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Sienna’s eyes went wide. “You’re going to apologize?”
She’d thought it through and this was the best course of action. She hadn’t been fair to Quaid. He’d been lovely to her and honest. He hadn’t promised her anything. She was the one who’d overreacted, and it was up to her to put their friendship on a good footing. “Yes. If he’s awake when I get back tonight, I’m going to ask him if it’s all right for me to stay and I’ll apologize. I’ll get Paul’s contracts to him in the morning and we can go back to being friends.”
“I would like to be there for this apology because I don’t think he wants to be your friend.”
That hurt. “You think I screwed that up, too?”
“No. I think he’s crazy about you, and from the way he’s looking at you right now, he’s the big bad wolf and you’re going to get eaten up if you tell him you want to save your friendship. That man has it bad.”
Jayna turned and sure enough, Quaid was sitting at a table not twenty feet away. Rene and Sylvie Darois sat with him, though he wasn’t paying them any attention. All of his focus was on her.
She wasn’t sure if he was angry or... hungry. He looked hungry, and not for food. Was he upset that his booty call had walked away from him? Maybe she’d misjudged theman. She’d thought he was a nice guy, but sometimes nice guys didn’t like it when a woman denied them. Sometimes they got mean.
“Do you want to run?” Sienna asked. “Because I can grab the girls. Kelly’s real good at distracting people I don’t want to talk to. She sits down in front of them and starts crying. I’ve gotten away from Mom’s lectures many times with that play. We just have to circle around and pick her up in the back.”
Why would she run? She wasn’t a runner. She was a face-the-music kind of girl. Besides, Sienna was reading him wrong. He was upset and likely because she’d left him with her dog and refused to talk to him when he wanted to. Men could be touchy about things like that. Oh, he didn’t like to talk about his feelings, but he would get mad when she didn’t want to talk about hers. It had been a misunderstanding on her part, and she should have handled it better than she had.
She was the one who’d made the relationship more important than it was. It was best to see if she could salvage some politeness out of it. After all, they still had to work together. For a few weeks, at least.
“No. I’ll get the hard part over with.” She pushed back her chair. “Are you okay with taking me over there later to get Luna? He might say no. If he does, I have to find a pet-friendly motel, so I might need a place to stay tonight.”
“Oh, I don’t think I’ll see you again tonight,” Sienna said. “One way or another. Remember that part about Kelly if you need a quick getaway.”
Her sister was being overdramatic. She turned and made her way to Quaid to see if there was any way to salvage her dignity.
•••
Quaid watched as Jayna walked out of the dining room and onto the big patio where it seemed most of Papillon washanging out tonight. Though Jayna didn’t seem to see him, all of those nosy bastards out here did. Much of the small town’s population was whispering, their gazes moving between him and the gorgeous brunette who’d walked out on him this afternoon, leaving him with all the work and a dog who’d whined the day away.
He’d felt a lot like Luna. He’d stood beside the big dog and watched her walk away and wondered if he’d been abandoned.
Surely she would come back for her dog. He could keep Luna with him at all times and then she would have to talk to him.
“Did you know she was going to be here?” Rene had a glass of sauvignon blanc in front of him. He claimed it paired perfectly with Remy’s gumbo.
“No.” He shouldn’t have come. He should have stayed in his stupid, tiny apartment that seemed too big for him once she was gone. “I mean I wasn’t sure.”
Sylvie chuckled as Rene refilled her glass. “For one of the most talkative men I’ve ever known, you have said all of ten words tonight, Quaid. Maybe you should go over and talk to her.”
She didn’t want to talk. She’d made that plain to him. She hadn’t wanted to talk when they’d had a break in the afternoon session, hadn’t wanted to talk when they’d walked back to the office, hadn’t wanted to talk when she’d changed her clothes and left him behind.
“I think she walked all the way to her sister’s.” Because she didn’t have a car. It had taken him a while to figure out where she was going. He’d thought she’d gone to the café to grab a drink. She’d made sure she’d taken the contracts and left. When he’d gone looking for her at the café, one of the regulars said they’d seen her walking along the road that led to the trailer park.
“It’s only a couple of miles,” Rene said. “Doesn’t she run a couple of miles a day?”
“She’s incredibly fit. I see her running by city hall and I feel lazy,” Sylvie replied. “Not that it gets me to actually exercise. I cheer her on from my comfy chair.”
Jayna jogged every day. He’d gone with her a couple of times and barely kept up, but that seemed to be the way it was with Jayna. She excelled at anything she wanted to do. Except relationships. Or maybe she didn’t want the relationship with him since she’d taken the first exit ramp she could find.
“Now, you do yoga every Wednesday in the park.” Rene winked his wife’s way. “I know because I like to take Lady and Marci for a walk right around that time. I love the view.”
Sylvie chuckled and leaned over to kiss her husband.
Their ease with one another was exactly why he’d wanted to bring Jayna on a double date with them. He’d thought about who to go out with and Rene and Sylvie had made the most sense. They were affectionate with one another and easy to talk to. Armie and Lila had two insanely chaotic boys, and half the time their dates ended with them running home to save the babysitter. Roxie and Zep usually ended up going at it in a closet somewhere. Harry and Seraphina were a great couple but Harry was too handsome, and Quaid wasn’t secure enough with Jayna to deal with that yet.
Rene and Sylvie were perfect, especially since Sylvie was a great example of a smart woman who’d had success in the big city and managed to be happy coming home.
But no. He was sitting here alone, and she was looking gorgeous and enjoying a beer with her sister. She was likely telling her sister what a dirtbag he was for trying to save her from his brother’s manipulations. Though he was sure she didn’t put it that way.
