There's Only Been You (7 page)

"Garrett, I had a visitor today at the bakery."

It took a moment, but Garrett's expression hardened as understanding dawned. He glanced at Ethan and said, “Hey, sport, would you do me a favor and go grab my keys off my dresser?"

"Sure."

They watched Ethan skip down the hall before Garrett asked in a near whisper, “How the hell did he find you?"

"Dumb luck, or so he said. He was driving by and saw the sign. Said ‘morbid curiosity’ drew him in.” She flicked her gaze down the hall. “There's something else. Amanda asked where Ethan was right in front of him—"

"Jesus H. Christ."

"—but I think I covered pretty well, and I didn't even have to lie. Told him Ethan's the love of my life."

"Listen, I don't want you to worry about this. We'll file a harassment charge against him, and if he shows up again, I'll have his ass arrested."

They both fell silent as Ethan returned to the living room playing catch with Garrett's keys.

"You about ready to hit the road, sport? Jason should be here any minute, and we'll take off when they do."

"Wait, I gotta pee!” Ethan tossed Garrett the keys and ran back down the hall.

Not even two seconds later, Sara heard a vehicle pull into the driveway. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Garrett walked past her and teased, “I'll get it. Wouldn't want you to ‘appear too eager’ now, would we?"

"Funny."

Garrett swung open the door before Jason had a chance to knock. “Hey, Jason, right on time.” He shook his hand. “Come on in. Sara's ready."

"She's ready? Man, I just might have to marry this one."

Garrett laughed and thumped him on the back. “She's the best, didn't I tell you?"

Jason didn't reply, and when Sara met his gaze, she realized she was the reason.

"Wow.” His eyes raked over her. “You look beautiful."

"Thank you. You look pretty awesome yourself.” He wore a great pair of jeans, and a blue, short-sleeved shirt that fit him like a glove and sort of resembled a polo without the collar. A pair of black boots completed the look.

Nope, she hadn't imagined it. The man was gorgeous.

"So, have you decided what movie you want to see?” Jason asked as Garrett motioned him toward the sofa.

"That new thriller looks good, unless you had something else in mind.” Sara remained standing even though Garrett tried to motion, undetected, for her to sit next to Jason. She resisted the urge to laugh. Subtlety had never been Garrett's strong suit.

"Sounds good to me."

Ethan flew into the living room and skidded to a halt in front of her. “Hi, Jason!"

This time Sara couldn't help but laugh. She'd never seen her son this excited over anybody other than Garrett.

"Hey, Ethan, how's it going? You and your Uncle Garrett still planning to shoot some miniature golf?"

"Yep, and skeeball, too. Ever play skeeball? It's an old-time game so you probably heard of it."

Sara put her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle, but Garrett just outright laughed.

"You know, I think I may have heard of that one,” Jason replied with a wink.

"Well,” Sara glanced at the clock, “we'd better get going. The movie starts in half an hour. Ethan, you be good for your uncle. When he says it's time to go home, no arguments, you hear me?” She reached down to kiss him on the forehead, but he surprised her by offering his puckered lips.

"Don't worry, Mom, I'll be good.” Standing with his hands on his hips, Ethan looked very much like Garrett at that moment. “And remember what Uncle Luke told you about no hanky-panky on the first date."

Sara almost choked. Uncle Luke had been teasing when he'd said that, but of course Ethan couldn't have known. She cast a quick glance at Garrett who was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

But Jason simply kneeled down in front of Ethan and shook his hand. “You have my word as a gentleman, no hanky-panky."

"All right, let's get going,” Garrett said, herding Ethan toward the front door. He raised his voice and called out, “We're out of here!"

Outside, Sara watched Garrett buckle Ethan into the back seat of his new Dodge Ram. When she looked up, Jason stood next to the passenger-side door of his own pick-up truck, a Chevy Silverado which also looked fairly new.

And about the ugliest shade of yellow she'd ever seen.

Jason reached out to help her into the truck, his fingers lingering a little longer than necessary on her waist.

"Thank you."

He climbed in behind the wheel and turned to her with that great smile. “Like I said, I'm a gentleman."

Mike shook his head in disgust as he pulled away from the curb.

