“Hi there,” she cried, feeling both relieved by the delay and annoyed by it.
“Hey, Mermaid. You out cruising?” He looked back at Jill, who immediately turned her head away, scanning the bar. “Hi, Jem.”
“We were getting a drink, dipwad,” Jill announced.
He reached for Jill’s beer and pried it out of her hand. When he took a sip, he said, “Tastes sweeter than I remember.” Jemma looked from one of them to the other, a worried expression on her face.
Inching out from under his arm, Meredith cringed when she saw her sister’s feral expression. “Must be the keg. Or maybe you actually brushed your teeth before you came out tonight.”
Brian lifted his arm, pretending to sniff. “I think I put on deodorant too. Wanna check?”
He took a step toward Jill, who immediately took a step away from him. The two of them marched backwards three steps like graceful tango dancers before Jill knocked into a couple at the bar. She elbowed Brian hard and stalked over to Meredith and Jemma.
“We need to go, Brian,” Meredith said. Time to be the big sister before things got ugly.
“Didn’t know I could scare you off, Red,” he yelled over the music.
Jill leaned in toward him before Meredith could pull her away. “You don’t scare me. You never have, and you never will.”
“Okay, you two, that’s enough,” Jemma cried out. “I’m tired of seeing my friends fight.”
Ignoring Jemma, Brian snagged the beer from Jill’s hand again. As he raised it to his lips, his eyes were fixed on Jill’s face. “That’s bullshit, and we both know it. You damn well know why I scare you.”
“Brian,” Jemma warned.
Jill crossed her arms. “Oh yeah?”
Resting the hand holding the beer on Jill’s shoulder, he said, “You’re afraid I’ll ruin you for other men.”
“Brian—” Meredith and Jemma said at the same time.
“Stay out of it,” Jill snapped. “Your arrogance is beyond words, McConnell.”
Brian took her hand and put the beer back in it. He didn’t let go though. Was he looking to get hit?
“Maybe.” He lowered his head. “The truth is I was worried you might ruin me for other women.”
Meredith’s mouth dropped open. Well, that was hot.
Brian kept Jill in place with a hand. “But I was too young and stupid to let that happen.”
Jill bit her lip, but didn’t step back. “And you’re telling me this now because…”
The forced indifference in her voice made Meredith clutch her purse tighter. Oh, Jill.
Brian ran a finger over her cheek with his free hand. “I’m saying it because I’m not so young anymore.”
Jill’s throat moved. She pulled away from Brian, edging back. “Thank you for clearing that up for me, McConnell, but since we’re the same age, I damn well know how old you are. Now stay away from me.”
Grabbing Meredith and Jemma’s arms, she angled them through the crowd like a snake through grass.
Jemma hugged her when they got to the door. “I’m going to go talk to him, Jill. I’ll call you later,” she said, and then headed back toward Brian.
Meredith gave the tall guy a final wistful look before they burst out into the cool night air. Well, too bad, but her sister needed her more than she needed a hook-up.
Jill made a beeline for the car. “That man is a total and utter…” She trailed off, put her hands in her hair, and shrieked so loud the couple making out by the door disengaged from each other. “And I’m tired of Jemma trying to make us get along. I’m not forcing her to be Pete’s friend.”
“Let’s go home, Jill.”
Jill leaned against her. “Mere, maybe you shouldn’t do this article. What if there are no good men out there? What if you only get hurt again?”
Meredith thought about Nora Roberts Land. She had to believe it existed.
“I won’t let that happen.”
She thought back to the guy who made her body give a Christmas carol Pa Rum Pa Pum Pum. It was almost sacrilegious. She didn’t know who he was, but she wanted to find out.
Didn’t mean she had to do something about it. She could call it research.
So far he was the one man who had made her insides zing like only a Nora Roberts hero could.
Chapter 10
Meredith thrust away from the wall of the Community Center’s pool after doing an underwater turn and resumed her stroke. It was glorious to have the pool to herself, but there was a price to pay—it was six in the morning. She was fifteen minutes into her swim and hitting her stride. Man, she loved freestyle. Her legs kicked powerfully. Her hand broke the surface at the perfect angle, and she stretched it out before making a powerful S through the water, pulling until her arm reached her waist. Her other arm followed suit. She counted—one, two, three—and then took a breath.