Chasing Bliss

Chapter Five

Jesse watched the town crazy walk into Trio. Well, one of the town crazies. Bliss seemed to be full of them, but this particular crazy was more sad than funny. McMahon was dressed in a flannel shirt and light jacket and jeans. It was what he always wore.

He took a long drink of his beer as the former US Marshal strode in and took a seat at the bar. Yep. Jesse intended to keep an eye on Michael McMahon because he knew what a dangerous man looked like. He’d stared at one in the mirror for months. Sometimes he wondered if chasing after Christian Grady for all those years hadn’t changed something fundamental inside him. There was still an ache in the pit of his stomach because he hadn’t been the one to take the fucker down. That had been Hope and Lucy.

How much worse was that ache for Cade? He’d lost two mothers. Did he sit up at night wishing he’d been the one to end the life of the man who killed Nancy Gibbs? And how about the man who killed Cade’s parents and sister? Jesse knew it was all bullshit, but Cade blamed himself for their deaths. How long before Cade forgave the child he’d been?

“Damn it. Lucy just caught sight of him, and I swear to god that girl is drooling.” Cade sat back with a long sigh. “That girl needs a keeper.”

Jesse watched as Trio’s cutest waitress fumbled a little. Lucy wasn’t the most graceful woman in the best of circumstances. Add a little inexplicable sexual attraction to the mix, and she was downright clumsy.

Jesse winced as the tray in her hand wobbled and the single glass began its long dive toward the floor.

Luckily, Zane was damn fast. He caught the glass and managed to only spill a little of what Jesse suspected was the town doc’s whiskey. Doctor Caleb Burke sat at a long table with his girlfriend, Holly, and his partner, Alexei. On the other side of the table sat Holly’s best friend, Laura, and her boyfriends, Rafe and Cam.

Zane turned, and Jesse could hear Michael grumble his order. It was the only way the man talked, in a low mumble that was something between a growl and a moan.

“I don’t get it.” Tyler Davis sighed as he slid into the booth beside Cade. “Look at her. It’s like she could eat him up. What the fuck is wrong with me?”

Jesse shrugged. “Dude, according to most of the female tourists around here, there’s nothing wrong with you. Aren’t you like, rolling in the tips and shit?”

He genuinely enjoyed giving Ty shit.

Ty Davis was one of those sun-kissed blond gods who generally set Jesse on edge, but Ty was brainy with the slightest edge of nerd. It made up for his pretty-boy good looks. “I do not take tips, asshole. I’m a paramedic. I don’t have a tip jar on my med kit. Do you know how pissy people get after they break a leg while skiing? Trust me. They’re thinking lawsuits, not tips.”

Cade smiled, that shit-eating grin that let Jesse know he was about to say something wretchedly sarcastic. “He wasn’t talking about the medical stuff, Ty. How are tips after the sex stuff?”

Ty went a great shade of pink.

“Sex stuff?” Lucy asked, her breath a little huffy. She was wearing the Trio uniform, jeans and a tight white tank top with the bar’s logo, two beer steins with a glass of red wine in the middle. It was a slightly salacious logo that always reminded Jesse that relationships in Bliss tended to consist of two foaming beer drinkers and a single curvy female. Lucy fit the bill. The tank top molded to her plump breasts, but unfortunately, Lucy had been firmly placed in the sister category. And she was kind of a bratty little sister. “If we’re talking about sex stuff, we must be talking about Ty.”

Ty’s blush deepened. “Damn it. Do we have to get so personal? I’m not the only one around here who has sex.”

Lucy cocked her hip and set her tray on the table. “Well, I’m not having any so we’re not talking about me. And these two have been working around the clock, so I think you’re the only one at this table having sex.”

Cade’s head hit the table and a low moan came out of his mouth. “God, I miss sex. I miss sex with hot blondes.”

Jesse missed sex, too. But the fact that Cade was joking about it gave him a little hope. He hadn’t missed the fact that Cade had left the park with the cooler in hand after the lunchtime debacle and then shown up without it at the shop. He’d gone back and made sure Gemma had food for lunch.

