Calamity Jena (Invertary 4)

Jena’s first thought when she saw her mom sitting, heads together, with the man who broke her heart, was that she hadn’t moved far enough away. She should have followed up on the little house she’d seen in New Zealand. Maybe it wasn’t too late to move. Surely someone out there was dumb enough to buy her house.

It was clear the minute her mom and Frank spotted her. Her mother looked annoyed and Frank looked angry, then just as quickly they both covered their reactions with charming smiles. Wow. It hit Jena hard—she’d somehow managed to date the male version of her mom. How twisted was that? And now she’d realised it, she’d need therapy to get over it. Lots and lots of therapy.

“Jena, honey, isn’t it wonderful? Frank was free for dinner, so I invited him to join us. I knew you wouldn’t mind.”

Matt pulled out a chair for Jena and settled her into it. He ran a hand over her bare shoulder as he nabbed the seat beside her. Frank and her mom studied every move Matt made, with pursed lips and angry eyes.

Jena bit back her ire. Was there any point in arguing with her mother’s decision to invite Frank? All Jena wanted was to get this over and go home. With Matt. “No, I don’t mind at all. Do you, Matt?”

“Nope.” He wrapped an arm around the back of her chair and caressed her shoulder.

He appeared to be so laidback, he came across as bored. Not to mention he looked particularly hot in his grey v-neck shirt, black blazer and dark blue jeans. Casual but smart, laidback but sexy. His black hair was tousled as though he didn’t care enough to style it, and still it looked cool. To make it perfect, the blazer was cut to show off the strength of his shoulders. The sight of him made her mouth water.

Frank leaned across the table towards Jena, breaking into her consideration of Matt’s many charms.

“I want to talk about things between us,” Frank said. His earnest look was back, and Jena found it irritating.

He was dressed in his uniform of black suit and black shirt. Compared to Matt, Frank looked like he was trying too hard.

“There’s nothing to talk about, Frank. There’s nothing between us.”

Her mother’s smile was shark-like. “It wouldn’t hurt to listen to the man, would it? He came all this way to talk to you. You could make the effort to give him five minutes of your time. I’m sure Matt wouldn’t mind waiting at the bar while you have dinner with your family.”

“Frank isn’t family,” Jena pointed out.

“You know what I mean. It would be nice to spend some time alone with my daughter.”

“In that case, Frank can sit at the bar with Matt.”

“You’re not being reasonable,” her mother snapped.

“Probably not, but if Frank stays, Matt stays.”

“I’m hungry and I’m staying,” Matt said. “Plus, Jena is wearing my favourite dress. There’s no way I’m letting her out of my sight when she looks this hot.”

Jena rolled her eyes at him, but she was smiling while she did it.

“I can understand that.” Frank’s voice made Jena feel slightly nauseated. She found it hard to believe she’d once thought herself in love with the man. She’d been blind. Blind and stupid. He smiled that greasy smile again. “A man would be insane to let a woman like Jena out of sight. A man would be insane to let a woman like her get away.”

“Aye.” Matt’s smile was ice cold. “Good job I’m not insane.”

“I need to go to the ladies’ room,” her mother suddenly announced, and stood. “Jena, come with me. We’ll do the chick thing and go together.”

Yeah, like they’d ever done that before. It seemed strangely fitting that Jena’s girl time with her mother would take place in a toilet.

“Order for me?” she asked Matt.

“No problem. Make sure you’re back fast, or I’ll eat it.”

He would, too. In the time Matt had been camped at her house, she’d discovered nothing got between him and his food. Jena stood to follow her mom, who was dressed in a skintight black leather mini dress. For a second Jena felt a familiar burst of inadequacy, but it passed. She stepped away from the table.

Before she could second-guess herself, she leaned over and kissed Matt. His eyes flared with heat. “I’ll hurry,” she said against his lips.

“You’d better.”

The spell he cast over her was broken when her mom cleared her throat. Jena pushed back her shoulders and followed her mom.

“You doing Jena, then?” As soon as the women had disappeared from sight, the question Matt had been expecting popped out of Frank’s mouth.