it around me.”
“At least Elaine and I didn’t have any children to get caught up in this mess.”
She picked up on that bitterness again and knew that even if he didn’t realize it, he was still smarting. “Speaking of Elaine, how did you manage to hold yourself together?”
He regarded her from beneath lowered lids. “You do what you have to.”
“Still, it must’ve been tough to continue living with her after she betrayed you.”
“Under the circumstances, what choice did I have? When I found out about the cancer, I couldn’t just desert her.”
“I couldn’t have, either,” Janey said, her voice shaking. “If I’d stayed around, that is. At one time Elaine was my best friend.”
“I know.” His tone was bleak. “Anyway, she didn’t suffer long. Her death six months later was a blessing.”
“I still can’t believe it all happened.” Janey felt the back of her eyelids sting again.
As if he sensed she was close to tears, he lightened his tone and asked, “So, have you found someone else?”
“As in a man?”
His lips twitched. “Yep.”
She gave a quick, derisive laugh. “Not just no, hell no.”
“Ouch!”
“I’ve grown too independent. I’ll never depend on a man again.”
“Never’s a long time.”
“That’s the way I feel.” Janey tilted her head. “What about you?”
“I go out,” he said. “But it’s no big deal.”
The wariness in his voice didn’t escape her, but she wasn’t about to let him off the hook. This was his party, and he damn sure was going to pay for it. “I thought there was about to be a ring on your finger.”
His features darkened. “What makes you think that?”
“The woman you were with at the restaurant.”
“What about her?”
“The way she looked at you, like she could eat you with a spoon.”
His face lost its color, and he muttered an expletive. “She’s just a friend.”
“I think you’d better tell her that.”
She was obviously rubbing salt in another open wound, and didn’t know why. All she could figure was that this whole bizarre outing had gotten to her. Her nerves had had it.
“I have,” he said emphatically. “She knows the score. Like you, I’m not particularly eager to get involved in another lasting relationship.”
“Whatever.”
He tightened his lips before staring at her for a heartbeat. “It appears the two of us have more in common than we thought.”
“Don’t count on it.”
He shrugged and smiled. “We’ll see.”
Resisting the urge to lash back with No we won’t, Janey rose. “I really do have to go.”
His eyes made a disturbing sweep of her slender figure, seeming to linger on her moist, parted lips as if fascinated by them.
“No problem,” he finally said.
Long after they reached his vehicle, Janey’s face was still on fire.
Eight
Just one healthy swig. What could it hurt? Keith asked himself, reaching for the bottle of bourbon. Who could it hurt? That was the important question. No one except himself, and he didn’t give a damn.
Right now, he wasn’t seeing Sabrina. After she’d more or less given him an ultimatum, then walked out in a huff, he hadn’t even bothered to call her. But that was all right. The bitch had served her purpose, anyway. They had been together nearly three years. Following the split with Janey, she’d kept his bed warm. That was all he’d cared about.
Now Janey was back.
That thought suddenly panicked him, and he took a drink straight out of the bottle, but not before gazing out from the glass cubicle that was his office and making sure no one was watching.
He felt the liquor burn all the way to his gut. Yet it gave him a much-needed shot of adrenaline. He found he had to have that to begin his day, and to end it.
Selling cars sucked.
He couldn’t quit, though. He made too much money at it. He couldn’t afford to give it up. Not only were his tastes expensive, but he had Robin’s child support to pay. And pay he had, until recently. Suddenly he had fallen behind.
He winced against the prick of his conscience. He’d made some bad investments, and they had come back to haunt him. Even so, he intended to make good on his financial commitment to his kid. He wasn’t dead broke, just strapped for the moment.
Anyway, he didn’t have much choice. Something told him he’d better adhere to the court orders, or Janey just might file charges.
He couldn’t have that. Besides, he wanted to do right by Robin. That was important to him. He might have fucked his wife over, but he would never do anything to hurt his daughter.
Despite what Sabrina had said, he wasn’t using Robin to get to Janey. He suddenly felt another prick to his conscience. Well, maybe that wasn’t entirely true. But he did care about Robin. He hadn’t realized how much until she’d returned from Colorado and they had had time alone, without Janey’s mistrustful influence.
Maybe that was why he’d been having these crazy thoughts about getting his family back together again. Raising a teenager hadn’t turned out to be nearly as scary as he’d imagined.
And he missed Janey.
Dammit, he hated to admit that, but he couldn’t deny it any longer. Since she’d been back, he’d been by the store, had even parked across the street and watched her as she’d worked. Once she’d come out onto the porch to sweep it off, and he’d gotten a good look at her.
The sight of her had actually shocked him. She had lost so much weight, yet she looked great, especially her breasts. They were as voluptuous as ever.
Something he’d thought was dead—his attraction for her—had roared back to life. He’d been hard-pressed to remain in the vehicle. Yet he’d known better than to approach her, fearing she might clobber him with that broom.
Besides, he hadn’t been ready, either. He had to be a hundred-percent sure Robin was on his side. She was the key that could reopen the door into Janey’s heart.
Although
