Welcome to Serenity (29 page)

“Do that,” Tom said, his gaze still on Jeanette.

“But—” Jeanette began.

“Do it,” he repeated.

Dana Sue looked at her expectantly. “Up to you.”

Jeanette felt Tom’s hand creep slowly up her thigh under the table. She swallowed hard as heat shot through her. “Do it,” she murmured, sliding out of the booth, dragging her coat behind her. Right now she was so warm, she hardly needed it.

Dana Sue fanned herself with a cloth napkin. “Well, damn,” she said as they walked away.

Jeanette glanced over her shoulder and grinned. “Be sure you make that call before you go looking for Ronnie.”

Dana Sue blushed. “How’d you know?”

“I think it’s something in the air,” Jeanette responded. Whatever it was, it had her feeling downright giddy with anticipation. One of these days she’d have to think about why she was so ready to sleep with a man she’d been refusing for weeks to date. All she knew at the moment was that it felt right, as if it had been inevitable. She’d work out all the rest of her conflicted emotions later. Tom kept glancing sideways toward Jeanette as he sped through the streets of Serenity toward her apartment.

“You’re not going to change your mind, are you?”

She returned his gaze with a solemn expression. “I don’t think so.”

“Be sure,” he suggested. “Otherwise I need to jump in a cold shower, or maybe the lake.”

“You’d catch pneumonia in the lake,” she said. “We can’t have that.”

When he cruised to a stop in the parking lot outside her place, he cut the engine, then faced her. “Jeanette, what’s changed? Every time I’ve asked you to go out with me you’ve had an excuse. Now you’re suddenly ready to skip that step completely.”

She chuckled. “Do you really want to question this?”

“I don’t want to, but I think I have to. Is this because you’re grateful that I stood by you while your dad was in the hospital?”

“I appreciated that,” she agreed. “But not enough to sleep with you.”

He was still bewildered. “Then why? A couple of weeks ago you were still claiming you were not going to get involved with me.”

“I think we both know that plan was doomed,” she said wryly.

“Really? I thought you were pretty determined to keep me at arm’s length.”

“I was,” she conceded. “That never slowed you down, though.” She met his gaze. “You are one fine kisser. Has anyone ever told you that?”

“It’s been mentioned,” he said. He had no idea why he felt this need to discuss this to death, but something told him they were here for all the wrong reasons, that if he took advantage of this mood she was in, it would backfire in the end. “So, that’s what this is about? You like the way I kiss?”

She smiled slowly. “Oh, yeah.”

For some idiotic reason, he found that annoying. “I think I need to drop you off at the spa and get back to the town square.”

She stared at him in confusion. “Why? What did I say?

I just paid you a compliment.”

“No, you told me that the prospect of sex with me appeals to you.”

“That’s a compliment,” she insisted.

He frowned at her as he turned the key to start the car.

“How would you take it if I told you I was only after you for your body?”

She stared at him, openmouthed with dismay. “That’s not what I said,” she protested.

“Isn’t it?”

She hesitated so long, he could practically see the wheels turning in her mind. “I thought you’d be happy,”
she murmured. “You’d be getting what you want.”

His gaze narrowed. “What is it you think I want?”

“Sex, something casual to fill in the time while you’re living in Serenity.”

Her words chilled him. “Dammit, Jeanette, do you really believe I think so little of you? God knows I want to sleep with you. I’ve been wanting that from the first time I set eyes on you, but even then I knew it was going to be about more than that between us.”

She regarded him with bewilderment. “You said…I thought…Tom, you’re not going to stay here. You’ve said so. It took me a while to accept that, but now I have. I can deal with it.”

Her willingness to settle for so little made him even angrier—at her, at himself, he couldn’t be sure which. “You can live with a casual fling?”

She nodded, though she looked miserable.

“Not only do you not know me, you don’t even know yourself, if you honestly believe that,” he said, throwing the car into Reverse. He had to get away from her before his desire started to outweigh his sense of decency. He didn’t say another word until he pulled up in front of The Corner Spa. Then he turned to her. “This isn’t just about sex for me, Jeanette. God help me, but I’m falling in love with you. Let me know when you get on the same page.”

She stared at him, her expression stricken, then bolted from the car. He watched her go, then sighed. Well, that had gone well, he thought sourly. And now he had to go deal with a bunch of cheery holiday fanatics. Ho-damn-ho-ho. Jeanette was still reeling from Tom’s words when she blindly made her way into the spa. She stuck her head into Maddie’s office.

“Margaritas at my place tonight, okay?” she said, a desperate note in her voice.

“Why are you here?” Maddie asked, then regarded her worriedly. “Never mind. Should I call the others?”

Jeanette nodded. “Please.” She didn’t think she could deal with all their likely questions right now—especially Dana Sue’s—not if she was going to get through the afternoon without falling apart.

“Do you want to talk now?” Maddie asked. Jeanette shook her head. “Tonight, okay?”

“We’ll be there at seven,” Maddie promised. It was what they did. When one of them had a crisis, the others rallied. They listened and offered advice and support, whether it was requested or not. Jeanette looked forward to their unsolicited opinions, because right now she had absolutely none of her own. She was still in shock. Tom thought he loved her? He’d actually said the words. Thrown them in her face, in fact.

