Carolina Blues by Virginia Kantra Page B

subordinate.
    Lauren came unexpectedly to his rescue.
Hostage Girl, taking action in a crisis
. “We’re not thinking that far ahead yet.”
    Tess lifted her brows again. “It’s only a week until the wedding.”
    “I just meant . . .” She shifted, throwing Jack a laughing, help-me-out-here look over her shoulder.
    He let her go reluctantly, keeping his expression impassive.
What
did
she mean?
Maybe he would have invited her. If he’d thought about it. Which he hadn’t. She wasn’t part of his life here. It wasn’t like they were
dating
.
    Which was kind of Tess’s point.
    Shit
. He was thirty-eight years old. Tess was not
his
mother. His sex life was his own business.
    “I’m sure it’s too late to add someone to your guest list,” Lauren said when he didn’t say anything.
    “Always room for a plus one,” Tess said blandly.
    “What is this, a party?” Meg Fletcher stood in the doorway, surveying the half-filled glasses of wine on the counter. “Why wasn’t I invited?”
    Tess waved a hand. “Help yourself.”
    “Seems like everybody else is,” Luke said.
    Jack made himself stand still. Never let them see you sweat. Or squirm.
    Lauren’s gaze met his, her eyes alight with laughter. And the tension that had been part of him for the past year and a half, the coil that was so tightly wound
all the time
, suddenly relaxed. She made things so . . . easy. Because, yeah, okay, the situation was pretty funny. Frustrating as hell, but bearable, as long as Lauren smiled at him with laughter in her eyes.
    A corner of his mouth curled in response.
    “I was looking for you,” Meg said to Lauren, picking up the wine bottle. “Your agent called.”
    The laughter in Lauren’s face died.
    Jack fought an absurd impulse to go to her. To comfort her. But he didn’t know if the gesture would be welcome. He had no real place in her life, any more than she had in his. He didn’t know what she wanted from him, besides sex.
    “Guess I better get to work, then, huh?” she said in a bright, brittle voice.
    Jack frowned.
Was that what she wanted?
“We all should,” he said.
    “You okay to drive, Chief?” Luke asked with a glance at the wine.
    Jack gritted his teeth. He hadn’t touched the wine. Or anything else. Hardly.
    This was why he didn’t have a personal life. It was too damn messy.
    “I’m good. We need to talk anyway.” He needed to bring Luke up to speed on the bakery situation.
    He glanced at Lauren. She was watching him with those dark, observant eyes, her chin slightly higher than usual.
    She would be all right, he thought with relief.
    His gaze dropped to her mouth, still pink and swollen-looking, and the ground shifted under his feet just enough to let him know that he was not, in fact,
good
. He was not in control.
    And maybe she wasn’t as all right as she pretended, either, because she wasn’t smiling anymore and there was a pucker between her brows.
    Hell. He was not kissing her good-bye with an audience. Wasn’t making a date in front of one, either.
    “I’ll . . .” What?
I’ll call you
was out. “I’ll see you,” he said.
    Her lips firmed. She gave him that look, like she could see right through his excuses to the back of his skull. The look that promised they weren’t done here. “See you.”
    He said his good-byes and left with Luke. It wasn’t like he was running away, he told himself. He had things to do. Real things. Paperwork. E-mails. Finding Tillett.
    Things he could control.
    *   *   *
    “S O, YOU AND Jack Rossi . . .” Meg’s voice trailed off as she settled into the cushions of the lounger. Sunlight streamed through the jasmine twining over the porch trellis, firing the pollen in the air to floating motes of gold. “Is that a good idea?”
    Lauren gulped her wine. She couldn’t believe he’d left her like that. Well, yes, she could.
I don’t have a personal life
, he’d said.
    Yeah, because he was running from one as fast as he could. His