So many questions, but with that one thought, she knew there was no way she could force the conversation now. It would never be in her mother’s best interests for them both to be blindsided with that kind of conversational gambit.
“Lauren, dear, are you okay?”
She realized she was balling up her napkin in her lap and carefully laid it on the table beside her water glass. “You know, with the flight and the storm and all, it’s been a really long day. It might just be the altitude change, but I think the day is catching up with me.”
Her mother looked sincerely concerned, and suddenly Lauren was fighting tears in her eyes because she was sincerely concerned, too, and she wanted nothing more than for them to move forward and get to the heart of things. She wasn’t sure what moving down that path would entail, but they’d figure it out as they went along. She pushed her chair back and used the moment to will her tears to remain at bay. Her mother and Arlen both stood.
“I’m glad you came out to meet us,” her mother said sincerely, but more cautiously now. As if she, too, was disappointed in how the evening had gone.
Lauren wondered what her mother’s hopes had been for tonight. And what she was thinking and feeling now.
“I had a few things planned,” she went on, “just casually, nothing written in stone, that I thought we could do together while you were here.”
Lauren wanted to ask if “we” constituted only her and her mother, or all three of them, but it was beyond her at that point to figure out how to do so without seeming rude. “Okay. That sounds good. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Her mom came around the corner of the table to hug her, and Lauren knew it would be her only chance to speak just to her mother. When she was enveloped in a tight hug, she whispered into her mother’s ear. “I need to talk to you. Just you. Okay?”
Her mother paused in the way she was squeezing her daughter, but in no other way indicated that Lauren had said anything to her. She finally straightened and stepped back, but slid her hands down until she could join them with Lauren’s. “We’ll talk tomorrow after you’ve had a good night’s rest.” She was smiling brightly—too brightly?—but didn’t say anything further.
“Sounds good.” Lauren squeezed her mother’s hands, then let them go and turned to Arlen. “Thank you for dinner. It was very good.” She knew she should say it was a pleasure to meet him, but somehow the words just refused to come out.
Thankfully, mercifully, Stephan came once again to her rescue, arriving with the tray of coffee.
“I can find my way back,” she said, stepping to the curtain as he set the tray beside the table. “Please, enjoy your coffee. I’ll call you tomorrow, Mom. Or, better yet, call me when it’s best for you.” Which, she hoped her mother had figured out, would be whenever Arlen wasn’t within hearing distance.
And, with that, while Stephan was dispensing mugs, creamer, and wielding the pot, Lauren fled.
“Well. That was fun,” she muttered under her breath, after faking a smile at still-perky Kim and pushing through the doors into the chilly evening air. “Not.”
“Not what?”
She stifled a squeal, but still pressed a hand to her suddenly thumping heart as she turned around to find Jake standing right behind her.
“Need a lift?”
“I—haven’t you’ve rescued me enough for one day?” she said, mustering a half laugh from somewhere.
He stepped closer until she could see his face more clearly in the light of the streetlamp positioned in front of the restaurant doors. Apparently, that allowed him to see her face more clearly, too, because he said, “I’m guessing it’s rare you ever really need rescuing, but you do seem a bit…flustered.”
“What gave me away?”
“Nothing, really. You just pushed through the doors like the hounds of hell were after you.” His lips curved. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have guessed a thing.”
“What are you doing here?” She was smiling, but the words still came out a tad more edgy than intended, but she was kind of at the end of her emotional rope, and maybe there was some jet lag, and altitude lag, and just overall life lag, affecting her as well. She wanted to make a better impression on him, she really did, but it would help if he’d stop catching her at her worst. At least she didn’t have helmet hair or raccoon eyes and posttraumatic flight shock, but still.
“I live here,” he said mildly, still friendly, if not quite as amused as before.
“I mean,
here
, here.”
“I…like to eat,” he said with a shrug. “Sometimes more than once a day. I haven’t had anything since we stopped for snacks earlier today in Kremmling.”
She ducked her chin and blew out a breath. He didn’t have to work hard to catch her at her worst, because, apparently, that’s all she was offering today. “I’m sorry.” She looked up, forced a smile. “You’d never guess, but I can be quite charming when I put my mind to it.”
“I thought you were quite charming in all your pink cycling gear this afternoon.”
Her smile relaxed a little as her cheeks warmed a bit. He had a habit of doing that to her, too. And she’d thought seven years of working on the Hill would have put her beyond blushing. Apparently not. But then, she’d never had such a sincere sounding compliment, delivered in such a deep voice, by a guy who made her pulse pound just thinking about him. “Thank you. Then, please,” she bowed slightly, “remember me as I was.”