Sara was dating a suspected drug dealer. Freakin’ perfect. They couldn't have been dating for long since Thomas had only been in town a few weeks, but that was cold comfort considering he had no idea how dangerous the guy could be.

And so much for that Ethan being the love of her life.
Poor schmuck
.

Mike had never seen her wear a sexy little dress like that before, either. Sara had been a jeans and T-shirt kind of girl back when they'd dated. He felt something he hadn't in a long time—jealousy. Gut-wrenching, want-to-put-his-fist-through-the-windshield jealousy. He laughed bitterly.
Guess Ethan's not the only poor schmuck.

He'd been tailing Thomas from the moment he'd left his apartment. When he pulled up in front of the Jamisons’ house, Mike couldn't believe his lousy luck. So Thomas and Garrett were buddies, maybe even partners. Christ, just what he needed.

But fifteen minutes later, he watched Garrett and some kid get into one truck, while Thomas handed Sara up into his own. And what a waste of a truck, Mike thought. Canary yellow? A man's truck should be black, silver, or hunter green. Even a nice metallic or midnight blue would look sharp. But yellow? He gave his head another disgusted shake.

They made a right onto Holmgren Way, then a left onto Willard Drive. Mike groaned when they pulled into the parking lot of the Bay Park Cinemas. Was he going to have to sit behind them in a darkened movie theater and watch as that son of a bitch put the moves on his Sara?

His Sara? Mike knew he had no right thinking of her that way. Thanks to his own insecurities, Sara hadn't been ‘his’ for a very long time.

He parked his truck a couple of rows over from the yellow monstrosity, careful to keep far enough back so he wasn't discovered.

Although, since he'd seen her that morning he had the perfect cover. He'd simply claim to be a jealous ex-lover—which was partially true. Mike certainly didn't need to go into the movie theater with them. In fact, if Thomas were out with any other woman, Mike wouldn't have even bothered. He'd have ducked into the tavern across the street and nursed a beer until the movie ended. Or simply waited in his truck. But the scumbag wasn't out with any woman—he was out with Sara.

Mike clenched his jaw when he realized they were buying tickets to see that new thriller. Sara loved horror movies. He remembered how she'd sprawl across his lap and hide her face against his chest during the scary parts. He remembered the tickle of her hair against his chin, the playful way she'd nip at his chest, or draw lazy circles on his stomach—

Shit, he'd better keep his thoughts PG or the next hour-and-a-half would be mighty uncomfortable.

They stopped at the concession for soda and popcorn before heading into the theater. What the hell, Mike thought. He peered down into the glass case and bought himself a big box of chocolate-covered peanuts, then hurried through the doors into the darkened theater just in time to see them take their seats. He sat down several rows behind them and settled in to watch the movie.

Sara took a sip of her soda and tried to relax. She felt uneasy, but couldn't pinpoint why. Jason had been a perfect gentleman so far, a really great guy.

Yeah, she was pretty sure her uneasy feeling had nothing to do with Jason and everything to do with Mike. Why couldn't she get that man out of her mind?

She reached over and grabbed a small handful of popcorn. The lights in the theater dimmed down, signaling the start of the previews.

Jason leaned in and whispered, “You know, I haven't been in a movie theater since I was a kid."

She glanced at him, surprised. “Really? Where do you normally take your dates?"

He shrugged. “The girls I usually date prefer nightclubs. But I'm a little tired of the whole nightclub scene, know what I mean?"

"Honestly, I haven't been in too many,” she said. “Between the bakery and Ethan, I'm lucky if I have time to soak in a bubble bath once a week."

Jason's gaze remained on her face.

"What?"

He licked his lips and cleared his throat, looking strangely guilty. “I'm sorry, but the visual you just gave me..."

Sara's eyes widened and she laughed softly. “You're going to make me blush."

He reached up and gently smoothed his knuckles down her cheek; his gaze dropped to her lips. Her eyelids started to lower in anticipation—

Something came flying at them, hitting Jason in the side of the face.

"What the—” His hand flew to his cheek and he spun around.

Not knowing him well enough to predict what he might do, Sara grasped his arm. “Please, let it go. The movie's about to start and they'll settle down once it does."

He turned back to look at her, brow raised. “Heck, I was just going to flash my badge at them.” He shook the tub of popcorn. “You're going to help me eat this, aren't you?"

