Jinxed!

10

EVAN SPENT THE WEEK IN San Francisco trying to convince himself that the gut-wrenching sense of loss clenching his insides was relief-or bad seafood-but by the time Friday rolled around he couldn’t lie to himself any longer.

He’d done his job, followed the rules. And lost Lacey.

Lacey, who made him laugh. Who could turn him on with a mere look. Who could talk about any topic under the sun. Who could make the most mundane activity interesting and fun. Who appealed to both his body and mind in a way no other woman ever had. Whose wicked sense of fun and “stop and smell the roses” personality had prodded him to take a good, long look at himself and at the way he was living his life. And when he’d done so, he hadn’t particularly liked what he’d seen.

While he didn’t think he’d turned into one of the soulless clones she’d described, he’d absolutely been headed in that direction. Thanks to her, he’d reversed that trend. And he had never been as happy as during the month they’d been together. She was the first woman he’d known in a very long time whom he enjoyed as much out of bed as in bed. He’d thought he’d been in love a couple of times, but what he’d felt for those other women paled to insignificance when compared to the feelings Lacey inspired.

He’d known he was a goner the first time he’d seen her with Sasha. Watching a laughing, carefree Lacey splash in the surf with his zany dog, getting covered with salt water and sand, it had hit him like a sucker punch to the heart. He loved her. Loved her sense of fun, her lively personality, her intelligence. The way she cared for her store and customers. If he had to describe her in one word, it would be vivid. She made everything around her more colorful, more alive. Including him.

He’d debated whether or not to confess he loved her, not wanting to scare her off given the short amount of time they’d dated. He’d finally decided to tell her during their weekend in San Francisco. But then Greg had called, and all hell had broken loose.

He couldn’t deny that on some level he agreed with Greg. Constant Cravings, with its sensual window displays and products, definitely bucked the image of the other stores in the Fairfax complex, a fact that had been a bone of contention between him and Lacey from the moment she’d opened her doors.

But he also didn’t like Greg’s assessment and subsequent decision. When his boss had initially told him he wanted Constant Cravings out of Fairfax, Evan had tried to dissuade him, presenting him with facts and figures to prove the store was performing well. He’d also promised to talk to Lacey about toning down the displays, figuring that if she knew her lease renewal was at risk, she’d finally listen.

But Greg didn’t want any part of it. Bottom line for Greg was that his nephew wanted to open a Java Heaven-a coffee franchise quickly catching up to Starbucks in terms of popularity-in Fairfax. When Evan had protested that the complex was large enough to support two coffee places, Greg had flatly refused to listen. He simply didn’t want the competition Lacey’s shop would have offered. So Evan had been given no choice but to tell her.

And that had been that.

And now he felt as if there was a hollow space in his chest where his heart used to beat.

Over the past week he’d picked up the phone dozens of times to call her, but had resisted. He wanted to talk to her, but decided it was best to do so face-to-face. The fact that she hadn’t called him didn’t bode well, but he couldn’t let that stop him. He intended to go to Constant Cravings tomorrow and camp out on the doorstep if necessary until she’d talk to him.

Weary beyond belief, he pulled his car into his dark driveway, then entered his house. Leaving his laptop and briefcase in the foyer, he headed toward the kitchen. After twisting the top off a Heineken, he walked into the den. He’d just plopped into his favorite chair when the phone rang. His heart jumped with hope that it might be Lacey, but a glance at his caller I.D. indicated it was Paul.

He lifted the receiver. “What’s up?”

“So what’s the deal with Constant Cravings?”

His fingers tightened on the receiver. He hadn’t spoken to Paul all week. He hadn’t wanted to talk about Lacey, and he knew his friend would ask about her, as he always did. “What are you talking about?”

“The fact that it is no more, as if you didn’t know. I go out of town for a couple of days and come back to find my favorite coffee place closed down. Damn, I’m totally addicted to those cookies. So where’d Lacey go? And why didn’t you give me a heads-up?”

Evan’s every muscle tensed. “What do you mean ‘closed down’?”

Something in his voice must have clued Paul in because his friend said slowly, “You didn’t know?”

“No. Tell me.”

“I drove by my office on my way home from the airport to pick up some papers. Since Constant Cravings is usually open late on Friday nights, I decided to get a coffee. When I got there, the place was dark. No mannequins in the windows. Nothing. Just a note on the door saying that the store was permanently closed at this location.”

Evan squeezed his eyes shut, then blew out a heavy sigh. “Damn.”

“How come you didn’t know about this? What the hell is going on?”

He rubbed at the throbbing in his temple. “We broke up.” He gave Paul an abbreviated version of the previous Friday night’s events.

“So, she didn’t have to leave for three months, but she packed up and closed shop in less than a week?” Paul whistled through his teeth. “Wow. That is one seriously pissed off woman.”