He waited until she straightened, then looked her up and down, and suddenly her fatigue wasn’t quite as bone-deadening as it had been a mere moment ago.
“You look pretty good in navy pinstripe, too, as it turns out.” He leaned closer and dropped that deep, sexy voice to a rough whisper, which…wow. “Although, I should tell you, I think they outlawed pinstripes in Cedar Springs right after the town charter was signed. Probably no one told you because, being related to the mayor and all, they didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
She couldn’t help it; she laughed. Something she couldn’t have imagined feeling like doing when she’d exited those doors. “Well, I appreciate your being bold and daring enough to brave the potential wrath of your town leader.”
“It’s not Arlen I’m afraid of.”
“Oh?”
“It’s your mother.”
Surprised, she said, “My mother? Why?”
“I’ve learned, never come between a mama and her cub.”
“I’m hardly a cub.”
He smiled and reached out to catch a strand of hair that had caught across her face in the evening breeze. He untangled it and smoothed it away, but his hand lingered. “Where mothers are concerned, you’re always the cub.”
Her smile softened, as did a little spot inside her chest. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Tears threatened to spring forth again, and at the same time, she fought a sudden, ferocious need to yawn. Relaxing, even a little bit, had demolished whatever reserve of energy she’d had left. “Well, this cub apparently needs to head back to the den for some sleep.”
“I’ll be happy to drop you off. My truck is just down the street.”
“It’s not that far. I thought I’d walk.” She wanted the time, the night air, the activity, before she ended up in bed, alone, with nothing more than her thoughts and several full-length, mental, frame-by-frame replays of tonight’s dinner to occupy her. If she was lucky, walking the few blocks back to her motel would both give her a chance to do an initial postgame review and drain whatever was left in the tank at the same time, allowing her to drop right off as soon as her head hit the pillow.
“Care for some company, then?”
Then again, maybe a little distraction would be even better.
She smiled. “Thank you. I’d like that.”
He crooked an elbow, and she slid her arm through. She smiled, he smiled back, and the silence was easy and companionable, with just the hint of combustibility below the surface. It was…perfect. A little, but not too much. And exactly what she needed.
So much so, that she didn’t even hear the restaurant door swing open behind her. Or feel Arlen Thompson staring at her back, frowning at the sight of the newest member of his family arm in arm with one of the older thorns in his side. He’d thought hiring his kid sister would make the guy a bit more amenable to throwing his family’s name behind the plans he had for this town. He’d guessed wrong. When Charlene stepped out behind him, he turned, blocking the couple from view, and hustled her to the car parked a few feet away, thinking hard, thinking fast, about how he could make this latest ripple work to his advantage.
Maybe the night hadn’t been a complete bust after all.
T
hey paused in front of the hotel. The glow of the vacancy sign illuminated her face. “So, I take it the dinner wasn’t what you’d hoped,” Jake said, finding it took surprisingly strong will not to touch her again. “Did you eat anything, or push your food around the plate?”
“I ate, thank you. And it went about like I expected. Well, maybe not exactly how I expected, but the end result is that things aren’t fully resolved yet. But there were some hopeful parts.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
She rolled her eyes. “Like I haven’t disturbed you enough. Besides, you know the parties involved, and I don’t feel right—”
“One of the parties is your mother, and I don’t know her that well.”
“You were right about her being happy to see me.”
“Would that be one of the hopeful parts?”
“Most definitely. See, you know more about her than you think.”
“And the other person—”
“Is the mayor. Who you have known your whole life. So I don’t feel comfortable discussing my own personal opinions about the guy—”
“You discuss yours, I’ll discuss mine.” He grinned and she smiled, then laughed. “Then at least we know where we stand, and who knows, maybe it will lend some perspective.”
“As tempting an offer as that is—and you have no idea—I think I should probably figure this one out on my own.”
“So noted.”
Leave it alone, Jake. You don’t need to make this your business. You never make things like this your business. Do not start now
. But no, he actually heard himself add, “I know you don’t know me, but trust me when I say I’m about as far removed from the gossip mills here as you can get.”
“But you live in a town where everyone knows everyone’s business.”
He chuckled. “True enough. I guess what I was trying to say was that, if you want to figure things out, and talking helps more than thinking, I’m a good sounding board. Anything said goes no further. I have no vested interest in spreading opinions about anyone, to anyone.”
Her smile softened. “So noted,” she said.
He shook his head and chuckled. “If you only knew how completely out of character it was for me to even offer—”
She placed a hand on his arm. “I think I have an idea. And please, thank your sister for haranguing you into playing airport taxi today.”
