promise us you’ll try to talk to him more.” Emmy smiled, and it was a knowing smile that entirely unnerved Tabby. “I mean, really, how long can you watch his every move, hang on his every word, and still resist not trying to grab his attention once in a while?”
“Okay,” Tabby agreed, though her heart was hammering so hard in her chest with anticipatory anxiety that she thought the entire building could hear it. “Okay…I’ll try. Next time he walks past my desk, I’ll say hi.”
“Promise?” Naomi asked. Tabby smiled, unable to hide her amusement that even Naomi was involved in the prodding.
“I promise,” Tabby agreed.
“Well, hello, ladies.”
Tabby felt her eyes widen—felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle with delicious understanding at the realization that Jagger Brodie stood behind her.
“Hi, Jagger,” Naomi greeted.
They’d been sitting at a small table in one corner of the room. Tabby watched as smiles spread across Emmy’s and Jocelyn’s faces as they looked beyond Tabby and simultaneously greeted hello.
Tabby felt Emmy step on her foot in urging her to turn around. Mustering every ounce of redheaded courage she could, Tabby swiveled around in her seat to see Jagger Brodie standing behind her. He was grinning and looking at her—rather expectantly.
“Hi,” she managed.
“You girls eat lunch together every day, don’t you?” the girl Naomi knew from accounting asked. She was pretty—really pretty. Tabby’s stomach began to burn with a thick stew of jealousy.
“We do,” Naomi said.
“Yeah,” Jagger said. “I saw them at the Acapulco the other day,” he said as he continued to look at Tabby.
“We brown bag it most of the time,” Emmy said. “But every Friday we pick a restaurant to try.”
“So I’ve heard,” Keira from accounting said. “You know the guys in accounting call you the Foxy Four.”
“Really?” Jocelyn giggled. Her flattered smile was as wide as the Mississippi.
“It’s true,” Keira said, though Tabby couldn’t tell if she was amused by the fact or insanely jealous. “Isn’t it, Jagger?”
Jagger’s grin broadened to a smile as he nodded. He was still looking at Tabby, and she suddenly felt overly warm. His smile had the same effect on her that the noonday sun in Tombstone had had when she’d visited the old western town as a kid: she felt fiery hot and wondered whether she might faint. It had been heatstroke that had overwhelmed her in Tombstone, and now she knew that Jagger Brodie–stroke could be just as threatening.
As Jagger continued to stare at her, Tabby managed to stammer, “Well…I suppose everyone at the office has some sort of nickname.” She blushed as the endless variety of nicknames assigned to Jagger Brodie by the women in the office began to roll through her head like long movie credits.
“Maybe so,” he said.
“Come on, Jagger,” Keira from accounting said. “You’ll make us late getting back.”
“Oh!” Jocelyn gasped. “Me too. I’ve got a meeting in fifteen minutes!”
“Good afternoon then, ladies,” Jagger said. He offered them a smile and a friendly nod and then turned to follow Keira toward the exit.
Tabby watched him go—watched the way he sauntered—smiled as he opened the door for Keira.
“Anything can happen,” Emmy said, drawing her attention back to her friends.
“Nothing is impossible,” Jocelyn echoed as they all stood.
Naomi even smiled. “I suppose making out in the break room wouldn’t be so bad…if it were Jagger Brodie you were making out with.”
“Shut up, you guys,” Tabby said as she tossed her empty cup and brown paper bag into the nearby trash receptacle. Her friends giggled, and she knew more teasing was in store. Thus, before they could begin, she preempted their tormenting her by saying, “I’ve decided where I want us to go for lunch on Friday.”
“Oh, yeah? Where?” Jocelyn asked.
“It’s a new place,” Tabby answered. “It’s only been open a couple of weeks, but I’ve heard it’s really cool. It’s called Sweet Genevieve’s, and there’s live entertainment at lunch.”
“What? More cliff divers?” Naomi rather whined.
“No,” Tabby said as Jocelyn rammed an elbow into Naomi’s ribs. “It’s like a blues and jazz thing. They supposedly have really good food too.”
