“You seem to be immune.”
She was glad he thought so. Having him know she did a little ogling of her own would be too embarrassing. “I’m still dealing with my divorce.”
“How long has it been?”
She thought for a second. “We separated about fourteen months ago. Huh. I would have said less time, but we started the process right when Ryleigh started dating Dustin.” She looked at Marcus. “Those events are unrelated.”
“I’m glad your sister’s dating life didn’t cause the divorce.”
“Me, too. That would be just plain weird.”
She heard a flap of wings and held out her arm. Ramon landed on her hand and stared at Marcus.
“This is CNN,” he said, sounding just like the late James Earl Jones.
Jax laughed. “You’re a funny bird.”
“I’m a handsome bird.”
“You are.”
Ramon stared at Marcus. “Your turn.”
“He wants you to put out your arm,” she said.
Marcus obliged. Ramon hopped over, then walked up his arm to his shoulder where he nuzzled his hair. Jax noticed Marcus had no trouble with the parrot being close, unlike Shawna who had totally freaked.
“He likes you,” she said. “You have a way with women and birds. It’s a gift.”
He flashed her a surprisingly sexy smile. “One that I treasure for sure.”
“Namaste,” Jax said, her hands pressed together as she bowed slightly.
Their instructor repeated the word, then smiled. “Good work, everyone. See you next week.”
Jax picked up her mat and began to roll it. “We’ve been doing this nearly a year,” she grumbled. “Why aren’t I getting more bendy?”
Her sister grinned at her. “Because we’re only coming to class once a week. If you want to get more out of it, you’ll have to come more often.”
Jax lowered her voice. “But I already don’t like it very much. I don’t want to do it more.”
“If you don’t like it, why do you come at all?”
“Because it’s good for me and it’s trendy. I don’t have a lot of trendy in my life.” She laughed. “I like being able to say, ‘Oh, I have to go or I’ll be late for yoga.’”
“Do you say that a lot?” Ryleigh asked.
“I try to work it into several conversations every week.”
“You’re so weird.”
“I’m good with that,” Jax admitted as they walked back to the cubbies where they’d stored their belongings. She slipped on the tank dress she’d worn in over her leggings and workout top, then stepped into her sandals. Her sister did the same, then they walked out together and headed for the coffee place two doors down. Once they’d ordered their lattes and agreed to split a muffin, they found a table and sat down by the window facing the street.
“The weather has been great,” Jax said. “I’m loving the warm temperatures. I just hope that doesn’t mean we’ll have a hot summer. Nothing over eighty-five or the tourists get cranky.”
“And a cranky tourist isn’t in the mood to shop.”
“Exactly.”
