Meant To Be Yours. Susan Mallery
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Renee grinned. “Jasper, you’ve driven by Weddings Out of the Box. One side of the building looks like a Tuscan villa and another looks like a castle. What did you think was happening there?”
“I thought Pallas was quirky.”
“Theme weddings are big business,” she told him. “There are the usual ones. Princess, pirate, weddings based on books or movies. This fall we’re having a Halloween wedding, a football wedding and an apple wedding.”
“What’s an apple wedding?” he asked.
“They’re apple lovers.” She laughed. “It’s kind of hard to explain.”
An apple wedding? Was that really a thing? He felt as if there was a whole world out there, about which he knew nothing. First women and now weddings. He needed to work on his life skills education.
Mathias rolled the dice and then moved his token. “I’m going to make a quick call to our nanny,” he said, then shrugged sheepishly. “Like we said before, it’s the first time we’ve left Devon at night, so...”
“You should absolutely check in,” Renee told him. “You’ll feel better.”
Carol watched him go. “It’s funny. All the things I worried about before we had Devon haven’t been a problem. Instead there are so many other things to worry about. Like leaving her alone.”
Renee patted her arm. “It will get better. You’re a terrific mom. She’s lucky to have you.”
“Thanks.”
Jasper looked at Renee. “Do you have kids?”
“Me? No. I’m not married.” She flushed slightly. “Not that you need to be married to have children. I wasn’t saying that. Or judging. I just mean...” She cleared her throat, lowered her gaze, then looked at him. “Um, no. You?”
He shook his head.
Okay, there was something going on with her. He was sure of it. Fairly sure. Reasonably sure, at least. He really had to get out more. He hadn’t felt the need before, but being around people again made him aware of his solitary state. Not to mention the lack of sex in his life.
He looked at Renee. She was small, but everything was in the right place. She had a sense of humor and he liked her smile. What were the odds she was looking for a brief but satisfying fling that would go absolutely nowhere?
Mathias returned and took his seat. “Everything is fine,” he told Carol. “Devon’s asleep and nothing is wrong.”
Their eyes locked. “I want to go home,” Carol said softly.
“Thank God. Me, too.” Mathias sprang to his feet. “Sorry about this, but it’s a baby thing.”
Renee waved her hand toward the door. “Go be with your beautiful baby. Great progress was made tonight. Next time you’ll stay the whole first hour.”
Carol laughed. “Thanks for understanding. See you at lunch tomorrow.”
“You will,” Renee told her.
Seconds later, they were gone. Jasper looked at Renee. “I guess the odds of one of us heading to the finals just went up.”
“They did.”
She held his gaze a second past what he would consider normal, friendly interaction, shifting them into the maybe I’m interested category. Or was that just wishful thinking on his part? He really had to get this whole man/woman thing figured out. At sixteen, being socially awkward could be considered a little charming. At his age, it was pathetic.
“Monopoly is less fun with just two players,” he said. “Could I buy you a drink instead?”
RENEE TOLD HERSELF there was absolutely no pressure. Jasper had invited her for a drink and she had said yes. Big whoop. Men and women met for drinks hundreds of times a day and it was all completely normal. Boring even. Only sitting across from Jasper wasn’t anything she would describe as normal, and it could never be boring.
For one thing, the guy was hot. He was tall, with broad shoulders, but more than that, there was an air of casual strength about him. As if he could handle himself in any situation. Should scary-looking bad guys burst into the place, Renee knew Jasper would handle the situation. She, on the other hand, would run screaming into the night. Or hide. Or faint.
He also had that hint of slightly wounded male about him. He’d been damaged in his past and it showed. It took a stronger woman than her to resist that kind of yumminess. Although this was just a drink, she reminded herself as Jasper walked over to small corner table they’d moved to. He set a cosmo in front of her before taking a seat across from her and picking up his gin and tonic.
He took a sip, studying her over the glass. She had no idea what he was thinking, nor did she know what to say. Nerves gripped her tightly, making her feel awkward. She hadn’t been on a date since moving to Happily Inc, and before that she’d been getting over a shattered heart, and before that she’d been in a nearly three-year relationship, and before that...
“So, how was your book tour?” she asked brightly, hoping the question and his answer would distract her brain. “You were gone a long time.”
“I was. My publisher tried something new, sending me out in an RV.”
“I’d heard something about that but I thought maybe people were kidding. You really traveled the country in an RV for a month?”
“Three,” he said with another one of his sexy smiles. “Before that I spent a few weeks in Europe. Traveling more conventionally.”
“You must have a lot of fans. I knew you were a successful author, but you’re internationally famous.”
She meant the words to be teasing, but didn’t think they came out that way. Probably because she hadn’t actually put together who Jasper was. In her mind, he was the slightly mysterious, former military guy who kept to himself and provided plenty of take me now, big guy fantasies. Apparently he was a little too close to, say, Chris Pine territory for her purposes.
Not that she was going to smile brightly and offer a night of hot sex. Because while everything went fine in her head, in real life, there were serious pitfalls. Hysterical laughter followed by a look of extreme pity. Not that Jasper seemed like the hysterical laughter type. But the pity was a real possibility. Or revulsion. That would be depressing and she wasn’t looking for another boy-girl setback.
The smart decision would be to enjoy the drink, pretend she’d never once undressed him with her eyes and retreat to her charming apartment where she would tell herself she didn’t care that she was never going to have sex with a man again.
“I’ve been lucky,” he said easily. “The books have to work for people, of course, but there are a lot of authors who struggle in obscurity. I had breaks early on.”
“Like I said—internationally famous. What’s touring like? Is the Europe part different from the US part?”
“Very, especially with the RV. Here I was able to drive from place to place. I’d park near a big city, then head in for the events. Sometimes I’d do a morning show, or drive-time radio. I might have media interviews during the day or drop in to a few bookstores and sign stock. In the evenings I would have organized book signings where I’d talk for a few minutes, take questions, then sign books. Then back to the hotel or RV and start it over in the morning.”
“That’s less glamorous than I thought. What about in Europe?”
“That’s a different schedule. I would arrive in a city, usually in the morning, have lunch with whomever the publisher wanted me to meet, do media, then have a signing, followed by a late dinner. Get up in the morning and drive, fly or take the train to the next city and