“Yes, she does.” He looked like he was trying to remember seeing her out of them. “Jean,” he said, “I need to talk to Gemma. In private.”
“Of course,” she said as she backed away. “How about if I meet you at your apartment later?”
“Fine,” he said. As Jean left to go to her car, Colin kept his eyes on Gemma. When they were alone, he said, “I’d like to talk with you.”
“I need to shower and change, then maybe—”
“You’ll find a way to avoid me,” he said. “What if I offer to let you practice a few punches on me?”
She didn’t smile. “Where do I sign up?”
“There’s a little summerhouse in the back. We can talk there. Please.” Colin looked over her head, and she knew he was letting Mike know they’d be back soon.
With a sigh, Gemma nodded.
Colin led her to a pretty little lattice structure, painted a deep blue-green. Around them were tall hedges and to the right was a huge tree with heavy branches that spread out above their heads.
“This is beautiful,” she said. “It’s like an enchanted garden where nothing bad could ever happen.”
“Far from it,” Colin said, his tone almost menacing.
“Does that mean that something bad did happen here?”
He didn’t answer, but sat down on the mossy grass beneath the tree, and she took a seat a few feet from him. “I don’t usually . . .” he began. “I mean, I’ve never . . .”
“Look,” she said, “it was nothing. No big deal. Women today jump in and out of bed with men all the time. You were my first—and only—one-night stand and it upset me, that’s all. Let’s leave it at that, okay?” She started to get up, but he caught her arm.
“I don’t want it to end between us,” he said.
“Jean,” she said simply.
“Is your only objection to me Jean?”
“Is this a trick question?”
“I mean, do you like me otherwise? I’m concerned that you haven’t seen me at my best. You’ve experienced the speed I need to drive at when I get an emergency call. And you ended up with stitches after I got you to help me. And I can’t imagine that you’d want a repeat performance in bed after what happened the first time.”
“You’re right,” she said solemnly. “I’d prefer it if when someone needed help that you’d feel no urgency, but take your time. And you should have let that little boy stay on that tree branch when it fell rather than risk a bystander getting a little cut.”
Colin was grinning.
“As for our two and a half minutes in bed together—” she said.
“Ow! That hurt.”
“Okay, three minutes.”
Colin groaned, his hand to his heart. “You have wounded me. I’d sure like to try again,” he said. “Try harder, so to speak.”
Gemma ignored his innuendo. “What would happen if I show up, a stranger, then you dump Jean—who is innocent in all this—and you and I start dating? I’m going to look like the worst kind of . . . well, slut. I don’t like that. Not to mention that your mother will fire me from the best job I’ve ever had.”
“My mother hired you because you love the research. It has nothing to do with your personal life.”
“If you discard a woman your mother has a long history with, someone she adores, for a stranger, we’ll find out what she really feels.” Gemma took a breath. “And what if we break up? That’s probable, as we hardly know each other. How do I continue working at your home afterward?”
“I know enough about you not to make you angry. Your punches—” Her look made him stop. “Okay, I see your point. I’ll tell you the truth. First of all, there is no ‘discarding’ or ‘dumping’ involved in this. Jean and I aren’t really a couple. I know it seems that we are, but we aren’t. But, as you said, my family likes her, and because I refuse to date women in my jurisdiction, it’s been easier to let people believe that Jean and I are together. Besides . . .” He grinned. “There hasn’t been anyone else I wanted to spend time with. Do you think you and I could start seeing each other on a more than friendship basis?”
She took a moment to answer as what he said began to sink in. She wanted to yell “Yes!” but didn’t. She had to keep sane about this. “I guess so . . . Eventually. But I think we should get to know one another a bit before we let the world—meaning Edilean and your family—see us as a couple.” She stood up and looked at him. “If it’s true about you and Jean—and no one seems to know this—maybe it would be better if first you told people that you’ve broken up with her. Certainly tell your parents. If they go ballistic . . .” She didn’t finish her sentence.