Cade was falling into his trap. Jesse knew what Cade was scared of. He just didn’t intend to let it stop him. Gemma would be good for both of them. A soft, sweet little bunny of a woman wouldn’t get Cade off his ass. Gemma would challenge him. Gemma would make him see the light.

If she showed up. He found himself watching that door. He was damn happy that every now and then Cade turned and glanced at it as well.

Ty’s head came up as though he was greatly relieved they were no longer talking about his love life—which resembled a TV sitcom. It came in short bursts and had zero chance of containing a long-term plot. “Are you talking about Gemma? She’s a hot blonde.”

Jesse felt his eyes narrow and his spine straighten like a dog who’d gone on full “protect my fucking turf” alert. Ty was a womanizer. Ty liked to bed just about anything that would let him. He better not be sniffing around Gemma.

“How the hell do you know Gemma?” Jesse asked.

Ty leaned back as though realizing he was walking through a minefield. “She and her mom rented two of the cabins Cole owns. They’re right there in the valley. It’s the two cabins he hasn’t let go of yet. He had me take them spare keys.”

Cole Roberts owned the Elk Creek Lodge, the ski resort that sat just outside Bliss. He was Ty’s boss and one of the wealthiest men in the county. He’d recently taken over for his uncle who was now retired and spent all his time fishing.

Lucy’s sweet face contorted a little. “He has you playing his super now?”

Ty’s eyes rolled. “No one else was around. I get bored. I just took her the extra key. I tried to talk to her a little, you know, get to know her. She took the key and slammed the door in my face.”

Good. The last thing he needed was Ty trying to hit on Gemma. He doubted it would work. He was pretty sure Gemma was interested in what he and Cade had to offer, but he was a very straightlaced man. He believed in tradition and that meant no fourths.

Lucy looked back to the long table and sighed. “Do you need anything? I have to go and make sure the champagne is ready.” Her eyes grew a little wistful. “I’ve been told something really nice is going to happen tonight.”

Jesse looked over at the small party in the back of the bar. Laura and Holly and their men were all smiling and having a great time. He could take a wild guess at what was about to happen and why they would need champagne. It seemed to be a theme going around Bliss. Hope McLean and her men had just gotten back from eloping in Las Vegas. There had been a huge party out at the Circle G not two weeks before. It looked like either Laura or Holly would be next.

“I’ll take another beer, sweetheart,” he told Lucy, handing her his empty mug.

“Me, too.” Cade finished his off.

“I’d like the usual,” Ty said.

Jesse and Cade both snorted. Ty’s usual was a piña colada.

Ty frowned. “I like sweet drinks.”

Lucy simply winked his way. “I know you do, Ty. Be right back.”

Lucy walked off, Ty’s eyes following her every move. His eyes went hard when she stopped in front of Michael McMahon and her whole body took on a flirtatious air. McMahon simply continued frowning. Jesse looked at the man with his thick beard and longish hair and hoped he bathed regularly. If McMahon hadn’t hit rock bottom yet, he couldn’t be far away.

“What the fuck does she see in him?” Ty complained. “I heard he nearly shot two people who walked on his land. He said he thought they were bears, but I don’t believe him. I think he’s a damn powder keg waiting to go off.”

Cade leaned back against his seat. “I heard they were nudists on a nature hike.”

The gossip mill was one of the best things about Bliss. “I heard it was aliens. Mel tried to talk to him, but Mike apparently doesn’t believe in them. Mel’s been leaving him pamphlets.”

You’ve Been Probed. What to do Next…was Jesse’s favorite of the recent rash of pamphlets the town’s citizens had been putting out. Just today, Nell had come by Long-Haired Roger’s auto shop and left a flurry of Eat Vegan or Die Horribly flyers. Jesse thought Nell was getting a little desperate.

“I don’t care who they were. That man is on the edge. Why the hell is he still here?” Ty complained.

As far as Jesse had heard, the former US Marshal was here because he didn’t have anywhere else to go. He’d lost his fiancée when she’d turned criminal and sold out the man they’d been charged with protecting. Michael’s fiancée had been willing to let Alexei Markov die, and she hadn’t cared if the town doc and Holly Lang had gone down with him. According to the gossip, Michael had quit his job the next day and rented a cabin, and he hadn’t been seen for a month. When he’d emerged, he’d grown a beard and a paranoid attitude. And Lucy had promptly gotten a crush because, it seemed, she liked a little bit of crazy.

