Plain Jayne (38 page)

*  *  *

A four-car pileup on the highway kept Brett away for most of the night, but Nick made damn good and sure he was waiting at the detachment at the end of Brett’s shift. It probably wasn’t the best idea to confront him inside the cop shop, but Nick wasn’t about to wait another minute.

Brett was on the phone but waved him over anyway and ended his call.

“Hey, Nick, what’s up?”

“Got a second?”

“Sure.” Brett stood up and bobbed his head toward an empty glass-walled office.

Nick followed him inside, but neither one of them sat. Brett stood with the heels of his hands resting on his holster and baton, and Nick stood with his arms crossed over his chest, hoping he wasn’t about to say or do something that would end in Brett using that Taser on him.

“What’s the deal with you and Jayne?”

Nick didn’t like the glint in Brett’s eye, or the way he seemed to be trying really hard not to smile. In all the time Nick had known Brett, he’d only seen him smile a handful of times; the last being in the storage locker two nights ago when he smiled at Jayne.

“The deal?” he repeated slowly. “I’m not exactly sure what it is you’re asking, Nick, but I had to postpone drinks last night if that means anything.”

“So then you and she aren’t—?” He couldn’t even say it. Just thinking it created a thick red haze in his brain.

“We aren’t what? Sleeping together?”

“Jeezus.” Nick took a step, his hands fisted, but Brett just laughed at him. Laughed!

“There’s three cops on the other side of that glass ready to draw on you, so you might want to take a step back.”

Sure enough, three cops stood staring back at him, one with a phone in his hand, the other two just watching, waiting. Nick raised his hands and took two steps back, but Brett hadn’t so much as flinched; just kept on grinning.

“I only asked Jayne out to piss you off,” he said.

“You what?” Nick’s anger crackled deep in his belly.

“Oh, come on. Lisa was never right for you; I knew that the first time I met her, but once Jayne showed up … jeez, buddy, it ain’t rocket science.” Brett pointed toward a chair behind Nick, then waited until he sat before pulling up a chair of his own. “Shit, Nick, you broke up with Lisa, and I didn’t know what you were waiting for or why you just didn’t tell Jayne. Figured if I asked her out, you’d wig out—which you did, by the way—and maybe it would get you off your ass, make you do something about it. About her.”

His mouth twitched again. “When we found you guys at the locker last night, I thought it worked, but you never stepped up.”

“So you—” Nick slumped over his knees and shook his head. “Jeezus.”

“Come on, man. I interrogate people for a living, and Jayne’s an easy read. When I asked her out the first time, I was in uniform in a public place. What was she going to say? And then at the locker, we were all waiting for you to kick my ass, but you just left her hanging, so there was no way she’d turn me down in front of Ellie and Maya.”

He was right on that; Jayne would never leave someone hanging the way Nick had.

“Why didn’t you just tell her you’d split up with Lisa?”

“I was going to, but I wanted to clear some things off my plate first so I could … I don’t know … take my time, figure out what I needed to do to convince her I’m not …”

“You’re not what?” Brett snorted. “The stupidest dipshit in town?”

“Yeah.” Nick blew out a long slow breath, looked up at his friend, and shrugged. “That’s why I needed time; I needed to come up with something to prove to her that I wasn’t. That I’m not.”

Brett’s grin finally faded to a guilty grimace. “Oops. My bad.”

He leaned back in his chair, locked his fingers behind his head, and sighed. “So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.” Nick closed his eyes for a second and chuckled. “She won’t talk to me.”

Brett didn’t laugh; he didn’t even crack a smile. “Tell me you’re not stupid enough to let that stop you.”

“No.” He pushed to his feet and nodded. “I’m working on a plan.”

“Better make it quick before someone else gets to her first.”

They started out of the room, but Nick stopped, held his hand out to Brett.

“Thanks, man.” They shook, but when Brett tried to release his grip, Nick only tightened his. “Just so we’re clear—mess with Jayne again, and I’ll kick your ass into next week. Are we clear?”

“Yeah.” Brett stared back at him for a second, then nodded slowly, his grin back and bigger than before. “I think we’re clear.”

