Jack and Ginger (Sacred Heart Coven Book 3) (11 page)

His smile curled up in a magical kind of way to expose more than just his brilliant white teeth. It exposed the kindness in his eyes and let you know that he would likely give you the shirt off his back if you needed it.
 

"I love muffins. Is she in the kitchen?" Ginger asked as she gave him a short but warm hug.
 

"Yes, wish she was in the kitchen that often at home." His chest rumbled at the thought.
 

Ginger slapped him on the arm. "Stop it, be careful what you wish for."
 

She swung open the door to see Jasinda all dressed up. She had on slacks and a white blouse with a pair of gold high heels. Her hair was pulled pack into a French twist really exposing how round and high her cheekbones were. Ginger thought if she had been taller she might have been able to have been a model when she was younger.
 

"Wow, woman. Looks like you are ready to get serious today," Ginger said as she gave her a hug and admired how beautifully she cleaned up.

"You are not doing so bad yourself. But you always look like you are dressed to kill. I am very excited for today. Redford will be here in less than two hours. He already called to confirm he will be on time." Jasinda used a clean bar rag to pull the tray of muffins out of the toaster. "So how did you make out last night?"

"I made out way better than I ever could have imagined. I am working really hard at accomplishing what I set my mind to. It is amazing how energizing it is. I got my dad's or should I say my closet all cleared out. I painted my room and got everything we purchased set up in there. I took pictures on my phone; I will show you." Ginger walked around Jasinda and grabbed some paper plates from the dry pantry.
 

"I can't wait to see them. So how are you feeling about our meeting today?"

"I feel open to the possibilities and I'm not locking my emotions into anything. What is meant to be will be. Right?"

"That is true and I truly believe that the more open you are to the universe the more likely you hear what it has to say. Go with the flow and believe that the universe will provide you with what you need. Big things can happen. They just might not be what you expected." Jasinda backed out through the swinging doors.

"That is why I have decided not to expect anything. We will explore this option and if it makes sense, then I am going to give it my all. My attorney didn't tell me I should completely close the door on it, and that if I bring him everything he needs, then he will help me make it happen."

"Perfect," Jasinda said as Steve grabbed a muffin off of the plate before she had a chance to put it on the bar.
 

Ginger grabbed a muffin and Steve poured the coffees. Just as she was about to take a bite of her food, her cell started ringing. She pulled it out of her purse and felt her shoulders sink forward.
 

Roger.

Even thought she didn't want to answer it, she figure if he was going to waste his time calling her that it was probably relevant.
 

"What's up, Rog?"

"Good morning to you too."

"It was-"

"That's lovely, Ginger. Well it's about to get even less great."

"And why is that?" she asked standing up from the stool she just sat on.

"Sandra called and told me that the buyers for the house didn't submit their second deposit and apparently they never got their mortgage commitment either."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, so I told her to tell them to fuck off and that she could fuck off as well. I am having Ira send her office a letter informing her that we will not be continuing our relationship with them."

Ginger walked out of the front of the bar. She didn't want to be rude and start fighting with him in front of Steve and Jasinda.

"You can't just tell people to fuck off. And how about you call me and tell me what's going on before you decide to kill the deal on the house. Not for nothing, it is the last thing that is tying us together and no offense, but I am ready to move on with my life, Roger."

"You're telling me? I am supposed to be closing on a new place next month."

"I don't care what you are doing next month. You need to fix this. Or do you want me to call Sandra?"

"I don't need you handling my business." Roger started to raise his voice and it was more than she needed to tolerate, not anymore.

"First of all, I won't be talked to like that by you or anyone else. If there is a chance to save that deal and get that house closed, then it needs to happen. I do not want to spend time starting all over again finding a new realtor and new prospective buyers. Did you ever think that maybe she had a back up offer or someone else that might be interested in the house before you told her off?"

The line was too silent. She'd stopped him dead in his tracks.
 

"See sometimes, Roger, you need to think before you let your temper get in the way. Apparently you never heard the old saying that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Your approach is straight stringent."

She heard him huff on the other end of the line. "Yup."

"So are you calling or am I?"

"You can call her, Ginger. You can handle everything, ok. Get it done and get it done quick or I will lower the price so much that we will get a deal on it in a day. I'm sure you don't want to loose your last hold over my check book."

"Fuck you, Roger. I will call her. Don't call me again. I will have all the paperwork sent through Ira. I suggest that you email Sandra and apologize to her." Ginger was steamed up. She didn't like that someone else could have that kind of power over her.
 

She promised herself that she wouldn't let Roger continue to stay in her head rent free. She put her phone in her pocket and leaned up against the brick exterior of the building. She let the sun beat down on her face. With her eyes closed, she took a few deep breaths and released the tension that was building between her shoulder blades.
 

She knew that Sandra's office didn't open until ten and that was the same time that Redford would be arriving. She couldn't let this cloud her judgment or her focus, not on such an important day.
 

She pulled her phone back out and opened the app for her email account and put together a quick email to Sandra apologizing for Roger's behavior and notifying her that from now on she would be working directly with her. She asked Sandra if she could look into the possibility of keeping the deal they had together and if not, asking her if she had another potential buyer. She informed her that she would contact her later in the day after her meeting.
 

