Down Too Deep (Dirty Deeds, #4)(66)

“Sit with Olivia, sweetheart,” I said, kissing Marley’s head.

I padded across the room and moved into the kitchen, heading for the fridge. Jenna was still on the phone. I grabbed a bottled water out of the door, twisted the cap off, and took a drink. When Jenna glanced over at me, I gestured, offering her a beverage.

She shook her head, a soft smile lifting her mouth, then spoke into the phone. “Okay, sounds good. I will. Love you too.” She disconnected the call and set her phone on the counter. “Hey. Sorry. It was my parents.”

“Do they ever try to get you to go back to Denver?” I asked, moving to stand across from her.

Jenna was wearing the yellow top she wore that first day in my office. She looked good in yellow. She looks good in everything. Her hair fell in a braid in front of her shoulder.

“Not really,” she said. “I think they know they couldn’t convince me even if they tried. I like it here too much.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’d have no issues finding someone to watch Marley for you if you needed it.”

“I’d hope not, but I’m not talking about that.” I watched her above the bottle as I took another drink. A flush colored her cheeks. “So, this date—Olivia said it’s happening tomorrow…”

“Yep.”

“Where’s he taking you?”

“I don’t know yet. I just know he’s picking me up at six. I didn’t ask where we were going.”

“And the kids are staying over at your brother’s house for the night.”

I squeezed the back of my neck, wincing through a head roll. I was tense as fuck just thinking about that. Jenna could go home with this guy. Maybe she’d invite him back to her place. There was no reason why this date couldn’t last all night.

“Are you okay?” she asked, watching me carefully.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I dropped my arm.

“Are you sure? You seem…stressed.”

“Why would I be stressed? I’m just tired,” I lied. “Long day.”

“What are your plans tomorrow? Are you and Marley doing anything?”

I glanced into the family room when my daughter laughed at something Olivia was doing. “Just going over to my parents’ house,” I said. “They haven’t seen her in a while. She’s spending the weekend with them.”

“That’ll be nice.” Jenna smiled when our eyes met. “So you’ll have some time to yourself.”

“Looks like it.”

“Mm. Maybe you should go out on a date.”

My brows lifted. I watched the smile pull from Jenna’s mouth and her hands slide off the counter. Her reaction was immediate, like she hadn’t even considered her words until she heard them herself.

“I don’t know why I said that,” she rushed out. “I mean, you could if you wanted to…obviously. She better not try anything though.” Jenna narrowed her eyes playfully.

Speaking of that…

“He better not try anything either.”

“Travis?”

“If that’s his name, yeah.”

“Like what? What would he try?”

“Something you don’t want.” I set the bottle on the counter and flattened my hands on the granite. “You know you don’t have to do anything with this guy, Jenna. There’s no obligation here. You could eat and leave, and he better be grateful for that. If he tries anything you don’t want to do—”

“Nathan,” she cut me off before a threat slipped out of my mouth. Her pretty green eyes jumped between mine. “I know. And he wouldn’t do that.”

I pushed breath in and out of my nose. My chest was heaving now.

Get it together, Nathan. Jesus. What the fuck was wrong with me?

I was jealous, and I had zero fucking right to react this way. Waiting the two months wasn’t solely Jenna’s idea—I’d agreed to it. Hell, I’d told her it was probably for the best. I didn’t know if I was ready to start something with Jenna, and until I was, we couldn’t go beyond friendship.

She deserved to go out and enjoy a nice time. And I couldn’t say shit about it. I needed to back off.

“Sorry.” I held her eyes. “Like I said—I’m just tired.”

Jenna nodded like she was buying my excuse.

I walked them to the door after paying Jenna for the day. She gave Marley a kiss and told me she’d see me next week.

I wanted to see her tomorrow. I almost told her not to go through with this date.

I held Marley on the porch and watched the car drive down the street and disappear over the hill. Then I closed the door and dropped my head against it.

*



It was a little after eight thirty when I left my parents’ house Friday night.

Even though Marley was excited to spend the night with her grandparents, I almost changed my mind and drove all the way back over there to get her. Marley was my only distraction. I knew there would be nothing stopping me from pacing my entire fucking house the rest of the night.

Jenna was two and a half hours into her date, which was no time at all if she was planning on spending the entire night with this guy.

I began to dissect her evening as I drove. I thought about everything—from where he’d taken her to what she wore. I was certain she looked incredible, and there was no way he wouldn’t be into her. The only way this prick was staying friend-zoned was if she forced it or if one of them backed out of this thing at the last minute.