Part 12 (2/2)

But he wasn't here for Jenna tonight. He had come to celebrate a game win with his buddies.

They ordered steaks, had a few beers, and Victor found his blonde, who was just as eager to see him again. Soon they were surrounded by eager fans happy to talk about tonight's game.

It had been a great game. Ty wanted to share his exuberance with Jenna, but it was Sat.u.r.day night and the place was crowded. She was busy manning the bar, but after last night he'd be an a.s.shole if he didn't at least go up and talk to her.

He waited until she'd filled drink orders, then leaned against the corner of the bar.

”Hey.”

She was was.h.i.+ng gla.s.ses. ”Hey yourself. Good game tonight.”

”Thanks.”

She hadn't made eye contact yet, so he waited until she finished what she was doing. When she had, she walked to the other end of the bar to fill a customer's drink order.

Okay, she had to see to her customers. He understood that. He could be patient.

But when she came up to his end of the bar and continued to ignore him, he figured something was up.

”You look tired.”

She gave him a half smile. ”I am tired.”

”Rough night last night?”

”No. Good night last night. But you know that's it for us.”

Not offended, he leaned against the bar. ”Letting me down easy?”

She gave him the kind of look he'd given to countless women before. The 'It's been great, but' look. ”Tyler...”

He laughed. ”Send Renee over to refill our drinks. And get some sleep tonight, Jenna.”

Their game was over, at least according to Jenna.

If he was a sensitive kind of guy, his feelings might be hurt.

Good thing he wasn't sensitive, and it took a whole h.e.l.l of a lot to hurt him.

And the game was far from over.

She thought she wanted a guy who didn't play sports?

He'd find her one.

Or maybe more than one.

TEN.

THERE WAS SOMETHING VERY STRANGE IN THE AIR.

Or Jenna was giving off some new kind of pheromones, because she was getting hit on left and right lately.

For the past week she'd been surrounded by a steady stream of potential dates. It was as if someone had been advertising her availability out there somewhere.

But that couldn't be, so she just chalked it up to pheromones.

It had all started the day after she'd said good-bye to Tyler. First she'd met the hot accountant from west county who'd come into the bar and zeroed in on her like she was the only woman there. She'd been flattered when he'd asked her out, but he just wasn't her type.

The next night it was the guy who owned the car dealers.h.i.+p. What was his name? Oh, yeah. Stan. He was great looking in a s.e.xy, nerdy kind of way, with black-rimmed gla.s.ses and a muscle-bound body that showed how much he worked out. Plus, he was smart, and she loved smart guys. But again, there just wasn't enough chemistry between them, so she nixed his request for a date.

Then she'd met the model. Oh, dear G.o.d in heaven had he ever been good looking. He'd come in with several people-men and women who'd been just as good looking as he was. Every person in the place had stopped to take a second glance at the group, who looked like they'd just stepped off a photo shoot. And when Robert-that was his name-had leaned against the bar and flashed his thousand-watt smile at her, she'd nearly dropped the bottle of beer in her hands.

They'd talked for almost an hour. He drank beer, which showed he wasn't fussy, and told her he'd been modeling since he was a teen. He'd said modeling wasn't what he wanted to do for the rest of his life, but right now he was capitalizing on a career that paid really well. He wanted to take his money and open up an art studio. He'd showed her some of his photos on his phone. He was d.a.m.n photogenic, with a body that was as good looking as his face.

She still couldn't figure out what the h.e.l.l he was doing hitting on her, but he seemed nice and friendly and genuine. All of his friends were nice people, too, which just proved you could never judge a book by its cover.

And when Robert asked her out, she was determined to broaden her horizons, so she'd said yes.

He took her to the art museum, and he surprised her by being more than a little knowledgeable about art. He said she should go to New York, and she'd told him she'd seen the Louvre, so they talked about art over dinner. He said he liked to paint, which was one of the reasons he wanted to have his own art studio. He wanted to showcase his own work alongside other artists.

He was such an interesting guy. So d.a.m.n good looking, talented, motivated, and fun to be with.

But when he kissed her good night-and he was a great kisser-meh.

Nothing. Not even a little twinge of interest. Nothing had tingled, peaked, exploded. Not even a tiny little pop.

Robert had smiled at her and told her he'd call her the next day, but she already knew she wasn't going to see him again, because there wasn't that burst of chemistry she'd had with Ty.

She wanted chemistry, dammit. Surely there was another guy out there she could have fireworks with.

Now that she'd thought about it, it had been a week and a half since she'd seen Ty.

Not that she'd noticed or anything. She'd been busy at the bar, had caught up on her sleep, and had been busy dealing with all the new guys who'd suddenly entered her life. Since she had the night off tonight she was headed over to her parents to see Mick and Tara, who were back from their honeymoon.

Liz was meeting them there, though Gavin was headed to Florida to get ready for spring training.

Jenna was beyond ready for spring, though in late February it was anything but spring-like in St. Louis.

She wished she were in Florida right now. But cold weather and hockey season brought people into the bar, which was good for Riley's.

As soon as Mick and Tara walked through the door, Jenna was green with jealousy.

”You're so tan,” she said as she hugged Tara, then kissed her big brother. ”I hate you both.”

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