Dating Impossible (9 page)

Who could
resist this?

Chapter Ten

JJ eased up on the throttle of her Harley Sportster and
pulled off the highway, easily navigating the streets of old downtown
Scottsdale
. She was on her
way to Kazimierz, a wine bar to meet Ambra. The weather was perfect and she
loved riding her motorcycle as the evenings cooled.
Nothing like the power and purr of the engine between her legs while
speeding down the road, especially with the beautiful desert scenery at dusk.

She’d been restless for the past week since Cruz had stopped
by her house unannounced. And he just had to look all Rico Suave with wine and
pizza in hand. She sighed. Pizza was her absolute favorite. When Ambra had texted
earlier today asking if JJ had wanted to go out tonight, she’d jumped at the
chance.

Unsure of herself for the first time since high school, she’d
tried everything to redirect her focus just as she had while putting her life
back together after the disastrous affair with Mark.
Reading
hadn’t held her attention. She’d
pretzeled herself into a giant knot during bikram yoga classes and only managed
to sweat her ass off in the overly heated room. She’d even taken to the road on
her bike to clear her head and driving all over the desert. None of her usual pursuits
seemed to hold her attention and all because of a man she hadn’t been able to
get out of her head since before puberty hit.

Parking her Sportster in the lot, she kicked the stand out,
turned off the engine, and removed her helmet, shaking out her shoulder length
wavy hair. All week long, she had avoided Cruz as best she could. Those times
when they were in the same room with a patient—unconscious or not—she was
careful not to be left alone with him.

Was it the
sex?
God
knew both nights she’d spent with him had been phenomenal. Not that he needed
to know that particular bit of information. The man’s ego was ginormous as it
was. In that aspect, Jett and Cruz Avery were exactly the same. Her lips
twitched as she opened the door and entered Kazimierz with her helmet tucked
under her arm. She searched the high and low tables for Ambra. The place was
designed like an old fashioned combination of speakeasy and European wine cave
with subtle lighting, wooden wine casks, stone walls and plush sofas and chairs.
Soft jazz music played from the live band on the stage. Her friend was nowhere
to be seen. She glanced at her slim Gucci silver and jade wristwatch and noted
she was a few minutes early. The place was moderately crowded, so JJ made her
way to a corner and sat at a table that afforded a clear view of the front door
and waited.

She removed her black leather riding jacket, and picked up
the menu. The words on the wine list blurred as she gazed at the numerous
selections, her mind wandering back to Cruz. What was she going to do about him?
She couldn’t avoid him forever. The bedpan buzz at work had been working
overtime lately. Whispers that the director’s position was his hands down
worried her.
If he became her boss…

“Josephina Jo? Is that you, dear?”

JJ turned at the sound of her given name. She inwardly
cringed.

Oh, no. It can’t
be… Please tell me Cruz’s mother isn’t here.

Looking up, she saw the older woman bouncing up and down excitedly
from across the room, waving her arms and clearly motioning JJ over. JJ pasted
a smile on her face and waved back. No way she would be able to get out of
talking with them. She shot Ambra a quick text—
Where the hell are you?

With heavy boot-clad feet, she stood, grabbed her things and
made her way to the burgundy sofa where the senior Averys sat. She loved the
couple dearly, but the last thing she needed right now was to be reminded of the
very person she wanted to forget.

At five foot tall, Daisy Avery was a bundle of energy that
never stopped whirling around like the Tasmanian Devil in that old cartoon. She
had a delicate oval face with gray eyes. The same gray eyes that her boys had inherited.
JJ remembered Cruz’s intense stare earlier in the week.
A look that said I wanna lick you all over—again and again and have
.
Heat rushed to her face as she bent to return Daisy’s hug. JJ was handed off to
Ben Avery, Cruz’s dad. The man was the same height as his sons, with wide, broad
shoulders, deep green eyes, and a head of pure white hair cut in a military buzz
cut. When she was enveloped in a huge bear hug, the senior Avery lifted JJ’s
feet off the floor. She laughed. How she missed these two. They were like a
second set of parents to her growing up.