Yeah, Jesse understood that.

His little bit of crazy walked in. The door to Trio swung open, and Gemma Wells entered with her swaying hips and crazy, bee-stung lips and that surly attitude, and fuck all, his cock did a little dance in his pants.

She was here.

“Have you actually asked Lucy out, Ty?” Cade asked. His back was to the door, but he watched Jesse. Jesse nodded toward the wretchedly hot blonde as she moved through the crowd.

“No. I don’t actually ask women out. It just kind of happens,” Ty said, defending himself.

Jesse spoke, though he was really busy drooling over Gemma. She took off her coat and revealed a tight V-neck sweater and skirt. “So you just fall into their vaginas? Do you trip or is it a controlled fall?”

“Dude,” Cade said with a laugh, holding up his hand. “Nice one.”

Jesse high-fived his partner and nodded again, trying to force Cade’s attention to where it should be focused. Gemma had entered the bar on her own. And she walked right past the jukebox. What the hell was that supposed to mean? “She’s alone, man, but I think she’s going to give us a little hell.”

Cade turned, his eyes widening as he caught sight of Gemma. “Damn, look at that. But she’s not alone.”

“I don’t fall in. I am very careful about what vaginas I enter. Wait. That sounded bad.” Ty shook his head.

“No, it sounded like Ty.” Lucy put a beer in front of Jesse. “And who’s the gorgeous girl with Gemma?”

Ty turned, looking toward the bar where Gemma and her friend were settling in. “Oh, that’s Naomi Turner. She’s a nurse.”

“She’s been coming into Stella’s with Lynn almost every day. She seems really nice.” Lucy glanced around the bar.

Naomi was her shield. No doubt about that. Even as Jesse stared at her, Gemma’s eyes slid his way and then she turned as quickly as she could when she realized he was watching. Nervous. She was a pretty little deer who really wanted to be fed by hand but wasn’t sure she was safe.

Cade sighed. “You’re the one who is always telling me to be patient.”

He didn’t want to be patient. He wanted to walk right up to her, grab her, and take her right back out the door. He’d been patient all week, giving her time and space and now he wasn’t sure he could stand another minute of it.

But she was sidling up to the bar and not the jukebox. She’d brought a friend with her in case she needed an out.

All he could do was wait and watch and hope she was brave enough to take that step.

Ty shook his head as he sipped his frou-frou drink. “I’ve heard that girl is trouble with a capital T.”

Yep, Gemma was trouble, and Jesse figured they were the solution. He and Cade. It would be different if they were the kind of guys to fall into a girl’s vagina and then fall right back out like Ty, but Jesse had changed. Jesse wanted to get in a vagina he cared about and spend a really long time there. They could be good for her.

He just had to convince her of that. And then he had to convince Cade. Yeah. He might need another beer.

“Is he looking this way?” Gemma tried to not look back. It was hard. Her eyeballs seemed to have magnets, and those two hot mechanics were pulling her sight their way. The minute she’d entered the bar, she’d glanced their way and her heart rate had tripled. She’d debated all day, but in the end, she couldn’t stay away.

It was just natural. They were ridiculously gorgeous. One of them had stark black hair and piercing green eyes, and a deep abhorrence of shirts. She still couldn’t forget seeing Bare-Chested Ape Man shirtless, showing off one of those chests that really should only exist in the movies because it wasn’t fair to females across the globe.

And then there was Jesse—the sweet one. He had light brown hair that brushed the tops of sculpted shoulders.

She shouldn’t have come out. She wasn’t going to that jukebox. No way.

Naomi turned slightly, as though she was looking for something just behind her. When she turned back, there was a little grin on her face. “Oh, yeah, he’s looking your way. So is his friend. Where are my two hot men?”

Naomi might envy her, but she wasn’t thinking about all the complexities. It was far too complicated. Jesse wanted a relationship. Cade wanted a little sex, but he didn’t really like her. She liked them both, but she wasn’t going to hang around.

Maybe she could just play around. Not for forever. Forever was an idiot’s dream. But she still had needs. Lots of dirty, filthy needs.

