Page 9 of About that Fling (The Can’t Have Hearts Club #2)

“ A maternity wedding dress? Honestly, what will they think of next.”

Jenna reached under the table and gave Mia’s hand a squeeze, not sure whether she meant to comfort her best friend or keep her from lunging across the table to throttle the cousin who sat smirking in a hideous pink hat.

Mia gritted her teeth so hard Jenna could hear the sound. She gave her friend’s hand another squeeze and reached for a canapé.

“The food is delicious,” Jenna offered, hoping to change the subject. “Did Meg Delaney do the catering?”

“Yes.” Mia shot her a look full of gratitude. “She’s the best, isn’t she? Make sure you try the shrimp.”

“I did and they’re amazing.” Jenna kept going, ignoring the sneer from Mia’s cousin. “This whole reception was such a wonderful idea.”

Across the table, the cousin snorted. “Wonderful? You think it’s wonderful she didn’t invite any of her friends and family to the wedding but she has this fancy-schmantzy reception at an expensive hotel so she can still get all the gifts?”

“We asked people not to bring gifts, Harriet,” Mia said tightly, her wedding band biting into Jenna’s hand as she squeezed back. “It said so right on the invitation. And the rental fee on the reception room was a gift from my employer because we do a lot of business with this hotel.”

“Hmph,” Harriet said, turning back to the stack of wedding photos in her hand. “The dress is white. You can’t wear white if you’ve been married before, especially not if you wore white for your first wedding. The bouquet you carried for that one, by the way, was?—”

“How about we talk about something else?” Mark announced from the head of the table. Mia turned and gave her new husband a wilted smile of appreciation and released her death grip on Jenna’s hand.

“Yes, let’s,” Mia said. “Jenna, how was your date last night?”

Harriet gave a grunt of disapproval and stood up, flouncing off toward the canapé table. Jenna watched her go, wondering how much longer she should wait before making an excuse to go home and change from her party dress into yoga pants.

She turned back to Mia. “Date?”

“Didn’t you say you were going to see that guy again?” Mia asked. “The one you met at the wine bar.”

“Oh, right.” Jenna picked up her wine, reminding herself not to gulp it. “We decided it wasn’t going to work out. Our schedules are too busy and there just wasn’t enough chemistry.”

“Not enough chemistry?” Mia snorted. “Girl, I saw you the morning after you met him. You were oozing with so much chemistry you could have recited the periodic table of elements backwards.”

“Not true.” Jenna frowned. “Also a little weird. Besides, he lives out of town.”

“So? Long distance relationships can work, especially if they make you look like you did that morning. Seriously, Mark, you should have seen her.” Mia leaned toward her husband, hand on his arm.

“She was practically glowing. I don’t know what that guy did to her in bed, but he should probably patent it. ”

Jenna choked on her wine. “Right, well, all the same, I’m not going to see him again. Mark, how are things at work?”

Mark gave her a sympathetic smile and took the hint. “Things are great, thanks for asking. Dorrington Construction just landed a contract to build the new Parks and Recreation building over in Gresham. The steel erection should go through the summer, so I’ve got my work cut out for me.”

Mia grinned at him and picked up a stuffed mushroom cap. “Have I told you how sexy I find it when you talk about your work?” She popped the mushroom into her mouth and snuggled closer. “And also that you can say things like ‘steel erection’ and not mean anything dirty.”

He smiled and lifted his glass. “I might have meant it a little bit dirty.”

Mia laughed and turned back to Jenna. “Seriously, what is it about guys who work with their hands for a living? I can’t believe it took me ’til my early thirties to discover I’m more turned on by a guy with a tool belt than a guy with a briefcase.”

Jenna took another hit of wine and tried not to think about Adam’s briefcase as Mark planted a kiss on his wife’s forehead. “Come on now, let’s give Jenna a break and talk about something else. I take it things are still tense at work for you two?”

Jenna nodded and set down her glass. “The new mediator they brought in spent half the week explaining why throwing things wasn’t conducive to labor negotiations.”

“How’d that go?”

“The CEO didn’t take it well at first, but then the mediator asked about the stapler-throwing incident gently inquired when the CEO is getting his stitches out and?—”

“You don’t have to call him the mediator, Jenna,” Mark said gently. “I know it’s Adam. It’s okay. Mia and I talked about it. If she’s okay with her ex-husband working with the team, I totally support that.”

