Dating Impossible (14 page)

Gray eyes narrowed, and a storm brewed in the dark depths. “What’s
really going on here, JJ?” he asked. “Because I’m not seeing a problem. We are
colleagues, yes. We have a good thing going here. Your drug test will prove
that the morphine isn’t in your system. I already spoke to the head of pharmacy
and a full investigation has been launched. So what is it you’re so afraid of?”

That you will
find out about
Beverly Hills
and my relationship with Mark. How I let myself be stalked and manipulated
. The
remnants of the abusive relationship still shamed her, so much so, she’d never
spoken of it to anyone but her father. But now Cruz’s parents knew. It was only
a matter of time before Cruz did, too. Then she’d be dumped like a hot potato. She
wouldn’t be able to live through that kind of devastation.

“Get out,” she said. He took a step in her direction and she
held up her palms. “No. I mean it, Cruz.” Her voice cracked with unshed tears. “Just
go. I can’t deal with this right now on top of everything else.”

A grim determination she’d never seen before entered his
eyes. He nodded slowly. “I’ll go,” he said. “But this isn’t over.” He slipped
into his wet loafers, grabbed his tattered shirt, and walked out the front door
of her house.

Loneliness and pain ripped through her heart.
If only she’d never met Mark Jacobs.
If
only… She shook her head. Yeah, she could play that game in her mind all day
long. If she’d never had the disastrous affair with Mark, then she would never have
come back to
Phoenix
and had a small taste of what if.

Chapter
Sixteen

Cruz entered his office and slammed the door. Damn stubborn
woman. JJ had switched schedules with another doctor and was now on the night
shift. Every time he thought he’d get a chance to talk to her over the last
week, she managed to avoid him. He raked his hands through his hair. So far,
the narcotic investigation wasn’t yielding the results he expected. The Pyxis
reports all showed that the morphine was removed using JJ’s password. The
camera that
 
monitored that machine had
been broken and nothing recorded for the time JJ supposedly had taken the
narcs.
 
At least her drug test was clean.
That was the only way Cruz had managed to keep administration from reprimanding
her with a suspension.

He hadn’t been able to catch her at home either. Fresh
frustration washed over him. Ambra hadn’t been any help. She said she’d been
dealing with her own bullshit and swore she hadn’t seen JJ. Cruz missed her. His
heart twisted in his chest.

What the fuck was going on around here? There was more to
this narcotic bullshit than he first thought. There’d been a lot of tampering
with patient charts. Specifically, JJ’s patient charts. Orders had been
altered, even omitted in some instances. There had been complaints about her
judgment as a physician. He’d launched his own investigation and poured over
her charts. The writing didn’t match. It was close, but not exact. Because of
patient confidentiality, he was having trouble getting approval for an expert
to come in and examine the records.

Worse, he was beginning to think JJ was right about their
careers being in jeopardy if their relationship was out in the open. As staff
doctor, Cruz had dated anyone he’d wanted with no repercussions. He’d just come
from a meeting with the chief of staff who made it clear that playing around as
director of the Emergency Room was an entirely different entity. Of course the
talk was all smiles and elbow nudges. Still, the point slammed home. What the
hell was he going to do? He needed JJ in his life and wasn’t about to let
anyone dictate to him who he could date. But until his investigation yielded
some positive results in JJ’s favor, he had no evidence to fight with.

His temple throbbed as a headache brewed. He had to get this
shit cleared up. Popping a couple of aspirin from his drawer, he glanced at the
clock. JJ was off tonight and he couldn’t go search for her because he’d
promised his mother he’d come over for dinner. Disappointment tensed his
shoulders and the muscle in his cheek twitched.

Jett and Roxanne were back from their month-long honeymoon
and it was a family occasion he wouldn’t be able to wiggle out of. Cruz
wondered briefly what was on the menu for the night and his stomach gagged in
protest. Whatever it was, he knew from experience that shit wouldn’t be edible.
If he didn’t leave now, he wouldn’t have time to grab a burger on the way. He never
went to a family dinner at his folks’ on an empty stomach.

