“I told him I didn’t want to see him again,” Jane admitted, her voice low.
Mindy’s mouth dropped open. “Why in the world would you do that? I thought you liked this guy. You two had major chemistry going on.”
“We don’t have chemistry,” she protested, but Mindy just laughed.
“Honey, you two had so much chemistry, I could practically taste it that night at the spaghetti feed. The way he looked at you—whew.” Mindy fanned herself, a melancholy expression crossing her face. “I wish Marty looked at me like that.”
“I bet he does. Maybe you just don’t notice.”
“No, I don’t think he’s ever looked at me like that.” Mindy sighed, sounding wistful. “So why would you tell him you didn’t want to see him again?”
Jane shrugged, feeling stupid. “I need to focus on the children. On Lexi. The holidays are almost here and I can’t be distracted by a man when my main goal is to make this the best Christmas ever for those three. Plus, his job is too dangerous. I’d worry about him all the time. Oh yeah, and he’s too perfect—”
“Honey, you’re worrying way too much about the future and not even giving him a chance! And hey, aren’t we all perfect with the first blush of love?”
“There’s no love involved whatsoever.” God forbid; it was far too soon for that. She couldn’t believe her sister had dropped that word. “I just think he has to have a huge flaw hidden somewhere in his depths. And I bet it’s a doozy. It has to be.”
“Well, like I told you, I do hear he’s a player. But they say that about Mac, too, and I don’t see him parading women around. Chris is respected in the community, his job allows him to be the hero every single day, he’s gorgeo
us, and he seems to like your kids. What more could you ask for?”
“Exactly my point. He’s way too perfect.” Jane shrugged, her worries confirmed. She had just gone on a date with a man who went through women like Kleenex. Great. “Audrey Daniels told me he’s a player, too. I ran into her last night at the theater.”
Mindy snorted. “Audrey Daniels loves nothing more than to stir the pot.”
“She was kind of rude to me. She almost seemed happy that the children and I were ‘suffering,’ as she put it.”
Mindy nodded. “She’s a total bitch, trust me. Steer clear of her. You know, now that I think about it, I heard a rumor about her and Chris. Apparently, at the big Fourth of July bash last year, she approached him and took off her bikini top, gave him a real show. He tossed her a blanket and walked away.”
Why that warmed the remote corners of Jane’s heart she refused to think about. She already knew he was a gentleman. This story proved it, despite the player confirmation. “Poor Chris.”
“Poor Chris is right. She couldn’t stop throwing herself at him every chance she got. I wasn’t around when all of this happened, but I heard it was pretty embarrassing. She made a fool of herself.”
“No wonder she’s getting a divorce.” Sounded as if Audrey self-imploded.
“Exactly.”
“Doesn’t she have, like, five kids?”
“And she breast fed every one of them.” Mindy grinned.
“I bet those things are pretty droopy.” Jane giggled. She didn’t like talking badly about people—she knew what it felt like, the stares and the whispers and the back talking. She’d been whispered about for months after the accident. She bet people still talked about her.
But bitchy Audrey Daniels deserved it.
“I’m positive those things are droopy. They probably fall to her knees when let loose. And I’m sure Audrey said that to you because she was jealous.”
“Why would she be? Please. I’m not the first girl he’s taken to the movies. Someone as hot as Chris can’t possibly go without female attention for long.” Jane picked at a napkin, shredding the thin paper strip by strip. “He’s going out of town for a week. For work. But he said he wants to see me again.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I can’t see him anymore. My hands are tied.”
“They are not. That’s about the dumbest thing I think I’ve ever heard you say, and I’ve heard you say lots of dumb stuff.” Mindy shook her head. “Who cares about his supposed reputation? It could be fun, dating him. Why would you want to give up on something before it even started?”
Jane’s entire body went cold. Why would she indeed? He might look like a total god but she was certainly no prize. She’d barely looked at herself naked in the mirror since the accident. Oh, she caught glimpses when she left the shower, but she always dodged the steamy mirror or wrapped her body tight in a towel
When she couldn’t face her own body, how could she expose herself to a man? How could she expect him to react with anything but disgust? When he touched her face, her scars, how embarrassed she’d been, so ashamed. She could never be pretty again.