The Trouble with J.J Part 7

"I think we have a relations.h.i.+p," Jared said, knowing he was taking a risk by pus.h.i.+ng her. To soften the statement, he added, "Of sorts." think we have a relations.h.i.+p," Jared said, knowing he was taking a risk by pus.h.i.+ng her. To soften the statement, he added, "Of sorts."

Clinging tenaciously to a ragged remnant of common sense, Genna said, "How can we? We don't have anything in common."

"Sure we do," he said, lowering his head to nibble at her earlobe. "We have each other. Mmmm. That's the most important thing."

Genna's head was starting to swim, swirling with thoughts of running her hands up his back and arching against him like a wanton feline. She had to get a grip on herself before she started groping Jared. But how could she get away from him? He was about as easy to move as a stalled bus.

Abandoning the idea of sheer brute force, she opted for a sneak attack of tickles to the ribs. Well-placed, nimble fingers had him doubled over instantly, screaming, "Personal foul! Roughing the quarterback!"

Ducking the arm he swung out to catch her, Genna grabbed a dishtowel for protection and twirled it in a menacing manner. "Don't come any closer," she cautioned, backing toward the refrigerator. "I warn you, I can snap this thing with deadly accuracy."

To prove her point, she flicked her wrist, cracking the towel a hairbreadth from Jared's flat belly, effectively halting his advance. He took a step back and dropped his hands to his hips.

"Now," Genna said, returning to the subject with a clear head, "I'll admit to a certain ... physical ... attraction-"

Jared's eyes lit up like blue neon signs.

"But people need more than that to base a relations.h.i.+p on. Look at us. We couldn't be more different."

"Variety," he argued.

"Common ground," she parried.

"We have lots of things in common!" Jared said.

Genna arched a skeptical brow. "Such as?"

"A-a-you like to cook, I like to eat. You like to sun, I like to watch you."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we're practically peas in a pod."

Jared s.h.i.+fted on his feet, inching closer to Genna, his mind automatically sifting through play options to decide how best to get her in his arms. He much preferred the way her mind worked when her body was pressed to his. "Haven't you ever heard that opposites attract?"

Genna caught his movement and twitched the dishtowel. "Freeze, turkey, or you'll be sporting matching belly b.u.t.tons."

Jared faked to the right then bolted left, grabbing the towel as she cracked it and reeling her in with a jerk of his arm so that she thudded into his chest. He wasted no time wrapping his arms around her.

"See," he said with a lazy grin. "Like magnets."

"Poles apart," she insisted, trying not to breathe in his warm male scent, trying to block out the feel of the blatantly male anatomy molded against her.

"Look, Gen," he said, choosing his words carefully so he wouldn't scare her off, "you're free. I'm free. We're both attracted. We're adults. Where's the harm in giving it a shot?"

Where's the harm? Hadn't she been thinking the same thoughts last night? Now, as then, she couldn't come up with any good answers. He was right, she didn't have any hot prospects for romance. She'd be all right with Jared as long as they kept things light. It wouldn't do for her to fall in love with him, because it wouldn't work out on a long-term basis-certainly he wasn't even interested on that level. But of course she wasn't in any real danger of falling in love with him anyway. Heaven knew she wasn't even sure she liked him.

Jared watched Genna's face as conflicting emotions seemed to war within her and he waited for her to comment. She seemed to be considering his offer of a light romance. Maybe if he rea.s.sured her of her freedom she'd be more inclined to accept.

"I'm talking light romance here. We'll have fun together. Nothing heavy. No pressure. We'll date. No strings attached."

Fun. No strings. That was what she'd been thinking too. So why did it sting a little bit when he said it? Pride, she told herself. It just p.r.i.c.ked her vanity a little to have him say he wasn't even considering a serious involvement. Silly, she thought, since I'm definitely not considering it either.

"Light romance?" she asked, leaning back in his arms so she had a good view of his face.

She was definitely thinking about it. He smiled and crossed his fingers behind her back for good luck. "All the fun and a third less calories. What better way to spend the summer?" Once she saw what a good guy he was, he hoped, maybe she'd consider extending the contract.

"Well ... okay," Genna gave in, as she'd known all along she would. She pried her left arm out from between them and checked her watch, then glanced at Jared's wild black hair. "The only date you need to worry about now is the one I made for you with the barber. If we don't get going, we'll be late."

"You don't like my haircut?" His eyes glittered as he ran a hand over the ebony spikes.