On the drive over to his parents’ house, he choked down a
burger and fries. Not very healthy and the greasy food churned in his stomach
like a congealed mass partly due to the hammer spikes impaling his skull. In
the headache’s wake, a dull beat persisted. At least he didn’t have to worry
about Daisy setting him up with some date. Her choices, although very worthy,
lacked certain…attributes.

A memory of JJ as he’d last seen her flashed in his thoughts.
Mussed up hair, face free of makeup. Sexy as sin with those freckles on her pale
skin. Her lips swollen and thoroughly kissed. His cock hardened and strained
against his trousers. Yeah, she’d been a hot mess, all right. God, he missed
her. Sadness along with a deep yearning gripped him as he parked his car behind
Jett’s truck on the side of the street.

The front door of his parent’s house opened and Jett and
Roxanne waved from the entry. Their smiles were luminous and their love for
each other reached him from across the courtyard. Jealousy clenched his gut. Why
hadn’t he realized his mother had been right earlier? Ah, fuck. He was in for a
long night.

****

JJ sat beside the pool in the Avery’s back yard and sipped a
glass of the sweet tea she’d brought. She was no stranger to Daisy’s cooking or
her potions. JJ’s lips curved. At least, that was what she, Jett and Cruz had
called Daisy’s blenderized health-kick concoctions they’d endured growing up. Her
smile faded and she looked around the familiar surroundings.
So many memories
. In a corner of the
spacious landscape that opened up to the desert mountains behind the senior
Avery’s yard was the old tire swing Cruz used to push her on. A sad sigh
escaped her. She couldn’t be here at this house without thinking of him.

Her heart, hell, the fragile state of mind she found herself
in had her taking stupid-ass risks. Like agreeing to dinner with the newlyweds.
But Daisy had been so persistent. Lady Luck had been on JJ’s side so far. Over
the last week and she’d managed to elude her boss. Actually, his hectic
administrative schedule had made it easy to avoid Cruz. JJ was hoping that his
hectic schedule combined with the thought of Daisy’s horrible cooking would be
enough to keep Cruz from accepting his mother’s invitation. Her optimism was
all she had left to cling to.

“Josephina Jo?” A gruff, but tender voice interrupted her
chaotic thoughts. “You haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you, darlin’?”

JJ’s head whipped around to where her dad sat opposite her
at the patio table. “I’m sorry. What?”

Larry Jones’ shaggy brows drew together and he withdrew the
unlit cigar he’d had clamped between his lips. Pale green eyes with flecks of
gold that matched hers exactly stared at her with concern. Because he was Jett’s
battalion chief and long-time family friend, Daisy had thought to include him to
the welcome home dinner for the newlyweds. She’d been so excited on the phone
when she’d invited JJ. Guilt had reared its ugly talons and gripped her in an
exacting, crushing vice until JJ had agreed to come, too.

“I asked you how work has been going for you. It’s been
what? Like six weeks since you’ve been on duty?” His calloused palm swallowed
her hand and he squeezed gently. “I thought the move here would be good for you.
That
Cali
asshole still giving you problems? I know a few cops. We could get the restraining
order in the state of
Arizona
,
too.”

“Shhh…God, no, Dad,” JJ said in a hushed tone. Her cheeks
flamed as she glanced around the still empty backyard. “Please,” she pleaded. “No
one knows about that here, except Ben and Daisy, thanks to you. I’d like to
keep it that way.”

“I know something is bothering you,” her father insisted and
leaned back in his chair. “Wish your mother was still alive for you to talk
to,” he continued with sadness in his voice. “But since she isn’t and you won’t
talk to me about your man troubles, you know Daisy has always been there for
you. Like the time when you became a woman—”

“Dad,” JJ interrupted. “Can we please not talk about the day
I started my period? It was embarrassing enough the first time.” She plastered
a bright smile to her face. “I’m okay. Really. Just been a little lonely.” She
rose and rounded the table and kissed his weathered cheek. “We need to get
together more often. I’ve missed you.”