“It’s so good to see you, my dear,” Daisy said. A dimple
flashed in her left cheek as she smiled. “I saw you sitting over there all by
yourself and we couldn’t have that, could we, Ben? Won’t you join us, Josephina
Jo? We’re having a celebration.”

JJ hesitated. She didn’t want to hurt their feelings, but
she really needed just a girl’s night out. “I…”

“Say, yes, girl. Daisy has ordered the good stuff!” Ben
glanced at the menu. “A bottle of…”

He rattled off some name from the list that JJ wouldn’t even
be able to pronounce if she tried, but knew that Cruz would be familiar with
it.

“It’s from
France
.”
Ben wiggled his white bushy brows up and down in a gesture so like Cruz and
Jett.

JJ laughed, her heart melting. “Okay. Just one glass to
catch up. I’m waiting on a friend of mine.” She glanced at her watch briefly. “Ambra
is running a little late.” She sat on the couch next to Daisy. “What makes you
all spend the big bucks tonight?”

Just then, the waiter came and uncorked their bottle of
bubbly before pouring a glass for each. “We will take the three-cheese fondue
and an order of the Indonesian chicken kabobs,” Daisy said.

“Excellent choice, Daisy,” Cruz said, breezing in from
nowhere and taking the offered glass of champagne from the waiter.
 
He sat on the sofa next to his dad. “I’m
starved.”

His seductive gaze landed on JJ and the wine went down her
windpipe instead of her esophagus. She choked and sputtered as the bubbles flew
up her nose, burning her nares. Daisy pounded on her back and JJ tried to
gather her wits. What the hell was Cruz doing here?

“Are you okay?” Daisy asked. She looked at her son as JJ
continued to hack and cough. “Cruz! Do something to help her. Mouth to mouth—or
whatever it is you do for choking.”

A lazy smile spread across Cruz’s face. His gray eyes
darkened, suggesting that he’d like to do exactly that. “That would be the
Heimlich maneuver, Daisy. And we only do that if the patient can’t clear her
own airway. JJ seems to be coming around,” he said.

JJ was coming around all right. In fact, she’d taken just a
tad more time hacking half a lung up to gather her faculties.

Think! Think!
Think, damn it!

Try as she might, nothing came to mind. Instead, she stared.
Hungry for Cruz all over again, her gaze feasted upon him. He was dressed
pretty much the same as when he’d come over to her house in khaki shorts and a
red Ralph Lauren Polo shirt. Mouth dry and throat burning, she gingerly sipped
her champagne. His shirt was so different from the outlandish flowery Hawaiian
shirts his dad always wore. The louder the shirt, the better as far as Ben
Avery was concerned.

“You okay?” Cruz asked softly.

Unable to speak, JJ nodded her head and looked away. Daisy’s
gaze moved from one to the other, a speculative gleam in her eyes. She nudged
Ben in the ribs. He gazed upon her adoringly and shrugged a shoulder.

Uh-oh
. Daisy was a
notorious matchmaker. JJ needed to watch herself. The last thing she needed was
Cruz’s mom scheming to get them down the aisle. The idea that Cruz would settle
down and marry someone just like Jett had was absolutely ludicrous. But then,
the last thing anyone ever expected was for Jett’s hose to settle down, with a white
picket fence and all. She frowned.

“Your mom and dad are celebrating…” JJ waved a hand airily. “Something.
They called me over to have a glass of champagne with them. I’ve been waiting
for Ambra to arrive.” She mentally smacked her forehead.
God damn
if she didn’t sound like a rambling idiot.

“Cruz
is
the
celebration,” Daisy preened, leaning forward. “You are now looking at the new
Director of Emergency Services of Phoenix General,” she said and clapped her
hands together enthusiastically. “We couldn’t be prouder.”

JJ’s heart plummeted.
Cruz
was the new director of the ER?
So the rumors buzzing around at work had
been true. That meant he was her boss.
Her
boss
. Why did she suddenly feel like she’d lost the only person in the
entire world that mattered? Just because they’d slept together a couple of
times didn’t mean they were a couple. Especially since they worked together. And
now he was
her boss
. Had she secretly
been hoping for more?