Nick sat in his truck for a long time before he finally worked up the courage to put it in gear. He’d wanted to be at Jayne’s apartment before she opened her store this morning, but having to wait on Brett put him behind, which meant he would have to do this in front of customers.

What was the worst that could happen? Oh, right, she could turn him around and march his ass out of the building in front of everyone like he’d done to her.

Shit.

*  *  *

Just as the ad in the paper promised, Dandelion Books opened for business on Saturday morning. Jayne pulled the paper out of the window, scrubbed both sides of the glass again, and propped the door open with a rubber door stop. Thanks to Gran, all Jayne had to do yesterday was lug the boxes back to the store, scan them all into inventory, and fill the shelves; no sorting necessary.

Since the day the lawyers told her she’d inherited the store, she’d dreamed of what this day would be like; to be back among the books she loved so much, and to be back in Nick’s life in any way she could manage.

The reality wasn’t anything close. Where a couple months ago she’d been prepared to do
it all on her own, now she just felt empty. Empty and alone.

Whose fault was that? Her own, of course.

She hadn’t answered her phone when he’d called and since finding out the truth from Katie, she’d been too chicken to call and apologize for fear he’d refuse to listen, and she wouldn’t blame him one bit. She was a coward and she knew it, and God help her, she missed him.

She tucked the window cleaner away and tried not to think about him, but that was like trying not to breathe. Even after people started trickling in, Jayne did her best to focus on them, on what they liked to read or on suggesting new authors for them, but in the back of her mind was Nick.

Oh, who was she kidding? He wasn’t anywhere near the back of her mind; he was right up front, center stage, larger than life.

“Look who’s open!” The Scott family, almost in its entirety, came through the door single file; Doc up front and Mrs. Scott pulling up the rear. Everyone but Nick. Hell, even Carter was there.

“Hi!” She forced her best smile and gave them each a hug—even Mrs. Scott—without waiting for any of them to initiate it, then led them down each of the three aisles, pointing out the different sections and suggesting books they might like; mysteries for Doc, Oprah picks for Mrs. Scott, and romance for Katie.

“What about me, Jay?” Carter lifted a huge hardcover biography of Churchill, then slipped it back in place.

“Hmm. Well, I’ve got a good selection of Dr. Seuss if that interests you.”

“Wow.” He pressed his hand over his heart. “That’s cold, and after all the hard work I put in here.”

“Here.” She slapped
The Lorax
against his chest and leaned up to kiss his cheek. “Payment for a job well done.”

“The place looks great.” Doc stood at the end of the paperback fiction, nodding as he turned in a slow circle. “Really great, Jaynie.”

“Thanks, Doc. I had a lot of help.” She swallowed hard, blinked harder, then leaned against the solid oak door Nick had installed just a few short weeks ago. “If N-Nick hadn’t … um …”

God, she was pathetic. She couldn’t even say his name without crying. That had to stop. Right now. Right this very second.

“Sorry.” She swiped her hand across her cheek, lifted her chin, and started herding the whole lot of them toward the door. “Great to see you all, but I, um, I have to close up for a while.”

“Close?” Katie frowned. “But you just opened!”

“And that’s the joy of owning the joint,” Jayne choked over a chuckle. “I can close any time I want.”

“But where are you going?”

Jayne’s grin widened; Katie would love this. “To do something I should have done a long time ago. I just hope I’m not too late.”

Half a second of silence, then Katie squealed and threw her arms around Jayne, all but squishing the baby between them.

“Come on, let’s go.” Katie pressed her hands on her parents’ backs and started shoving them toward the door. “Call me, Jayne. I want to know everything.”

Carter followed last, a twisty little grin on his mouth. “ ’Bout freakin’ time, Jay. I was beginning to think you two’d never get your shit together.”

As they pushed their way up the aisle, Jayne caught sight of T-Squared in front of their store, pointing down the road. That in itself wasn’t enough to make her wonder, but when the brothers went back inside their store and pulled customers out to look, that’s when she got to wondering.

“What’s going on?” Katie stepped outside first, then stopped so abruptly her mom had to steady herself against the door frame to keep from crashing into her.

Jayne was still a good six feet back from the front window when she saw him. Her feet stopped moving, her eyes stopped blinking and her lungs refused to budge even so much as a whisper of a breath.

