Chapter Twenty
Jennifer had cut her hair. It seemed like such a silly thing to do, but every time she stared at herself in the mirror, all she could see was Carol looking back at her.
In her current crazy getup, she hardly looked like herself at all. Her hair had been pulled into two pigtails with mouse ears in between. To throw it all over the top, she’d found a red cheerleader outfit with matching pom-poms. It might have seemed like a crazy combination if she weren’t trying to reference a hit song from the 80’s.
What was she even doing? It had been a whole week since she’d left Eric, and during all that time, not once had he called. Although she’d been grateful at first, the lack of any call had hurt more than she wanted to admit.
Somehow going to the costume party seemed like the worst idea for heartache ever. Although, if she were honest with herself, the initial pain had long since passed. Sure, she was still hurt that he’d initially been attracted to her because she looked like Carol, but knowing the whole situation, it was hard to hate a woman who wasn’t even alive.
In truth, Jennifer didn’t know what to do next. A large part of her wanted to see Eric, but it was clear he didn’t care she wasn’t around. This whole thing was going to be a colossal mess.
The buzzer rang loudly, and she raced to answer.
“Move your ass, woman,” Candice said over the intercom. “We’re double-parked.”
Jennifer frowned as she grabbed her key and slipped it into her pocket. It had been at Candice’s insistence that she even decided to go. Now she was inviting more people?
She made her way down the elevator and out the front door. The cold biting wind slapped against her pleated skirt.
“You look so hot!” Candice squealed.
She turned and found her friend standing next to Patrick’s car. He waved at her from the back window.
Jennifer sighed. This was such a very bad idea.
* * *
Eric was in a shit mood. The music was too loud in the front, and if they hadn’t already spent a ton of money, he might have called the whole damned event off. It was only at Pat’s insistence that he even bothered to keep this whole fucking charade even going, and the prick hadn’t even bothered to show up.
Crystal checked her phone for about the millionth time, and if she did it one more time, he was certain he was going to chuck the damned thing across the room.
“Could you try for fived damned minutes to not look like you’re going to snap someone’s neck?” she shouted at him.
Several of the frat boys sitting at the bar eyed him warily. That was the last thing he needed, to get into a fucking fight with a couple college pretty boys during a major event. It would likely be all over the news by morning.
Eric busied himself with pouring the neon blue drink they had concocted. It didn’t taste half bad really, but just the sight of it made his chest ache.
Jennifer had come up with the drink. The Blue-Moon Walk.
She’d left them everything they needed to make tonight a success. He kept hoping that she might come in and give him another chance to explain. More than anything, he could understand her pain and didn’t want to push her, but damn it all to hell if he didn’t want to race over to her place and make things right.
“I’ll take those,” Crystal said as she loaded her tray with the five drinks he’d just mixed.
She wore a smile on her face, but he could see she was struggling to handle the heavy load. Jen was supposed to be there helping, and it had been too short notice to get someone else. With the way he’d been the past week and the hard work Crystal had put into that night, he owed her a nice bonus.
“Don’t stop mixing,” Crystal shouted as she walked away.
Eric went back to his task. The least he could do was make her job a little easier.
* * *
Jennifer was stunned as she pulled up. The place was jam-packed with people waiting to get inside. Several groaned as her group moved past the line to where Tommy was standing at the door. His eyes lit up when he saw them. She ducked her head at the glares they were getting.
“Glad to see you,” Tommy said, his eyes clearly on Candice.
She turned away and shrugged. “Just here to see how Jen did with her strategy.”
Tommy frowned slightly. “Look, we gotta get in,” Pat said more than a little annoyed as he stepped inside.
Jennifer followed with Candice close behind. She stopped when her friend gasped. Tommy had reached out and grabbed the crook of her arm.
“Can I talk to you later?” he said.
Candice glanced over to Jennifer and then back to Tommy. Jennifer almost felt bad for the poor guy.
“I don’t know?” Candice said. “Can you pull yourself away from your adoring fans?”
With that she jerked her arm away from him and hurried the two of them inside.
“Wanna talk about that?” Jennifer asked.
Candice shook her head. “I think you have more than enough to worry about,” she said, nodding to the bar.
Jennifer glanced that way, and her breath caught in her throat. Eric stood there, his strong back facing her as he mixed more drinks.