She finished up the email and hit send. She sent a quick text to Roger letting him know and then she decided it would be best if she just turned her phone off. Just before her phone powered down she noticed how late it had gotten. She had been outside way to long. Her muffin was most surely cold.
 

Chapter Eleven
 

WHEN GINGER WALKED BACK IN, Steve poured her a fresh cup of coffee. She appreciated that they didn't ask what was going on. It was unfortunately obvious that she had received a less than desirable call, and she was glad to not have to talk about it.
 

Ginger was counting on that money from the sale of her old house to help fund this project. Maybe Ginger's attorney, Ira, knew what had happened and that was part of why he was suggesting she be careful with this investment and to proceed with extreme caution. Or he knew that Roger was such a jerk that he was bound to somehow mess things up. Well, she wasn't going to let Roger adversely affect anything else in her life.
 

She picked at the cold muffin, but she didn't have quite the same appetite she had before the call.
 

Jasinda walked over and told her that Redford called and said that he would be a few minutes late.
 

"So have you thought an about what you would want to name the restaurant?" Jasinda asked.

"Me," she laughed, "no, should I be thinking about a new name? Do you want to change the name here?" Ginger was surprised that she wanted her input in that.

"Well listen, if we are going to do this right, I would assume that we should re-launch as a totally new place. And if we do it together, then of course you should have a say in it. Come on I know you must have thought about it a little bit," Jasinda prodded in a way to help pep her up.

"Funny thing is no, I had not really thought about that. I think my head was more focused on the concept and the business plan. Coming up with a name will be fun though." Ginger swept her bangs off to the side. She wished they were long enough to tuck behind her ear. She pulled out her high shine, lip plumping, power gloss and applied it to her soft pink lips.

Ginger looked down at her watch to check the time. She realized that she needed to get a new watch, one that she bought for herself. It was past ten o'clock so this Redford guy would be arriving any minute.
 

As soon as the thought entered her mind, the door opened and with it, a gust of hot air. Ginger could see how hazy it was out from the brutality of the end of summer humidity. She felt like she could have been in Florida with that kind of weather.

She felt first-hand the power of the sun less than an hour ago and clearly it was working overtime. The sun shone in behind the man walking through the entryway, it was hard to see him.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Ginger felt a flutter in her stomach. He walked in with a swagger and a confidence that most likely defined him as a man. He had on a well tailored charcoal grey suit and he carried a satchel large enough to hold a light weight laptop and some files.
 

The man approached the bar. She couldn't move her legs. She knew she should get up and walk over introduce herself, but she suddenly lost the ability to command her limbs.
 

He took off his glasses in a sweeping motion. It was like he had practiced the move in front of a mirror a thousand times before. He slid them into the inside pocket of his blazer. He put his bag on the closest bar stool and smoothed out the sides of his slick, silver hair.
 

His hair wasn't completely silver only along the sides of his head. Even though his hair had greyed, he still had a full head of hair. The salt and pepper crown was just long enough to style back. The silver made his blue eyes shine like
 
two floating diamonds in a Caribbean sea.
 

His dark shirt was not quite buttoned up to the top. The man was very fit. She could see the definition of his muscular chest at the base of where his collarbone met. There was a clear line of
I need to see more of what is under that shirt.

Thank goodness Steve came out before she had to say hello. Steve shook his hand.

"Nice to finally meet you, man. It's nice to put a face to the voice." Steve pat him on the arm just as their hand shake ended. "Let me introduce you to everyone."

"The pleasure is all mine." Redford dipped his head in Gingers direction. She felt like his eyes cast an invisible line in her direction. She didn't need to know what kind of bait he had, she would let him catch her with a piece of stale bread.

"This is my wife and partner in everything Jasinda."
 

Jasinda came out of the kitchen and tucked herself under the arm of her husband. She extended her hand to greet him. Jasinda looked over at Ginger and she didn't need to be a rocket scientist or a psychic to know what was going through her head.
 

Ginger stood up and made sure that her legs were steady before she started to walk. She made a careful effort so that she stood tall with her shoulders back with her breast leading the way. She rubbed her sticky lips together glad that she took the extra minute to coat them.

She imagined herself walking like she was on stage in the middle of one of the Victoria's Secret fashion shows. She hoped that she didn't look like she was trying to look sexy, but by damn she was. She prayed that the man did not have a wedding band on his left hand.

"Nice to meet you." Ginger's voice came out like she was answering a party line.
 

"It is
 
really nice to actually meet you." He shook her hand, but closed her hand between both of his hands and slid them off with a softness that made her want more.
 

Ginger felt her cheeks flush at his comment. "Oh?"

"Funny, I never actually thought I would never see you again. This is a really nice surprise."

"You two know each other?" Jasinda lit up like a Christmas tree on fire.

"Not that I recall," Ginger said and smiled at him with her eyes pinched together looking at him again trying to see if she missed something.
 

"I'm sorry, no we don't actually know each other. I know I look different in a suit." He laughed and pulled at the lapel of his blazer.
 

Ginger laughed nervously wondering what she missed. This guy did not have a face or a body for that matter that she could ever forget.