Part 1 (2/2)

When Sheila opened her eyes to look at Anica, her gaze had hardened. ”I didn't understand, either, until now. Tell me, did he say that I broke his heart?”

”Sort of. You know how guys are.”

”Apparently I don't know enough about how guys are, but I'll learn. Let me guess what he said.” Sheila deepened her voice in a pretty good imitation of Jasper. ”I thought we had something special. I was all set to take her home to meet my folks in Wisconsin when she lowered the boom. Maybe I should have seen it coming. Maybe I dropped the ball somehow, didn't live up to her expectations. I tried to get her to reconsider, but she was finished with me.”

Uneasiness settled in Anica's stomach. Sheila had quoted Jasper almost word for word. What if this woman was a nutcase who'd been lurking in the coffee shop behind a newspaper while Jasper spilled his guts? ”That's . . . approximately what he said.”

”I'll bet a million dollars that's exactly what he said. Because that's the speech he gave me about Kate, his previous girlfriend. It touched my heartstrings, which appear to be directly connected to my libido. A few dates, and we were in bed, where I could mend his broken heart.” She blew out a breath. ”I didn't leave Jasper. He dumped me three weeks ago.”

Three weeks ago Jasper had walked into Wicked Brew for the first time and she'd elbowed her employee Sally out of the way so that she could personally serve him a latte. Jasper had shown up the next morning, and the next, and on the third morning he'd announced that his girlfriend had left him.

But Sheila couldn't be telling the truth about that breakup. Anica prided herself on her ability to read people, and Jasper had been one forlorn guy three weeks ago. If he'd made up that story-no, she couldn't believe that he'd do such a thing.

”I want to hear Jasper's side,” she said. ”I don't see any reason why he'd-”

”Don't you? He's figured out that women are suckers for a sob story. He hangs with a woman until he finds somebody he likes better. Then he dumps the current girlfriend and works the heartbreak-kid angle with the new one. I fell for it. And the worst part is, if I could have him back, I'd take him, even knowing what I know.”

Anica shook her head, still unwilling to accept what Sheila was saying. ”I'm sure there's an explanation. Maybe you two misunderstood each other.” That still left Anica out in the cold if Sheila and Jasper reunited, but she'd rather see that happen than discover Jasper was a louse.

”It's hard to misunderstand when someone says, 'It's been lots of fun and you're amazing, but it's time to move on.' That's pretty d.a.m.ned clear, don't you think?”

”Did you two fight about something?”

”No. All was peaches and cream. I'm guessing he met you and decided to trade up.”

Had Jasper lied to her? Anica couldn't believe it, but there was only one way to find out. ”I'll talk to him.”

”You do that, and if you decide you don't want him after you find out the truth, let me know.” Sheila thrust a business card in Anica's hand. ”He might bounce back my way.”

Anica stared at her in disbelief. ”You'd still want him, even if he lied to you?”

” 'Fraid so. I shouldn't, but . . . he's just that good.”

Jasper tried not to be worried. He'd noticed Sheila sitting at the bar when he'd first walked in with Anica. He didn't know if Sheila had spotted him or not, but he'd asked for a table quite a distance from the bar, just in case. She'd seemed to take the breakup reasonably well, but there was no point in flaunting his new girlfriend.

Sheila was alone, but he told himself that she was probably meeting some guy here. A woman who looked like Sheila wouldn't have any trouble finding dates. She deserved to hook up with someone who appreciated her more than he had.

For a while he'd tried to tell himself Sheila was everything he needed in a woman, but then he'd looked into Anica's startling blue eyes and experienced a zing of excitement he hadn't felt in years. Immediately he'd made a clean break with Sheila. It was the only fair thing to do, and he prided himself on never cheating on a lover.

Sheila had seemed fine with parting ways-no tears, no drunk dialing, no trumped-up visits to the brokerage house where he worked. He hadn't run into her again until now. He was relieved that she'd remained at the bar and hadn't wandered over during the meal, which might have been awkward.

Anica's suggestion about the chocolate mousse in a to-go box had fired his imagination, and he could hardly wait for her to get back from the bathroom. Her apartment was within walking distance, a happy coincidence that meant they could have a romantic stroll to build the antic.i.p.ation.

Weather conditions weren't ideal for a stroll-icy March winds still blew down Chicago's streets-but the breezes were subtly different these days, a shade warmer than they had been even a week ago. Spring was hovering, ready to swoop in and transform the city. Jasper planned on having s.e.x with Anica tonight, but he'd thought way beyond that.

