Breaking the Silence (7 page)

“Thanks.” Jenny moved toward him, oddly pleased by his approval.

“It feels like you.” Will focused on her, his eyes light and hot. She drew closer, as if he had his own gravitational pull that was sucking her in. He didn’t move aside to let her pass but stood still, filling the doorway, not looking away. She stopped, too close. He reached out, almost touching her upper arm, his hand so close that she could feel the heat of it. Her breath came light and fast.

Will dropped his hand and looked away, breaking the connection that had stretched like a hot wire between them. Jenny was jumpy from the residual adrenaline, hot and agitated and feeling like she had to do something or explode in tiny bits all over her kitchen. She stepped back.

“We should go.” Her voice was high and tight. Will looked at her, a little startled, as if he had forgotten that they were going anywhere. He nodded and moved to the side so Jenny could lead the way to the door. She gathered her coat from the hall closet and had it halfway on before Will grasped the edge to help her with the second sleeve. She could feel his heat again and wondered, half hysterically, if she would even get through the next five minutes without tearing his clothes off, much less the rest of the evening.

Jenny liked his car. It was silver and sleek and it hid the outside noises. There was something intimate about being in the small car with him. She watched him drive with casual confidence, one hand on the wheel and the other resting loosely on the gearshift between them.

After the moment in the kitchen, Jenny was feeling flustered and shy. Except for giving him directions to her office, she had been quiet on the drive. The streetlights slid by, cutting the severe angles of his face into even harsher shapes. Jenny felt intimidated, much too average and normal to be going out with this man. It had been different on their walks, easier, the barrier of their winter clothes keeping them firmly in some sort of friends-only zone. As the silence lengthened, her nerves grew tighter and she knew that she had to break the silence or scream.

“I think you’ll like the people I work with—most of them, at least.”

Will nodded slightly. “Not the one who asked you out?”

Jenny laughed in a surprised huff. “I told you that, did I?”

He gave another half nod and the corner of his mouth tucked in, like he was suppressing a smile.

“Don’t worry,” she reassured him. “We can hide from Evan. It won’t be too hard—he’s still sulky about me turning him down.” Jenny suddenly realized something. “Um, by the way…” Okay, this might be a little awkward.

When she trailed off, Will glanced at her questioningly.

“Yeah, um, about that—my Evan rejection, I mean.” Jenny tried to think of a way to explain without sounding flaky. Too late, probably. “He’s not very good about, well, being told that the reason I didn’t want to go out with him is because he’s an annoying asshat,” there was a slight choking noise from Will at this, “so I may have prevaricated a little.”

He flicked her another questioning glance.

“Okay, so I may have lied just a squish and said that I was dating someone and didn’t tell the office people because it was special and I didn’t want to ruin it but that was before I met you so some people there might think that
you’re
that someone and I hope this doesn’t freak you out because normally I’m a very honest person,” Jenny finished in a rush, before finally sucking in a breath. “Really.”

“Okay.”

“That’s it?” She had expected his reaction to be a little more—something.

He shrugged.

Okay
, Jenny thought.
I guess that’s it.
Relieved that the explanation was over, she settled back into the leather seat. “Oh—turn into that parking lot. We’re here.”

Will hadn’t really thought about the part of the date that involved going to the reception. All he had been focused on was the fact that Jenny had actually asked him out and that meant he was one step closer to getting to touch her.

If I actually get up the nerve
, he thought in self-disgust. He’d been so close in her kitchen, just breaths away from brushing against her before he had chickened out.

As they crossed the parking lot, Will saw light reflecting off an icy patch just as Jenny’s boot lost traction. She regained her balance quickly but Will was already reaching his hand out to her. Jenny walked on, unconcerned with her small slip, and Will almost dropped his arm but caught himself, determined not to keep missing these opportunities to touch her.

