The Sweetest Fling (A Stupid Cupid Book) (14 page)

Ask her why, for starters
, a part of him said.
Call her and ask her what she thinks she’s doing, tell her to stop toying with you, because you can’t take much more
.

He couldn’t. Having a taste of heaven last night worsened everything. Withdrawal had set in. Physical and emotional hell that could only get darker if he saw Claire again. Because one more time, or a hundred, would never be enough. He could admit that to himself at least.

Seeing Claire would only dig the hole deeper, and there was no way out of this predicament. Claire hadn’t even broken off her engagement. She’d called, said words that awakened Jace’s hopes, and then showed up with proof she didn’t love him.

Why had she come last night? Why had she brought her fiancé with her after going to the trouble of finding out where he worked? Why follow him? Why make a move at all?

Well, the last wasn’t so hard to answer. If she felt anything like Jace had since they last saw each other, she had been going crazy, too.

The idea of Claire in a fever for him, too, soothed him. He rolled to his back, stared at the ceiling, refusing to reach for the phone. He could so easily call, ask, and demand.

He palmed his phone, saw seven missed calls and dialed the number, taking a deep breath and sitting up. It rang once.

“Jace?” Claire whispered.

Funny how he recognized even her whisper.

“Yes.” His heart thumped.

“What happened?”

“Ashley thought she was going into labor. I had to go to the hospital.” God, her voice sounded good. “I’m one of her coaches.”

“How wonderful.” Sincerity shined right through the phone. “I was worried that you changed your mind, I guess. She’s not in labor?”

“No.” He was answering on both counts, he realized.
One more time
, his soul begged, his body demanded. Just one more time. Get some answers.

“When can I see you?” Claire said softly, pain in her tone.

Did she still fear Jace would refuse? “Whenever you want to.” He didn’t care if he wasn’t playing the game. Hearing Claire’s voice, imagining her at the other end of the call, Jace just wanted to see her, consequences or not.

Claire let her breath out just loudly enough to be audible. A rush of warmth ran through Jace. She’d been holding it? That meant she cared. A lot. Jace grinned, triumphant.

He might feel like a kid talking to his crush on the phone, but he didn’t have to show it. He needed to be cool, collected. Eagerness got him nowhere fast the last time.

“How’s this afternoon?”

Yes! “Um, fine. Good. What time are you thinking?”

“It’s twelve now. How about one?” Claire asked, her voice squeaking enough to make her clear her throat.

Jace suppressed a chuckle. Claire was worried. This was the kind of speech he’d imagined six years ago. And it healed a few old wounds.

“How about two? Where?”
Don’t say my place
. Say something else, someplace neutral, someplace not like a date.

“Have you ever been to Tia Rosas?”

It sounded familiar, but ... “No.”

“It’s a little Mexican place off of Thomas, east of Hayden, tucked away in a little shopping village.”

A date place. Jace chewed his lower lip.

“Unless you’d rather go someplace else?” Claire asked.

“No, that sounds fine. I’ll see you at two then?”

“Definitely.”

She hung up. A voice inside demanded to know why he hadn’t bothered to ask any of his questions, the whole reason he’d picked up the damned phone. But, he rationalized, in a way, he
had
gotten answers.

He saw Claire’s intentions went beyond just physical. He didn’t know what they were exactly yet, but he would find out. And maybe, spending time with her, clothed and in public, would lead him to the truth.

Any way it went, the end could only be good, even if it wasn’t all he wanted, right? It had to. Meeting Claire by the light of day didn’t count as another betrayal. Plus, Ashley knew Claire already hung out with him once.

Right?

He shuffled to get his things together and leave. Ashley lay asleep on the sofa, Lawrence’s lap as her pillow. Lawrence waved and then put a finger to his lips. Jace nodded and slipped out the door, his pulse hammering nails.

**

Claire slipped out of bed, glad for Oliver’s hangover. Thank goodness for small—or in this case, huge—favors that came like this one. Oliver could be counted on to sleep his headache away at least another two hours.

