Bachelorette for Sale (12 page)

She pushed the empty bowl away and picked up her glass. “Thank you, this is exactly what I needed. And so much better than what I planned on eating before you arrived. I was going to slap together a PB and J and call it done. I didn’t have the heart to do more.”

“After the week you’ve had, who could blame you? I know at the end of a crappy day or week, the last thing I feel like doing is cooking or staring at my four walls by myself.”

She passed her glass over for a refill. “Well, you saved me from cooking and eating alone. So, Dr. Jason, what else do you recommend for erasing a bad week?”

He cleared the dirty dishes by dropping all the plastic ware back into the paper bag so he could drop it in the Dumpster on his way out. “The trick is to keep your mind occupied. Then you can’t think about the bad stuff. Personally, my favorite is through physical activity that makes it impossible to think.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her as he gave this suggestion. “Or we can find the worst thing on TV, like a B horror movie, and dissect the whole thing as we watch it.”

Her whole face lit up as she stared at him. Yeah, he was glad he’d ignored Fubar’s earlier advice, which was to send flowers. They might have made her just as happy, but he wouldn’t have been here to see her smile.

Cherry fidgeted with her glass and glanced up at him from under her long lashes, but did not meet his gaze. “Sounds like fun. I’m sure you have something more exciting to do on a Friday night than sit around here and keep me company.”

“Hey.” Jason reached out, lifted her chin until she was looking him in the eye. “I’m right where I want to be.” He meant it too. He knew he shouldn’t be here, had no business being here, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to be here. All week long he’d looked forward to seeing Cherry, especially since their talk on Wednesday. He found himself thinking of her at odd times and had planned to talk her into going out for dinner tonight. He might not want a relationship, but there was something about this woman that made him do the complete opposite of what he should, and right now he didn’t care.

“Shall we see what’s on tonight?” Cherry asked.

Together they rose and he bumped his head against her nose.

“Ow.” Cherry reached up and covered her nose. “How’s your forehead?”

“Better than your nose, I’m betting. Let me see.” He moved her hand and chuckled. “You look like Rudolph. Here let me make it better.” Before either of them registered what he intended, he leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose. “Better?”

The air around them crackled with tension as Jason gazed into Cherry’s fathomless blue eyes. She stood before him with her lips slightly parted, an invitation if he ever saw one. He dipped his head to taste her luscious lips and she bobbed out of the way, bouncing over toward the kitchen.

“How about some popcorn? We can’t watch a movie, especially a bad one, without popcorn. What would we throw at the screen?” The words tumbled out in a rush, giving away her nerves.

Jason leaned a hip against the counter, watching her frantic search. “Sounds good. I’ll go find us a hacker flick.” He refilled their wineglasses and settled in on the couch while he scrolled through the menu.

Tucker jumped up on the couch next to him. He sat, staring at Jason. “Hey, boy, how’re you doing?” Jason absently rubbed his ears. Tucker let out a small woof that Jason took to mean “keep going,” so he rubbed the dog’s back thinking he’d lie down and snuggle in. Nope, the dog kept staring at him. He picked
Starship Troopers
, because who could resist a movie about giant bugs invading Earth?

Cherry curled up on the other side of Tucker with a giant bowl of buttered popcorn in her lap. “I love this movie. What happened to picking a bad movie?”

He craned his neck around to look past the dog. “It’s got a Busey. That automatically makes it a hacker, not to mention alien insects wiping out mankind.”

“Maybe so, but it’s also got Neil Patrick Harris and Casper Van Dien. Everybody loves NPH.”

“I’ll give you that. But it’s still the worst thing on tonight.” He reached for a handful of popcorn and Tucker growled, leaning into his mistress. “Whoa, boy, it’s okay.”

“Tucker. Stop that. Jason’s a friend, remember?” She hugged her dog closer. “I think he’s a little miffed with you for not bringing Bam tonight. He’s got a bit of a crush on her.”

Well damn, he hadn’t seen that coming. “Sorry, buddy. Promise I’ll bring her next time.” He caught Cherry’s gaze, held it as he made the promise to the dog, searching her face for any sign that she’d be okay with a next time.

“Tucker, go lie in your bed. Go on, boy.” Cherry nudged the dog’s butt, pushing him off the couch. With the amount of effort it took her, you’d think he was a Saint Bernard instead of a twenty-five-pound beagle.

He didn’t go lie in his bed. He sat at Jason’s feet staring at him. Talk about awkward. Every now and then Jason’s gaze would stray from the TV to the dog, whose lip stayed in a permanent curl at him. “Wait for it, here comes the requisite fight scene between the ranks.”

