Catching Fireflies(105)

“You’re the one with the lousy track record who wasn’t interested in dating,” she reminded him. “I’ve dutifully kept from labeling whatever it is we have been doing.”

“Maybe it’s time that stopped,” J.C. said. “Earlier today I was thinking maybe we should have some clarity about what’s going on here. Put our cards on the table, so to speak.”

“I certainly stress clarity in my students’ essays,” Laura said. “It might be nice to have some coming from you.” She gave him a considering look. “Unless you’re still not ready for that kind of conversation.”

J.C. smiled at that. “Willing to let me off the hook?”

“If need be,” she said. “I’ve discovered lately that I’m incredibly patient.”

“What if I admit that I’m starting to see the error of my ways? Not dating, at least right out there in the open and calling it what it is, isn’t really working all that well for me anymore. You deserve better.” Feeling vaguely bewildered, he added, “And it seems I want more.”

To his relief, Laura gave in readily. “Then I wouldn’t say no to another dinner at Sullivan’s,” she said.

“With not a single mention of Misty all evening?”

She held his gaze. “I can do that. Can you?”

He laughed. “I guess we’ll just have to give it a try and find out.”

Unfortunately, getting through the evening without the subject of Misty coming up proved to be impossible. Most of the patrons at Sullivan’s fell silent when J.C. and Laura entered. Then, one by one, many of them approached to offer a few words of support, both for Misty and for J.C. and the pain he’d suffered years ago on losing his brother.

Uncomfortable with all of the attention, he saw no graceful way to make his excuses and leave, but Laura clearly guessed some of the emotional turmoil he was going through.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze and hurrying off in the direction of the kitchen.

When she returned, she was carrying a huge take-out bag. “Dinner,” she announced triumphantly.

“How’d you pull that off?”

“I told Dana Sue what was going on out here and said we needed to leave. She put two meals together in no time, along with dessert and a bottle of wine.” She grinned. “Best of all, it’s on the house. She flatly refused to let me pay her. She said she owed it to us because our dinner plans were interrupted by her intrusive customers.”

“I should thank her,” J.C. said.

“Call her later,” Laura urged. “The kitchen’s a madhouse. Only for you would I have risked going in there uninvited.” She shuddered dramatically. “I’m lucky to emerge without battle scars.”

J.C. chuckled. “It couldn’t have been that bad.”

“Trust me, it was downright dangerous.”

When they were seated in his car, he turned to her. “Thank you for recognizing that I was about to come unglued at all that well-meant sympathy in there.”

“I doubt you would ever come unglued,” she said, “but I could see that you were uncomfortable. Now, shall we go to my place or yours for this feast?”

“Yours,” he said at once. “I stared at my walls way too long over the weekend. I need a change of scenery.”

“Okay,” she said, “but the rules are back in effect. No talk of Misty, bullying or anything related to it.”

J.C. nodded, then gave her a wicked look. “What will we do?”

Regarding him with amusement, Laura tapped on the bag of take-out containers. “Dinner,” she replied at once.

“I’m a fast eater.”

“Then we can negotiate over dessert for what comes next,” she teased. “I have some thousand-piece puzzles if you’re interested.”

He looked into her eyes and held her gaze until the color rose in her cheeks. “The only puzzle I’m even remotely interested in is figuring out Laura Reed and why I can’t seem to stay away from you,” he said quietly.

A slow smile spread across her face. “Then that’s what we’ll work on.”

J.C. laughed. The end of the evening definitely promised to be a lot more intriguing and potentially satisfying than the beginning.



Laura closed her eyes and savored a bite of Erik’s triple-layer red-velvet cake. When she opened her eyes, she found J.C.’s gaze locked on her lips.

“Do you have any idea of how amazing that is?” she murmured.

“Hmm?”

She gestured toward the cake. “That,” she said. “It’s heavenly. Moist, delectable sex on a fork.”