And some not-so-dirty needs. She needed time away from thinking about how she’d screwed up her life and how her mom had a second chance. Would Gemma get a second chance? She’d almost lost her mom. It had been easy to forget all about her own personal horror story when she’d been concentrating on her mom and the rounds of chemotherapy she’d been through.

“Are you okay? You just went very pale.” Naomi put a hand on her arm, feeling for her pulse. Naomi took her job very seriously.

Damn her Swedish ancestors. “Sorry, I pale very easily.”

Naomi grinned, even white teeth gleaming from her lovely face. “Yeah, you white girls do that.”

“Bitch.”

“Back at ya.” Naomi looked down at her cell phone. “She hasn’t called. Maybe I should call.”

Gemma put her hand down on the phone. “Don’t. She wanted you to have a couple of hours out. She’s fine. She has your number. She has Doctor Burke’s number. Actually, he’s sitting right over there.”

He got up and so did a gorgeous dark-haired man. Alexei Markov, former mobster and a key state witness in some very high-profile trials. Everyone in Gemma’s office had followed those trials, watching them like a gory soap opera. He’d been a spectacular witness. Charming and intelligent, he’d won over the juries. It was odd to see him here in small-town Colorado.

Holly, her fellow waitress from Gemma’s two-day stint at Stella’s, looked up as the men surrounded her. A hush fell over the whole bar. The music that had been rocking the walls was suddenly at a lull.

Gemma’s stomach took a long, slow dive.

“Hey, guys.” Holly got a faint grin on her face. “What’s going on?”

The big Russian got to one knee. “My dushka, Caleb and I have questionings for you. We wish to make offer you can’t to be refusing.”

Caleb grinned. “Sorry, baby, I let him watch The Godfather. But you’re not going to refuse us, are you?”

“I don’t know the question yet, so I don’t have an answer,” Holly shot back, but there were tears in her eyes.

Both men pulled out velvet boxes and diamond rings flashed.

“Yes.” Holly didn’t wait for the actual question. She just started kissing them. One and then the other.

Patrick hadn’t proposed. Hadn’t bought her a ring. She’d brought it up over lunch one day. She’d laid out the business plan of their marriage and presented it to him. He’d agreed. No romance. No protestations of love.

Cam stood up. “Excellent, now we’ll show you how two men who don’t mind talking do this thing.”

That was why Cam had been smiling all afternoon. Cam was getting engaged, too. She wanted to be happy for him. She liked Cam. All she could think about was the date. Tomorrow’s date, really. It was burned into her memory since she’d sent out two hundred and fifty “save the date” cards with tomorrow’s date on them.

Cam’s partner, Rafe, got up beside him, both men looking down on Laura Niles, who put her hand to her mouth, tears pooling in her eyes. “Laura, it’s been a long road, but every turn led us right here.”

“Every stop sign and detour didn’t matter because we had one destination in life. You.” Cam reached out and touched her hair.

“We’re here now, and we won’t ever leave again. Laura, will you marry us? Will you build a life with us, a home, whatever family we’re blessed enough to have? Will you grow old with us and stare back at the life we were granted, happy it was a shared one?”

“Oh, yes.” Laura accepted her rings.

Caleb looked at Holly. “What they said.”

She shook her head and hugged him. “I love you just the way you are, Caleb. You, too, Alexei.”

The whole bar erupted in a long cheer.

Tomorrow was supposed to be her wedding day. She’d planned that wedding out with the same type A–fueled adrenaline she’d used on her career. She’d found the perfect venue, the perfect dress, the right band. She’d concentrated on a wedding, but those people in the bar would have real marriages.

A warm hand covered hers. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head. It wouldn’t help to think about it. Six months ago she’d been ready to get married, on the cusp of becoming a junior partner, had her whole life ahead of her.

And it hadn’t meant a thing.

She’d worked her ass off, done everything right, and it hadn’t worked out. Her mother had followed her heart and it had all gone wrong. And she still told Gemma to do the same.

Follow her heart? She hadn’t listened to it since she was a little girl.

“It’s okay to be upset, Gem. I know what tomorrow was supposed to be. Your mom had that wedding invitation on her refrigerator. When I first met her, she told me she had to live long enough to see her baby get married.”