Cherry grabbed a handful of popcorn and threw it at the TV screen. “Boo. She’s not worth it. Why can’t he see what’s right in front of him? Dizzy is clearly the perfect choice. Carmen is only looking for the guy with the most power and money.”

Her eyes were filled with passion as she yelled at the character Rico in the movie, giving him dating advice he couldn’t hear and, even if he could, wouldn’t take. She bounced up and down, shifting her position to tuck one of her legs under her, and gave him a sneak peek at a small moon-shaped birthmark on her inner thigh.

The room got quiet and he looked up to find Cherry watching him. Busted. Could she blame him for looking?

“You’re not watching the movie,” Cherry stated.

“No, I’m watching you.”

“Why?”

“You’re more fascinating.”

He leaned in. Her lips parted, her eyes closed, and he claimed her mouth for his own. A soft sigh escaped through her parted lips. She tasted like salty butter with a touch of spice from the noodles. He scooted closer, pressing in hard against her soft body, taking the kiss deeper. She shifted to move her legs so he was positioned over her center.

Lost in the moment, it took him a couple of seconds to register that something warm and wet had soaked his leg.

Jason jumped up and looked down at his wet leg and foot. Cherry sat biting her lip, trying not to laugh, losing the battle.

“I’m so sorry. He’s never done that before. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. Maybe he’s trying to tell you he’s the alpha here.”

“Yeah, well, I think that’s my sign to leave.” Obviously the dog didn’t want him there. Maybe it was fate’s way of slapping him upside the head and giving him a chance to get out before he made a mistake.

S
aturday morning Cherry pulled up in front of her grandparents’ house as her gramps whizzed by on his riding lawn mower. He shot her a quick wave as he disappeared around the corner. Gram sat on her garden cart pulling weeds in the front flower bed as the sun shone down on her, turning her cheeks a nice rose shade. Perfect, as Cherry needed them out of the house for what she had planned.

She crossed the yard to kneel down next to her grandmother, automatically reaching for the offending plants.

“Hi, sweetheart, what brings you over today?”

“Didn’t know I had to have a special reason to stop by and see you two.” Cherry dusted her hands, sat back on her heels, and studied the fat white clouds drifting across blue skies, pretending to be miffed. “I guess if you don’t want my company, I can leave,” she teased.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I love when you visit. Now tell me, how was your week? Did your yummy contractor make any progress this week on the center?”

Cherry fell backward on her butt. “Gram.”

“I’ve got eyes, don’t I? I may be old, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still appreciate the opposite sex. Both of those boys looked like fine men. Don’t suppose Tawny is interested in his friend, is she? I could see the two of them together.”

“Dave?” she asked, confused. How did her gram know who he was? “Wait, when did you see him?”

“There was a nice article on the center in the
News Today
with a picture of you and the men. Very handsome. If I were fifty years younger, lass . . .”

“Oh, Gram! Tawny’s in New York with her mom this weekend. If she and her aunt haven’t got Tawny married off before Monday, I’ll be sure to let her know she has your blessing. And to answer your original question, I had to work late, so Tawny did the inspection for me yesterday.” For some reason she wasn’t ready to share last night with anyone yet.

“You know you have my blessing too.” Her eyes twinkled with mischief.

“Thanks, Gram. Don’t you think you should meet the guy before you try to marry us off? And maybe I should actually be dating him first too.”

“Well, what’s stopping you? Honey, I know it hasn’t been easy, what with your parents disappearing like they did. I wish I could give you closure, tell you what happened to them that day, but I know one thing for sure. Deep in my heart, I know they didn’t walk away. They never would have left you on their own accord. You were their world.”

“I know, Gram. Thanks.” She laid her head on her grandmother’s shoulder, soaking up the love and comfort. On one level she knew her gram was right, but deep in her heart where it mattered the most was still the belief created by a broken eight-year-old—her parents had lied to her and then abandoned her—even though she knew better on a cerebral level. “I just wish the private detective I hired had found something out. It would be nice to have some kind of closure instead of thinking they took off for greener fields.”

Her gram reached around and held her. “They’d never do that. As for that ex-fiancé of yours, you made a mistake on the show, picking Ari instead of Jake. We all make mistakes. Ari just made yours public fodder to boost his singing career. Lord knows he needed something, because he sounds like a cat on fire when he sings. The point is, you learn from what happened, push the experience behind you, and move on.”