“Dinner,” Daisy pronounced from the patio doorway, “is
served. You two come on inside.”

Larry tucked his cigar into an old leather pouch in the
breast pocket of his shirt. “You know, she’s probably feeding us nads,” he
grumbled.

“D-dad,” JJ said as laughter bubbled and escaped her lips. A
deep belly laugh erupted. Her sides ached and tears formed in her eyes. “That’s
a terrible thing to say,” she said, catching her breath. The idea of the horror
of what he’d said took root in her brain and all mirth died. She gripped her
father’s well-muscled forearm, eyes wide. “She wouldn’t? Would she?”

“Hell, no,” he replied as his face split into a shit-eating
grin. “But whatever it is will taste like absolute crap!”

Entering the large dining room arm in arm with her dad, she
chuckled. She wiped the tear from the corner of her eye and bumped into a solid
wall of muscle. A muffled “oomph” escaped her lips. She stumbled.

“Whoa,” her dad said, steadying her. “You okay?”

The scent slammed into her first.
His scent.
The sexy titillating scent still on her pillow. Desire
snared her in its tight grip and pooled in her panties. JJ hadn’t realized just
how much she’d missed him. More than she’d thought. Gathering courage, she
lifted her gaze.

“Sorry,” Cruz said, gray eyes darkening and mirroring her
need.

He glanced at her father. His too-handsome face lit into a
bright smile that liquefied her to the marrow. Was it too much to hope that
he’d missed her, too?

He’s not
supposed to miss you, you dumbass. That’s the point of avoiding him, remember?
Grown woman
JJ argued with young girl JJ. She soon realized the younger voice inside her
head was a force to reckon with.

“What a pleasant surprise, Larry.” Cruz shook hands with her
father and pinned JJ with his penetrating stare. “I didn’t know you two were
going to be here tonight,” Cruz said.

Her father leaned in closer to Cruz conspiratorially. “Any
idea what’s on the menu, son?” he whispered.

Cruz opened his mouth and Daisy breezed into the tight space
with something that smelled delicious in a covered baking dish. Larry Jones
elbowed JJ in the ribs and wiggled his eyebrows as if to say,
don’t be fooled by the good smell, we’ve
been duped before
. JJ smiled. Her dad was absolutely incorrigible. Jett and
Roxanne followed each with baking dishes of their own and set them on the large
oval granite table where Ben Avery already sat at the head.

“You’re all in for a real treat,” Daisy said proudly. “My
daughter-in-law- wanted to recreate one of the meals she and Jett shared on
their honeymoon down in
Mexico
.”

A collective sigh of relief went through the group from all
except Cruz. JJ glanced at him as she sat next to her dad and quirked a brow.

“I ate a fucking double cheeseburger on the way over,” he
whispered in a miserable tone.

JJ smiled. She couldn’t help it. Between her father and
Cruz, her dreary depressed mood had lightened. The two men she could always
depend on and made her feel safe surrounded her. The conversation and laughter flowed
around the table as it always had over the years. The knots of tension that had
gripped her neck and shoulders loosened. This was family and she shoved her
inner mocking voice out of her head, wanting to enjoy the moment.

“So, Roxanne,” Daisy said conversationally, “you and my son
there make any babies yet?”

“
Mom
!” Jett
exclaimed and she tapped him on the head with a clear warning. “Ouch! Sorry.”

“Ah, Jett,” Daisy said. “Don’t be such a baby. It’s a fair
question. Those Mexerita taquitos and cervezas go to your head? You had to know
I was going to ask.”

JJ watched as Jett grabbed Roxanne’s hand in a protective
fashion. He gazed at his bride adoringly. Her long dark chestnut hair was
pulled away from her face in a simple ponytail and her sapphire eyes sparkled
with happiness. A flush stole across her cheeks.

“Well…” Roxanne began.

“Plead the fifth, baby,” he said and dropped a kiss on top
of her head. “I thought you’d at least wait ‘til dessert,” Jett responded.