Spring was a perfect time to start a relations.h.i.+p, with buds opening, sap rising . . . yeah, the sap was rising in him, all right. This time, though, s.e.xual attraction wasn't the only emotion driving him. He admired her body, but he also admired her intelligence and business savvy.

She'd opened a downtown coffee shop in an area Starbucks hadn't mined because there was nothing to draw a nighttime crowd. Anica kept Wicked Brew open weekdays only from seven to four and made a killing from the office workers who didn't have time to walk several blocks to Starbucks.

Admittedly, though, he hadn't been thinking much about her business smarts tonight. Tonight he wanted to peel the clothes from her luscious, long-limbed body. He wanted to take the pins out of her blond hair.

The image of undressing her made his c.o.c.k hard. Because he'd have to wait a while before doing anything about that, he distracted himself by concentrating on the bill. As always, he gave a generous tip in honor of the nights during his college career when he'd held down this kind of job. G.o.d, had it really been ten years ago?

As he signed his name to the credit card slip, he glanced up to check Sheila's seat at the bar. She wasn't there. So maybe she'd left.

Or not. A woman was heading into the restroom. The light was dim back there, but he had a bad feeling that woman going into the door marked with a stylized W could be Sheila.

That might not matter, though. Anica was due back any second, and besides, she'd never met Sheila. The woman in the bathroom probably wasn't Sheila, anyway. He was getting paranoid.

He knew why, too. Anica had given him a whole new lease on life, both s.e.xually and mentally. He'd even imagined sharing an apartment, which was major because he'd never spent more than a long weekend with a woman. As serious as he'd thought he'd been about Sheila, he'd never created a mental picture of what their combined lives would look like, which should have told him they weren't right for each other.

Here he was already thinking about living with Anica, and they hadn't even had s.e.x. He pictured eating microwave popcorn and watching old episodes of South Park on Friday nights, flying kites over Lake Michigan on Sat.u.r.day afternoons, battling for sections of the Trib on Sunday mornings. The scenes rolled in his head like a chick flick accompanied by a perky sound track.

Of course it was only their fourth date. They had plenty to learn about each other and he wasn't making any stupid predictions at this stage of the game. But he had a special feeling about this particular woman. He wouldn't be surprised if . . . but that was jumping the gun. He'd let things unfold as they were supposed to.

He sure wished she'd get back from the bathroom, though. Women did all sorts of mysterious things when they disappeared in there. One of them involved girl talk.

That was the part bothering him at the moment. Having an ex-girlfriend talking to a current girlfriend was never a good idea. He prayed that wasn't going on.

At last Anica came out and started toward him. He stood, smiling, and picked up the take-out carton of chocolate mousse. When she didn't return his smile, his anxiety level shot up about a thousand percent.

”We need to talk.”

He groaned. When a woman said that to a man disaster was in the air. Now he was virtually positive Sheila had followed Anica into that bathroom. ”Would you rather sit down and eat dessert here after all?”

”No, let's leave.” She headed toward the restaurant's foyer.

Jasper had no choice but to follow, but suddenly he craved the protection of other diners. He didn't think Anica was the type to make a scene in a nice restaurant. Then again, he wouldn't swear to it. He didn't know her that well.

When Anica reached the front door, she paused to take her black wool coat from where it hung on a garment rack. Jasper helped her on with it. He'd admired this coat the first time she'd worn it because it was so unusual; more a cape than a coat, with a generous hood. Contrasted with Anica's blond hair, the black coat and hood made quite a statement.

Once she'd settled her hood over her golden hair and was ready to step outside, he handed her the mousse so he could put on his tweed topcoat. Then he took the mousse back before walking with her into the chilly night.

The night was balmy, though, compared with Anica's tone as she faced him on the sidewalk. ”Your ex-girlfriend came into the bathroom while I was in there.”

”Sheila?” He'd hoped to sound vaguely interested, but the word came out as a croak of alarm.

Anica clutched her hood when the wind threatened to blow it off. ”She made some pretty harsh claims, and I need to know if anything she said is true.”

”Okay.” Jasper turned up his collar as he tried to imagine what complaints Sheila might have had about him. He'd thought that he'd pleased her in bed, but maybe she'd been faking those o.r.g.a.s.ms. That wasn't really his fault, although maybe he should have- ”Sheila says that you dumped her.”

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