Relieved, Sara smiled and reached for another handful.

Mike headed for the exit as soon as the credits started rolling, not wanting to take a chance on being seen by Sara. There had been one close call when she'd gotten up to, he assumed, run to the ladies’ room. Luckily, she never even glanced his way as she passed by.

But he found it quite interesting that as soon as she was out of earshot, Thomas had pulled out his cell phone and made a quick call. And from the furtive way he'd glanced around beforehand, Mike was confident the call had something to do with his ‘second’ job.

Mike was safely behind the wheel by the time Sara and Thomas walked out of the theater. He waited until they turned onto Holmgren Way before pulling out of the parking lot to follow. He hoped the jerk would just take her home. But as they drove right past the turnoff that led to Sara's neighborhood, Mike gritted his teeth in annoyance.

Five minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of Shady's nightclub. Shit, Mike thought, as he drove past the first entrance and turned into the second. The lighting inside Shady's, although probably dim, would certainly be brighter than inside the movie theater. Which made the likelihood of his being spotted too big a risk to take. He would just have to sit in his truck and pray that they weren't inclined to dance the night away.

And he'd also have to resist the urge to call a tow truck and have that yellow eyesore dragged to the nearest body shop.

Mike watched Thomas escort Sara across the parking lot, his hand practically riding her ass. He let out a heartfelt sigh and leaned back, his booted foot going up onto the dash. Damn, it was going to be a long night.

He sat up with interest when Thomas exited the club a short time later with his cell phone plastered to his ear and Sara nowhere in sight. He crossed the parking lot, swung his truck door open, and climbed behind the wheel.

Mike pulled a pair of binoculars from his glove compartment, wishing he could read lips as he brought the lenses into focus. Thomas looked downright pissed. He smacked the phone against the steering wheel then pitched it onto the dash.

Mike leaned back and set the binoculars on the seat. Very interesting.

He was massaging the bridge of his nose when he caught sight of Sara in his peripheral vision, heading toward Thomas's truck. Mike wanted to run out there, toss her over his shoulder, and steal her away.

He followed them back down the highway and breathed a sigh of relief when they turned into Sara's neighborhood. Mike watched through binoculars as Thomas walked Sara to her front door. She turned around to face him, and Mike's jaw hardened as he watched the scumbag take her hands and bring them to his lips.

"You don't want to kiss that jerk,” Mike whispered, clutching the binoculars in a death grip.

Thomas leaned in for a kiss, but much to his delight, Sara turned and presented him with her cheek. Mike wanted to stick his head out the truck, laugh tauntingly, and flip him the bird.

He settled for just flipping the bird.

Ten minutes later, Thomas pulled into the parking lot of a little dive called T&R's Place. Mike purposely drove past the entrance, then made a U-turn a couple of blocks down the road. Thomas was just entering the bar when Mike pulled into the parking lot.

No longer concerned with being recognized since Thomas had no idea who he was, Mike followed him inside.

The place was small, dimly lit, and reeked of beer and mold. Not a pleasant combination by any means. Mike hung back while Thomas paid for his beer and continued on to the end of the bar where a man sat cracking peanut shells with his teeth.

There was something oddly familiar about the guy, but Mike couldn't quite place him.

Mildly frustrated, he ordered a bottle of beer, then spotted an empty table way in the back.

Thomas reached Peanut guy and smacked him on the side of the head before settling on the barstool beside him. The guy looked up and shot Thomas a scowl, stopping Mike dead in his tracks. No goddamn way ... Jimmy Montgomery?

Regaining his composure, Mike swiped his beer off the bar and continued on to the empty table just behind and to the right of them. He took a swig of his beer and leaned forward in an effort to hear their conversation.

"...don't give a damn what they said, you tell them they have until Friday or ... what kind of shit are they trying to pull? The price is non-fucking-negotiable."

Okay, so nothing would be happening until next Friday. In the meantime, Mike wasn't sure what to do about Jimmy. If he confronted him, and Jimmy mentioned the exchange to Thomas, there was a small chance Thomas would do a background check on Mike and discover he's a cop. Which would be reason enough for the scumbag to pull up stakes and move on to the next city or state.