Nick’s arms literally overflowed with dandelions; so much so that he left a trail as he walked, and he was walking with a purpose, right up until he got to the door; then it was a moment of chaos as he tried to push through everyone to get inside.

Seconds slowed to a crawl, and then suddenly he was there, standing in front of her, dropping bright yellow dandelions all over the floor. His golden brown eyes stared straight at
her, his mouth curled into one of those awkward half smiles, half winces like he wasn’t sure if it would be okay to hug her or if he should duck in case she took a swing at him.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought about punching him—and hard—over the last few days, but this was Nick. She couldn’t very well stay mad at her best friend forever.

Carter pulled the rubber door stop out from the bottom of the door and started to close it, but poked his head back in for one parting shot. “You might want to start him on
One Fish Two Fish—
”

Without looking away from her, Nick backed up to the door, shifted most of the load to his left arm, and jerked the door closed, almost catching Carter’s head in the process. The clunk of the deadbolt falling into place echoed throughout the now-empty store.

“I would’ve come back yesterday.” He moved toward her again, slower, lifting his arms ever so slightly. “But it took me a while to round these up.”

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.

When she finally found her breath, Jayne picked up a couple of the dandelions from the floor, forced a smirk to her lips, and blinked back at him.

“Gonna make me some more necklaces?”

Color rushed up his neck and over his face as he grinned.

“If you want me to.” He was so cute standing there with dandelions spilling over his arms, between his fingers, and all around his feet. Jayne’s heart swelled, her knees shook, and it took three tries to choke back the lump in her throat.

Who was she kidding? She wasn’t ready for this; she could wait another twenty-five years and she still wouldn’t be ready for this. It was too much; she’d never be able to handle it, never be able to tell him what she felt.

Before she knew it, she’d shredded one of the poor dandelions into dozens of pieces, all of which now lay at her feet.

Nick’s eyes softened, his mouth tipped in one of his slow smiles. “Don’t suppose you could find me a vase or two, could you?”

“Vase.” Finally able to blink, Jayne nodded sharply. “Right. Good thing I live with a florist.”

It took more focus than she knew she had to lead him up those thirteen stairs. By the time she made it into the kitchen, her legs shook so bad she thought they might buckle. Luckily she
had the counter to hold on to as she reached into the cupboard for a vase.

“Jayne.”

His breath whispered against her neck, his hands—holy crap, those hands—settled on her hips as he turned her to face him. She wasn’t ready. She needed time to find her smirk, to swallow the panic lodged in her throat, to find something to do with her hands.

His first kiss, soft and slow, melted into her, flowing through each cell until she couldn’t focus, couldn’t breathe.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured through his next kiss, his hands sliding slowly up her ribs. Jayne closed her eyes and inhaled a long slow breath. Gillette Foamy, sunshine and sawdust. If she died right now, that was the one thing she’d want to take with her into the afterlife; the scent of comfort, the scent of home. The scent of Nick.

“For … for what?”

“For not kissing you sooner. And a hell of a lot more often.”

Her lips trembled beneath his and she tensed for a second, but he just took the kiss deeper until she sighed, curled her fingers around his neck, and smiled against his mouth.

Nick couldn’t get enough; even when Jayne pulled back, her breath ragged and jittery, he wouldn’t let her go. Her fingers were magic on his neck, in his hair, her light strawberry scent pulling him back again and again, and her hips … if she kept wiggling against him like that … holy shit … there wasn’t nearly enough room in that kitchen for what he wanted to do with her.

“Nick.” Her voice, raspy and soft, smiled when she spoke. “I’m not even sorry I screwed things up between you and Lisa.”

“You didn’t.” He never lifted his mouth from her neck. “It was never right between us. I think I always knew it but thought I could fix it.”

“But she’s pretty and sweet and …”

“She’s not you. Not even close to being you.” He was serious, but seeing her smile like that, so bright, so raw, so real, made him smile, too. And it made him smile even more when she leaned in slowly, tentatively, and kissed him. Jayne—his Jayne—who’d spent so many years squirming out of his arms, was now pulling him closer, tighter, until there wasn’t so much as a whisper of space between them.