“W-wow,” JJ stammered. “That’s really great. You must be really
glad.”

Glad?
That’s all
she could fucking come up with
? Glad? Ugh!

Cruz turned serious and set his champagne glass down on the
table between them. “It’s always good to achieve goals. I’ve thrown myself into
work lately hoping for more.” His gaze shifted to his mother. “Daisy and I have
an ongoing debate about what’s important in life. For now, I’m doing things my
way. And
, I like
how my life is
going.”

“Ah, pish posh,” Daisy said, waving a hand in dismissal. “There’s
only one thing in life that is important. I thought I’d raised you better than
this, Cruz.” She looked at Ben. “Tell him, honey. Tell him that I’m right.”

Ben smiled indulgently at his wife. “You know your mother is
always right, Son.” He winked. “If I’m going to get any tonight, you won’t hear
otherwise from me.”

He leaned over and planted a firm kiss on Daisy’s lips. She
giggled like a schoolgirl and gave his thigh an intimate squeeze. The love the
two senior Averys had for each other apparent in their demeanor. Every look. Every
touch. Every soft spoken word. Every single moment together they made count.

JJ’s inner romantic sighed.
What would it be like to have that?

Cruz’s face reddened. “TMI, Dad. TMI.”

“There’s nothing more important than love and building a family,”
Daisy said firmly. She refilled her glass and gazed adoringly at her husband. “No
matter how fulfilling saving lives can be, it will never be enough to make you
happy, Cruz. Look at your brother. Jett has finally found true happiness. And
true happiness begins with the right woman. For him, that was Roxanne, and for
your dad, that was me.”

Cruz shifted in his seat, appearing uncomfortable with his
mother’s words. “Point taken,” he said. He sent a pleading look in his father’s
direction. “Can we please move on? This is supposed to be a happy occasion.”

“Let the boy alone, Daisy,” Ben said chidingly. “He’ll come
around in good time.”

Daisy snorted to say
as
if
but did as Ben asked. She turned her sharp gray eyes on JJ. “So sorry to
hear about that nasty business in
California
,
Josephina Jo. Your dad told us all about it. You must’ve been terrified. Did
they ever catch that stalker?”

They knew?
Acid churned
deep in her gut, scorching through her insides. Her face flamed. Did that mean
that Cruz knew as well? Apprehensive, she glanced in Cruz’s direction as the
waiter appeared with the food Daisy had ordered earlier and blocked her view of
his intuitive gaze. She had some time to gather her thoughts. What was she
supposed to say?

Once the server was gone, she busied herself with filling a
plate. “Yes, well…stalker is a little bit exaggerated. He wasn’t really a
stalker.” She laughed nervously. “But it’s a non-issue, Daisy. That’s all
behind me now.”

Look at him
and get it over with, coward!

She lifted her gaze from her plate to meet his head on. A
crease formed in the middle of his brow and a mixture of anger and concern
sparked his deep gray eyes.

“What sort of changes are you planning to make in the ER?”
JJ asked casually.

“Oh, no,” he said softly. “You don’t get off that easy. What
stalker?” Cruz demanded.

JJ lifted a shoulder in a careless shrug and met his gaze. “Drop
it, Cruz.” Her tone brooked no argument. “Some jackass causing problems. Not a
big deal. It’s over and I don’t talk about it—
ever
.” She picked up a piece of bread from her plate and dipped it
in the liquid Fontina cheese. “What are your plans for the ER?” she repeated.

Cruz hesitated. He seemed to want to say more, but looked at
his parents. Daisy was watching the battle of wills between JJ and Cruz with
avid interest and JJ silently prayed that she wasn’t planning some scheme for
Cruz’s love life that included her.

“Let the girl alone,” Daisy said sternly, rising to her feet
and dragging Ben with her. “She doesn’t have to tell you all her secrets on the
first date, Cruz.”