Until We Touch

But he’d been unable to shake the words and had realized he had to get the truth from the only person who actually knew.

Larissa drew in a breath. “I don’t love you. We’re friends. I like working for you, and the charity work is terrific, and I know you have my back, but I’m not in love with you.”

Relief eased the tension in Jack’s always aching right shoulder. He kept his expression neutral.

“You sure?” he asked.

“Yes. Positive.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m pretty hot. I could understand you having a thing for me. You’ve seen me naked. Now that I think about it, your reaction is inevitable.” He sighed. “You love me. Admit it.”

Larissa’s mouth twitched. “Jack, you’re not all that.”

“But I am. Remember that fan who had my face tattooed on her breast? And the one who begged me to father her child? And the woman in Pittsburgh who wanted me to lick her—”

Larissa rested her arms on the desk and dropped her head to her arms. “Stop. You have to stop.”

“Stronger women than you have been unable to resist my charms.”

“In your dreams.”

“No. Apparently in yours.”

She looked at him then, her blue eyes wide, her mouth smiling. “I give.”

“In the end, they all do.”

The smile faded. “I’m sorry about my mother. She shouldn’t have said that. I swear I am not, nor will I ever be, in love with you. I love my job and you’re a big part of that. But we’re friends, right? That’s better. Besides, you have terrible taste in your ‘let’s end this now’ gifts.”

“Which is why I let you buy them.” He hesitated a second. “We’re good?”

“The best.” Her smile returned.

The last of his worry faded. This was the Larissa he knew. All funny and earnest. Hair pulled back in a ponytail and not a speck of makeup on her face. She wore yoga pants and T-shirts and always had some cause to discuss with him. She believed the world was worth saving and he didn’t mind if she used his money to try. They made a good team. He didn’t want to have to do without her and having her love him...Well, that would have changed everything.

* * *

JO’S BAR WAS the kind of place you’d only find in a quirky small town. From the outside, it looked perfectly normal, but the second you stepped inside, you knew that this was a bar unlike any other.

For one thing, it was well lit. There were no dark shadows, no questionable stains on the floor. The colors were girl-friendly mauve and yellow, the windows were uncovered and the big TVs were always tuned to the Style Network or Project Runway.

Larissa walked inside. She saw the countdown sign that pointed out the number of days until the new season of Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders: Making the Team started and grinned. Yup, life was different here and she liked it.

She glanced around and saw her friends in a booth by the windows. They looked up and waved her over.

When she’d first decided to leave Los Angeles for Fool’s Gold, she’d been nervous about starting over. What if she didn’t fit in? What if she couldn’t make friends? But those fears had been groundless, she thought as she waved back and crossed to the big table.

“I saved you a seat,” Isabel said, patting the empty space beside her. “You’re just in time to join the debate about whether we’re going to order nachos for the table and have margaritas and pretend we don’t have to get back to work or if we’re going to be good and order regular lunches and drink iced tea.”

Larissa settled in the chair. She glanced at Taryn and grinned. “My vote depends on my boss. If she’s drinking, I’m all in.”

Because right now, a drink sounded great.

What had her mother been thinking? The same question had circled in her brain for much of the morning. Talk about humiliating and inappropriate. As soon as she’d calmed down and could talk about it rationally, she was going to have a very long chat with her mother.

She was lucky that Jack had handled the situation with his usual easy charm, but jeez. What if he’d thought her mother was telling the truth? She didn’t want to think about it.

Love Jack? She had flaws but being an idiot wasn’t one of them. Besides, they were a great team. She would never mess with that.

“You okay?” Taryn asked quietly.

“Yeah. Great.”

Because faking it was much easier than telling the truth.

Taryn, ever stylish in a designer suit that probably cost more than half a year’s rent on Larissa’s apartment, tossed her menu onto the table. “What the hell. Let’s be wild.”

Dellina, a local party planner and Sam’s fiancée, tossed her menu down, as well. “I don’t have any client meetings this afternoon.”

Isabel laughed. “I have a store to run. I’d better be careful or I’ll accidentally put the new merchandise on sale.”

“I love being bad,” Taryn announced. “I just love it.”

“You’ve always been bad,” Dellina told her. “You’re the type. I can tell about these things.”

Larissa leaned back in the booth and prepared to listen. She enjoyed being around these women. They were smart, successful and yet so very different. Taryn was one of the partners at Score. While all four partners were equal owners, the three guys would admit that Taryn was just a little more equal than the rest of them. She was good at keeping her “boys” in line.

Larissa had always admired her. Taryn dressed in beautiful clothes, walked around in five-inch heels and had a handbag collection that belonged in a museum. Better than that, Taryn was a good friend.

Dellina handled events of all kinds in town. Birthday parties, weddings. A couple of months ago she’d planned and managed a big weekend event for Score’s biggest clients. She was also recently engaged to Sam.

Isabel owned Paper Moon. On one side, a clothing store, on the other, wedding gowns. All three women were professionally dressed in suits or dresses. Larissa glanced down at her yoga pants. Maybe in her next life she would inherit the fashion gene, she thought wistfully. Until then, she was going to dress for comfort and practicality.

Jo, the owner of the bar, came over and took their order. Taryn ordered nachos for the table and a pitcher of margaritas. Jo raised her eyebrows.

“Not planning to work this afternoon?” she asked.

“We’re going to see how it goes,” Taryn told her.

“I’ve heard that before.”

“She doesn’t think we’re behaving responsibly,” Dellina murmured when Jo had left.

“Then my work here is done,” Taryn said. “So what’s new with everyone?”

“I’m busy with fall clothes.” Isabel smiled. “You have to come in and see what’s new. There are some beautiful things.” She turned to Taryn. “There’s a suede jacket you’ll love.”

“I’ll come see it when we’re done here.”