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“You were in that color the night we met,” he said on a breath. “It still looks great on you.”
“Same color, completely different style.” Jenna’s mind flashed to a night a lifetime ago, when she’d dared to venture out dressed in a sexy scrap of scarlet. She’d stepped out of her “good girl” image and gotten drunk. Eric found her asleep in a nightclub lounge and rescued her, and she’d fallen in love with him that very night. Looking down, she continued to smooth her hands along a much more modestly cut dress. “I have a date.”
His eyes stayed upon her. “I figured as much.”
Unsettled by the gaze, Jenna fingered her hair as if to straighten a wayward lock. “You have to leave. He’ll be here any minute.” As soon as she spoke the words, the gentle motor of Ash’s roadster purred outside.
“That him?”
She gritted her teeth. “No, it’s someone else Idon’thave a date with. Will you get out of here?”
But Eric made no move to leave. “Are you and he… I mean…It’s none of my business, but is this just a date or are you in a relationship?”
Jenna’s heart dashed into a heavy and awakened beat. “You’re right. None of your business.”
Head down, he shuffled his feet, his eyes still raised and upon her. She peeked out her sidelight to see her date slipping from his car. “Seriously, you have to get out of here. Go out the back door before Ash sees you.”
Eric’s head snapped up. “Ash Baldwin?”
“Yes. How do you know his—”
“You were arguing about him in front of your store with the woman with the big hair. Remember?”
The doorbell rang, and Jenna gave Eric one more pleading look. “Just go out the back door…please.”
Looking handsome, looking wicked, he shook his head and smiled. “Back door? Uh, uh. Haven’t you heard? I’m a big shot now.”
Jenna balled her hands into fists, her arms stiff at her sides. “How the hell am I supposed to explain you, ‘Big Shot?’ You need to leave.”
He shrugged. “I would, but my car is in your driveway, and yourdatejust blocked me in.”
The bell rang again, and Jenna had no choice but to open the door. Eric took a sideways step and then moved away. He scrubbed at his head and created a mussy confusion of hair that fell across his eyes.
Ash’s lips were stretched wide as he stepped inside, but his smile departed as he spotted Eric. “Did I mistake the time?”
“Oh hey.” Eric offered his hand, but Ash ignored the greeting.
Frozen in place, Jenna watched the exchange. Though Eric was grinning, his eyes were steely. “I just stopped by to say hello to Jen. I didn’t know she had plans. We go way back…Name’s Mike.”
Ash’s lips remained fixed in a steady line that was neither smile nor frown. His blond brows lowered over gray eyes. Jenna wrapped her arms around one of Eric’s and led him to the door. “Mike was just leaving.”
“Well then, I guess I’ll be on my way.” Before stepping through the doorway, he called over his shoulder. “If you need me for anything, Babes, I’ll be around.” As she was about to shut the door he shouted, “Hey, pal, you’re blocking me.”
Sweeping past, Ash strode into the driveway and aimed the alarm remote at his car. After the two chirps sounded, he climbed behind the wheel and backed out of the driveway. Jenna gripped her porch railing, watching Eric amble down the drive and lean into the window frame of the shining sports car. Voices rang clearly through the quiet evening air.
“This is a sweet little machine…Jag huh? What year?”
“It’s a seventy-five, a classic.”
Eric grinned and tilted his head at his rented subcompact. “Sweet, but my car’s brand new.” With that, he boarded the tiny vehicle, screeched out of the driveway, and burned tire down the street.
Caught between wanting to laugh or cry, Jenna shook her head as Ash took out his handkerchief and wiped Eric’s handprints off his car.
Janie vaulted over. “Who was that guy, Mom?”
Stepping back inside, Jenna drew her daughter close to avoid her wide, inquisitive eyes—Eric’s eyes. “Oh, he’s someone I used to know a long time ago. He showed up, out of the blue, a few days ago.” The lie of omission clawed hard at her throat.
“He sounded funny.”