Time to put plan B into action.

By the time he awoke, she’d be nibbling nachos with Jace. This was so much better than meeting last night. This way, Claire could really test the waters. She had to know if what they had before still existed.

Past the attraction.

It took her no time to shower, primp, and, with a short note on Oliver’s bedside table and another on the fridge, sneak out the door. She placed a third Post-it missive on the orange juice, but that might be too suspicious. Two said that she didn’t want him to worry. Three said, “Do not call me!”

She didn’t want to hurt Oliver. She didn’t want to hurt anyone. But, this was her only shot. She had to take it.

With that firmly in mind, Claire drove away, refusing to look back even when movement from her and Oliver’s bedroom window caught her eye.

~~

Chapter Sixteen

“I think I have a plan,” Millie said and held the stuffed file folder over to AJ.

He gave her one of his usual skeptical looks—eyebrow down, generous lips pushed out—which made her wonder why she hadn’t spent the last seven years kissing them every single day. He set down his coffee and joined her at the breakfast bar. “Were you up all night?”

“Of course not,” she said. Three a.m. counted as morning, and waking up with an idea too good to resist, she’d hopped right to it. “But, hey, snooping never sleeps. That should be out new motto. The snooping was fun for once, too. Instead of staring at page after page, praying something—anything—would jump out at me and scream ‘that one!’ I actually enjoyed this research.”

AJ sipped his coffee and opened the file. “Why are you researching Ashley Fletcher?”

“The question you should be asking me is ‘why wasn’t I researching her before?’. I mean, I picked her as my way in to Jace’s life for the long term, buying me time and a way to know the whole family and help to mend their relationships, yet not once did it occur to me to look into her file.”

He shook his head and ran a hand through his bed head hair. “She’s already matched, Millie. And you already are in...eh...wait....no. Don’t tell me you think...nevermind.”

Oh this would be so much easier if he guessed exactly what her idea was. “What? Nevermind what?”

He pinned her with his velvety, chocolate colored eyes. “You cannot tell Ashley what you are.”

“Exactly my—why not?”

“You know why not. You’ll be screwed. Don’t think they aren’t watching ever single choice you make.” He stood up and slapped the file, totally unnecessarily, back down on the bar. “Don’t make me spell this out. I won’t.”

She should have fed him first. Millie hopped up and followed. “If I can convince Ashley to help me, I can match Jace and Claire and still salvage the family relationship. Please, AJ, let me walk it through. I’ve been up for hours going down each path, making sure this would definitely work.”

“No,” he said, sitting on the sofa, putting his feet up.

She sat next to him, close, dangerous attraction be damned. She’d go ahead and kiss him if it meant he’d listen. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Your sentence gets knocked back to six. Your sentence doubles that. My sentence gets knocked back, too.” He leaned toward her, tucking her chin so that she looked him in the eye. “I get reassigned.”

Millie slumped many inches, feeling at one with the dust mites down in the cushions. Maybe she should have slept on it. “But, how could they reprimand me that severely if I’m fixing my own mistake? It’s Karma Court for Christ’s sake. Do unto others and all that shit. I’m fixing it.”

“Fix it? Yes. Tell anyone what you are? Millie, you must learn to have more faith in yourself. You
can
do this. All on your own, if you truly wish to.” His gaze lingered on her mouth, and for several long seconds, Millie thought he must be thinking the same thing she was. How many kisses could they be catching up on?

He let her chin go and leaned back into the sofa, flipping on the TV.

“You should wear a shirt,” Millie said, grumpy over him ending the moment.

AJ winked and stretched his arms over his head so that each rippling line along his lean waist and V-shaped chest begged for a touch. She looked away.

Mille chewed her lip a minute, her defeat easing up. Ashley was such a perfect candidate. The woman kept a secret diary detailing the lives of four tiny fairies whom she talked to her whole life. Classic imaginary-friend thing. Ashley would believe her. Ashley would want to protect her family, and yet also do the right thing. Ashley believed in love. “What if she guessed on her own?”

