Calamity Jena (Invertary 4)

“He was the one who forgot to put the handbrake on. Which the moron might have noticed if he hadn’t been so busy trying to get you up against his truck. It’s not your fault it ran over his foot.”

“What about Michael’s dislocated shoulder?”

Matt barked out a laugh. “He fell off the path. You didn’t push him. Maybe if he’d spent more time watching where he was going instead of trying to impress you with his knowledge of nature, he wouldn’t have fallen. Plus he knows those trails like the back of his hand. There’s no excuse for him.”

“Graeme got concussion. I did push him. It was my fault.” Matt’s warmth was beginning to lull Jena to sleep.

“The guy is a wimp. He got a nosebleed tying his shoe last week. A playful push from a wee lassie shouldn’t have toppled him.”

“You’re good for my self-esteem.”

His shoulders shook as he chuckled. “You’re not totally innocent, princess. There was the guy who fell in the loch when he took you for a boat ride. He got a fright when you screamed.” He looked down at her. “Is it true you thought you saw Nessie?”

“No. That isn’t true.” She wasn’t that dumb. She knew Nessie only hung out in Loch Ness. Hence the name. Duh. She’d screamed because she’d been Googling something on her phone and almost dropped it in the loch. But she damn well wasn’t going to tell Matt that.

“How come Frank is still in one piece? You lived with him. No. Wait. Don’t tell me. He has a thing for pain.”

She smacked his abs, making her palm tingle. Without thinking about it, she soothed the sting by rubbing her hand on his warm skin. Matt nuzzled her hair. Oh, this was nice. Maybe too nice. She decided not to think about the fact she was in bed beside a very sexy half-naked man. After all, it was only Matt. It wasn’t like she’d crawled in with a stranger. Matt was nothing more than a friend.

A little voice whispered in Jena’s ear that she wasn’t in the habit of cuddling up to her half-naked friends while they were in bed. She dismissed it.

“Frank?” he prompted, bringing her back to the present.

“We didn’t really date. He’d turn up at the clubs where I danced to keep me company. Next thing I knew, I was living with him. I don’t ever remember there being a date.”

“Ha! So that’s the key to an injury-free relationship with Jena Morgan—don’t date her.”

“Funny. Oh so funny. I’m

cracking up here.” She yawned loudly, ruining any impact her sarcasm might have had.

They lay in silence for a while, Matt gently stroking her shoulder as the shadows from the trees danced around the walls. Jena felt her eyelids droop.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this here,” she whispered.

“Like what?”

“Hard.”

She rubbed her cheek against his firm muscle. He tugged her closer. His hand gently stroked her arm.

“It’s hard everywhere, princess.”

“I just wanted a home.” She closed her eyes tight. The confession robbing her last defence. “All I wanted was to belong. Somewhere.”

“And you do, you crazy girl. You belong right where you are.” He nuzzled her hair with his chin. “Go to sleep. It’ll all be better tomorrow.”

Slowly, Jena felt her eyelids grow heavy as his heat seeped into her.

Sleep pulled her under, cocooned in Matt’s protective embrace.

14

Grunt sat in a booth in the pub on Saturday morning listening to Frank whine. It was the last place he wanted to be. The first being wherever Claire was. He poked at his food with a fork. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what he wanted. The only options on the menu were a fried breakfast or porridge. What he really wanted was a pile of warm beignets straight from New Orleans. He wanted them dusted in a liberal amount of powdered sugar and served with chicory coffee that was strong enough to melt a spoon. Yeah, that would be great. The only thing that could make it any better would be to eat it with Claire.

Instead, he was eating black pudding with Frank. Could the day get any worse?

“I called in reinforcements. You two ain’t doing the job I’m paying you to do. We need help.” Frank sneered at them, and Grunt realised the day could indeed get worse.