There they were. Those tears that she always seemed on the edge of. Every time she was about to fall into self-pity, she thought about her mom. She took a deep breath. It was past time to pull up her big-girl panties. She wasn’t getting married tomorrow. She wasn’t a lawyer anymore. But she was still her mother’s daughter. “Well, it’s better this way. We get to spend more time together.”

Naomi sighed as though slightly disappointed. “Yes, you do, hon.”

“What can I do you for, ladies?”

Gemma felt her eyes widen. God, they grew them hot in this town. She’d seen him around the valley and at the little barbecue in her mom’s yard. The man in front of her was at least six and a half feet tall with emerald green eyes and pitch-black hair. His face was scarred, but it was oddly lovely on him as though pain had molded him from picture perfect into something infinitely more interesting. She had to find her voice.

“Vodka tonic.”

The Bartender God winked her way. “Sure thing. You’re Gemma, right? The new office manager at the station?”

“Through very nefarious means, yes.”

A brilliant smile crossed his face. “Excellent. You give Nate hell, hon. And you should know that all your drinks are on the house. I know how hard it is to deal with that man.”

She couldn’t help it. She smiled back. “You’re Zane Hollister.” Callie’s other husband. Callie had been into the station several times, but she hadn’t met Zane. They lived not a quarter of a mile from each other. He’d cooked dinner in her mom’s yard while he’d talked to Cade. She worked for the man’s partner, but she hadn’t taken the time to meet him.

He gave her a little salute. “I am indeed. I’m the one who’s going to make sure you don’t kill your boss. Lunches are on the house, too. You’re part of the family now.” He turned to Naomi. “How about you?”

“White wine spritzer. And heavy on the spritzer. Just one. Thanks.” That was Naomi. Always in control. It was probably a good thing in a nurse.

“Will do.” The wretchedly hot bartender turned and started mixing drinks.

And Gemma sat there for a minute. Part of the family? She didn’t buy it. It wasn’t true. He’d just said it because they needed someone to man the phones. Part of the family was just one of those things people said to get a person to do what they wanted. That was all. Bliss wasn’t any different than the real world. It just liked to say it was.

And where were all the non-hot guys? It was stupid. She was in a rural small town. It should be filled with men she would never sleep with, but no, not Bliss, Colorado. Bliss, Colorado, had to be the world’s epicenter for sexy men.

She took a sip of her vodka tonic when Zane passed it to her, her eyes wandering. So many beautiful men.

And she couldn’t even handle Patrick. No. She really shouldn’t be sitting here thinking about Jesse and Cade and whether or not she should go to the jukebox.

Like they really wanted her anyway. There weren’t a whole lot of available women. The men left had to double-team. But they hadn’t latched on to Naomi, and Naomi was gorgeous and sweet.

“Miss Turner.” The doctor set his empty glass on the bar along with a delicate martini glass. “It’s nice to see you out and about.”

Naomi turned his way, a big smile on her face. “Lynn insisted. She said she wanted some alone time.”

Doctor Burke leaned against the bar. “She knows what she wants. She’s been through enough. She should have her way now. As long as she makes her checkups, she’s going to be fine.” The doctor gave Naomi what Gemma thought was supposed to be a smile, but it kind of looked like a shark sizing up his dinner. “Which is why you should seriously reconsider my offer.”

Gemma sat up, really happy to have her mind off her own problems. “There was an offer?”

Naomi’s eyes rolled. “Yes, a job offer.”

The doctor looked at Gemma. “What other kind of offer would I…absolutely not. Holly’s all the woman I can handle. No, girl with the dirty mind. I offered Naomi a very good job at my clinic.”

“And by very good job he means one with almost no salary, benefits that don’t live up to the word, and I would get to work with him.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about the working-with-me part. I can be obnoxious. And don’t sneer at the benefits. Holly’s banana bread is legendary. Besides, if you’re around for a while, maybe you can come to the wedding.”

Naomi’s face lit up. “Oh, are you getting married? I hadn’t noticed.”

He flushed a deep red, but it was charming on him. “I wanted to do a private thing, but Laura and Holly are best friends, and they should have a double wedding, you know. Well, I think I’m getting married. I mean, I am, but maybe not legally. No. Wait. Alexei’s got mob people after him and his real fake name is still Howard. I think it has to be me, right? And I have the money. And speak English. Well, mostly. Yeah. I’m signing the papers, but it’s Bliss, so we’re all getting married.”