“You met Ruby Jean?”
“No, but Arlen—the mayor—”
“I know who he is,” he said with a smile.
“Sorry, I just—it’s weird calling him anything at this point, and I didn’t want to seem like I was name dropping.”
“Cedar Springs is about as far removed from D.C. as it gets. You really can’t name drop here. We all know too much about each other to pretend otherwise.”
“I guess that would be true.” She paused long enough that he thought she might be reconsidering, but went on to say, “Anyway, he told me your sister talked you into the favor today, so I wanted to extend my thanks to her as well. I’m…glad she did.”
“Yes,” he said after the moment spun out, and they were still standing there, smiling at one another. “I am, too. Although if you tell her I said that, I’ll deny it.”
She laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t hold you to it.”
Now his gaze turned considering. “You, I might not mind so much. When it comes to holding, I mean.”
She smiled, and he thought he detected a hint of blush. He had that urge again, to smudge off her makeup, expose a freckle or two. Pull her hair out of the sleek bun it was all knotted up in, let it fall down and swing around her shoulders…
“I…should be getting in,” she said, and he realized he’d been staring. “Long day. I’m sure you feel the same.”
He had no idea what he was feeling, mostly because it was so foreign for him to be feeling anything. At least when the anything was what he was feeling right now. Sexual tension he was used to. But there were all these other layers here. Layers he really needed to remind himself he had no good reason to explore, or even peel back and take a peek under. She was in town temporarily, a brief walk-on role in his life at best. He had no business letting himself get any more intrigued by her than he already was. So, naturally, he said, “I’m not sure how I feel. Could be a long night. I’m very…distracted.”
Her mouth quirked even more at one end, making her smile kind of crooked and totally endearing, and he had the sudden, most intense desire to kiss it. “Did you say you had plans already set for tomorrow?”
She held his gaze for the longest moment, then said, “No, I didn’t.” Then she grinned. “But if you’d like an itinerary so you know what places to avoid, so you don’t have to play Good Samaritan again—and again—I’ll be happy to let you know.”
The urge didn’t diminish in the least. He really should step back. Head back. Run back. Pay attention to all the warning signals flashing brightly inside his brain. Unfortunately they were drowned out by the thrumming of his pulse, and the rather loud, insistent hammering of a suddenly very demanding libido.
“I don’t mind the occasional damsel rescue.”
If his sister could read his thoughts at the moment, she’d have leverage for a lifetime. Which was good enough reason to break the moment. The moment that seemed to stretch out, where they both maintained steady eye contact, and smiled like six-year-olds who’d just been handed their first ice cream cones. To lick up all by themselves. Every last sticky, delicious drip.
Jake was already leaning a bit closer, but was saved at the last second by some shred of awareness that reminded him where they were standing, and that she might not need the added complication of anyone seeing her standing too close to him…much less kissing him. Clearly there were already some family issues going on. Just as clearly, he also couldn’t help but note, she wasn’t exactly leaping back out of his way.
He paused. “Lauren—”
“Thanks again,” she said softly. “For everything.”
He held her gaze a second longer, then dropped his chin. His smile was wider, and as sincere, when he looked at her again. “My pleasure.”
A car drove by and the sound broke what little was left of the bubble they’d been existing inside of since he’d run into her outside the restaurant. Possibly since she’d run in from the rain at the airport.
“We’re still on for Sunday?” she asked as she finally took that moment-finalizing step back.
“What happened to tomorrow?”
Her lips quirked up in that way they did, this time making the corners of her eyes crinkle. “I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”
He could have pressed. Maybe it was the shock of how badly he wanted to that gave him the strength not to. “I can be spontaneous.”
She nodded in appreciation. “Good. That’s probably going to be the byword of my entire stay here.”
“How long will that be?”
She lifted a shoulder, and a bit of that lost look she’d been wearing when she pushed through the doors came back. “It already feels too long.” Then she smiled directly at him. “And not long enough.” She took another step back, then turned and headed toward the stairs leading to the second floor of the motel.
“I guess time will tell,” he said just loud enough for her to hear him.
He was still standing there when she glanced back and added, “It usually does.”
He watched her all the way until she was inside her room, with a last little salute, before turning and beginning the trek back to his truck. A gentleman would have seen her to her door. Jake, on the other hand, would have seen her all the way inside to her bed.
He took in a deep breath of the crisp night air and smiled. Then he shook his head and laughed as he walked down the sidewalk, fighting the oddest urge to whistle. So…that’s what it felt like, he found himself thinking. “And, of course it’s going to be complicated. Why did I think, when it finally happened, it would be simple?”