“Sounds fun,” Emmy exclaimed.
“Kind of,” Naomi said. She shrugged and added, “If we can’t have poetry recitation…then at least we can have some music. Hopefully good music.”
“Yeah,” Tabby said. “It’s really supposed to be good. Chloe’s boyfriend told me about it. He knows I like blues and jazz, and he says it’s a really cool place.”
“When is Chloe supposed to be back from Chicago?” Jocelyn asked. “I mean, how much more training are they going to make her do?”
“Three more weeks, I think,” Tabby said. Suddenly, she missed her sister even more than she had a moment before. Chloe had already been gone a week. Tabby wondered how Chloe would be able to stand staying in a hotel for three more weeks.
“Did she have to do that?” Naomi asked.
Tabby nodded. “Yeah. If she wants to make a higher pay grade, she has to.”
“Well, if you get too lonely, maybe the Derrière-inator will come over and keep you company,” Emmy teased.
“Maybe you’re going to find your derrière in a sling if you don’t quit teasing me,” Tabby playfully threatened.
“I’ll quit teasing you the day I walk in the break room and find you making out with Jagger Brodie,” Emmy giggled.
“In a sling, Emmy…I swear it,” Tabby teased.
“Hold on!” Naomi exclaimed as they left the aquarium. “Joss…you never told us how your night with Armando the Cliff Diver ended.”
“Oh my heck, that’s right!” Emmy added. “Joss…did he kiss you goodnight or what?”
Tabby’s interest was piqued as well. Though visions of Jagger Brodie were still sauntering through her dreams, she truly wanted to know how Jocelyn’s date with Armando had ended.
Jocelyn smiled. “Oh, he kissed me good night, all right.”
“He did?” Tabby asked.
“Oh, yes.”
“And?” Emmy prodded.
“And wouldn’t you like to know, Emmy?” Jocelyn teased as a triumphant smile spread across her face.
“Joss!” Emmy said, stomping her foot like a toddler. “You have to tell us!”
Jocelyn shrugged, playing at nonchalance. “I have a meeting in fifteen minutes. It will just have to wait until tomorrow.”
“You are so mean sometimes,” Emmy giggled.
Tabby’s attention was drawn to something else, however, and she didn’t hear another word of the bantering exchange between Emmy and Jocelyn.
Jagger Brodie was walking just a ways ahead of them. Keira from accounting was with him, of course, but it was Jagger Tabby concentrated on—the way his broad shoulders rocked with the rhythm of his entirely too-cool saunter. She smiled as she realized Jagger Brodie didn’t walk. He didn’t even saunter. Jagger Brodie swaggered. It wasn’t an arrogant swagger. She doubted he was even aware he walked this way. Yet it was so perfectly cool—so swank. She frowned a moment, suddenly puzzled. He never walked this way at the office, she was certain—for she’d watched him walk as much as was physically possible from her seat at her desk. Thus, she wondered whether this was Jagger Brodie’s natural pace—this too-cool, rhythmic swagger—or was the more average manner with which he walked at the office his true stride?
Suddenly, Tabby was all the more deliciously intrigued with Jagger Brodie, the Derrière inator. For a moment, she wished Johnny Depp really had walked through the door and into the shark tank viewing room—because she would love nothing more than to dig up the courage to find a way to actually get to know his royal hiney-ness.
Tabby bit her lip, giggling as she whispered, “His Royal Hineyness.” Shaking her head, she breathed, “I need to get a grip.”
“No,” Emmy said, obviously having heard Tabby’s mutterings to herself. “What you need to get is a mean lip-lock on that man up there.”
“There’s more to life than making out in the break room,” Tabby said. “Just ask Naomi.”
“Like what?” Emmy teased.
Tabby shook her head as Emmy giggled, amused by her own wit.
