Waking Up in Vegas(81)

“How… but…” I sputtered, struggling to pick my chin up off my knees. I didn’t even care that she’d just told all of Sin City what Tack was actually short for.

“As usual, you’re good with the vocabulary.” Jensen smirked. “It’s a wonder you’re still employed.”

I had to be hallucinating. Jensen MacKenzie could not possibly be standing in front of me right now.

Behind her were BK and… my mother?

Yeah, definitely a mirage. Or a nightmare.

I reached out to touch her, certain my trembling fingers would just pass right through.

I wound up cradling her cheek and pulling her down toward me. “You’re real.”

“Yeah.” The uniquely Jensen half-smile played over her lips.

Then it disappeared from view because I was crushing those lips against mine. As her sweet toffee flavor welcomed me home, I heard BK’s gruff voice say, “You’re not fired. Now play some music.”

Jen busted out with a laugh, and much as I wanted to keep doing what I was doing, it’s impossible to kiss someone who’s snorting hysterically.

Loathe to let her go with even one of my hands, I half-turned back to the console. I was afraid the boss might change his mind if I didn’t get a song channeling over the air ASAP, so I told the listeners we’d be back in a moment, clicking to play a couple of random titles on the list of ones starting with ‘A’.

‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ (appropriately enough) started blasting through the speakers in the hall. I guess my implosion this morning was entertainment for everyone who was in the building this early.

The phone lines lit up, I’m sure with Vegassers dying of curiosity, but since I didn’t have the foggiest idea what to say, I just let them ring.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here,” my mother said, making me finally look her way. She was glowering at me in her usual judgmental fashion, but the effect was watered down somewhat today. Her hair was flattened on one side, and she didn’t have on a bit of her usual make-up. She looked barely awake. A random thought of childhood breakfasts late on a Sunday morning flitted through my head, making me smile.

“Well,” my mother said, “now that I know you’re not going to fly off the handle, I’m going back home to bed. Jen’s dog and his whining kept me up half the night.” She slipped out the door without even saying goodbye, the sneaky old broad.

So warm, my mother was. I guess she cared, in her own subdued-bulldozer way. I just shook my head. “You stayed at my mother’s last night?”

Jen dragged her chair to my side of the booth, sat down, and raised guilty eyes to mine. “I needed somewhere to stay.”

“You have a place to stay.”

“I wasn’t so sure about that. And after I tell you the whole truth, I don’t know if you’ll welcome me back.”

“You’re scaring me, Jen.”

She released a cavernous sigh. “I have a confession to make. When BK initially approached me about the timeslot in Phoenix, my answer was yes.”

“But you told me you said no.” That came out a little testier than I’d intended, but in my defense, the morning had been quite the rollercoaster ride.

“I lied. Because I was afraid.”

Boy, could I ever relate.

Jen sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and I could tell she desperately wanted to look anywhere but at me. I loved her more for keeping her eyes steadily on mine, instead.

“The intensity of my feelings, and how quickly they hit me, scared me to death,” she said softly. “I thought I’d be just another notch on your headboard, and sticking around to watch you with your next conquest would kill me.”

I nodded, not ready to admit that her leaving had almost done the same thing to me.

“While I was in Phoenix, I wasn’t thinking about my father. Instead of being worried about his health, I was missing you like crazy.”

“Same here,” I mumbled over the sudden and thick lump in my throat. If only we’d told each other then, maybe this all could have been avoided.

“And that got me terrified all over again, so I lied a second time and told you I had to report to my new job a week sooner than I actually had to. Just so I could flee from something I wasn’t sure I was ready for,” she said softly.

“And now?” I reached out and took her soft hand in mine.

With a tremulous smile, she said, “I finally woke up and realized that I loved you, too. I’m so sorry I lied. I swear it’ll never happen again.” She gave a small chuckle, that wholly Jensen sound that reverberated through my ears. Through my heart.