“I am so confused.” Gemma tried to follow him, but it wasn’t happening. And she hadn’t even finished a damn drink yet.

The doctor tossed his hands up. “Absolutely. It’s weird, right? Except now I’ve had sex so many times with Alexei like right there that it feels weird when Holly and I do it alone. I mean, we do. Alexei works some late hours and I need to get my freak on, you know. But it’s weird. I can safely say that I never thought I would get married to a waitress and an ex-Russian mobster. Though I’m not married to Alexei. Right? There’s no actual sex and stuff so we’re not married. Fuck. I might be marrying Alexei. He gets his English really wrong. We could screw up and end up married to each other.”

Gemma sighed all the while thinking of the two men behind her. Were they still behind her? Had they given up? Did they think this was her way of flipping them off? Because it wasn’t. It was her way of being terrified.

Naomi laughed a little. “Well, if you do end up married to Alexei, I for one will pay for tickets to that show.”

The doctor flushed a little, and the ridiculously hot bartender slid him another round.

“Ladies, don’t tease the doctor. He has a rifle loaded with tranquilizer shots, and he’s not afraid to use it.”

Gemma was interested in that because if the doc could get away with it, she wasn’t sure why everyone had been horrified about the Taser. “You tranquilize the citizens of the town? Is that like on a random basis or just the people who annoy you?”

The doctor waved a hand. “God, no, Max Harper would never be awake. No, I just use it on Mel when he gets a little out of hand. And you’re one to talk. I had to have a whole checkup session with the Harpers to assure them Max suffered no real ill effects from his close encounter with your Taser. Nice work, Wells. Maybe you can hold the tranquilizer gun during the wedding. Holly wants to release doves. It could go really wrong if Mel decides they’re aliens. And Naomi, think about my offer. I could use a nurse. It’s just a matter of time until our next trauma.”

The hot doctor nodded, took his drinks, and walked off. The gorgeous bartender winked their way and turned to take the next woman’s order. So much hotness in a small area.

She didn’t have a future. The truth beat at her at the most inopportune times.

“This place is weird.” Gemma took a long drink of her vodka tonic. She still wasn’t sure she understood this place, and she didn’t like the feeling.

Naomi sighed and looked around. “I don’t know. I like it. It’s so different from Chicago. It’s softer here somehow.”

Chicago. Her mom had spent more time in Chicago than anywhere else, but it wasn’t home. Gemma didn’t have that one place where she could always go. Her whole life had been a blur of small towns and big cities and those years on the Renaissance Faire circuit. Lynn Wells had only been in Chicago to visit a friend, but she’d been forced to stay for two rounds of chemo before she’d gone into remission. And then she’d told Gemma she wanted to come home. To Bliss. This was where her mother felt safe. Gemma wasn’t sure she would ever have a place like this.

Silly name, Bliss. A misnomer since there was no such thing. She’d figured that out long ago.

But she was wondering if there wasn’t such a thing as an orgasm. Cade had asked her if it all had to be so serious. Why did it have to be? Because Jesse said so?

She glanced behind her. Cade was gorgeous. She really wanted to see him in his full glory. She wanted to see him walking around without a stitch of clothes on.

And Jesse. Jesse smiled and the whole damn world lit up. She’d tripped over her heels the other day going to lunch, and Jesse had thrown his body down so she would fall on him and not the concrete.

Patrick hadn’t noticed when she’d had her gallbladder out. She’d taken a cab from the hospital. Somehow she didn’t think Jesse or Cade would have allowed their woman to do that. Of course, they also seemed like men who would use the phrase “my woman.” Neanderthals. Really ridiculously wretched hot Neanderthals.

The jukebox wasn’t that far away.

“Damn, that’s a serious face.” Naomi leaned in, a smile on those beautiful lips. Maybe if she looked more like Naomi she would already be over at the jukebox. Maybe if she hadn’t let herself go, she would feel comfortable enough to walk over and just take control, but she’d indulged for six months. She’d gained ten pounds and lost most of her designer wardrobe. She’d left it behind in New York because she didn’t need it. Her hair was back to its normal color, and it brushed her shoulders, though she usually just shoved it in a ponytail.

