The Best Man's Baby(17)

…

“Well that’s strange. Claire is always open by this time.”

Jake swallowed the curse about to erupt from his throat at the sound of Eunice Jacobs’s shrill voice in his ear. He turned to the elderly woman, amazed that even on the sunniest of days she was dressed in her infamous purple pineapple raincoat.

“Hi, Mrs. Jacobs,” he said tightly. He was about to find out just how fast the Red River gossip circle moved. Mrs. Jacobs was a good gauge. She usually had a stranglehold on the late-breaking news department.

She tilted her head and peered at him as though she were looking through a giant magnifying glass. “Do you know why Claire is closed?”

You’re looking at him. “Nope.”

“Buying flowers for one of your pretty girlfriends?”

He sighed. “No.” What was with this town and their perception of him as some sort of Don Juan? At least it didn’t appear she’d heard about the burger-stabbing.

“And how are Quinn and Holly? You know I haven’t seen much of them and that adorable little niece of yours,” Mrs. Jacobs said, fishing as usual for some morsel of gossip she could feast on for endless hours of entertainment.

“They’re just fine, thanks.” He fixed his eyes on the inside of the store, desperate for any sign of Claire. He would willingly subject himself to Claire’s wrath over the incessant chitchat he was being forced to contend with.

“Are they thinking of giving Ella a little brother or sister? That would be nice, and well, Holly isn’t that young anymore.”

“I’m really not sure what their family-planning situation is, Mrs. Jacobs,” he said, trying his damnedest not to roll his eyes at the inappropriate question.

He pounded on the door, desperate for salvation.

Claire emerged from the back room with large vases in her hands. Jake made eye contact and tilted his head in the direction of Mrs. Jacobs. He could see the irritation play across Claire’s face. He couldn’t help the slow smile of victory that overwhelmed him. Old Eunice had done him a favor—if Claire didn’t answer the door, the elderly woman would spread the news all around town that there was a four-alarm fire at Claire’s Flowers. Claire paused at the front desk, unloaded the vases, and then walked over to them. She glared at him and unlocked the door, the chimes jingling as he and Eunice barreled into the shop.

Eunice almost knocked him over as her arms flew out to her sides, narrowly missing a display of glass vases. “Well, my goodness dear, what happened? I thought for sure there was something wrong!”

“Just running a little late, Mrs. Jacobs. We have six weddings and Ann called in sick, so I’m going to have to close the store today,” Claire murmured while pushing the vases that had almost landed on the ground a little farther into the shelf.

Eunice sidled up to Claire until they were shoulder to shoulder. Jake stifled a grin as Claire took a small step in the direction of the door.

“Oh, well, are you feeling all right? You look a little under the weather.”

That was exactly what Jake was thinking as he leaned against the antique ivory cash desk watching the exchange. She had circles under her eyes and her skin looked very white. He was going to have to speak to her about working less. Maybe he could get a hold of one of her dry-erase markers and make a few adjustments to her flowcharts.

Claire glanced over at him and he could read the irritation in her eyes as he leaned against the cash desk, idly flipping through one of the bridal magazines. He pretended not to notice the go-to-hell look she sent him when he started humming the “Wedding March.”

“So, Mrs. Jacobs, how can I help you? Are you and Jake looking for anything in particular? A corsage perhaps, for the upcoming Red River Seniors’ Social?”

Jake’s hands stilled as Claire’s sweet-as-pie voice echoed through the shop and Mrs. Jacobs giggled like a schoolgirl. He slowly lifted his head to look at Claire. She was smiling with unbridled delight, her cheeks suddenly filled with color, her eyes alive and shiny…and Mrs. Jacobs was staring at him in a way that made him strangely uncomfortable, her wide eyes large behind her glasses and slightly glazed.

He grinned slowly at Claire. He had to hand it to her, he hadn’t seen that one coming. Claire raised her eyebrows at him, one corner of her delicious mouth turned upward in silent challenge.

It was nice to see her smiling, even if it was at his expense. And she kept on smiling until his eyes dropped to her mouth again and lingered, a little too long perhaps. Long enough for him to think about exactly how sweet she tasted that night. How full her lips were. How soft. And how she knew how to use her mouth. Jake rubbed his hand over his jaw, his forefinger grazing the bottom of his mouth, back and forth, and watched as her eyes followed his hand, her lips parting. Then her smiled wavered as he lifted his gaze to meet hers. Oh yeah, she knew exactly where his thoughts were, and he could tell she was getting just as rattled as he was with the silent reminiscing.