His single sardonic eyebrow was answer enough.

“Right, well. Forget it, then.” She needed a nap. Or more coffee. Or some psych meds because the longer she thought that last part through, the more she decided she might just have a loophole.

* * *

Her hands were shaking almost as badly as her nerves. Claire shoved them into the back pockets of her jeans. They would both be hidden; plus, the push would accentuate her hips and waist—she needed every asset she had right now—and walked to the café door. Jace was inside somewhere, watching her, waiting. She could feel it.

Ashley had not only proved to be the best choice, she also proved to be a wealth of knowledge—given almost too easily. If Claire didn’t know better, she would say that Ashley knew about her and Jace, and was playing matchmaker. But, then with all the family gossip that came with the information she’d been after, she had to dismiss it.

Claire now not only knew where Jace worked—teaching by day, bartending on weekends—but he hated eighties hair bands, watched
Underworld
every year on his birthday—and not for Kate Beckinsale. She knew that their mom obsessed over Marilyn Monroe conspiracy theories, and that Davis’ love life included sordid details and a child he was raising alone.

Wow. That was the family she wanted to be a part of? Yes. Eventually, she’d find a way to fit in to such a tight clan.

Feeling Jace’s gaze on her made it difficult to keep her features smooth and relaxed. The last thing she wanted to do was come on too strong. She’d already done that and scared him off twice now, since fate seemed to have brought them back to each other. But not today. Today, she was in charge and prepared, even for the worst.

She opened the glass door, paused as it closed behind her, and let her eyesight adjust to the dimmer light. When she glanced around the room, she spotted Jace immediately. She almost felt where he was before laying eyes on him. He had his hands laced and up at his mouth until Claire waved. Then he jerked his hands apart and gestured toward the table.

Claire strolled to the corner table near the back, hoping that every switch of her step and every swing of her long hair were being noticed. And not just by the guy at the register. She reached the table. Jace’s eyes flashed, widening for the briefest moment as he stood up. Her confidence faltered. She could do this; she had to, and, wow, was this man worth it.

How had she ever walked away six years ago? How had she not gone straight to Tyler and told him exactly how she felt, and then begged for his blessing?

She didn’t know, but she wouldn’t repeat that mistake now.

“Hi,” she said and eased into the chair.

“Hi,” Jace answered, sitting too and pursing his lips, but that boyish grin of his snuck through anyway.

Claire put a hand to her belly when it quivered, then smoothed her shirt to hide her nervousness. “Thanks for coming.” A flash of images from last night formed in her mind’s eye at her words, but she refused to blush. Images of Jace holding her high, his mouth on hers. If that knock hadn’t come, how far would that kiss have gone?

All the way.

Their first time would have been up against a wall. Heat flashed over her neck and cheeks.

Jace nodded. “It’s a cool place. They have an open mic night.”

She had to remind herself what he was talking about—the café. Another round of images surfaced: the hard feel of his arms under her legs, the full, soft way he kissed, even at the hungriest moments. The look in his eyes. A look not so far away from that now.

Jace grinned, reaching down and scratching his calf. “Ever been?”

“To the open mic? No. Too, um, honest and vulnerable for me.”

He nodded. “Even as an audience member?”

She wondered if he had some other meaning. “I guess it would depend on who was performing? On who I came with?”

He nodded knowingly this time. Damn it. Had she brought Oliver up without meaning to? Claire crossed her legs. “Regardless, I love this place. I found it the week I moved here.” She was careful not to say “we.” It was mostly true. Oliver was with her that first time, and for every gift card purchase since.

But only that many.

Jace’s gaze intensified, emotion showing in his cerulean eyes. “When?”

“When did I move back? A year ago. Well, almost a year now.” She hated the question and even more so, her answer. Yes, she’d been here for some time and no, she had not tried to find Jace. But, she didn’t want today to be about her mistakes. “You look amazing.”