Gemma shrugged. “Not really. It was just a passing thought.”

Naomi leaned forward. “Why passing? Look, Gemma, if you want them, I think you should go for it. You need to have some fun.”

She wasn’t sure she knew what fun was. Zane picked up a bottle of gin in front of her, his hands working to pour the proper amount. Family, huh? If they were “family,” then he could answer a couple of questions. “Zane, what do you know about those two guys at the table behind me?”

He looked straight at her. “There are five tables behind you. I know all the guys.”

Asshole. She rolled her eyes, biting back a grin. “The one right behind me.”

He sighed a little, staring out over the bar. “There are two men at that table, Gemma. Cade Sinclair and Ty Davis. If you’re the least bit interested in Jesse, I sincerely hope you’re asking me about Cade Sinclair.”

She hadn’t even noticed there was another man in the booth. “Black hair. Doesn’t like to wear a shirt.”

Zane slapped at the bar, his enthusiasm apparent. “That’s Cade. Excellent choice. The other one’s a man-whore. Seriously, he’s a walking venereal disease. Jesse’s good people. I don’t know as much about Cade, but I know they’re close. And Nate said they’ve been sniffing around you.”

She didn’t really care about how “good” he was. Well, she did, but she didn’t. And she probably shouldn’t get anywhere near him. “Nate needs to stop gossiping.”

“Ain’t happening, Gemma. Get used to it.” Zane went back to work.

Naomi leaned over. “Uhm, uhm. Those two men are practically eating you up, Gemma. What are you going to do about that?”

Nothing. She wouldn’t do a damn thing. Except she really wanted to. Every nerve in her body longed for touches and caresses. She was only human. And she’d completely ignored the need to be skin to skin for so long it was becoming a real problem. She craved it. She worried that if she ignored it long enough, it might go away, and she would spend her life without arms around her.

Four arms around her. Two mouths kissing her. Legs entangling.

She forced herself to stop thinking about it. She couldn’t. She needed to worry about the asshole who’d sent her a heart in a box. She’d narrowed it down to three cases. Nate and Cam were checking into it. It was weird to give up control like that.

“So how is your job going? Is it as bad as you thought?” Naomi asked.

“It’s okay.” She was a little shocked to find out that she meant that. It was kind of fun. In the week she’d spent on the job, she’d talked a woman down from a tree, overseen the installation of a new vending machine, calmed Nate down when the aforementioned vending machine stole his money, learned how to tie a fly fishing lure, and enjoyed a batch of cookies from the woman she’d previously talked down from a tree. Cassidy Meyer was a little crazy, and she’d taken to the tree when she’d learned her half-alien children were marrying a woman who didn’t like beets. After a long talk on a cell phone with a man named Leo, she’d coaxed Cassidy down. The wedding was months away. Her future daughter-in-law had plenty of time to prove her humanness.

Another wedding. She hated weddings. Even alien ones.

Naomi continued on. “Can you see yourself there long term? I mean, shouldn’t you try to find a job with a law firm? Have you thought about what you really want to do?”

Had she thought about it? Lots. She’d also thought about the fact that anyone who looked her up on the Internet would likely find the words “Midtown Meltdown” and read about how she’d been discovered by the NYPD wrestling with Christina Big Tits. Yeah, law firms across the country would go crazy over her. They might like her as a client, but not as a member of the firm. “I just want to spend time with Mom for now.”

There was a long sigh from her friend. “I know your mom is thrilled to spend time with you, but she wants you to be happy, too.”

Happiness was a chimera. It didn’t exist. Happiness was a fairy tale. She’d watched her mother and father do everything right. They had loved the people around them. They’d been the least materialistic people in the world. Being a good person hadn’t stopped cancer from striking her mother. “I’m fine, Naomi. I just need a little time.”

Yes. She needed time, not another set of problems. She wasn’t going to indulge herself. It would only bring more heartache. She didn’t really have anything to offer them. She wasn’t terrifically good at sex. She had a bad reputation around town. Jesse wanted someone polite. Cade called to her, but she knew better than to answer.