He rested his open hand just barely on her lower back. Jenny slowed when she felt the contact and moved infinitesimally closer, fitting herself into the space by his side. They walked together, connected. Will’s hand shifted with her back muscles as they moved in rhythm with her stride, the motion obvious even under her coat and sweater. He hadn’t expected her to feel the way she did. He didn’t know what he
had
expected but the reality of it surprised and fascinated him.

She’s so…alive
, he thought, amazed by the motion he felt through her clothes. It made him desperate to touch her skin, to delve even deeper than that. He wanted to burrow into the innermost part of her and live there, protected, rocked to sleep by her heartbeat and the rhythm of her breathing.

Will was flushed and prickly with want, flooded by such a deep desire to be connected with this woman that he was a little afraid. If a touch through her coat could inspire these intense feelings, what would happen if he kissed her, if he touched her bare skin?

Caught up in his thoughts and the feel of Jenny’s back beneath his hand, Will blinked a few times when they passed through the glass doors into the well-lit reception area. He was startled by the number of people and his uneasiness with the actual party part of this event, forgotten in his obsession over Jenny, returned. When he hesitated, Jenny grabbed his hand, giving him a reassuring smile.

“I know I dragged you to this thing where you don’t know anyone. I promise not to abandon you and we’ll only talk to the fun people, I swear.” She towed him through the knots of partygoers standing and chatting in groups of three and four, greeting people, introducing him quickly but not stopping.

A tall blond man suddenly swooped down on them and grabbed Jenny around the middle, trapping her arms to her sides and lifting her a few inches off the floor. Will made a jerky movement toward the pair as a surge of jealousy and protectiveness flowed through him but the man released Jenny as quickly as he had snatched her up.

“Finally!” The man looked Will up and down, his eyes widening. “You must be the gorgeous William. That’s a direct quote, you know.” At this, Jenny turned bright red and smacked the blond man on the arm.

“Christian, you shouldn’t be allowed out of the house,” she retorted, turning to Will. “As you might have guessed, this is the notorious Christian, although I know I’ll regret letting him talk to you at all.”

Will took Christian’s outstretched hand and shook it. Chris flipped his hand over and studied Will’s palm, running his fingertips lightly across the calluses where fingers met palm. Will’s hand flinched closed at the touch and he pulled out of Christian’s grip.

“You lift weights.” Christian’s brown eyes were slightly narrowed, watching him with a sleepy burn.

“Chris, stop.” Jenny interrupted the smoldering look by stepping between the two men. “Quit trying to lure my date away, you man ho.”

Christian laughed and shrugged. “Can’t blame me for trying, darlin’. You weren’t kidding about those cheekbones.” He stepped around Jenny to stand next to Will, slapping him lightly on the back of his shoulder. “Sorry, Will—force of habit. And you’re way too pretty to resist.”

“Try.” Jenny took Will’s arm and tugged him out of Christian’s reach. “I still haven’t forgiven you for stealing my last potential date away from me.”

Christian looked blank. “Who?”

“Trevor? Bike messenger guy? Ringing any bells?”

“Oh please,” Christian scoffed. “If you don’t want me to steal them, then don’t go out with closet cases.”

Will’s muscles tightened at this, his shoulder blades pulling together.

“Don’t worry.” Christian must have noticed the small movement. “I can tell you’re as straight as an arrow. The flirting before was just…staring through the candy shop window without a penny in my pocket, that’s all.”

He grabbed Jenny and Will by the hands and hauled them toward the table at the far side of the room that was serving as a bar. “It is time, my dears, to get some drinks and head over to chat with the big boss. He’s already plastered, so we have to be there when our horny Yosemite Sam lets something slip in front of his wife about his little something-something with a certain thong-wearing receptionist.”

Will felt a sense of unreality. He was on a date with the woman he had been longing after for weeks, being hauled around by a gay man who had just come on to him, on his way to talk to a tiny drunken man who really did bear a startling resemblance to Yosemite Sam with his short stature and handlebar mustache.

If nothing else, this party could be an interesting experience.