"It looks as if rodents chewed it off as you slept," Genna said dryly.

"Well, don't tell Brutus, you'll hurt his feelings."

"You let Brutus style your hair?" The thought of that man loose with a scissors in his hand was enough to make her blood run cold.

"Honey," Jared laughed. "I let Brutus do whatever he wants."

Jared, Genna, and Alyssa all trooped down to Gorgeous Guy's Hair Emporium on Tory Hills' Old Market Street, where the brick buildings dated back to before the Revolution. When they came out half an hour later, Jared looked more like a GQ GQ model than a rock star. model than a rock star.

Guy very cleverly had left the top short and had cut off the long strands that had straggled down Jared's neck. The style left him looking amazingly clean-cut, and Genna's fingers were itching to run up and down the back of his smooth, strong neck. Even Alyssa liked the new look, proclaiming her daddy to be "very pretty."

"Clothes make the man," Genna proclaimed, dragging Jared by the arm from Gorgeous Guy's toward Wagnall's Clothiers, the one and only men's shop in Tory Hills. They wouldn't be able to outfit Jared totally here, but at least he could get a couple of s.h.i.+rts that didn't qualify as walking billboards.

Jared balked, eyeing the nattily dressed mannequins in the window with obvious distaste. "I already have clothes."

Genna let go of his hand and planted her hands on her hips. She looked up and down at the black tank top and camouflage pants he wore. "Yeah, you're all set if we want to go out to eat in the jungles of Nicaragua." She gave Alyssa a wink and a grin. "Come on, Lyss, grab Daddy's hand and let's drag him in here."

Alyssa giggled and immediately began tugging on her father's hand, jumping up and down and pulling at him. "Come on, Daddy!"

With the help of a clerk who held the door open, they managed to get Jared into the store. He was still scowling when they came back out with two b.u.t.ton-down oxford s.h.i.+rts, a plain navy blue tie, two polo s.h.i.+rts, and a pair of navy gabardine trousers.

"Cheer up," Genna said. "It's good for your new image to be seen shopping in the local stores. Besides, now you won't have to worry about taking me out to dinner at a nice restaurant and having them punish you by making you wear one of those awful ties they keep at the desk for people who underdress."

Jared didn't mention that he had a whole closet full of s.h.i.+rts and ties, since it so obviously pleased Genna to dress him up like a Ken doll. Her picking on him about his everyday clothes irked him a little though, and he got back at her that evening by making choking noises over dinner at Leonie's while tugging at the knot in his new tie.

The next few days were spent schooling Jared on normal, small-town behavior and trying to get him to give up his earring. That was something he flatly refused to do, as the diamond stud had been a gift from his mother. Evenings were devoted to dates that often included Alyssa. They did every normal thing Jared could think of. They went to the movies and to dinner. They even played miniature golf.

Everywhere they went Jared was pestered for autographs. Genna watched him closely as he signed sc.r.a.ps of paper, always smiling, even when a fan interrupted a meal. She also noticed that many of his fans were women. He attracted them like metal filings to a magnet. It was disgusting. Women of all ages fell willingly under the spell of his unusual charm. More than one woman had made it clear that she would fall under more than that if he were interested, but Jared always turned the ladies away with a wink and a grin.

Wednesday of the following week the three of them piled into Jared's new Mercedes station wagon and headed for downtown Hartford. Jared had agreed to take Genna shopping for accessories for his house and had promised Alyssa a picnic as soon as he took care of "a little something."

His "little something" turned out to be shooting a thirty-second commercial for the NFL's antidrug campaign. Genna and Alyssa were allowed to sit off-camera and watch as makeup people, lighting people, sound technicians, and cameramen fussed over and around Jared. Through all the commotion he remained his amiable self, talking football with the crew and signing autographs. When the director shouted "Action," Jared simply looked directly into the camera and delivered his lines like a pro.

They did three takes, though Genna would have sworn only one had been necessary. She was more than a little surprised at Jared's professional att.i.tude in front of the camera. The way he had talked about his college days and his degree in communications, he would have had her believe he didn't know a light meter from a lens cap, when obviously he knew a lot more.

His acting ability was nothing to sneeze at either. He was very relaxed in front of the camera. Dressed in jeans and a tight Hawks T-s.h.i.+rt, he casually leaned back against a smooth oak desk, his sneakered feet crossed at the ankle, his hands stuffed into his pockets. The wall behind the desk displayed framed photos of Jared in action on the football field, and the shelves held game b.a.l.l.s and trophies. When the film started rolling, he looked into the camera as if he were looking into someone's eyes and said his lines as if he were speaking directly to that one person. His message was clear and sincere.

