Page 5

“He didn’t.”

Jazz snorted in response to Nevaeh’s statement as she watched the dark road through the raindrops hitting her windshield. “You better believe he did. As if everyone wants to be in his Dating Adventures reels.”

Nevaeh’s laugh carried through the phone Jazz had on speaker.

“Really, it was like the whole date was supposed to be a way to get him more followers. Which was apparently why he wanted me to throw the glass of wine in his face. While the waitress recorded.”

“Sounds so tempting.” Nev barely got the words out between laughs.

“Oh, you know it.” Jazz chuckled as she switched the windshield wipers to a faster setting. “I’m so done with internet dating. This is like the sixth horrible date I’ve had thanks to dating sites.”

“Yeah, more like eighth.”

Jazz tossed a fake glare at the phone in the holder on the dash. “Thanks.”

“You’re not going to give up on finding someone, are you?”

“I don’t know.” Jazz sighed. “It seems like a big waste of time after a date like this. Maybe I should go back to organic.”

“Uh-huh, ’cause that worked so well before.”

“Hey, I only had two duds—well, maybe three—when I went out with people I met naturally.”

Nev laughed. “Okay, I guess the percentages are better. And that’s the way I met my man, so I’m a believer.”

“Yeah, I’ll just sit back and wait to bump into another gentle giant bodyguard. Shouldn’t take too long.”

“Maybe loosen up your criteria just a little.” Nev snickered.

“Fine. He doesn’t have to be a bodyguard. Or a giant.”

“He still gotta be tall for you.”

“Oh, yeah. Non-negotiable.” Like the very tall security guard at the fair today.

“You still thinkin’ about that hunky hero at the fair?”

Jazz grinned.

“I knew it.” Nev could apparently hear the grin over the phone. “Man, I wish I’d seen the guy.”

Jazz and Sofia had filled Nev in on the morning’s disaster and rescue when she’d arrived for her afternoon shift. But none of them had caught sight of the heroic security guard again.

Well, Jazz hadn’t asked Sofia. No need to look like she was crushing on him in front of Sof. “If you had, you’d know it. That’s not a face you’d soon forget.”

“Oo-ee, dude must be hot. I can hear you swooning over the phone, girl.”

Jazz laughed, probably more of a sighing giggle. “Yeah, but it was more than that.”

“Uh-huh. Foh sure his character was what grabbed you.”

“For real.” Jazz had a hard time getting the protest out past another laugh. “He’s a terrific climber, and not an ounce of fear. Just saw someone needed help, and he jumped in without a thought for himself.”

“Hmm, he might have potential. But I’m gonna have to meet this guy before I can okay him for my bestie.”

“Sure.”

“Since you’ve already moved on to your next potential guy, does that mean you don’t want a pity party?”

Jazz smiled as she braked for a stoplight and turned right. “Girl, of course I want a pity party.” As if she’d ever turn down their tradition of ice cream and a romantic comedy movie after a bad date. “I’ll grab the ice cream and be right there.”

“Sweet.”

“Want chocolate chip cookie dough?”

“Yeah.” A hint of hesitation crept into Nev’s tone. “Just a heads-up, Branson’s here. Okay if he joins us?”

“Oh.” Jazz’s heart sank with her smile.

“Or he could probably study in the kitchen while we watch the movie.” Nev hurried to offer the alternative. “He could totally do that.”

It suddenly made sense why Nev had asked if she didn’t want the pity party this time. She was hoping to spend time with her fiancé. Which made perfect sense. She couldn’t exactly ask him to leave all of a sudden when they probably had plans of their own for a romantic evening.

“No, that’s okay.” Jazz tried to keep her disappointment out of her voice. “I should’ve figured you were hanging with him tonight.”

“Sorry. I knew you had a date, so…”

Not like Nev would’ve kept the night clear for Jazz anyway. She and Branson didn’t get to see each other often otherwise, between his seminary classes and security job and Nev’s work at PK-9. Evenings were their only time together. And they were in love.

It was fine. Jazz was happy for Nev. That’s what best friends did. They put each other first. Even when it changed everything.

Jazz pulled her shoulders back and struggled to shove away her crushed expectations as she made another turn. “No problem. Don’t worry about me.”

“You’re disappointed.”

Of course, Nev knew Jazz too well not to hear it in her voice.

“Nah, I’d do the same thing if I had a guy like Branson in my life. You know I’m thrilled you have him.”

Silence signaled Nev wasn’t sold.

