“Yes. I know.” Sienna chuckled, flashing her winning smile. “But I’m sorry all the same. I know you didn’t come here for that.”
“Actually, I kinda did. Remember? I need to be photographed making out with someone.” I groaned inwardly at the thought. The last time I had to “cheat” on my “boyfriend” for the benefit of a camera, the random guy I’d chosen had been incredibly grabby. I’d ended the short encounter with bruises all over my arms and sides, and a super painful hickey on my neck.
“Hopefully, you’ll be doing this with someone you’re actually interested in.” Concern flickered behind her gaze.
“Hopefully.” A vision of Deputy Dreamy from our night together years ago flashed through my mind, him sitting on the couch just before I’d straddled him, just before we’d kissed. My neck heated and a twisting warmth curled low in my belly. He’d given me plenty of eye contact that night, and he hadn’t been at all grabby. I tried to recall the last time a man had looked me in the eye longer than in the chest.
Deputy Dreamy was the last.
As though poking around in my thoughts, Sienna asked, “When was the last time you were with someone you were actually interested in?”
I worked to make my small smile look sincere, but knew I failed when Sienna’s neutral expression became a frown.
Wanting to disarm her worry, I let the whiskey do the talking, “It’s actually a funny story.”
“Is it?” She sipped her second shot, finishing it, her gaze direct and disbelieving.
“Remember your wedding?” I asked, and then rolled my eyes at myself as soon as the words were out. “Of course you remember your wedding. Sorry. Anyway, there was a guy at the wedding, and we kind of hooked up.”
She sat up straighter. “What? Who?”
I picked up the last whiskey shot and sipped it, rolling the liquid around on my tongue to delay responding. According to Sienna and Jethro, Jackson didn’t have any kids, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t married or in a serious relationship with someone.
“Rae. Why am I just hearing about this now? Who was it? Do I know him?”
Nodding, I took another sip. Please oh please let him be single.
“Oh my God. It wasn’t one of Jethro’s brothers, was it?”
“No! No, it wasn’t.”
“Oh, good. That might’ve made things awkward.”
“Why?”
“I’ve decided you’re staying with us in our carriage house, and you’re staying as long as you want—hopefully two weeks or longer, if you can spare the time. Jet’s brothers stop by pretty frequently.”
I forced a smile to hide the abrupt pang of bitterness. “I can stay two weeks, thank you.” The truth was I could stay months if Sienna wanted. The movie I was supposed to begin filming had dropped me a mere three days ago, replacing me on the project with my once and former BFF. I now had a gaping hole in my schedule for the first time in years.
“Good. It’s two bedrooms with tons of privacy, you’ll love it. Now, who is he? Who is the guy?”
“Ah, yes, the hookup.”
“Who was it?”
“He’s—uh—the deputy. From today.” I braced myself, watching her, holding my breath.
Why are you holding your breath, Rae? And why is your heart beating so fast?
Sienna didn’t frown, but her eyes grew impossibly large. “Jackson? Jackson James?”
All pretense of self-control lost, I drank the rest of the fourth whiskey and smacked my lips together. “Yep. That’s the guy.”
“Are you serious?”
“As serious as a Botox shortage in Beverly Hills.”
“Wow.” Her gaze lowered to the table, losing focus. “Wow.”
“Do you know him?” I picked up the last shot glass, but then I remembered it was already empty. “Is he a bad guy? Is he married?”
“No, he’s not a bad guy. He’s a good guy, I think. I like him! Though I honestly don’t know him as well as I should. Sometimes he babysits for us, when we’re in a crunch.”
“He babysits the boys?”
“Yes. They love him. What I know about Jackson’s personal life is mostly just what I hear about him from others when I’m in town between location shoots. Small-town gossip, that kind of thing. And he’s definitely not married.” She said the word definitely funny, with a strong intonation that made me think maybe there was more to the story. “And he doesn’t date.”
“Wait, what does that mean? Is he gay?” My heart sunk while my brain raced to and then jumped off the cliff of hasty conclusions.
“No, no. I mean, as far as I know, he’s not. But I didn’t know Harrison liked men until he cheated on you that first time. And it’s not like I’m going around asking people where on the sexual orientation spectrum they fall. But, if I had to guess, I’d say Jackson is firmly and vigorously heterosexual based on his—uh—history. With women.”
Selfish relief mixed with suspicion, and I narrowed my eyes at her. “You’re babbling. Why are you babbling?”
“Sorry.” She laughed, looking like she wanted to say so many things. “You just caught me off guard.” Sienna picked up her shot glass and sipped it, watching me closely.
I glanced down at my shirt to make sure I’d hadn’t spilled something on myself. Finding my tank top free of liquid, I asked, “What?”
“Jackson.”
“Yes. Jackson.” Jackson James. I’d always liked the way his name sounded. He had a great name.
“You know, I’m kind of related to him.”
“Does that make him off-limits?” I blurted.
Another smile curved her lips, a slow, sneaky looking one. “No, no, he’s definitely on-limits. My husband’s brother Duane—one of the twins—is married to Jackson’s sister, Jessica.”
“That’s a lot of J names.”
“Indeed. Duane and Jessica just had a baby last year.”
“Let me guess, Jarvis?”
“No. Liam. Anyway, I guess Jackson is my brother-in-law, in a roundabout way.”
Parched, I reached for my water glass and took a big gulp. Sienna fiddled with her whiskey shot, her stare what I would call speculative, that secretive smile still on her lips like she had thoughts.
She was making me nervous. “What? What is it?”
“Nothing.” She shrugged, clearly lying. “So, what happened? Did you two keep in touch?”
“No. It was just a one-time thing. You know me.”
“Yes. I know you.”
“What is that supposed to mean? I’m feeling judged.”
“You shouldn’t. It’s not like it’s any secret that you don’t take home your leftovers. I’ve never seen you with the same guy twice, except Harrison.”
Blah.
“Hey, so.” Sienna shrugged, her tone excessively casual. “If you want me to set something up with Jackson or help you figure out how to approach him, I will.”
“You will?” I couldn’t keep the enthusiasm out of my voice. Oh man, this was great. So great. I had no idea how to approach him. What does one say to a man that one wishes to snog after five plus years of silence?