If only Gram knew the full details of Cherry’s mistake. No one knew. Not her grandparents. Not her best friend. Well, Jake knew, as he was fully engaged in said activity that would be labeled “mistake of a lifetime.” Cherry could only be thankful Ari didn’t know what had happened on the overnight dream date with Jake or she was sure the entire world, heck, the universe, would know.

“I’ll try, Gram.”

“When do you see your young man again?” Gram carried on, ignoring the fact that Jason was not Cherry’s young man.

“Tonight.” No way was she leaving last night as unfinished business.

“A Saturday night? Sounds like a date to me. What are you going to wear?” Her gram never stopped pulling weeds, taking her time to pick out the bad flowers from the good.

Wrinkling her nose at her grandmother, she looked away. There was no denying the attraction between the two of them. Last night had put that subject to rest. She hoped by the end of tonight she’d know what they both wanted to do about it.

“Are you so sure this isn’t a date?”

Cherry sat picking grass, her gram’s words running through her mind. “Gram, I kind of wish it was. The timing’s all wrong. Jason has his business to focus on, and there’s this reporter who’s just looking for a story, and then there’s Stan. Let’s not forget our first date wasn’t a date but was a business deal for him. While I like Jason, his actions were too much like Ari’s—using me to get ahead. I don’t know if I can get past that.”

“Hand me those baby roses over there, please.” Her gram pointed to a cart of flowers. Cherry got up and wheeled the old wagon closer, handing her one plant at a time. Her gram took her time, making sure the hole was big enough, sprinkling a special concoction meant to make the roses flourish before putting her flowers in, and then covering them up with fresh soil, gently patting the ground. “Hmm.”

She knew that sound, had heard it countless times growing up during their many discussions. “What?”

“Just thinking. Dinner might have started out as business, but things, people, plants, life, have a way of changing, of going a different direction when you least expect it. The way I heard it, sparks were flying back and forth.”

“George needs to mind his own business.”

“You’re as much George’s business as Tawny is and you know it. Same as Tawny is as much mine as you are, Cherry Anne.”

Oops, her middle name. Never a good sign. “Yes, ma’am. Still, how do I know he likes me for me and isn’t pretending to get the recommendation for his company?”

Gram reached over and patted her cheek, pure love radiating from her eyes. “You trust your heart and your head. Don’t close yourself off to the possibilities. You never know what’s out there. Sometimes, what we’re looking for is standing right in front of us, staring us in the face.”

A second later the loud roar of the lawn mower drowned out anything Cherry might have said in return as her gramps came zipping around the corner. He cut the engine to idle. “Kitty-Kat, will you get me a glass of your lemonade? I’m working up quite a thirst with all this work.”

“You’d think the man didn’t have a decent pair of working legs or two good hands. Can’t get a bloody thing for himself. All I do is wait on him night and day,” Gram muttered through a forced smile.

“I’ll get it, Gram. I need to use the bathroom anyway.” Cherry stood, walked over to her gramps, and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll be right back with your drink, Gramps. Give me a couple of minutes.”

As she walked into the spotless kitchen, the scent of lemon tickled her nose. Taking her time, she walked through to the living room, where a survey of the cozy space gave her a sense of comfort. A book on her gramps’s chair caught her attention. She’d probably kick herself, but she had to look. She lifted the book and looked at the cover—an old farmhouse graced the front. Her gramps was reading the
Farmer’s Almanac
.

She thrust the book back onto the chair, continuing on her way to the bathroom. Once there, she closed and locked the door. The bath was as neat as the rest of the house, everything in its place. Never had a day gone by where her gram didn’t clean the house, making sure every scrap of paper, every piece of clothing, every dish and whatever else was put in its proper location. Every day her gram would run a quick dust cloth across all the surfaces and vacuum. There was never a moment when unexpected company could show up and embarrass Kathryn Ryan.

Cherry took a deep breath and prepared to totally invade her grandparents’ privacy. So wrong. What other choice was there? She’d asked and they wouldn’t tell her anything. One peek. She’d probably find a new medication for high blood pressure or something that would explain everything, and then Cherry could find some kind of peace of mind.

She took a deep breath and opened the cabinet door. Out fell a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs.

Handcuffs?

Who keeps handcuffs in their medicine cabinet?
Wait. Why were there pink fuzzy handcuffs in her grandparents’ bathroom?
Whoa, didn’t see that coming. Way to go, Gram.

Shaking her head, she studied the ultra-organized shelves. Her gram obviously had a touch of OCD and she’d never realized it until now. Explained a lot. Boxes were lined up by size and content, as were bottles. Reaching for the prescription bottles first, she read one of the labels. Boniva, a medicine for osteoporosis, which stated it caused drowsiness.

