Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
“I think she walked all the way to her sister’s.” Because she didn’t have a car. It had taken him a while to figure out where she was going. He’d thought she’d gone to the café to grab a drink. She’d made sure she’d taken the contracts and left. When he’d gone looking for her at the café, one of the regulars said they’d seen her walking along the road that led to the trailer park.
“It’s only a couple of miles,” Rene said. “Doesn’t she run a couple of miles a day?”
“She’s incredibly fit. I see her running by city hall and I feel lazy,” Sylvie replied. “Not that it gets me to actually exercise. I cheer her on from my comfy chair.”
Jayna jogged every day. He’d gone with her a couple of times and barely kept up, but that seemed to be the way it was with Jayna. She excelled at anything she wanted to do. Except relationships. Or maybe she didn’t want the relationship with him since she’d taken the first exit ramp she could find.
“Now, you do yoga every Wednesday in the park.” Rene winked his wife’s way. “I know because I like to take Lady and Marci for a walk right around that time. I love the view.”
Sylvie chuckled and leaned over to kiss her husband.
Their ease with one another was exactly why he’d wanted to bring Jayna on a double date with them. He’d thought about who to go out with and Rene and Sylvie had made the most sense. They were affectionate with one another and easy to talk to. Armie and Lila had two insanely chaotic boys, and half the time their dates ended with them running home to save the babysitter. Roxie and Zep usually ended up going at it in a closet somewhere. Harry and Seraphina were a great couple but Harry was too handsome, and Quaid wasn’t secure enough with Jayna to deal with that yet.
Rene and Sylvie were perfect, especially since Sylvie was a great example of a smart woman who’d had success in the big city and managed to be happy coming home.
But no. He was sitting here alone, and she was looking gorgeous and enjoying a beer with her sister. She was likely telling her sister what a dirtbag he was for trying to save her from his brother’s manipulations. Though he was sure she didn’t put it that way.
“Is he going to stare at her all night? People are starting to notice,” Sylvie whispered her husband’s way.
“Oh, they’ve been noticing.” Rene didn’t bother to keep his voice down. “Did you hear about the big scene Quaid made today at the courthouse? He practically tackled her when he heard she was having an affair with his brother.”
That got Quaid’s attention. Had the gossip gotten that bad? “She is not.”
“Well, of course she isn’t, but you know how the rumor mill goes.” Rene appeared infinitely amused. “I believe it started with the two of you arguing over her working for Paul, but after the story made its way across town, little details changed.”
“Oh, some of the interns told me that Quaid was upset because Jayna is planning on joining Geraldine at her next protest party, and she’s not bringing her swimsuit. I think that was wishful thinking on the interns’ part because they were planning on gassing up their trucks that day.”
He wanted the names of those interns. “Who?”
Sylvie’s head shook. “They’re just kids, and Jayna is gorgeous. Get used to it. You can’t beat them all up.”
He bet he could. He was surprised at how much this fight of theirs was bothering him. Any other woman and he would likely have written her off for being unreasonable. He’d handled things all wrong, but she wouldn’t talk to him about it. She’d shut him down and then walked away. It wasn’t how he dealt with relationships. The logical thing to do was to let it all go.
There was nothing logical about the way he felt about Jayna Cardet. He wanted to walk right over there, throw her over his shoulder, and run away with her.
She was turning him into a caveman.
Or worse. He was becoming one of those people who said they hated drama and then turned right around and made a whole lot of it.
“So I take it the fight was about her working for Paul?” Sylvie prompted.
He wasn’t sure what had made him come out tonight. He’d thought seriously about calling Rene and canceling, but then he’d caught sight of Sienna’s open calendar. She’d written in Angie’s party 7 p.m. Angie had to be Angela Jones, and she held her party every year at Guidry’s.
She was turning him into a creepy stalker, too.
“Paul is using her for some reason. I already called and left him a message telling him to stay away from Jayna,” he explained. “Naturally he hasn’t called back. I’m sure he’s out somewhere partying it up.”