In Your Dreams (Blue Heron #4)(84)

They ordered the nachos and burgers and a bottle of wine that, Jack promised, would be perfect with dinner, a fresh, plummy pinot with hints of nutmeg and autumn leaves.

“If you say so,” Em said, shifting. The thong was giving her a colonoscopy. She tried sitting on her hands. It didn’t help. Crossed her legs—yow! Bad idea, abort, abort!

Jack frowned. “Is something wrong?”

“Other than your panic attack ten minutes ago?”

“No,” he said, ignoring her comment. “With you. You’ve been walking funny, and you keep fidgeting.”

“I’m fine,” she said.

“Did you hurt yourself?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“If you don’t feel good, we can—”

“Jack, I’m fine! Okay? I’m better than you, Captain Avoidance.” She shifted, wincing.

“You just did it again. You’re like a long-tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs.”

“What a quaint Southern phrase. Did you pick that expression up from your wife?”

“Her father, actually. What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m wearing a thong, okay? It hurts.”

Well, that stopped him. It also stopped the Saint Thomas vestry members, too, who were seated at the table next to their booth. Reverend Fisk gave her an appreciative wink, then redirected the rest of them back to their budget woes.

“A thong, huh?” Jack said.

“Yes. Enjoy the visual, because I’m never doing it again.”

“If it’s that uncomfortable, you can take it off.” He grinned, the cheeky man.

“Sucks to be a girl, let me tell you.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it. But I’m glad you are.”

A slow roll of squeezing warmth encompassed her stomach. Just then, Hannah set down their nachos, and Prudence Vanderbeek flopped into the seat next to Jack. “Hey, Useless! Hey, Em! Can I have some? I’m starving.” She helped herself to a heavily laden chip and bit into it. “Are you guys on a date?”

“Just friends,” Em said at the same time Jack said “Yes.” Aha. So maybe the thong had been worth it after all.

“Ooh. I like the conflict,” Pru said. “Keeps things lively. Enjoy all this friction when it’s new, children, because when you’ve been married for a quarter of a century, you start having to be a little more creative in the boudoir, if you know what I mean.”

“I don’t want to know what you mean,” Jack said. “I’ll pay you not to tell me what you mean.”

“Em, ignore him,” Pru said. “I can give you a lifetime’s worth of tips.”

“Do not take sex tips from my sister,” he said. “Pru, get out of here, okay? You’re ruining my game.”

“You have no game,” she said. “He’s a sad, smelly bachelor, Emmaline. And have you seen his cat?” She shuddered. “You can do better.” She took another slab of nachos, smacked Jack on the shoulder and left, her work boots thudding on the wooden floor.

“Deep down, she loves me,” Jack said.

“I can tell.”

He smiled. Em did, too, and for a second, they just looked at each other until she broke.

Damn. Dates were hard. It probably explained why she’d been on so few.

“You like being a cop, it seems,” Jack said.

Good. Work. She loved talking about work. “Yes. Very much.”

“Is Levi a good boss?”

“Will you tell him if I say yes?”

“Nah. Don’t want him getting too full of himself.”

“Me, neither,” she said. “But he’s a great boss. Is he a good brother-in-law?”

“Sure. Except that he’s sleeping with my sister, I’m almost positive.”

“Yes, Faith’s tummy seems to indicate that.”

Hannah brought them their burgers, ruffled Jack’s hair (it seemed to be the law that if you were female, you had to touch Jack), and they were alone again.

And the thing was, it was nice. She was almost relaxed.

Except when she stopped to look at him for too long. Because, you know, he was just so...good-looking. Everything about him was perfect—his wide, lovely smile, his mouth (every time she thought about kissing, she nearly choked on her food). And his eyes...those sky-blue eyes were just the icing on a very fine cake.

Whereas she was okay. She was not unpleasant to look at. She also had a good smile, thanks to Dr. Warren’s skill at replacing her front teeth. Her hair was behaving today, courtesy of the ingenious Sicilians.

She reminded herself to sit up straight, which exacerbated the thong issue. Tried to smile. Did smile. Tried to think of entertaining stories to tell him and came up empty.

Surely she had entertaining stories. Uh...yeah, she was almost sure she did, but could she tap into those right now? No. There was something about a cat, wasn’t there? Oh, yeah, the cat story! That was a winner!

“So the other day, I was on a call, and—”

“Hi, guys!” It was Faith, rounder and prettier than ever. “How are you?” She beamed, hands on her belly.

“Good,” Emmaline said, ignoring Jack’s groan. “You and Levi here for dinner?”