She went through the motions with her first client, nodding appropriately, asking an occasional question, but her head wasn’t in it. That appointment went reasonably well since the client was new and had no expectations beyond a good facial. She left happy, her skin glowing, her shopping bag filled with expensive products.

Unfortunately Mary Vaughn was next. She took one look at Jeanette and frowned.

“You look awful,” she said tactlessly.

Despite her mood, Jeanette smiled. “Gee, thanks.”

“Sorry,” Mary Vaughn said. “I guess it’s understandable with all you’ve been going through with your dad. I heard he’s better, though.”

“He is, thanks.”

Jeanette concentrated on applying cleanser to Mary Vaughn’s face to remove every trace of makeup.

“Did you get a chance to see the decorations going up?”

Mary Vaughn asked.

“I caught a glimpse of them before I went to lunch.”

“With Tom,” Mary Vaughn said, her gaze meeting Jeanette’s in the mirror. “I saw the two of you leaving together. I must say, you looked a lot happier then than you do now. Did something happen? You two didn’t have a fight, did you?”

“Tom and I are fine,” Jeanette said, hoping it wasn’t a total lie. They might be on pages so far apart they were in different books, but otherwise they were fine. Really. “Tell me how everything’s coming for the festival. Are we ready?”

Mary Vaughn seemed reluctant to drop the subject of Jeanette’s relationship with Tom, but she finally relented.

“The choirs were battling it out for a while. All of them wanted to sing Silent Night, but I think I finally managed to get through to the directors that there are plenty of familiar choices to go around. I swear it was like dealing with a bunch of superstar divas. I wanted to tell them to get out their stupid hymnals and choose something before I did it for them.”

“That would have pretty much ruined the whole holiday spirit of goodwill and cooperation,” Jeanette said, amused.

“You’re telling me.”

“How’s it going with Sonny? Are the two of you cooperating for Rory Sue’s sake?”

Mary Vaughn’s eyes started to shimmer and Jeanette realized she was about to cry. “What is it? Did I say the wrong thing?” she asked.

Mary Vaughn waved off the question. “No, you didn’t say anything wrong. It’s just that we’ve been getting along really well.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“It is if you’re divorced and your ex-husband has moved on.”

“Moved on? You mean he’s seeing someone else?”

Mary Vaughn nodded, her expression miserable. “I had no idea, either, until I saw the two of them together at Sullivan’s last night,” she confided. “She works for him. She used to be a bookkeeper or secretary or something, but she’s recently been promoted to sales associate. Judging from the way Sonny was looking at her, I think I know how she got that promotion.”

“Mary Vaughn!”

“Well, that’s exactly how some women operate,” Mary Vaughn said.

Jeanette studied her closely. “Why do you care? The two of you have been divorced for a long time.”

“I know,” Mary Vaughn said with a sigh. “But lately, since we’ve been talking again and spending some time together, I’ve started wondering if maybe it wasn’t a mistake. The divorce, I mean.”

“You have feelings for Sonny?” Jeanette asked incredulously.

“I do,” Mary Vaughn admitted. “How’s that for a shocker? And, please, you can’t tell another soul. It would be too humiliating. Years of dating and marriage and now, all of a sudden, after we’ve been divorced forever, I’m realizing what a great guy he is. I mean, I always knew he was great. I’m just realizing how we mesh. We have all this history, which means we don’t have to explain every little thing. He gets me. He really gets everything about me. Do you realize how rare that is?”

Jeanette gave her a penetrating look. “Do you?”

“I do now. I have no idea why it took me so long to figure this out. Maybe I had to lose him—not the divorce, but to another woman—before I could see it.”

“Do you want him back?”

Mary Vaughn nodded. “I think I do.”

Jeanette heard the note of uncertainty and seized on it.

“Look, I’m the last person to give anyone advice on relationships, especially today, but you don’t sound one hundred percent sure that you want Sonny back. Until you are sure, don’t try to break up this relationship you think he’s in. Don’t try to start something with him yourself.”

“I know you’re right. I’ve hurt him more times than you can possibly imagine. I can’t do it again.” She turned to meet Jeanette’s gaze. “But how am I supposed to know for sure if we don’t give it another try?”

“Maybe spending all this time with him during the holidays will give you the answers you need,” Jeanette suggested.

“Sitting back and waiting isn’t my style,” Mary Vaughn said. “I favor the direct approach.”

“Your decision, of course,” Jeanette said. She thought about how well the direct approach had worked for her earlier. It had been a disaster. “But don’t risk it unless you’re prepared for rejection.”

“Sweetie, I’ve been rejected more times than you can imagine. It’s practically a lifestyle.”

“Then maybe it’s time to go a different way,” Jeanette said. “Try the wait-and-see approach.”

“I’ll think about it,” Mary Vaughn promised, then got a worrisome glint in her eyes. “But I will not let that little twit steal my man in the meantime.”

Jeanette had to hide a smile at her friend’s fierce declaration. Sonny’s current relationship, whatever it might be, with this other woman, was doomed.