Jazz pasted on a smile, hoping it would lift her tone. “I’m the one who pushed you to give him a chance in the first place, remember?”

“True.”

“So go ahead and enjoy the time with your man.” The realization that had been growing in Jazz’s mind for months reached her heart and sank there. This was what it was going to be like from now on.

She really was happy for Nev, but it was already getting so hard for them to do things together just the two of them anymore. That would only get worse—probably impossible—when she married Branson in the spring.

“You won’t go home and be sad?”

What could Jazz say? If she told the truth, she’d be the mean friend who guilted her bestie into choosing her over a great guy. But Nev would never buy a lie.

Jazz would be fine. She could get used to being a loner again. She’d been alone for years before coming to the Twin Cities. “Of course not. I have Flash and…” Jazz searched for something convincing to say besides admitting she would feel lonely and—

Wait a second. She’d gotten a notification on her phone right before she’d gone into the restaurant for her disastrous date.

“I have the new Hawthorne Emerson novel.” She didn’t have to fake the happiness in her voice now. How could she have forgotten? She’d had her favorite thriller author’s novel on pre-order, and it had shipped two days before the actual release. If she’d known it was going to arrive that evening, she’d have canceled the date in a heartbeat.

“Ooh, Carson Steele series?”

“Yes!” Jazz nearly squealed with excitement, her evening looking so much better.

“So I guess you won’t mind skipping the pity party.” Amusement colored Nev’s tone.

“Not a bit.” A grin stretched Jazz’s mouth.

Nev laughed. “Thought so. But I want to read it right after you’re done.”

“No promises. I might have to read it twice.” Jazz chuckled. But reading it twice was her usual tradition. The first time through, she read super fast because she couldn’t wait to find out what happened to Carson Steele, the former Military Police investigator turned private investigator hero of the bestselling series. But then she always read the story again, slower, to savor the poetic prose, the witty dialogue, and all the delicious character details amid the thrilling action.

“A’ight, you have fun then.”

“Oh, I will.”

They ended the call with a shared laugh. Jazz really lucked out. Give her a Hawthorne Emerson novel over a movie any day. And the story description for Seconds in Shadow sounded so good.

Jazz’s pulse quickened. She could let Flash outside quickly when she got home, and then start reading.

Some ice cream would be fun, though. And she should fill up with gas, too. She glanced at the gas gauge. Definitely needed a fill or she’d have to fit it in on her way to her morning shift at the fair.

She pulled into the lot of the twenty-four-hour gas station and convenience store she often used since it was only five minutes from her apartment.

The canopy overhead shielded her from the rain as she got out and stuck her credit card into the pump computer.

A breeze whispered across her shoulder, left bare in the white sleeveless blouse she’d paired with skinny jeans and pink heels for her date.

The fine hairs on her arms stood on end.

Something felt off.

She glanced around, stepping to the side to scan the other gas pumps. The bright overhead lights made it easy to see…and to be seen.

A gray sedan was parked at the next pump over, and a man stood outside the car. He stared at his smartphone while he waited for the gas to pump. Business suit, expensive ride, distracted. Probably not the reason for her sudden edginess.

She kept an eye out as she waited for the pump to fill the big tank of her SUV.

A middle-aged woman left the convenience store carrying chips and a soda. No one else seemed to be in the vicinity.

But Jazz’s nerves still tingled. Ready.

Too bad Flash wasn’t there. He had much better instincts and would actually be able to pinpoint the danger she could only sense. Or imagine.

Though it wouldn’t be the first time she’d been approached by a creep at a gas station.

The businessman pulled away from the other pump as she finished filling her SUV.

She could just go home. She’d already paid. But that would be the first time she’d let danger keep her from living her life the way she wanted. She wasn’t about to give up her freedom now, even if her instincts were right.

She peered into the darkness on either side of the convenience store as she crossed the blacktop.

No sign of any movement in the shadows. No sounds.

Maybe the idea of the excitement waiting for her in the Carson Steele novel was enough to put her nerves on edge.

A smile curved her mouth as she entered the store and grabbed the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream that would pair perfectly with Carson Steele. Though his favorite was mint chip, according to Book Five in the series.

“Have a good night!” She waved at the clerk as she leaned into the exit door, spreading her new-thriller-novel joy to the guy who probably had a long shift ahead of him.

“Thanks.” He gave her a small smile back, and she swung away to step onto the sidewalk outside the door.

Strong arms clamped around her.