"As quarterback of the Hartford Hawks, I'm known for being a little unorthodox." He grinned engagingly, then grew serious. "But doing my own thing doesn't mean doing drugs. I get my highs on the football field helping my team win champions.h.i.+ps. I don't need drugs messing that up. Everybody knows drugs are stupid." He gave a harsh laugh. "Why do you think they call it dope?" dope?"

When Genna asked him why he hadn't mentioned the commercial, he just shrugged it off.

"No big deal," he said, turning his attention to Alyssa. "How'd you like that, m.u.f.fin?"

Alyssa gave him her shy smile. "Were you on TV, Daddy?"

"I will be." He scooped her up in the crook of his strong arm so they were face-to-face. "They'll run that ad this fall when I'm working."

Alyssa turned to Genna with a proud look. "My daddy plays bootball."

Genna hid her mirth with a smile. After all, she didn't know much more about the sport herself. Jared laughed and kissed his daughter's cheek. "That's foot foot ball, sweetheart." ball, sweetheart."

Afterward they ate hamburgers in Bushnell Park on the capitol grounds. Every time Genna mentioned shopping, Jared changed the subject. The day was too summer perfect to spend in a store, he'd said. He drove them to Elizabeth Park instead, where they walked through the famous rose gardens and watched people lawn bowling.

The combination of the warm sun and the intoxicating scent of the flowers made Genna feel giddy and weak. She had told herself she could have fun with him without getting her heart involved, but as she watched him lift Alyssa so the little girl could have a better view of the flowers, Genna doubted it.

She'd been attracted to him from the start, but that desire had been easily dampened by her initial low opinion of him. The trouble was, he wasn't Jared the Jerk anymore. He was the Jared who sat on the kitchen floor with her and gently listened to her tale of an unhappy childhood. He was the Jared who forgot little details like winning national awards and making commercials. He was the Jared who always had time for his daughter and his fans. He was the Jared with summer-sky eyes and kisses that stole every sc.r.a.p of sanity Genna possessed.

She would be a fool to fall for him. He'd never get serious with a kindergarten teacher. And he wasn't the type for her to get serious with either. He'd said himself this was just a summer romance, nothing heavy. It was a convenient relations.h.i.+p that they were both enjoying.

Really, she told herself, there was no reason for her to be afraid of getting overly involved. They were just working together. The boundaries of their arrangement were very clear in her mind: they were working together and they were friends for the summer. Certainly she was adult enough by now to lean over the edge of the waters of romance without falling in.

Of course she was. It had been a long time since she'd been attracted to a man on any level. So now that this major league hunk was showing an interest, she was simply overreacting. She'd gotten too involved in a one-sided romance once before and she was afraid of letting it happen again. That was why she'd hardly even gone out with a man since her breakup with Allan. She knew too well how it hurt to give her heart to someone who wanted only to play handball with it. Allan had left her feeling uncertain of herself as a woman and uncertain of her own judgment. It was only natural that she was skittish of the same thing happening again. But it wasn't going to. She and Jared had become friends. There was nothing scary about that.

Genna smiled to herself as she watched Jared model a big straw bonnet bedecked with flowers for Alyssa. The vendor stood by her cart laughing and clapping her hands at his antics.

Infatuation. That was all she was feeling. He was a good-looking man, personable in his own strange way. Infatuation. It certainly wasn't ... the L word. No. It was simply a normal attraction between two healthy adults who had been spending a lot of time together.

She breathed easier knowing she wasn't in any real danger.

Genna sat next to Jared on the edge of his stone patio watching Alyssa at play in the yard with Flurry. She had finally given up on the shopping idea. They had all been ready to come home after their afternoon in the park. "Any news from your lawyer?" she asked.

Jared shook his head. His eyes never left his daughter as he spoke. "Paul said they made all the initial moves, now they just seem to be waiting around. I don't know what their game plan is, but I don't like it." He raised his shoulders as if he were trying to shrug off his apprehension. "Anyway, we're doing our part, so let's talk about something else."

"Okay," Genna said, honoring his desire to drop the subject. "Why didn't you tell me about the commercial?"

Jared shrugged again and sipped from his can of root beer. "I didn't want to make a big deal of it."

