Chapter Eleven
“We’re in trouble,” Mimi burst through the door of the fire station, startling the crew who sat around the lunch table in various states of undress. “Oh, I’m sorry!” She blushed a deep red as Jasper came toward her.
“What’s wrong?”
“Can I talk to you in private, please?”
She backtracked past reception, stopping to glare at Kelly who’d happily let her go into the lunchroom. “Thanks for the warning that they were half-dressed!”
Kelly grinned in response while Mimi pulled Jasper onto the street, holding her hair back as the wind whipped around her face.
His face was white as he grabbed her arm. “Mimi, are you pregnant?”
She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She closed it and tried again. “How did you know?”
“God, I’ve been worrying about it for weeks.”
“Don’t you want children?”
“Of course I do, and I’d happily have them with you, but you’ve barely spoken to me since that night. What do you want to do?”
His concern overwhelmed her and tears welled up in her eyes—tears of laughter. “I’m sorry, but that’s not why I came.”
“What?”
“I’m not pregnant, Jasper.” He took a step back and let out a whoosh of breath. He fanned his face and she finally let a laugh escape. “You are really easy to get, you know that? You just handed that to me on a platter.”
“I did, didn’t I? I believe that’s two I owe you, now?”
“You better hurry up and get on that retribution. If you wait too long, you’ll have dozens of pranks to pull to catch up to me. You really thought I might be pregnant?”
“I told you this, already: I feel so bad over what happened.” He shook his head. “Anyway, why’d you really come?”
“We can’t do the calendar. The printer wants payment up front.”
“How much money is that?”
“Ten thousand calendars is six thousand dollars. I wish they’d told us this when we first contacted them. We assumed it would be a normal 30- or 60-day account.”
“Can you talk to them and get them to extend the terms?”
“Yep, already tried it.” She stamped her foot and he looked down in surprise. “They said they already discounted the price as a favour to us and they can’t take any more risk.”
“Okay, stay calm. We’ll figure something out.” He put his hands on her upper arms and rubbed up and down. “Have lunch with me and we’ll come up with something.”
“We’ve already been through this, Jasper. We’re not dating.”
“Who said anything about a date? It’s a strategy meeting. Let me grab my wallet and I’ll meet you back at your car.” He flashed his pearly white teeth and laughter bubbled out of her.
Hysterical giggles were not far from overflowing, and she nodded. She’d agree to anything, so she could return to her car and get away from the warmth of his hands, which were so close to soothing her taut nerves that it wasn’t even funny. The idea that he’d been about to support her if she’d been pregnant could be examined later.
A minute later, he slipped into the passenger seat and she pulled out into traffic. “Are you on shift? Can you even leave them?”
“It’s fine—we’re breaking for lunch. Keep in mind that, if I get a call, we’ll have to leave immediately and come back. No complaining if you haven’t eaten your food when that happens.”
“Wow. Serious stuff.”
“It is when I’m on call.” He fiddled with the radio, switching channels until he found some music. “When I’m off duty, I’m a lot more fun, of course.” He grinned at her as the newest chart topper began to play. She kept her eyes firmly on the road as the song about hooking up with your childhood crush filled the car. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him smirking, and she resisted the urge to look fully at him. Too much time spent staring at Jasper Collins was a bad idea.
They parked the car and cut through one of the stores to the main street. As they walked up the street, Jasper paused, “Do you really need lunch?” She raised her eyebrows. “I mean, can you wait a bit longer? I have an idea.”
“I can wait. What’s your idea?”
“Let’s ask the bank. My friend, Nate, is the manager. He can probably help.”
“We already went to our bank. They wouldn’t lend us anything—not even five thousand dollars to rent safety fencing.”
“Humour me. It can’t hurt to ask here, with me on your side, this time.” He pulled her through the door and looked around the offices. Through a window, he saw Nate, who waved at him. He waved back and signalled he wanted to come in. A second later, the door opened and they were ushered into two seats in the corner.
Nate plopped into the other and stuck out his hand. “So good to see you, man. Where’ve you been hiding?”
“Me? You’re the one who never comes out, anymore. Too tight to spend that bank manager salary on a round of beers!”