“Mystery solved. Now I can relax,” she said to no one as she put it back, a sudden relief washing over her. Gram would be fine—well, if she didn’t kill Gramps and end up in prison.

Closing the cabinet, she turned to go, but curiosity got the better of her. She hadn’t looked at the second bottle, was actually afraid based on her gramps’s previous comments. Reaching up, she grabbed it and rolled her eyes. The notorious little blue pills. Viagra. Quickly she put the bottle back and caught sight of two tall, skinny bottles, one blue and the other purple. Turning them around so the labels faced her, she stared. No longer surprised, she smiled. The label for K-Y Yours + Mine stared back at her.

“Dear God! No wonder she’s so tired, my grandparents are reliving their youth.” As she hurried back to the kitchen for her gramps’s lemonade, she wondered if they sold brain bleach in five-gallon containers, because this was definitely a moment she’d like to erase from her memory.

Gram had almost caught her when she’d walked into the kitchen and overheard Cherry muttering, “I’ll never snoop again.” Thankfully, she was able to brush it off. She left her grandparents’ house feeling relieved, disturbed, and guilty. At least now, she could shut down the million and one horrid thoughts running through her mind and stop wondering what awful disease would sweep in and steal her grandmother away.

Instead her mind zeroed in on the wise lady’s words:
Don’t close yourself off to the possibilities. Look what’s standing right in front of you
. She’d seen what was standing in front of her and she’d admit he was sexy as hell. Tempting too. If he’d come clean at the beginning of their first date, things would be different. For one, she wouldn’t be having this battle with herself on should she or shouldn’t she jump the hot guy. If she were a short-term kind of woman, she’d say who cares. Short-term meant fun and games, no commitments, no complications, no soul-baring moments, and no exchanges of unconditional trust.

There were other factors to consider, like her baggage. Who could forget that? The media had had a field day with Ari’s accusations. No one bothered to check the facts before printing his lies. Seriously, if she’d had a boyfriend at home, she would have stayed home.

She’d thought all of that was behind her, until Ford showed up at the rec center asking personal questions. Jason had his own business to think about. While she didn’t commit the sins Ari accused her of, in the end, it only mattered what the public’s perception of her was—a liar and a cheat. She didn’t need to drag someone else down with her, and it looked like Ford and Stan wanted to do exactly that.

Better to stay single than to repeat the mistakes of the past.

 

Sunset arrived at last. As the orb sank below the horizon, Cherry dug her hands deeper into her fleece jacket pockets. Slashes of pink, gray, and orange streaked across the sky. She’d have loved nothing better than to be sitting on a lone beach right then with a glass of wine and soft music playing. Instead she’d been walking the streets of Federal Hill for the past hour or so, passing time, too keyed up to sit around and wait for her meeting with Jason.

She’d chosen his place so the dogs could play outside while they talked about business and the night before. It was also private, with no prying eyes of the press or disgruntled ex-committee members lurking around. She couldn’t help that it was also intimate, and no, her fantasies had nothing to do with the choice. Him, her, a soft rug in front of a roaring fire. Wait, did he have a fireplace? Nope, the truth was they needed to talk.

Night threw a blanket over the neighborhood, allowing Cherry to disappear as she and Tucker made their way down the street. It probably helped that she’d dressed in black jeans and a T-shirt topped with her black jacket, and pulled her hair up in a twist that she tucked under a beret slouch hat. Not “date” clothes, more like a casual “see, you don’t affect me” outfit.

At the corner of Jason’s backyard, Tucker sprinted into the alley, pulling Cherry along. The dog frantically sniffed the fence line, running back and forth, whining.

“Tucker, come on. You can take care of business on the other side of the fence.” Scanning the dark, creepy area, she pulled on the leash and stepped back toward the lighted sidewalk. “Come on, boy. Let’s get out of the spooky alley. Don’t you know this is always where the dumb chick bites it in the movies?”

Tucker ignored her and sniffed some more before he finally lifted his leg and marked the territory. Satisfied, he happily trotted toward the walkway.

“Don’t move.”

She started to turn around, freezing when a hard object pushed into her back. Her stomach dropped out from under her. Tucker—her faithful companion and bodyguard—sat at her feet, tail wagging.

Dog, you are so fired
.

“Don’t move. The police are on the way. Getting braver, aren’t you? Hitting the place before midnight. I’ve been watching for you.”

Watching for me? What the hell is he talking about?
Relief washed through at the mention of the cops. At least he wasn’t going to mug her or worse. Shaking her head, Cherry turned her head. “I think you’ve got the wrong person.”