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“I’m sorry,” Beth said. “I didn’t realize the party was here when I agreed to come. I honestly didn’t mean to…”
“Of course not,” he said quickly. “Come by anytime.” But his gray-blue eyes darted nervously down the hall again. Maybe he had a girlfriend now. Maybe she was one of the servers.
Beth wished the floor would open up and swallow her and her sickly thumping heart.
“I was just leaving,” she finally said.
Jamie stepped back. “Great. I mean, sure. Of course. That’s good. Have a nice night.”
Mortified, she edged past him and hurried back to the party. “Welcome back!” her date said when she found him and hovered a foot away.
“Thanks.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” She smiled and he handed her the beer she’d left behind. When she saw the way her hand was shaking, Beth took a seat at the nearest table and carefully set the beer down.
When he joined her, she hid a cringe. Was Jamie watching? She took a sip of beer to try to wet her parched mouth.
Beth glanced toward the bar, but didn’t spy Jamie anywhere. “I’m sorry,” she managed to say, then hesitated over his name again. “I…”
Davis! That was his name. Not David, but Davis, after Miles Davis, because this man had been cool since the day his parents had named him.
Beth felt guilty for her snarky thought, but her guilt vanished in an instant when she heard a girl cry out, “Hi, Jamie!”
Beth’s head snapped up so quickly that Davis’s voice cut off as if she’d sliced his words with a knife.
“Beth? Are you sure everything is okay?”
Definitely not. She scanned the crowded area near the bar, but she didn’t see him. While she watched, a cute blond guy in a brewery T-shirt waved toward someone. A girl broke free of the group and gave him a big hug.
“Listen, maybe a going-away party packed with people you don’t know isn’t an ideal first date.”
“No, it’s not that.” She tried to think of something witty to say. Tried to concentrate on this man. Yes, he was hip and overeducated, but he was also a nice guy. And his smile could melt butter on a cold day. In fact, the moment she’d met him, she’d thought she might actually enjoy herself on this date. That she might actually look forward to touching this man, to kissing him.
For the first time in six months, Beth had thought maybe she’d finally found another man who could turn her on. And like an evil genie summoned by the thought, Jamie Donovan had popped back into her life, reminding her what it had been like with him.
Yeah, she hadn’t had to wonder about whether sex with Jamie would be good. He’d turned her on just by feeding her dessert. The way he’d watched her, his gaze glued to her mouth as her lips parted. She’d wished—
Davis put his hand over hers for a brief moment. “I’ll say goodbye to Faron, and then we’ll go.”
“No. I’m sorry! I don’t want to cut the party short for you.”
“No big deal. Come on. Let’s find Faron.”
Davis took her hand again and led her through the packed room to the tiny woman standing at the edge of a large group of people. Beth wondered how tall she was without the perfectly round Afro, because even with it, she wasn’t bigger than five foot two. A skinny guy with long hair had his arm draped over her shoulder, a proprietary smile on his face. Faron wasn’t smiling when they walked up, but her sweet face broke into a grin when she saw Davis.
She hugged Davis and then Beth before they said their goodbyes. Faron’s husband had taken a job in Santa Barbara, but no one wanted to see her go. Nobody seemed that broken up about her husband, though.
“Ready?” Davis asked.
“Yes,” Beth answered, realizing it was the most honest thing she’d said all night. As she walked through the door, she dared one look back, but Jamie was nowhere to be seen.
The sharp cold of raindrops on her face startled her from her thoughts.
“Run!” Davis said, tugging her along. Beth ran, and by the time they reached his car, she was laughing so hard with relief that she couldn’t draw a breath. Davis reached to open the door, then shut it behind her before dashing around to the other side.
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