“Ha! You got me. I do like to sit at home and stack my gold coins into towers. It’s quite relaxing—you should try it.”
Jasper laughed and waved his hand at Mimi. “This is Mimi Fletcher. She runs the March Street Community Centre.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Nate Black.” They shook hands and he looked thoughtful for a moment. “Didn’t the hall burn down?”
“Half of it did,” Jasper spoke for her, “and that’s why we’re here. We’ve hatched a plan to print calendars to raise the fifty thousand dollars needed for the repair, but we’ve hit a snag. The printer needs payment up front—six thousand dollars of payment, to be precise. I thought if anyone can help us, it’s you.”
“Hmm… okay. For a minute there, I thought you were going to ask for fifty thousand dollars! Do you bank with us, Mimi?”
“No, I’m afraid not.”
“No problem. It’s not a requirement to get a loan through us.”
“Is there some kind of short-term loan? We’d only need it for a few months, until we start selling calendars.”
“The minimum we have is a year. We could do a credit card, but that would have to be in a personal name for something like this. Six thousand dollars is quite a high balance for a first card with a new customer, too. If your financials are good and your credit is clean, it might be possible.”
“Damn. I have a default on my report.” She looked straight ahead as Jasper’s head turned slowly in her direction.
“Well, that’s a problem.” Silence filled the room and Mimi let her eyes fall to the carpet.
One more person who won’t support us.
“Is there any type of community programme the Centre could apply for? Maybe a grant?” She glanced at Jasper as he spoke. The man always had a plan B.
“There are some, but they aren’t decided by me. I’ll get you the forms.” He rifled through his filing cabinet and pulled out a set of paperwork, which he handed to Mimi. “Here, there’s quite a lot of detail required. Money is distributed twice a year in January and July.”
She pushed the papers back to him. “I’m sorry, but that won’t work. We need the money this week, so the calendars can be printed and we can start selling. We urgently need to rebuild the hall for our end-of-year show.”
“Maybe you could postpone it? A grant is free money—you’d be crazy to pass it up.”
“I understand what you’re saying, but I promised the kids the hall would be ready.”
“I don’t think I can be of much help to you, then.” Nate looked from one to the other. “Maybe someone else could apply for a credit card?”
Jasper stood and held out his hand. “Thanks for trying. We really appreciate it.”
“I’m sorry I can’t help.”
“We’ll think of something.” He held out his hand to Mimi and she took it, feeling so despondent over the hall that she didn’t question why he would do that. “See you at the pub on Friday?” he addressed Nate with a hopeful look.
“Maybe,” he laughed, “though I wouldn’t hold your breath. It’s been weeks since I went out.”
“All the more reason to catch up with the boys. I’ll keep an eye out for you.” Jasper pulled her from the room as she quietly thanked Nate before the door closed behind them. They’d only been in the bank for fifteen minutes, but to Mimi, it seemed like all the light had gone out of the day.
“I’ll take you back to work. Thanks for trying.”
He tugged her up the street before she could turn back toward the car. “Hang on, we haven’t had lunch—or that strategy talk.”
“I thought that was the strategy talk. We just got torched in there.”
“Come on, don’t give up. There’s lots of ways to skin a cat.” He pushed through a doorway and held it open for her before leading them to the back of the restaurant he’d chosen. They placed their orders, and Jasper sat back in his chair, watching her with the hint of a smile flickering around his lips.
“Why are you looking so pleased with yourself?”
“A variety of reasons, actually, but before we get into that, you need to come clean. What's on your credit rating?"
“I'd like to say that's none of your business, but really, it's not that exciting. I had a phone bill that went missing about six months ago and it wasn’t paid. The phone company carried on about it and ended up listing me as a bad payer. Now I have to wait years for it to drop off my credit rating.”
“The great and responsible Mimi Fletcher has bad credit! I never thought I'd see the day.” Jasper grinned at her across the table, and once again, she was blinded by his smile. It should be a crime for one person to be so good-looking. “Anyway, let's talk strategy. I have a proposition for you.”
“I’m wary of propositions from you. Remember what happened last time.” She gulped down her water, staring at him.
