She grimaced. It was obvious from Jerry’s tone that he wasn’t happy—and she could guess the reason. “Hi, Jerry.”
“I hear you got a new car this afternoon.”
“Yes. I was planning to call you first thing in the morning to update my insurance. How did you hear about it?”
“Charlie Hayes came by my office just before closing time to give me the information on his new pickup. He mentioned that he’d seen you at the dealership.”
Sharon remembered chatting with the retired school principal who’d once been her mother’s boss. She had introduced him to Mac. “Mr. Hayes looks good, doesn’t he?” she said. “He seems to have fully recovered from his bout with cancer.”
She’d had a faint hope Jerry would allow her to direct the conversation, but she wasn’t surprised when he said, instead, “Charlie told me you’d brought a friend with you.”
“Yes,” she answered evenly. “Mac Cordero volunteered to go with me when I mentioned my plans for the afternoon.”
“Perhaps you’ve forgotten that I also volunteered.”
“No, I didn’t forget. But I didn’t want to take you away from your office. Mac had some free time this afternoon.”
“Rumor has it you’ve been spending quite a bit of time with this guy.”
So people had been talking. “I am on his renovation team,” she said rather lamely.
“And the project isn’t anywhere close to where your services are needed. From what I hear, they’ve just started tearing out walls and old fixtures and wirin
g. It’ll be weeks before they start rebuilding.”
“Mac has asked me to be involved at all stages. He likes my ideas.”
“I’m sure he does,” Jerry muttered.
Because that comment seemed juvenile, Sharon chose not to respond. “Would you like to hear about my new car? It isn’t fancy, but it’s—”
“What I would like to hear,” he cut in curtly, “is just what is going on between you and Mac Cordero.”
She wondered why Jerry suddenly sounded so priggish. She’d never really thought of him in those terms before. Of course, she had never really done anything to annoy him this much before. “I don’t owe you any explanations, Jerry. Nor do I have to ask your permission to see other people.”
“Is this why you’ve been avoiding me lately? You’re seeing this Cordero guy?”
“I don’t think it’s a good time to discuss this.”
“And when is a good time, Sharon? Every time I’ve suggested getting together lately, you’ve had an excuse.”
That was true, she realized with a grimace. She’d been trying to send gentle hints to Jerry, when it would have been better to tell him outright that she wasn’t interested in him romantically. That she valued his friendship and hated to lose it, but she couldn’t commit to a relationship that realistically was going nowhere. “Perhaps we could have dinner one night next week?”
There was a taut, lengthy pause. “Don’t do me any favors.”
“Come on, Jerry. There’s no need to…” But Sharon’s words were met by a dial tone. He’d hung up on her. She sighed in exasperation.
“He dumped you, didn’t he?”
The voice from behind her made her start, the phone still clutched in her hand. “Brad, you startled me,” she said, shaking her head as she replaced the receiver. “I nearly jumped out of my shoes. Do you want to see my new—”
“Did you let Jerry break up with you?” her brother interrupted.
She realized only then that Brad looked furious.
She spoke calmly. “Jerry and I didn’t ‘break up.’ We weren’t involved in that way. You make us sound like your high-school friends who go steady.”
“He’s mad at you because you’ve been hanging out with Cordero, isn’t he?”