Right. And clearly not one who would be receptive to seeing him.

“So what do you intend to do about it?” Paul asked.

“Do?” A humorless sound pushed past his lips. “She’s made it pretty clear she’s done with me.”

“Are you done with her?”

No. And the truth, the vehemence behind that single word in his head had him sitting up. No, damn it, he wasn’t done with her. Would never be done with her. “Not by a long shot.”

Paul’s chuckle drifted through the receiver. “Atta’ boy. You were silent for so long I was worried. You know she’s the best thing that ever happened to you, and that’s not a sentence I’d say to you lightly.”

“I know-on both counts.”

“So…what are you going to do about it?”

“I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out.”

EXACTLY THREE WEEKS TO THE day after she’d last spoken to Evan, Lacey sat in her apartment, listlessly channel surfing. She’d spent the day as she had all the previous days since closing the store-scouting for a new location to lease so Constant Cravings could rise from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix. Unfortunately, she hadn’t liked most of the places she’d seen. And the ones she had liked charged outrageous rent. Damn it, Fairfax had been perfect. If only-

She sliced off the useless thought, as she did dozens of times each day. There was no point dwelling on what-ifs.

Right. Just as there was no point in dwelling on thoughts of Evan. But no matter how many times she told herself that, it didn’t work. He filled every corner of her mind. Even after three weeks, her heart still felt…gone. How the hell long did it take to forget someone? Why couldn’t the brain and the heart come with a reset button? She didn’t know, but had the sinking fear that she’d never forget him. That her heart would never recover.

Well, she’d found a possible place today, and while it wasn’t perfect, it was acceptable. Barely. She couldn’t afford to remain out of business for months-that would eat up all her savings. She’d go out looking again tomorrow and hope something better turned up. Otherwise she’d have to settle for the one she’d seen today.

In the meantime there was reality TV and the extra cookies from the last party platter she’d made for the grand opening of a new hair salon. She looked down at the hair dryer-shaped cookie she’d dubbed Blow Job and, as happened at least one hundred times every day, an image of Evan rose in her mind, an image so vivid it was as if she could feel him. Taste him. And, right on cue, hot tears pooled in her eyes. Damn it, she needed to bake a batch of cookies in the form of a bright red stop sign-and then do it. Stop thinking about him. If only that were possible.

Her doorbell rang, indicating her Chinese food had arrived. She glanced down at herself and sighed. Hopefully she wouldn’t scare off the poor delivery guy. She was wearing the black satin robe with the pink hearts she’d loaned Evan from her mannequin. Probably it would be better if she burned the damn garment. Certainly it would be smarter for her not to wear it, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. Paired with stand-on-end hair and no makeup, she looked like she should have crime-scene tape wrapped around her.

After grabbing some money from her wallet, she schlumped to the door and opened it. And stared. At Evan. At least she thought it was Evan. She blinked twice, and he was still there, so it had to be him and not some mirage born of her lovesick imagination.

He wore one of his perfect suits with a perfect shirt and perfect tie. His hair was perfectly smoothed and he held a perfectly beautiful single pale pink peony. He looked…perfect.

“Hi,” he said.

Her heart seemed to stall in her chest. She opened her mouth, meaning to say hello, but then she noticed the bag he held in his other hand. A bag bearing the name of her takeout place. “You’re not the Chinese food guy.”

“True. He arrived at the same time I did. I offered to deliver your meal.” He held out the bag. “Here you go.”

“Uh, thanks.”

His gaze drifted over her robe and a muscle tensed in his jaw. Damn it, she’d fantasized countless times of this exact scenario-him coming to her door-but in her version she was always wearing a killer dress and sporting glossy curls. And of all the things to have him catch her wearing! Ack! This damn robe made it appear as if she’d been moping around pining for him. Which she had, but he didn’t have to know that.

“Is this a bad time?” he asked.

“A bad time for what?”

“I was hoping we could talk.”

She raised her eyebrows. “I thought we said everything that needed saying.”

“I thought of a couple of more things.” His frowning gaze shifted to look over her shoulder into her apartment and his jaw tightened. “Is someone with you?”

For a split second she was tempted to lie and say yes, but damn it, as much as it galled her to admit it, she wanted to hear what he had to say. “I’m alone.”

His gaze shifted back to hers. “Me, too.” Holding out the flower he said, “I hope they’re still your favorite.”

To her chagrin, her throat slammed shut, so she merely nodded. Reaching out, she took the fragrant bloom. Her fingers brushed his and heat shot up her arm. Just that whisper of a touch had felt so good. She cleared her throat. “C’mon in.”

He followed her into the kitchen and remained silent while she set the food bag on the counter, then put the flower in a bud vase, keeping her back to him while she attempted to regain her composure. When she finished, she turned to face him and leaned her hips against the counter.

