"It's an application."
"For what?"
"School. What do you care?"
He just grunted and walked over to a lawn chair nearby. He sat down and stared at her moodily. She sighed audibly and turned back to her papers. She lifted her calves and crossed her ankles, stealing a peek to see if Jack was still staring.
He was.
Behind her she knew that Kaylie and Devlin were watching the exchange. She could tell from Kaylie's muffled giggles that they were finding the whole situation vastly entertaining.
“Nettie, there's a party tonight at the clubhouse. Devlin said we can go!"
She rolled to a cross legged position and smiled at Dev. He was nice to her at least.
"I thought you didn't go to the parties, Kay."
"This is a cookout so it starts early. Things start getting a little crazy after ten or eleven."
Janet chewed her lip thoughtfully.
"I doubt my folks will let me out. It was hard enough to get them to let me out of the house in broad daylight."
She sneaked a glance at Jack who was still watching her. Frowning as usual.
"But I'll ask."
Kaylie sat back down on the blanket with her and threw her arms around her.
"Come on, it'll be fun! Dev says they make the best homemade barbecue sauce."
“I guess, if I am wanted there.” She slanted a meaningful look at Jack. “I’ll definitely try.”
Kaylie's mom came out with more lemonade and a couple of beers for the guys. She seemed to like Jack almost as much as Devlin.
Janet ignored them all and tried to finish filling out her application. After twenty minutes she'd only gotten through one page. She was about to give up and leave when she glanced up and saw that Jack was staring at her again.
Maybe he had been the entire time.
He looked… Jesus!
Damn if he didn't look like she'd hurt his feelings! That was a laugh. He was the one who had told her to stay away from him!
He caught her looking at him and abruptly stood up. The next thing she heard was the sound of his bike tearing out.
He'd left without a word to anyone.
Chapter Eighteen
Jack
Where was Red?
Jack was staring at the door of the clubhouse bar. He was watching to make sure Janet didn't show up and ruin his night. He was really hoping her parents had told her to stay home tonight.
She’d stay away and he could avoid her, like he’d said he would. Better for everyone. Just stay away from the girl. It would be so much easier for everyone. He didn’t want any complications in his life and he didn’t want her.
God, he was such a liar.
He'd been in a tailspin all day. First he'd walked into Kaylie's yard to see Janet looking like a barefoot princess. With no makeup, and her flaming red hair loose around her shoulders, she'd looked like something out of a fairy tail.
Sweet and natural and so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her.
So pure that it made him itch to take that innocence, take it and make her a woman. Because she might be nineteen, but she was definitely not a woman yet.
Jesus, who knew a sundress could be so arousing. He'd finally decided he was going to have to do something about this insane attraction he was having to the girl. She'd chosen that moment to be a complete brat and ignore him!
He had been ready to tell her not to stay away. They could have a thing for a little while. At least until he stopped seeing her damn face every time he closed his eyes!
Now she was the one playing hard to get, dammit.
He sipped his ginger ale and stared down at it disgustedly. What he needed was a real drink. It was getting late and Dev had already left with Kaylie. He had no other duties tonight.
The girl wasn’t coming. She’d said her parents had her on lockdown. There was no reason he shouldn’t indulge.
Maybe it would numb the raging lust and frustration rolling around in his chest.
Nobody needed him for anything. It had been a long time since he indulged in more than an occasional beer but he wanted to numb himself to these unwelcome feelings the girl was bringing out in him.
To hell with it.
Jack strode across the bar and put his empty glass down in front of Donnie, who was lazing around back there while the prospects did all work as usual.
"Tequila."
Donnie quirked his eyebrow at Jack but didn't hesitate to pour him a shot. He held up a cold beer chaser and Jack nodded. Donnie watched him as he downed the shot and the beer in less than a minute.
"Another?"
Jack nodded again. It was going to be a long night.
Chapter Nineteen
Janet
This sucks.
Janet stared at her open window. She'd been stuck in her bedroom all night. Her mother had been especially annoyed that she'd gone to Kaylie's house without asking, not caring that they'd been studying.