“No. I’ll grab something at the bar by my hotel.”
She looked up and assessed him a long second. Then she dropped the mail, planted her elbows on the counter, and rested her chin in her hands. “Who is she?”
Jesus Christ. He’d forgotten how damn well Jen could read him. “Who is who?”
“Whoever you’re going back to Spur’s to see.”
“Why do you think I’m going to Spur’s?”
“Because you spent a fair amount of time there when you were younger, and it’s only a block from your hotel. Their drinks are amazing, but their food sucks, and there isn’t a bigger food snob on this planet than you.” She shook her head. “You picked up a tourist, Jack? Seriously?”
“Why do you think she’s a tourist?”
“I knew it was a woman.”
Jack sighed and looked at the ceiling. “She’s not a tourist. She works there.”
One of Jen’s golden brows shot skyward. “You come home complaining you can’t find a woman in the mecca of an upwardly mobile, independent, intelligent crowd, then take up with a country waitress you meet your first night back?”
“I have not been complaining.” He looked at Joshua, whose bright blue eyes held Jack’s. “Your mommy is making a lot of close-minded assumptions, kid.”
Joshua’s pudgy hand reached for Jack’s mouth, and he blew a raspberry against the boy’s palm, making him gurgle with pleasure.
“Jack.” Jennifer’s serious voice drew his gaze. “You’ve got to know a woman like that sees you, and dollar signs light up her eyes.”
“That’s stupid.”
“Stupid is a bad word, Uncle Jack.” This from Jacob playing with his brother in the living room.
“Sorry,” Jack yelled that direction. Then to Jen, he said, “But it is.”
“Does she know who you are? Who Dad is?”
“No. We didn’t talk about that, and there’s nothing about me that screams money.”
Except his room at the Fairlane, which his architectural firm had generously offered to cover since he was still technically working. One of the perks of partnership. He was trying to remember if she’d said yes to him before or after he’d told her where he was staying when Jen sputtered a laugh and shook her head. “You’ve been in Manhattan too long.”
“And you’re paranoid.”
“Just be careful what you say and who you say it to, okay? Local guys go there to pick up on the concert crowd, and the waitresses will know the locals.”
“She’s not a waitress.” It didn’t matter, but somehow, he felt the need to get it right. “She’s a bartender.”
“That just makes it worse. You know how people talk at a bar. We can’t have these problems with the business leaking. If employees think we’re sinking, they could jump ship before we get the business back on its feet. Vendors could demand payment up front. Not to mention how this kind of news would kill morale. We don’t need any more problems than we already have.”
She had a point there. One Jack hadn’t considered. He scanned his mind, searching for things he might have said to Miranda. But they hadn’t really gotten past anything more than the basics before they were caught up in sex.
And, damn. The sex.
The mere thought instantly hiked his body temperature.
“I will keep all cats in the bag.” He took a breath before he told her the bad news about his firm. “Don’t give me that all-is-lost look. I’ll only be gone two or three days, and I’ll fly right back here.”
Jen nodded but looked about as happy about his trip as Jack did. This cemented his plan to return to Spur’s tonight. He couldn’t wait almost a week to reconnect with Miranda.
Jack handed Joshua back to his sister. “Take your little monster. I’m going to create a playlist for Dad. See if it perks him up. I’ll give the boys baths and put them to bed before I leave.”
9