Chapter 9
The guests and staff had all gone home, and all that was left to do was lock up. Jay slipped his shoes off and stretched out his feet inside his black dress socks. “I can’t believe this night.”
“Says the man who’s supposedly seen everything.”
Rebecca sat down beside him on the leather couch in the foyer and pulled up her feet to sit cross-legged, adjusting her dress to cover even her toes.
“Another dress that covers everything?”
She gave him a dirty look. “You say that like it’s a bad thing. Dare I ask what Clarissa wears to these things?”
He smirked. “I’ve never noticed.”
“Now that’s a lie if I ever heard one. She’d get noticed in a gunny sack.”
“I thought you didn’t want to talk about Clarissa.”
“I don’t. What did the police say?”
He leaned over, wanting to come even closer, to put his arm around her and relax the way they used to on her ugly old couch in college. “They said the guy matched the description of a robbery suspect from around the block. They think he came here to hide the money and then tried to come back for it. And when he saw all those envelopes filled with gift cards and cash, he just couldn’t help himself.”
“Poor Betty and George. I really wanted their wedding to be perfect.”
Jay grinned. “Are you kidding? I’ve never seen anyone as proud as George was when Amber handed the guy off to the police. This is a night they’ll never forget.”
She sunk deeper into the couch, and Jay couldn’t bring himself to say the words that came automatically to mind.We should go.It was late, they were sitting in the dark, he was her boss, they had another wedding in the morning, and most of all, his feelings for her were growing stronger, rather than fading like he’d hoped.
He loosened his tie and undid the top button of his dress shirt, letting out a small sigh of relief at not being strangled anymore.
“Feel better?”
He smiled at her. “Much better.”
“Jay?” she reached out and took his hand, hers warm, and small, and exactly like he remembered. “I miss us.”
He stared down at their hands, too stunned to respond, and she pulled away, sitting up and running a hand through her hair. “Sorry, pretend I didn’t do that.”
He swallowed and reached for her hand back. He didn’t trust himself to talk, so he just held onto it, held onto all the crazy emotions running through his head. Several minutes passed.
“I miss us, too.” He kissed her knuckles, then stood and pulled her up with him. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
She gave a soft laugh. “My car is at the wedding chapel, remember?”
“Well, then, I’ll drive you there, and then I’ll walk you to your car.”
He should’ve let her hand go, but he didn’t. He locked up one-handed and then took her duffle bag from her, throwing the strap over his shoulder. “What do you have in here? It weighs a ton.”
“I told you, it’s my emergency kit. I have an extra pair of shoes, a blow dryer, a couple of water bottles, aspirin—”
“A bowling ball.”
She grinned. “You never know when you might have a bowling emergency.”
He got her door, finally releasing her hand so he could walk around to his side. What was happening? He didn’t want to be friends again with someone he had feelings for, and yet he’d fallen right back into it. He wanted to be upset, but mostly he felt resigned, maybe even a little relieved. He was not a twenty-year-old kid anymore. His heart could take a lot more than it used to. At least, he hoped it could. Maybe it was insane to think things would turn out differently this time.
“What are you thinking right now?” Rebecca asked.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t have access to that information.”