CHAPTER FOUR
The night after she’d seen Jagger Brodie at the aquarium, Tabby had difficulty finding a space of calm. She was restless—seemed unable to settle her nerves—felt fidgety and somehow tense. The incident kept playing over and over in her mind: the way they’d been talking about Jagger—Emmy, Naomi, and Jocelyn egging her on, encouraging her to ask Jagger out, or at least talk to him more often. And then, almost as if he’d been listening and some unseen stage manager had cued him to appear, he did! It was weird, the way he seemed to show up every time she and her friends were talking about him lately—almost freaky. The same thing had happened at the Acapulco the week before. It didn’t help that the weirdness seemed to spill over from lunch and into the office.
The very day following the Jagger sighting at the aquarium, another incident occurred to rattle Tabby. Feeling uptight and agitated, she’d decided to turn to her old friend chocolate for comfort. She dug around in the bottom of her purse, scrounged up four quarters, and headed for the break room, hoping the F5 slot in the vending machine wasn’t already empty. She needed a Baby Ruth bar, and she needed it quickly!
Tabby sighed with relief, smiling as she saw there were still several Baby Ruth bars in the vending machine. She inserted the quarters one at a time, making sure each one clicked and clinked. When she’d put in a whole dollar, she pushed F5 and watched as the release mechanism pushed the candy bar forward to drop into the slot below.
Retrieving the candy bar from the vending machine slot, Tabby had torn into it like a ravenous dog. She sighed as she chewed the first bite of chocolate, peanuts, and nougat confection, wondering how it was that sugar and chocolate could calm a soul so instantaneously. Taking another bite, she turned around to head back to her desk.
She’d nearly choked to death as she saw Jagger Brodie standing behind her. He smiled as she continued to chew.
“Hi,” he’d said, grinning at her. He was amused. It was sorely obvious by the way a full-fledged smile threatened to spread across his face as he looked at her.
“Hi,” Tabby had managed to mumble. She was mortified! Why had she taken such an enormous-sized bite of the candy bar?
“Baby Ruth, huh?” Jagger asked as she stepped aside so he could approach the vending machine.
“Mm hm,” Tabby confirmed. Her mouth was still too full of candy to properly respond.
“I’m a Twix man myself,” he said, pulling a handful of change from his pocket and inserting various coins into the vending machine.
Tabby chewed like a mad woman as she watched the Derrière-inator retrieve his candy bar from the machine.
He turned, grinned at her again, and said, “See ya.”
“Mm hm,” Tabby mumbled, forcing a friendly grin in return. She wondered how red her face was. From the humiliation coursing through her veins, she was sure it was at least as red as a baboon’s behind!
She watched him saunter out of the break room—watched him nod a greeting to Emmy as Emmy entered.
Emmy’s eyes widened, and so did her smile, as she stepped into the break room and spied Tabby.
“Are you serious?” Emmy whispered. “Have you finally been making out with Jagger Brodie in the break room?”
By this time, Tabby had managed to swallow the bite of Baby Ruth bar she’d been chewing so voraciously that her jaws now hurt.
“Oh, yeah…sure,” Tabby said, nodding to emphasize her sarcasm. “He only came in here and found me wolfing down a candy bar like a starving dog!”
Emmy laughed, and eventually her amusement spilled over onto Tabby. Nothing could be done about it. She’d looked like a fool in front of His Royal Hineyness, the Derrière inator. There was nothing to do but go back to her desk and get to work.
The incident haunted Tabby, however. She could only imagine how stupid she must’ve looked, standing there in front of the vending machine chowing down like a pig. She only hoped she hadn’t moaned out loud as she sometimes did when something delicious first touched her tongue. She couldn’t remember moaning but couldn’t be certain she hadn’t either.
Throughout the week, there were several other incidents—occasions where Tabby found herself unexpectedly face-to-face with Jagger Brodie. Each time she’d tried to appear calm and unaffected—and each time she was nearly certain she’d failed miserably.
At long last, Friday showed up. All week Tabby had been looking forward to Friday’s lunch. After days of feeling jittery and sort of uncertain somehow, she hoped lunch out with the girls at Sweet Genevieve’s would help her settle down a bit. After all, what were the odds Jagger Brodie would wind up running into them a second Friday in a row? Slim to none, for Sweet Genevieve’s wasn’t in walking distance from the office, and most of the staff didn’t want to mess with getting in and out of the parking garage at lunchtime.