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She stood talking to their friend Gabe Sawyer. Gabe owned a string of hotels across the country and in several other countries as well, though Chad knew he’d started talking to Jack about possibly selling off some of his conglomerate.
Andrew and Jill walked up to join Jennie and Gabe at the same time Chad did.
He had no idea he could have so many warring emotions at once. He was relieved he and Jennie seemed to be back to being friends, even though he wanted a lot more than that. He was turned on beyond belief at the sight of her in the peach-colored sundress she wore, with her hair pulled up off her tanned shoulders.
Shoulders he wanted to touch and kiss and taste.
And he was fighting an internal rage at the fact that Gabe was standing there talking to his Jennie. No way in hell was he letting Gabe, a notorious womanizer, get anywhere near Jennie. The man traveled around the world, living in his hotels, entertaining a different woman every night.
Chad probably stood a little closer to Jennie than he should have, but he didn’t want Gabe getting any ideas about chasing after her.
She cocked her head at him with that saucy little smile of hers as if to silently ask what he was doing. He let his eyes slide to Gabe for a split second but he saw Jennie pick up on his silent communication.
“Really, Big Man? Really?” she asked and laughed as she let incredulity seep into her voice.
“Wow. You two go away for two weeks and you’re telepathic. You just had a whole conversation without us, didn’t you?” Andrew asked
Chad and Jennie laughed. Andrew and Jack had cornered Chad after Florida, but he’d flat out lied to them. Told them nothing happened. The look on Andrew’s face right now said he wasn’t buying the lie. Time to redirect.
“Yeah. Jennie told me to do this,” Chad said as he tossed Andrew into the pool with his clothes on.
Andrew managed to grab onto Chad’s arm as he went into the water. Chad was struggling to right his balance on the edge of the pool when he felt two hands he recognized on his back.
The little vixen pushed him right in behind Andrew. Well, that took care of any unwanted attention on Jennie.
The whole group gathered around to laugh at Chad and Andrew as they wrestled in the pool. It had been too damn long since they’d done anything like this, Chad thought, as he shoved Andrew’s head under the water again.
He was grinning like an idiot when Andrew grabbed his legs under the water, pulling him down and causing him to swallow a hell of a lot of pool water.
He didn’t care. He was feeling better than he had since he and Jennie had returned from Florida. It felt good to be around his friends again, including Jennie. He would always want her. Always ache for her in a way that she clearly wouldn’t ever ache for him. But, at least they could be around each other without being insanely uncomfortable.
If that was all he could have, he’d take it.
Jennie laughed as she watched Chad go under and come up with a mouthful of water. Of course her mind flashed to their time in Florida but she pushed those thoughts away.
Jennie knew she couldn’t love Chad. Her heart belonged to Kyle. And, honestly, she really valued her friendship with Chad. She wanted to keep that.
If she gave in to what her body wanted again, she’d hurt him and lose him for good in the process. That wasn’t something she was willing to do. From now on, she needed to stay in control of her body’s response to him, no matter how strong the attraction was.
She turned away and took little Maddy in her arms when Kelly passed her over.
Losing herself in the baby’s little coos and tiny smiles that were more likely caused by gas than genuine emotion, was just what Jennie needed.
She smiled down and made faces, watching in wonder as the baby’s eyes went round in response.
She had heard somewhere that newborns were like little lumps, not really connecting with those around them until they were older.
Jennie thought that she’d either been completely misinformed, or Maddy must be a really special baby. She seemed to connect to everyone, always looking around with wide eyes as though taking in everything.
Jennie looked up and met Kelly’s eyes. Her friend smiled back at her and Jennie felt nothing but contentment. She was happy for her friends. And happy she had so much love around her.
She might not be like the others. She wouldn’t be finding her own happily ever after and starting a family like they were, but she had this. She had friendship and love and good people in her life. It would have to be enough.
Chapter 22
Amonth later, Jennie stared blankly at the screen on her computer. She wasn’t actually seeing anything. She focused only on the mind-numbing reality of her situation as she blinked back tears. She was still in a state of shock. Still desperately trying to deny what she knew in her head was undeniable. Her heart, however, wasn’t on board yet. Her heart had no interest in catching up to the facts.
Pregnant.