Jenny felt happy. Having Will with her at the party was even better than she had hoped. He didn’t seem to mind being thrown into a bunch of strangers—at a work party, no less. Everyone seemed to either like him or at least be impressed by him, which Jenny could completely understand.

He had such a presence, so big and so beautiful, and when Will talked to people, he locked onto them. When his attention was on her, Jenny felt like the most important person in the world—all that focus directed at her. He’d reduced Carrie to stammering confusion by listening to her chatter about her baby with intense interest. When Christian asked Will a question, drawing his attention away for a moment, Carrie had caught Jenny’s eye and fanned her face, mouthing, “He’s so hot!”

The men talking to Will all sucked in their stomachs and deepened their voices, sending off waves of competitive testosterone so strong that Jenny, looking around the half circle of machismo, rolled her eyes and laughed. Will glanced at her in question but she just shook her head and smiled at him.

The only downside of the evening was Evan, who was apparently not any happier knowing that her reason for rejecting him was real. Several times during the evening, Jenny had caught him watching them. Now, hours after she and Will had arrived, Jenny noticed Evan approaching them with the careful walk of the almost drunk. She stifled a groan. Shouldering his way into their group, Evan smirked at Jenny. “Why don’t you introduce me to your ‘special someone’,” he said, slurring just slightly over the sibilant sounds.

Jenny moved a little closer to William. She had hoped not to subject him to Evan, at least not on their first date. “Evan, this is Will. Will—Evan.”

Will nodded silently, watching Evan closely but not extending a hand.

“So, the mysterious boyfriend has decided to reveal himself?” Evan’s expression made Jenny uncomfortable. She didn’t know if he was going to take a swing at Will or burst into tears. Will didn’t respond but he made another of those quickly repressed motions, as if he was going to put himself between Jenny and Evan but stopped himself when he realized that they were at a civilized reception and he didn’t need to go all
Call of the Wild
on her. As caveman as it was, Jenny liked his protective instincts.

“Oh.” Evan mock-frowned. “A little slow, is he? Well you can’t have everything—a guy who looks like that can’t be expected to be a rocket scientist, can he?”

“What was it that Mark Twain said?” Jenny jumped in, sliding her hand through Will’s arm and moving even closer to him. “I think it goes something like—‘It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and prove it.’ You might want to keep that in mind, Evan.”

Christian snickered as Evan flushed a blotchy red. Evan opened his mouth as if to say something then snapped it shut, turned and stalked off. His grand exit was ruined by his collision with the corner of a table, which threw him off balance. When he recovered from his stagger, he gave the offending table edge a shove, like a little kid in a temper. Jenny shook her head, dismissing him mentally, and looked at Will.

“Sorry—he’s the worst one you’ll meet tonight. I was actually hoping to avoid him altogether.”

Will shrugged, his eyes locked on hers. “That was nothing,” he rumbled, his voice sending shockwaves through her chest.

She squeezed his arm and pressed her thighs together, thinking,
I’m in so much trouble.

The car was quiet again on their way home but it was a gentler quiet than the thrumming tension of the ride to the reception. Jenny was sitting back against the soft leather seat with a drowsy smile and half-closed eyes. She had only had a drink and a half at the party but had told him early in the evening that she was a “cheap date” and that even one drink could usually knock her on her ass. Will had nursed a beer the whole night—he had enough to deal with without blurring the functioning part of his brain with alcohol. He wasn’t big on drinking anyway. In his experience, getting blasted never made anyone nicer.

The party hadn’t been bad at all. He had been worried for nothing, really. With the two chatterboxes, Jenny and Christian, flanking him all night, no one had expected him to get more than a word or two in edgewise. True to her promise, Jenny hadn’t abandoned Will even once during the whole evening. Neither had Christian, who also had, true to
his
word, restrained from hitting on Will for the rest of the night. The two had surrounded Will in a protective bubble of words, deflecting questions he hadn’t wanted to answer and chasing away any potentially awkward silences. Will was grateful to them and a little proud of himself—he had gotten through his first date without any major blunders.