‘Jasper.’ Heat had flowed through her as his gaze had wandered over her.
‘Jennifer.’ When he lifted his eyes to meet hers, he wasn’t surprised to discover repressed desire in her blue depths. He also knew she could see the same emotion in him.
‘Don’t look at me that way.’
‘You’ve said that before but I just don’t seem to be able to stop.’ His voice had dipped to an intimate whisper and somehow the distance between them had seemed to disappear.
‘We can’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘Not here. Too many eyes.’ She glanced around her as she spoke, checking to see there weren’t any other guests…or Sara…lurking around the corner, listening to everything they said. ‘And this is hardly the time to continue our discussion. Standing in the middle of Sara’s kitchen.’
‘True.’ Jasper exhaled harshly and shoved his hands in his pockets, desperate to control the need to haul her into his arms. ‘Tomorrow?’
‘Sorry?’
‘Can we discuss this tomorrow?’
‘I’m on call.’
‘I’ll come to the hospital and help you if I have to, just so long as I can get ten minutes alone with you between cases.’
‘Jasper.’
‘Jen, I can’t stop thinking about you. It’s starting to drive me insane.’
‘I…er…can’t stop thinking about you either.’ A slight blush tinged her cheeks at the words.
His eyebrows raised at this information and the corners of his lips tugged into a small smile. ‘Really?’
‘Yes. Why are you so surprised?’
‘I’m not surprised. I’m…very pleased by this information. It means we’re both on the same page.’
‘Page? What page?’ A woman with short blonde hair and large circles beneath her eyes came into the kitchen. ‘Have you joined a book club, big brother?’ She laughed at her own joke. ‘As if you’d have time for reading anything that isn’t a medical text. That’s all I have time for. That and stupid bridal magazines.’
Jennifer had stepped back, putting distance between the two of them as the woman who was obviously Jasper’s sister had come into the kitchen.
‘Jennifer, this is my sister Megan. Megan, this is Jennifer, my new boss at the hospital.’
‘Oh, hi. I’ve heard so much about you.’ Megan shook hands with Jennifer.
‘You have?’ She looked to Jasper. Had he confided in his sister?
‘The girls told Megan how you came over for pancakes,’ he quickly clarified, seeing the look of panic that had crossed Jennifer’s face.
‘Pancakes.’ Megan said the word and nodded knowingly, as though ‘pancakes’ was a code word for something completely different.
‘They were delicious,’ Jennifer said, trying to make the point that pancakes had definitely been on the menu rather than what Megan was insinuating…even though Megan wasn’t at all far from the truth.
‘That’s how it starts,’ Megan continued, not fooled for a second. ‘Pancakes one minute, marriage proposal the next, and then, wham—a week before the wedding the groom isn’t sure he wants to go through with it.’
‘What?’ Jasper put his hands on Megan’s shoulders, instantly concerned. ‘Megsy? What’s happened?’
At that question Megan burst into tears and buried her face in her brother’s chest, his arms automatically going around her. He met Jennifer’s eyes over the top of his sister’s head and smiled sadly. ‘Tomorrow,’ he mouthed, and Jennifer nodded, leaving the kitchen to give them some privacy. She admired the way he was there to support his sister, to comfort her and to help her through what was obviously a difficult time. He was quite a man.
Jennifer busied herself helping Iris and talking to Ian, Jasper’s father, as he cooked the meat, chicken and prawns on the barbecue. Most of the people there were related in some obscure way or, like Jennifer herself, were old friends of either Sara or Matt. There were children everywhere and lots of fun and laughter, and it was just the sort of day Jennifer needed after the past hectic month.
‘Still working day and night?’ Iris asked a while later, coming to sit with Jennifer beneath the small marquee in the back yard. The two of them had seen each other a few times during the past week after Jennifer had moved into her new home. The first time she’d popped in, Iris had brought a cake to officially welcome Jennifer to the neighbourhood, and along with the cake had come two adorable girls to help eat it. Both Lola and Lilly had ended up with chocolate smeared all over their faces, hands and Jennifer’s glass tabletop. It had been then she’d realised that her furniture was hardly child friendly and she’d made a mental note to child-proof the house so the twins would be safe when they visited.