“Of course I remember. How could I forget that night?” His voice was quiet and she stared at him, willing her eyes to stay dry—tears were not what he would want to see right when he was trying to help her. “If you remember it like I do, you won't be any more impressed with my latest idea.” She watched him across the table, hardly daring to wonder what he was about to suggest. “Curious?”
“Terrified more than anything.”
He laughed and took her hand; she resisted the urge to pull away. Holding Jasper's hand only ever led to daydreaming about his mouth on her body all night. She’d pushed all thoughts of him out of her head for these last couple of weeks and now was not the time to backslide.
“There are two parts to my proposition. The first is that you need to honour the rest of the dates.” He held up his hand as she began to protest. “It's not negotiable. If you want my help, you have to agree to see me again. If you can do that, I’ll lend you the money for the printer.” He sat back in his chair, convinced he would be triumphant.
She wanted to wipe that smirk right off his face, but an offer of lending the money was too good to pass up. How could she let the kids down just because she was avoiding Jasper and all the temptations he represented?
“Where would you get that kind of money?”
“From my savings account. You might see me as reckless and out for a good time, but I've been a saver since high school. I can lend you the money, Mimi. You just pay it back when the calendars start selling.”
They stared at each other, electricity crackling across the table between them. Mimi was glad he had dropped her hand when he sat back because contact with him right now may have been her undoing. She wanted to say no to this deal—dating Jasper was a bad idea that could only lead to more heartbreak. So what if he had saved some money? So what if he helped old ladies navigate heavy doors? Who cared that he was good with children and loved cats?
A voice whispered in her ear, You care, Mimi. You're dying for a repeat of that night and the chance to spend more time with him. You want to know him better. Admit it to yourself, if no one else.
“I already told you: I'm not interested in being one of your conquests.”
He leaned forward and grabbed her hand again, squeezing her fingers between his. “I know the reputation I have around town, but that's not who I am. I want more than a fling with you.” He rubbed a finger across the back of her knuckles. “To misquote a well-known old movie, I want the whole fairy tale.”
She laughed loudly at his words and several diners turned to look at them. “So, you’re blackmailing me—telling me you won't lend me the money unless we date, and then telling me you want a serious relationship?”
“I seem to have gone about this the wrong way. I'm not blackmailing you. I just want us to spend some more time together. I don't know how else to get the message through that I’m serious about you.”
“Well,” she paused and looked at his hand gripping hers, “we did turn out to be physically compatible.” She met his eyes and the intensity of his stare ripped through her. Then he unleashed the smile that caused women everywhere to hyperventilate.
“I can honestly say that was the best night of my life.”
“Really?” Doubt filled her voice.
“Really. I’d like a lot more of those nights with you.”
She sighed. “I haven’t stopped thinking about it ever since you stormed out. I hoped there’d be a repeat the next day, but we—well, you know what happened.”
“I’m sorry for how I reacted. My feelings were hurt and I was panicking about something else.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“I tried. My apology was what I was worried about, but you cut me off and made it sound like I was about to give you the big brush off.”
“What were you going to say, anyway?” She ran a finger over the back of his knuckle and watched with interest as he bit his lip—the lip she’d bitten two weeks ago, right before he’d made her—
“Promise not to hate me?
She sighed. “Really? This again?”
“Sorry. I was trying to apologise for not wearing a condom. I’ve never been that out of control before and I just forgot about it.”
“That’s what you were going to say that morning?”
“Yup,” he relaxed into his chair, still holding her hand. “I thought you’d be really angry about it, but suddenly I was the one getting angry and storming out.” Regret was plain on his face. She thought of what might have been, had she just let him speak.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m shocked. I don’t think I know anyone who would apologise for something like that. I’ll have to remember to ask around next time I’m out with Alyssa and the girls.” Her eyes glimmered with humour and he rolled his eyes.
“I’m never going to hear the end of this, I can tell. Anyway, do we have a deal?”
“I have a condition of my own.”
“You always do. I can’t wait to hear it.”
“The next date takes place at my house—tonight.”
“That’s one condition I’ll be thrilled to agree to. I’d like nothing better than to come home with you.” He waggled his eyebrows and blew her a kiss as the throbbing she’d been missing started a dull pounding between her thighs.