He stood about eight feet away, regarding her with a thoughtful expression. “How have you been, Lacey?”

Awful. Terrible. Miserable. And it’s all your fault. “Fine. You?”

“Awful. Terrible. Miserable.”

She blinked. Did he read minds? Before she could decide, he continued, “I assume you’re looking for a new location for Constant Cravings.”

She jerked her head in a nod. “Yes.”

“Find anything yet?”

“I have a possibility. Have you rented my space at Fairfax?”

“It’s been leased, yes. To a Java Heaven. Managed by Greg Mathers’s nephew.”

Realization dawned and a spurt of fresh anger rushed through her. “I see. I bet that’s not a coincidence.”

“No, it’s not.”

“In that case, I’m glad I’m not there any longer.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Yes, you made it very plain you were glad I wasn’t there any longer. Is that all you have to say? Because my dinner is getting cold.”

He shook his head. “When I said ‘that makes two of us’ I meant that I’m glad I’m not there any longer.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I resigned. Gave my two-week notice the Monday after I returned from San Francisco. As of an hour ago, I no longer work for GreenSpace Property Management and I’m no longer the property manager for Fairfax.”

It took her a good ten seconds to find her voice. “I don’t understand. Why would you resign?”

“Because I decided that I didn’t like the way Greg Mathers did business. I didn’t like the way he treated you or the store you worked so hard to build. While he was perfectly within his rights not to renew your lease, I think it sucked that he didn’t. He wanted that space for his nephew and now he has it. I just didn’t want to be a part of it any longer.”

Lacey could scarcely believe her ears. “So you don’t have a job?”

“Oh, no, I have a job. You are looking at the new property manager for Bryant Properties.”

“How did you manage that?”

“I’ve known Bill Bryant for many years and he’s a good man. Has told me a number of times to let him know if I was ever interested in making a change. When I decided to leave GreenSpace, I called him.”

“I…I don’t know what to say.”

“How about congratulations?”

“Congratulations.”

His lips curved upward in a slow smile that stole her breath. “Thanks.” He walked toward her and reached into his suit jacket. He pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. “For you.”

“What is it?”

“There’s one way to find out.”

Lacey slid her finger beneath the flap and withdrew several sheets of folded paper. She read the first few lines, then looked up at him in amazement.

“This is a lease agreement.”

“It is, and my first official deal in my new job. Bryant owns a building complex similar to Fairfax, but I think you’ll find after I show you the place that it’s a much better fit for Constant Cravings. The stores are more eclectic, and it’s located closer to the city.”

She shook her head. “I can’t afford anything closer to the city.”

“Read the terms. I think you can.”

She looked back down at the papers and continued reading. Stunned, she raised her gaze back to his. “There must be some mistake. I’ve checked out lease space in this general area, and the rents were much higher than this figure.”

“It’s no mistake. That’s one of the perks of being the manager-I can offer incentives.”

“I…I can’t believe you’ve done this. Left your job. Made me this incredible offer. I’m…speechless.”

“Then just listen.” He reached out and gently clasped her shoulders. “Nothing’s been right since you walked out of my office, Lacey. Nothing. I tried to convince myself that what we had was over, that it didn’t matter you were gone, but I couldn’t. Nothing matters more. And what we had…for me, it’s not over. These weeks without you have been hell. I know I hurt you, and I’m sorry.” He studied her through very serious eyes. “I love you, Lacey. I want you back. Madame Karma hit it right on the nose. You’re Ms. Right. You’re The One.”

The dam holding back the tears she’d fought against all day burst, and with a sob, she threw her arms around his neck, as much to touch him as to have something solid to hold on to so she didn’t slither to the ground.

“I lied when I said I was fine,” she sobbed against his neck. “I’ve been completely miserable.”

“I guess I shouldn’t say ‘good,’ but, well, good.”

“I can’t believe you’ve done all this.”

“Believe it. And please, please stop crying. You’re killing me.”

She raised her head and framed his face between her trembling hands. “I love you. So much.”

He yanked her against him and kissed her in that toe-curling way that left her breathless. “Say it again,” he demanded against her lips.

“I love you.”

She felt his smile, then he leaned back. Cupping her face, he brushed at the tears wetting her cheeks. “God, I’ve missed you.”

“Me, too.” A profound sense of happiness filled all the spaces that less than half an hour ago had been so depressingly empty.

She pressed herself against him, enjoying the low groan that rumbled in his throat as their bodies met.

His hands skimmed down her back to curve over her buttocks and he pulled her tighter against him. “Listen, now that we’ve made up verbally,” he said, his eyes hot on hers, “I’m thinking we should continue with the time-honored tradition of makeup sex. And then talk about our future.”

She kissed him, then leaned back and smiled. “That makes two of us.”