He was reminded of Paddy’s favorite admonishment when Jake complained about things being hard. “Something comes too easy,” he’d grumble, “you don’t appreciate what you got.” Jake would always mouth the rest right along with him. Tonight he said it out loud as the words echoed inside his head, the memory, for once, making him smile. “Work harder, and the reward will be that much sweeter.”
Lauren Matthews was pretty damn sweet. And Patrick McKenna was a pretty smart man.
Jake was whistling when he got to his truck.
“Sunday. You mean this coming Sunday?” Jake cradled his forehead in his palm as he continued listening on the phone. “But—”
“The guys want to see the plane before they commit, Jake. Come on. It’s understandable, I think.”
“Roger, I sent an entire portfolio, there’s not really much more to—”
“You know, they want to see it firsthand, get as excited about the race as I am. I told them all about seeing it when I was up here last season, but they want to be more involved.”
More involved. Oh…yippee
. That’s what he needed. A bunch of bankers and stockbrokers without a single pilot’s license between them, telling him how to modify his plane. “Did you show them the race DVD?”
“Yeah, yeah, and they’re on board with the whole thing, really they are, but if we could just get everyone out there, put on a little show—”
Jake straightened. “Show? Roger, maybe I didn’t make myself clear. The reason I’m taking on any sponsor at all is because I need the influx of cash in order to make the kinds of upgrades needed to really compete this season. I’ve competed long enough now that I know exactly what I need to do, I just need a little faith and financial support. She’s not in any condition to go up in the air at the moment, so—”
“I don’t mean an air show, I meant a little show and tell, a little walk-about the hangar, show them what she’s made of, talk her up a little, show them all those pictures you showed me of your grandfather racing her, the World War Two stuff, her history. You know, get them feeling like they’re part of the whole thing.”
Jake sighed. What Roger was asking wasn’t unreasonable, or even particularly problematic, so long as the “guys” didn’t try and tell him how to fly his plane. It was just…he had other plans for Sunday. “Okay, okay. What time were you planning on heading up?”
“Well, that’s the thing. We’re all in Vegas for the weekend, and I was hoping you could come get us. You know, really make a day of it.”
Great. A whole day. And night of it, too. Roger had talked about his work buddies often enough that Jake knew exactly what was going to be expected of him. And a quick tour of the hangar wasn’t going to cut it. “Let me see what I can do, and I’ll get back with you.”
“I’m heading out to the pool, then we’ve got a private game scheduled after lunch. Get back to me before then.”
Roger was all jovial, all “good buddy” and excited little kid. But he was also ridiculously wealthy for a guy who’d just turned forty, and he’d earned it all on his own. As had his banker and broker buddies. They were understandably cocky with it and not a little self-important—and entitled. Irritating as their “you’ll do it my way” attitude might be to Jake, he understood that this was what he had to deal with if he wanted them to throw any hard-earned play money in his direction.
“Will do,” he said, then hung up and rubbed his hands over his face. “Will do, indeed,” he muttered. He stared at the phone, knowing his next call should be to the motel, and Lauren. He wished he could move up their date to today, but with lessons scheduled all day tomorrow, today would be the only chance he had to get the place tour-ready and figure out exactly how he wanted to orchestrate the event for the guys.
As much as the whole thing left a sour taste in his mouth, he’d already come to terms with the fact that he wanted the win badly enough that he was willing to do what it took to get it. So there was no point in pissing and moaning now that it was within his grasp. And if he set up the day right, it was highly possible there would be a fat check in his hand when he dropped them off back in Vegas late Sunday night. Or Monday.
He sighed and picked up the phone again, started to dial information for the motel phone number, then put the phone down again. If he was going to lose any chance to see Lauren on Sunday, then the least he could do was apologize in person. And get a little face time as well.
He just hoped it wasn’t the last face time he’d have. She’d been wishy-washy on the length of her stay, but given what he knew about her current employment situation, he understood there was no immediate need to fly back east. And since he was already rolling the dice with Roger and his crew, he figured what the hell. Might as well gamble on Lauren as well. If he could push her to extend her stay a little, then he wasn’t above doing so. Not that he wished more family disharmony on her, but he wouldn’t mind if it took a little longer than she expected.
He glanced at the large, framed black-and-white photo of a younger, beaming Patrick McKenna, and
Betty Sue
, taken the day he’d bought her. “You might not agree with my methods,” he told his grandfather, “but I’ll come home with a win.”
He grabbed his keys and headed outside, not bothering to clarify to Paddy—or himself—whether he meant the race…or Lauren Matthews.