LITMIR.BIZ

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you have plans for this evening?”

      She wrinkled her brow. “I’m meeting my sister and her friend.”

      “I guess that sounded stupid,” he said.

      “Just a little bit. Why did you ask?”

      “I want you to join me.”

      “Why?” she asked.

      “I think you would be fun to hang with.”

      She tipped her head to the side to study him. She wanted to say yes and thought about what Alison had said earlier about just having fun. She couldn’t ask for someone who knew how to party better than Nate.

      “Okay.”

      “Wow, did you really have to think on it?” “Yes,” she said. “I’m not … I don’t make snap decisions.”

      “I’ll remember that. Do you need to check in with your sister?”

      “Yes. Why don’t you come and hang with us for a little while?”

      “That wasn’t what I had in mind.”

      “What did you have in mind?” she asked. She had no idea why she’d agreed to this and she might be in over her head. She should have eased herself back into the dating scene with one of Courtney’s financial analyst friends or someone that worked at her sister’s law office instead of jumping straight from stay at home every night to Nate Stern.

      “You and me burning up the dance floor.”

      She looked up at him. “I’m not your kind of girl, you know that, right?”

      “No, I don’t. I think you and I are going to get along very well.”

      “That’s what I’m afraid of,” she said under her breath. But in for a penny in for a pound, she thought. She wanted this night and this man so she was going to go for it.

      “Come on, Nate. See if you can keep up.”

      He laughed a full robust laugh. It made her smile just to hear it. He was that kind of guy. The kind that knew how to enjoy life, and she realized she needed someone like that. She needed to learn how to go with the flow.

      He took her hand in his big one and led the way into the club, over to where Marcia and Courtney waited. She tried to tell herself that she was in control of this but she had the feeling that Nate was and she wasn’t sure what the outcome would be.

      Marcia and Courtney left at midnight but Nate wasn’t ready to let Jen go yet.

      “Stay,” he said when they were in the lobby under the beautiful Chihuly glass sculpture depicting the night sky.

      “I’m not sure that is wise,” she said. “I have to work tomorrow.”

      “Not until the evening. Stay and play with me, Jen,” he said.

      “I … okay, why not? What will we do now?”

      “There’s an after-party for the band. It’s up in your court—the rooftop club.”

      “Okay. But I can’t stay past two,” she said.

      “I won’t hold it against you if you change your mind.”

      “Are you really that confident of yourself?” she asked.

      “Of course. I know that you are enjoying yourself and your sister told me that you don’t have enough fun.” “She said that?”

      “Yes.”

      “What else did she say?”

      “That you were her little sister and she’d hurt me if I hurt you.”

      Jen flushed. “She’s just overprotective. Our mom worked a lot when we were growing up and Marcia was the one who always had to watch me.”

      “Some habits never die,” Nate said. “It’s the same with Cam and me.”

      “I can see that about him. He’s like everyone’s older brother here.”

      “He takes care of family. If you cross him … well, I wouldn’t.”

      “Me, either,” Jen said.

      “Do you know him well?” Nate asked. It seemed odd to him that he’d just met Jen today and that his brother might have known her longer.

      “Not really. But he asked me to serve on the tenth anniversary celebration committee.”

      “Yes, I am to be on that committee, too, so we will be seeing a lot more of each other.”

      She glanced down and he wondered at her expression. But then T.J. came over and slung an arm around his shoulder. “Buddy, how’s it going?”

      “Good,” he said, realizing T.J. was drunk. He was reluctant to stop talking to Jen, now that he was finally learning a little about her, but T.J. needed him.

      “Let’s find a table to sit down and chat.”

      “Nah, I’m making the rounds. Did I tell you that I’m a single guy again?”

      Nate shook his head. “I heard it through the grapevine.”

      “Everyone has,” T.J. said.

      “I think I see a table in the back that will be nice. Why don’t you two go grab it and I’ll get us some drinks,” Jen said.

      “Not a problem, Jen. As soon as we sit down, Steve will send my usual drink order over,” Nate said.

      “I don’t think he’ll know what I want, so I will tell him and then join you both,” she said.

      “Thanks,” Nate said, leading T.J. through the crowds to the table that Jen had spotted. T.J. was rambling a little about being single again.

      “I hate it, man. I’m not like you. I don’t like the party life. I want to go home with the same woman every night. Have a nice little house in the suburbs, ya know?”

      Nate patted him on the shoulder. “I do know. It will work out when you find the right girl.”

      “The right girl? I doubt there is one out there. We don’t meet nice girls, ya know?”

      Nate started to agree but then glanced up to see Jen walking toward them. He thought that they did meet nice girls in their lives but they never knew how to treat them. And he was torn for the first time in recent memory. He wanted to be more of a gentleman for Jen than he normally was but he had the feeling that it was too late for that. He scarcely remembered how to be a gentleman.

      “I don’t think guys like you and me know what to do with a nice girl.”

      “Could be,” T.J. said as he looked at Jen. “Did you tell the bartender to bring me another rum and Coke?”

      “No, sorry. I told him Coke straight up.”

      “I need the rum, Jen. I think I could samba better with rum.”

      “I don’t know about that. And I was teaching you the salsa.”

      “Damn. I guess I’m not impressing you,” T.J. said. “You already have when I watch you play,” she said.

      “I am a hot third-base player.” “You are a stud on the baseball diamond,” Nate agreed.

      “I am. I think I’m going to head over to the bar and see if I can get them to add a little rum to this Coke,” he said. “Not that I don’t appreciate the thought, Jen.”

      “No problem,” she said.

      T.J. got up and left the table. Nate watched his friend go and hoped that he’d find some kind of peace in the alcohol.

      “Thanks for giving us a minute,” Nate said.

      “It’s okay. I have friends, too. I know

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