She didn’t have anything to give to a lover, much less two.

Her phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number. It could be the cabin. Her mom had a cell phone, but there was also a landline in the cabin, and Gemma hadn’t put the number in her phone yet. She picked it up. “Hello.”

“Gemma? Gemma, babe, god, it’s good to hear your voice. It’s been so damn long.”

She closed her eyes. Patrick? Her whole body clenched as though she’d taken a blow to her gut. He called her the night before their almost wedding? Motherfucker. “What do you want, Pat?”

Naomi started beside her. “Patrick?”

His voice came over the phone line. “Sweetie, I want to talk to you. I need to talk to you.”

Did they need to talk? Really? Maybe he was moved by the fact that this should have been the night before their wedding. Did he need closure? She didn’t. Not over him. She hadn’t loved him. She hadn’t even liked him most of the time. “Don’t worry about it. It’s fine, Pat. I’m fine.”

He stopped. “It’s not fine.”

She felt the beginnings of a headache. “Patrick, what’s going on? You don’t call me for six months and then you decide to get in touch the night before our wedding was supposed to happen? “

“Was that tomorrow?” He laughed a little. “Shit.”

The asshole had forgotten the wedding she’d paid for? “Good-bye, Pat. Don’t call again.”

“Don’t hang up. I can get you your job back, babe.”

She stopped. Damn it. It was the one reason he might be able to give her that was a bit compelling. The partners seemed to be blackballing her.

Her job. It had been her obsession for so long that she couldn’t flick her finger over the hang up button the way she should.

His voice came over the line, cajoling, tempting. “I can make it happen, Gemma. All you have to do is give me a little of your time. We can talk this out.”

“Fine, talk.” She wouldn’t stay. She would stay just long enough to restore her reputation and then she would find another job. And she wouldn’t have anything to do with Pat. The very idea made her a little nauseous. Especially now that she’d seen Jesse and Bare-Chested Ape Man. Cade. Cade was a man. Pat was a nice suit with overdone hair.

“Not on the phone. I want to meet with you.” He was using his flirtatious voice, a perfect example of a nasally whine.

It was deeply easy to ignore. “Not happening, Pat. I can’t come to New York.”

“It’s okay, babe. You don’t have to come to New York. I’m coming to Colorado. I’m at LaGuardia right now. I can be there by morning. Is there a Hyatt out there? Could you make me some reservations? And I need you to pick me up in Denver. How far away is this Bliss place?”

“I’m not picking you up.” She wasn’t going to drive for hours. “And it’s a long way. You should rent a car or better yet, forget it. I don’t want to see you.”

There was a long sigh. “Gemma, you know that’s not true. Babe, I am coming. I have a few things to talk about and they’re serious. But I have some personal stuff to talk about, too. I didn’t love Christina. Look, I made a terrible mistake with her, but I’m just a man. Our sex life wasn’t very satisfying. She was excellent in bed. I think we need to sit down and talk. Sex isn’t everything, right? We can get a class for you or something.”

Humiliation washed over her. “Fuck yourself, Patrick.”

She hung up the phone. He wanted something, but it wasn’t to help her out. He was playing an angle.

“Wow. That sounded rough.” Naomi shook her head. “Why would he call?”

Because he needed something and she wasn’t going to give it to him.

A throaty laugh filled the air, and she couldn’t help but turn and look their way. Jesse and Cade were laughing, talking to each other and that messenger her landlord had sent the other day. They were relaxed and happy and perfect.

She was a mess. But maybe she could have just a night. Patrick needed something from her, but she needed something he’d never been able to give her. If she hadn’t made him feel like a man, then maybe she’d never really felt like a woman. She needed to feel wanted.

One night. Was it too much to ask? She glanced back at the jukebox, its lights blinking their invitation. All she had to do was walk over to that jukebox and wait. Then she could show those two men that she could please them. She could take a little pleasure for herself.

Naomi looked back at the booth and then to Gemma. “Are you sure?”

Was she sure? Nope. Not at all. But she wanted to try.

Naomi gave her a little hug. “Go for it, sweetie. You need to stop worrying and live in the moment for a little while. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Naomi gave her a wink and left. She was on her own. And she had two men to take down.