"You do a lot of that kind of thing? Commercials, I mean."

"Some."

He was being shy and modest and she knew it. How sweet. Amy had told her he made megabucks doing commercials for several nationally known products. If he was the arrogant jerk she had first thought him to be, he'd have been bragging about it, trying to impress her.

"I thought Alyssa might get a kick out of watching," he said.

"She did. She's very proud of you, you know." Genna smiled at the blush that spread across his cheekbones. She wriggled her foot as the puppy attacked her shoelaces.

"Come on, Flurry!" Alyssa coaxed, one hand holding firmly on top of her head the wreath of flowers Jared had bought her. With a bright red rubber ball in her other hand, she enticed the puppy away from Genna's shoe.

"Do you get paid for a commercial like the one you did today?" Genna questioned.

He shook his head, his gaze on his daughter, who was squealing as the puppy jumped up on her. "Throw it for him, honey!" he called, then said to Genna, "No. That's a public service. The league pays for production costs, but not for my part. They encourage us to do the spots, but even if they didn't, I'd do it. It's a cause I believe in. A lot of kids look up to me. I consider it my responsibility to set a good example, especially since I have sort of a wild reputation. I mean, I like to see kids having a good time, but I don't want them to get the wrong idea. I don't want to see them get mixed up in that kind of trouble."

Genna thought about what he'd said for a minute as the radio played something romantic in the background. At first glance Jared didn't look like the sort of man parents would want their children to emulate. Jared, with his spiked hair and diamond earring and come-hither grin. But he was a sports hero and he was right-kids would look up to him whether their parents wanted them to or not. He could easily have shrugged off the responsibility, told them to live to party and break all the rules. Instead, he told them to be themselves, but to live right.

Impulsively, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "You're sweet."

He grinned at her, pus.h.i.+ng his sungla.s.ses up so she could get the full impact of his startling blue eyes. "So you keep saying. Tsk, tsk, Genna. You're going to have me thinking I'm the teacher's pet." His grin melted down to a sensuous smile and he spoke in his whiskey-on-the-rocks voice that rasped across Genna's skin like velvet. "But that's okay, I don't have anything against petting."

She gave him a black look and shoved him, sending him rolling on the lawn to be attacked by the puppy. He scrambled to his feet, wiping puppy kisses off his cheek as Alyssa and Genna laughed.

"You're in big trouble now," he warned, shaking a finger at Genna as Alyssa raced into the house with the puppy at her heels.

"I'm terrified," Genna scoffed, but got to her feet just the same, antic.i.p.ation making her skin tingle.

"I think I bruised something."

"Your pride?" she offered sarcastically.

He raised one dark brow as his lips twitched upward. "Maybe. Wanna go to my room and see?"

"You're impossible!"

"Naw." Quick as a cat, he grabbed her and started to dance to a funky tune on the radio. "Hard maybe, not impossible."

"Disgusting, definitely." She pretended offense just as she pretended not to notice the provocative sway of his hips so near her own.

He chuckled. "You love it and you know it."

She rolled her eyes at the macho line.

Bernice came out the back door wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "Phone, boss."

"Thanks, Bernice." He winked at Genna and danced into the house, singing in his smoky voice about how right he was for her.

Genna strangled a frustrated scream in her throat and dropped onto a white wrought iron chair across from Bernice.

"He's something, ain't he?" the older woman said, crossing her chubby legs. She wore black stirrup pants with high-top sneakers and an oversize Hawks T-s.h.i.+rt that swallowed up her stocky body. The short sleeves hung past her elbows.

"Something else," else," Genna amended, shaking her head in bewilderment. "I don't know what it is about that man. He unleashes something wild in me. I never know whether I'm going to laugh at him or slug him. Do you know what I mean, Bernice?" Genna amended, shaking her head in bewilderment. "I don't know what it is about that man. He unleashes something wild in me. I never know whether I'm going to laugh at him or slug him. Do you know what I mean, Bernice?"

Bernice puffed up her red hair and laughed. "Honey, my ex-husband couldn't unleash the dog, but I read a lot of romances and I'd say you're in love."

Horror-stricken, Genna gasped, "With Jared Hennessy?"

"I don't see Tom Selleck hanging around here."

"In ... L ... with Jared Hennessey," she mumbled to herself, shuddering. It wasn't possible. She couldn't even verbalize the word, and she'd just finished telling herself it was only infatuation. She decided she should say it out loud. "No. It's only infatuation."