Her heart twisted at the sight. She’d missed him. Not just all the amazing sex, but the way they lay awake at night, just talking about random things. Drinking coffee in the quiet of the morning. Sharing meals together.
Already she could feel the tears start to form and quickly ducked down behind some tall men near the bottom of the stairs.
“You okay?” Candice asked.
Jennifer shook her head. This was a terrible idea. None of the feelings had gone away, and now she was torn. She was chasing a man who didn’t even want her back. It’s not like he’d bothered to call.
Maybe she had just been a substitute after all, and now that Eric had her out of his system, he was fine with moving on.
“I just need to use the restroom,” Jennifer said quickly, not even bothering to wait for her friend to follow.
* * *
Crystal dropped the tray back down hard against the counter and started to load up more drinks.
“We’re out of paper towels in the women’s room,” she said, eyeing him hard.
Eric knew that face. It was the one that said if he even tried to argue, he’d be wearing the Blue-Moons he’d just poured.
With a grunt, he grabbed a stack of towels and made his way over to the tiny corner. He sighed when no one was outside waiting. He’d just drop them inside real quickly, and it would be no big deal.
Eric pushed open the door and placed the towels on the rack but stopped when a small yelp caught his ear. He turned to find Jen standing at the sink, water running with droplets falling from her fingers.
“Jen?”
She backed up slightly, and he stepped inside fully, turning the lock behind him as he did. Last thing he wanted was for someone to come in right then.
“I, um, just wanted to see…” she sputtered.
Her words trailed off as he looked her up and down, eventually stopping at her head.
“You cut your hair,” Eric said quietly.
Jen reached up and ran a wet hand over one of the tails. “I just… wanted something different.”
His stomach twisted as he knew what she meant. She wanted to be different from Carol.
“It looks good,” he said quietly.
Jen frowned. “I thought you wouldn’t like it.”
Eric stepped forward and ran a hand through his hair to keep him from doing the same to her. “I like anything on you,” he said quietly.
“Oh.”
He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before going on. “Look,” he said, taking another step. “I should have told you sooner, but I just couldn’t find a way. By the time I could, I was worried you’d hate me for everything.”
Jen shook her head. “Are we really doing this? In a bathroom?”
Eric looked around and shrugged. He wasn’t sure there would be another chance for him. He’d take whatever place he could get.
“Yes,” he said, taking another step forward until he was standing just in front of her. He could smell the sweet scent of vanilla lotion that she wore and breathed in the smell. “It doesn’t matter where we are. I just have to tell you how I feel.”
Jen looked up at him, her deep green eyes staring into his soul, and for once, it wasn’t painful. Eric hoped she could see all the way through him, that she could see just how much she meant to him. She needed to understand she was more than just a substitute for Carol.
“I have a shit past,” he said. “For the past few years I’ve just floated along like nothing even mattered. Maybe even longer if I think about it.” He reached out and ran a hand along her cheek, dashing away the lone tear that slid down. “Until I met you. You’ve given me purpose. You’ve given me life again.”
“No.” Jen shook her head, and he placed his other hand against her other cheek.
“You have,” he said quietly. “I love you.”
A small sob broke from Jen’s chest, and for a moment, he was certain he’d fucked it up all over again until she launched herself into his arms.
“I love you, too,” she whispered against his neck.
Eric pulled back and kissed her wet face until their lips met.
It was the sweetest kiss he’d even experienced, all the love poured into one kiss.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Jen jumped out of his arms, and he swore under his breath.
“If you two love birds are done screwing, I could sure as hell use some help,” Crystal called from the other side of the door.
A loud snort filled the room, and Eric turned to find Jen struggling to cover the laughter that had bubbled up.
He grinned down at her. “I don’t think she’s going away.”
Jen shook her head and nodded to the door. “Looks like you could use another waitress on the floor.”
Eric nodded. “Your plan worked.”
A wide smile spread across Jen’s face. “Of course it did,” she said as she headed for the door with a wink. “Now wait until you see my bill.”
This time Eric laughed loudly. “I hope you take payment in kind.”
Jen turned and smiled seductively at him. Their little game had already left him half hard.
“I’m sure we can come to an… arrangement,” she said, her voice husky.
Eric groaned and followed her out the door, glad to have Jen back in his life.