7. Jen
SEVEN
Jen
“You know we catered a party for the owner of this restaurant once.”
As we pass, John sips his scotch and places a generous tip in the jar on top of the piano. The pianist nods and mouths thank you to John, who tips his head in return.
“You did?” he asks, pulling out a seat for me at a nearby table before taking the seat beside me.
I set my phone and water down on the table before me. “Yes. And Evelyn accidentally lit his wig on fire.”
John chokes on his scotch. “You’re kidding me.”
“Oh, but I wish I were. Not only did she accidentally light his hair on fire while trying to relight an outdoor candle, but she also took the flaming wig from his head and dunked it into the pitcher of lemonade.” I laugh, throwing back my head and clapping my hands. Tears fill my eyes from memory.
John isn’t fairing much better as he laughs and hits the table with his fist. “Your friend is wild!”
“Tell me about it.”
Our weekend getaway to Atticus’s farm was just the break I needed. I feel a little swipe a tear from my eye. John and I have gone on a few dates and had a good time, but nothing has happened. We haven’t even kissed, but I do enjoy his company. Although I am positive if I wanted to kiss John, he would definitely kiss me back. I take him in tonight, and he has on another suit. The man can wear a damn suit like nobody’s business. John draws attention just like Maddox, but it’s a different kind of attention. John is put together, polished if you will, whereas Maddox is wild, sexy chaos that threatens to destroy your panties and your heart.
“How was the bakery today?”
I look around the bar at everyone enjoying the atmosphere, talking and laughing, enjoying their day, but I can’t help it when my mind drifts to a certain man—John’s polar opposite. My phone rings, and when I pick it up, it’s as if I summoned him. My phone lights up with Madd’s name and a pic of us, me lying in the crook of his arm. We were naked in his bed, and he had just finished making me come so hard I went temporarily blind. That was an experience.
“Do you need to answer that?” John asks, and I shake my head.
“No.” I silence the call by sending it to voicemail and placing my phone back on the table. “It’s not important.” Even saying those words leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Maddox is important, just not in the way I had wanted him to be, and that isn’t his fault.
“We were busy today, and the lunch rush was intense. How about you? How was work?”
“It was busy. We closed on a multimillion-dollar contract that we’ve been trying to get for a couple of years.” John brushes a hand through his dark hair, and it falls perfectly back into place.
“You have shampoo-commercial hair.”
John’s boisterous laugh makes me smile. “I do?”
My phone rings again, and I close my eyes when I see the display. I don’t even know what he wants. What is left to say? I saw Tricia, Beck’s ex-girlfriend, walking with Maddox back to the tour bus bedroom, and I can guarantee he wasn’t going back there with her to play video games.
My phone rings again, and I sigh and open my eyes. Of course, Madd has called right back.
“I think you better take that call, Jen.”
“What?”
He can’t be serious.
He looks at the call display and sees who it is, and John smiles.
This guy is too good to be true.
“It’s not like that, John….”
He cuts me off with a wave of his hand. “It’s okay. I’ll still be here; take the call.”
I grab my phone and answer it, but before I walk away, I squeeze John’s shoulder. He captures my hand and kisses it. This guy is a good man. I place the phone to my ear and plug the other with my finger as I head toward the entrance. It’s a little quieter out there.
“Jen, are you there? Please talk to me.” Madd’s voice is still drowned out by all the noise surrounding me.
“Give me a second,” I shout as I round the corner to a quieter area. “I’m here.” I sound a touch bitchier than I intended, but images of that video on the bus keep assaulting me.
“Thank fuck you answered.”
“What do you want, Madd?” I huff, feeling a bit frustrated and feeling flushed. It’s hot in here. This entire situation is just one big shit show, which is one more reason I have to move on. It isn’t easy like it is with John.
“I need to talk to you. There are things you need to know and things I need to tell you.”
“Well, now isn’t a good time. I can barely hear you, and I’m out with a friend.”
“A friend, huh? Is it John?”
I don’t miss the anger in his tone. “Yes, I’m out with John.”
Why does he even ask? It’s not like he cares. Let’s be honest Maddox Case is out for number one, and that is definitely not me.
“Do you like him?”
“What kind of question is that?”
Of course, I like him. I’ve gone on more than one date with the man. He’s a good person, and he’s kind, considerate, and smart. John is everything a woman could want in a man. My mother would approve, that’s for sure.
“It’s the kind of question I need you to answer, Jen.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose between my eyes. I’m suddenly not feeling very well. And when a server walks by carrying tonight’s seafood pasta dish, the smell hits me like a ton of bricks.
I’m going to be sick. I hang up my phone and hightail it to the bathroom. The last thing I need is to throw up in the middle of this place. How terrible would that be? I barely contain myself long enough to get into the bathroom and throw open a door before I literally lose my lunch.
I hope I’m not coming down with something. I can’t be off because we’ve been so busy at the bakery, which throws too much work on everyone else. We need to hire some more people. It was terrible for Evelyn last month when I had to take a day off because my cramps were so intense, and oh my damn!
My period is late.
“Shit!”