An After-Hours Affair

She wouldn’t let that happen. She was tough. She was controlled. She could do this.

“No problem,” she managed to assure him with a dismissive wave of her hand, sitting down and turning back to her computer. “Business as usual. I get it. We slipped up. Hey, it happens.”

“Are you sure—”

“I’m fine,” she said with forced brightness. “If you don’t mind, I’d really like to get through these emails before coffee. The auto club will be here—” She stopped right there. No point in bringing up any reminders of their one-night fling. It was over and done, and she wasn’t going to think about it ever again.

The desk phone rang, and she scooped it up, turning her back completely on Mitch. “Texas Cattleman’s Club.”

“What happened?” It was Emily’s voice.

A flush prickled Jenny’s scalp. “Can I call you back?”

“Is he there?”

“Yes.”

“Roger. Got it. Call me back as soon as you can, okay?”

“I will.” Just as soon as she went to the bathroom and threw up.

She hung up the phone and stared at her computer, the characters blurring in front of her eyes.

He was still standing behind her.

She could feel his heat and hear his breathing.

She schooled her features and turned. “Is there anything else?”

He looked lost, and a little confused—an unheard of state for Mitch Hayward. “I really am sorry.”

Jenny gathered every bit of dignity she could muster. “So you said.”

“Maybe we could—”

“I don’t think talking about it is going to help.”

He paused for a moment. “Right. I guess not.”

“Like you said.” She turned and punched a couple of random computer keys. “We’ll simply forget it ever happened. Carry on as usual.” And she was absolutely, positively going to date other men. This silly fantasy of hers had gone on far too long. She was nearly thirty. Mitch was nowhere in her future, and she was ready to fully accept that reality.

When Jenny finally left the office at the end of the workday, Emily was there in the parking lot, leaning up against Jenny’s car, looking very impatient. Jenny’s steps faltered, but she knew she couldn’t avoid Emily forever.

“You didn’t call me back,” Emily accused, straightening away from the door panel.

“You sabotaged my car,” Jenny pointed out. The auto club guy had boosted it midmorning, and the battery was back in shape now.

“For a good cause.” Emily peered at Jenny’s expression. “Seriously. What on earth happened last night?”

“My life’s not going to change, that’s for sure.” Jenny focused on unlocking the car door.

“Did he insult you? Ignore you? What?”

Though she’d like nothing better than to take Mitch’s advice and forget last night ever happened, Jenny knew she couldn’t keep a secret like that from her best friend. It was too big, too devastating. It would eat her alive if she didn’t share it. Though it might eat her alive even if she did.

“Get in,” she told Emily, hitting the unlock button for the passenger side.

Emily quickly rounded the car and hopped in, pulling her seat belt into place. “Spill.”

Jenny cranked the engine, putting the car into Reverse, swinging around to head for the parking lot exit. She needed to get clear of the TCC building and the feeling of having Mitch close by before she spoke.

She followed the curve of the road and put her mouth on automatic pilot, struggling to stay detached from the words she was uttering. She tried to pretend she was talking about someone else, some poor, hapless woman who’d let her emotions rule her logic and who got exactly what she’d deserved.

“At first,” she told Emily, “it seemed like he didn’t notice me at all. Nothing was different. Except he didn’t ask me to dance. He always asks me to dance. As if he has to. Like it’s his duty. Since I’m technically his ‘date.’”

“Jen? You’re babbling.”

“Right.” Jenny’s moist hands slipped on the warm steering wheel. “He didn’t ask me to dance.”

“I got that.”

“I got ticked off and left. I mean, the hair, the dress, the makeup, the shoes. Do you blame me for being upset? Don’t you think any normal, red-blooded guy would have asked me to dance?”

“I don’t blame you for getting ticked off. And, for what it’s worth, I thought you looked hot.”

“Thank you. I agree. I felt like a fool. But I looked hot.”

Emily smirked and snorted out a laugh.

“So, I leave the reception. I head for my car.”

“Which I’d incapacitated.”

Jenny nodded her acknowledgment. “Which you’d incapacitated. Thank you very much, by the way.”

“Did it work?”

“Like a charm.”

“I knew it would.”

“He drove me home.”

“I knew he would.”

“And I slept with him.”

“I knew—” Emily twisted in her seat. “Wait a minute. What?”