“Me? Oh, I’m good.” He kicked out one denim-covered leg. “I’ve been working at a job site just three blocks away all morning. I came to check on my mom and then was going to grab some chili for lunch.”
“Sounds good. It’s cold out.”
He groaned. “It’s miserable and about to snow again.”
“Winter.”
“Yeah.” He looked at her another second, then said, “Hey, how about I take you to lunch?”
“Really?” To her surprise, she was actually thinking about it. Lunch with a cute guy like Jack sounded so much better than sitting in her empty house reliving the last twenty-four hours.
“There’s a Skyline Chili Parlor just a mile away, over on Snider. We could grab some lunch, and then I’ll bring you back here. I’ll need to take Harvard home first, but that won’t take long. What do you say?”
Just as she was about to say yes, she remembered that Shannon and Kimber had picked her up. “I’m sorry. I just remembered that I didn’t drive here. If I left, I wouldn’t have a way to get back home.”
“You just live in Bridgeport, right?” After she nodded, Jack said, “I could drop you home. It wouldn’t take but a minute.”
That didn’t sound quite as easy. But . . . wasn’t it time to do a little bit of trusting? She’d trusted Shannon and Kimber enough to go to this store with them.
Jack offered a charming smile. “What do you think, Jennifer? Ready to do something besides chat in my mother’s bookshop?”
Jennifer couldn’t help smiling back. He had a puppy who was a sweetheart. He checked on his mother. And even though he’d met both Shannon and Kimber the model, he’d still asked her to lunch.
After putting Harvard down, she stood up. “You know what? I’d love to go to lunch. Thanks.”
“Thank you, Jennifer. You made my day.” Bending down, he clipped a red leash to Harvard’s collar. “Let’s go, then. I’m starving. Are you?”
“You know what? I am. I just realized I never ate breakfast.”
“I’d say this was perfect timing, then. A lunch date meant to be.”
His words echoed in the passage as he led her down the stairs.
CHAPTER 23
“A star danced, and under that I was born.”
—William Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing
“What do you think about that?” Kimber asked as Shannon pulled out of the Backdoor Books parking lot.
Shannon laughed as she paused for traffic before pulling out. “Think about what? The fact that I just bought eighty dollars’ worth of books that I hadn’t budgeted for . . . or that our girl Jennifer just went on a lunch date when we were supposed to be babysitting her?”
“All of it.” Kimber waved a hand. “Well, not the book-buying part. I knew I’d buy too many books the moment we stepped through the door. That’s a great bookstore.”
“I liked it a lot, too. It’s got the best selection of romances and mysteries. And that Camille is a peach. She was so personable and made some good recommendations, too.”
“What do you think Dylan is going to say about our visit?”
“I don’t know.” Though she feared he was going to freak out on her. Dylan really did provide a perfect example of an overprotective brother. Frowning at the light snow that had just started to fall, she continued, “I half thought that I should call him and give him a heads-up that we were taking Jennifer out, but it really isn’t my place.”
“It sure isn’t.”
“That said, I have a feeling he’s not going to be happy about Jennifer going on a lunch date with Jack.”
“I thought the same thing,” Kimber said.
“Do you think I should call him about that?”
“Nope. Nobody is going to be happy if you decide to interfere like that. Jennifer will get mad at you for tattling on her, and Dylan will get pissed because you didn’t stop them.”
Shannon could see that happening. “You’re right. I’m just going to keep my mouth shut. It wasn’t like Jennifer asked for my opinion anyway.” That was the truth and did give her some reassurance.
“I’d be surprised if she even remembered that you were in that building.” Kimber gave her a sideways look. “Jennifer Lange wasn’t thinking about you, doll.”
“You aren’t wrong about that. The girl only had eyes for Jack.”
“It was romantic.” Kimber stretched her hands over a knee. “That guy was a hunk, and he looked like he’d just won the lotto when he walked her out the door.”
“He really did, didn’t he?”
“And then there was his mom,” Kimber said, her voice still soft and dreamy sounding. “She looked like she was about to cry, she was so happy her son found himself a good woman.”
“Hold on, now. You’re making it sound like they’re on their way to the altar. They’re going to eat chili.”
“I know. But there’s something there. I know it.”
Even though the snow had returned, the roads were clear and traffic was light. As they headed back toward the heart of Bridgeport, Shannon sneaked a glance at her sister. “Kimber, I had no idea you were such a romantic.”
She looked affronted. “I’m not.”
“Really?”
“All right,” she added after a slight hesitation. “I kind of am.”
Those answers hinted that there was a story there. “Have you ever been in love?”
Kimber stayed quiet for a moment, then said, “Almost.”
“I knew it! When?”
“When I was just a kid. In high school.”
When Kimber didn’t add another detail, Shannon groaned. “Come on. You can’t just leave me hanging like that.”
“Calm down. It’s not that exciting.”
“Come on, Kimber. Give me a bone. What happened? Who was it? How long did y’all date?”
“Uh-oh. Your drawl is back.”
“I’m excited. And you’re hedging.”
Kimber chuckled low. “Maybe I am, I don’t know. I’m sure your relationships back in the day were just as filled with drama.”
“They might have been, if I’d had a boyfriend in high school.”