Mia rested a hand on her belly. “A man who’s secure—also a turn-on, in case you’re wondering.”

“I wasn’t,” Jenna said. “But Mark could stand on his head and juggle flaming rutabagas and you’d be turned on.”

“This is true,” Mia said with a smile. “But I still think it’s sexy you’re confident enough not to feel threatened.”

Mark shrugged and gave his wife a fond look. “There’s nothing to feel threatened by. It’s water under the bridge, and as long as we talk about it, I don’t have any problem with your ex being in the same workplace.”

“Open communication and honesty,” Mia said, nudging Jenna with her elbow. “Who knew it was that simple?” She frowned. “It’s not awkward for you, is it?”

Jenna swallowed. “Awkward? Why would it be awkward for me?”

“I just don’t want anyone on the team to feel weird about having my ex-husband there. I know we lived in Chicago when the divorce happened, so you’re really the only one at Belmont who knows the details of how it all went down. How bad things were. Still?—”

“It’s fine, Mia,” Jenna lied. “He seems very—um, very competent.”

“He does seem that way, doesn’t he?” She fell quiet a moment, looking down at her water glass. “I have to admit, the touchy-feely communication stuff surprised me a little.”

“What do you mean?”

“Communication was never my ex’s forte.” She glanced at Mark, who’d started chatting with one of his work friends.

As she turned back to Jenna, she softened her voice.

“I remember our fifth anniversary when I really wanted Adam, to surprise me with a trip to Hawaii. I spent the whole year talking about it, signing him up for email lists for these resorts on Kauai and buying this cute piggy bank so we could save for it.”

Jenna wasn’t sure she wanted to hear more, but couldn’t stop herself from asking. “What happened?”

“Our anniversary rolled around, and he said he had to work late.” Mia swallowed, looking stung instead of playful.

“At first I thought he was kidding and that he planned to show up and whisk me away to the airport. But when he came home from the office near midnight and just crawled into bed, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. ”

Jenna bit her lip. “I’m sorry. That must have been awful.”

“God, no—I’m sorry.” Mia rubbed her palms over her cheeks and shook her head. “Look at me, going on about my divorce when I’m here celebrating my life with this amazing man.” She squeezed Mark’s hand and he turned to regard her with a gentle smile.

“You doing okay, babe?”

“Yes.” Mia drew a breath. “Sorry, just an unpleasant trip down memory lane. I promise I’ll quit talking about my ex at our wedding reception.”

“It’s okay, hon.” Mark planted another kiss along her hairline. “It’s your party, you can cry if you want to.”

“Cheeseball,” she said with fondness as the band in the corner launched into a soft ballad. “You want to dance?”

“I’d love to.” He pushed back from the table and stood up. “You okay here, Jenna?”

“Actually, I think I’m going to get some fresh air. Maybe call Aunt Gertie to check on her.”

“Tell her I wish she could have been here,” Mia said as her husband lifted her to her feet. “I hope she feels better.”

“She thinks it’s just a touch of food poisoning, nothing to worry about. It’s also possible she just wanted a few hours alone to get some work done.”

“Still, there’s a nasty stomach bug going around. You can’t be too careful with older folks.”

“I’m watching her closely,” Jenna said, picking up her wineglass as she stood.

It was still half full, so she carried it with her as she moved toward the door of the banquet room.

She glanced back over her shoulder to see Mia melting into her husband’s arms, her face glowing with happiness.

Something twisted in Jenna’s gut, and she turned back toward the door.

The instant she stepped into the hall, she breathed a little easier. The Spanx weren’t helping, and she considered slipping into the bathroom to remove them. She decided against it and moved toward the hotel lobby. She started in that direction, then spotted a sign beside the stairwell.

Roof.

A much better place for privacy, and there’d be plenty of fresh air up there.

She pulled open the door to the stairwell, then bent down and yanked off her high heels.

Gripping them in one hand and her wineglass in the other, she trudged up the stairs, her dress riding up her thighs as she counted her way past the third floor, fourth floor, fifth floor, and onward.

She was breathing hard by the time she reached the top.

She pushed through the door and into the bright wash of daylight.

The sky was milky, but it wasn’t raining, and the sun shone oddly bright through the film of clouds above.

Late August weather in Portland could be unpredictable, and she’d heard there might be thunderstorms in the forecast.

A gust of wind tugged the hem of her dress as she stepped barefoot onto the warm tar surface of the hotel roof, dropping her shoes at the corner of a giant fan.