Luke popped a fry into his mouth. “Maybe she’s just not that into you.”
Will gave him a hard look. “Trust me—she’s into me.”
“Overconfidence is a killer, my friend.”
“No, really. We had a great night. I know she felt the same way I did.”
Luke leaned back. “Then I have no idea. Women are a mystery to me, as you well know. I couldn’t figure out the one I was married to.”
“Yeah, well, the one you were married to was a mess.”
“Don’t I know it. Haven’t been able to figure out women since, so I tend to stay the hell away from them. Boomer is companion enough for me.”
Will shook his head. “Dude. Your dog? You have got to get out more.”
Luke laughed. “You’re right. I do. But I’m not the one with woman problems right now. That’s you. So what are you gonna do about Jane?”
“I don’t have a clue. Give her some space, I guess. I’m not going to keep calling and bugging her if she doesn’t want to talk to me. I figure she’ll either come around so we can talk, or whatever we had that one night was just that—one night.”
“Too bad. I like her with you.”
“Me, too, man. Me, too.”
CHAPTER NINE
In what was an unprecedented moment of pure joy, Jane found herself with an evening to herself. She didn’t have to work at the day-care center, and both kids were spending the night elsewhere. It was Friday, and Ryan was sleeping over at one of his friend’s houses, while Tabitha had begged to stay with her grandparents. At first Jane had balked at that idea, considering the last go-round, but her mom had assured her the chances of Tabby’s accident being repeated were slim to none. One of Tabitha’s school friends lived a couple houses down from Jane’s parents, and they’d made plans to play together, so Jane’s mom picked Tabitha up right after school. Jane was scot-free and alone for the entire night.
Which, as a single woman, meant she could have a date if she wanted. But since she was a total coward, she had no date and no prospect for a date. Because God forbid she should grow a set of balls or some courage or whatever and call Will, who likely thought she hated him or had hated their date, when the exact opposite had been true.
Idiot. She couldn’t even handle dating. So instead, she was going to make a grand attempt to work out in the gym, ignoring the women in their tight little workout pants and workout bras, and go in there with her decidedly not tight anything and do her best to not fall off the elliptical trainer.
She changed into her sports bra and T-shirt and yoga pants, tied her tennis shoes, and used her employee card to swipe her way into the workout room, daring anyone to give her the side eye. She grabbed a towel and found a vacant elliptical, read the instructions, and set a program—something easy, like baby level—then started walking, holding on to the handlebars.
Okay, so this wasn’t so bad. For the first thirty seconds anyway, until her thighs started burning. If it wouldn’t have been such an embarrassment, she’d have stopped the damn thing and gotten off. But since there was currently some kind of fashion model with a centerfold’s body walking next to her—wait, did Jane know her? She looked familiar, but Jane couldn’t place her. Really light brown hair, full lips, and small, perky br**sts. Obviously she hadn’t had two kids, because this woman’s thighs were perfect. Everything on her was perfect. And she was working her elliptical with the ease of a gazelle, the bitch. No way was Jane going to get off after—she looked at the timer—four and a half minutes.
Jane had set her program for twenty minutes.
Twenty minutes? Was she insane?
God, she was going to die on this thing.
She tried to focus on the television. Something sports-related was on. Ugh. She couldn’t focus. Sweat pooled and ran like a river down her back and between her br**sts, and she was pretty sure she’d lost all feeling in her thighs and calves. She had no idea how she was continuing to walk. She took a quick glance over at the centerfold, who glanced back and had the audacity to smile at her.
“Jane Smootz?”
The woman knew her maiden name. “I used to be, but now it’s Jane Kline. I’m sorry, you look really familiar to me.”
Another smile. Not fake, but genuine. “We went to high school together. I’m Emma Burnett.”
“Emma. Of course. I’d heard you were back in town.” She could barely breathe, while Emma was walking along like she did this every day. Hell, she probably did do this every day. And did she have to be so damn gorgeous?
“I am. I bought out Dr. Weston’s vet clinic. I’ve been working to get everything ready to reopen it and I’ve hardly had any time to get a workout in.”
Right. Like it looked as though she didn’t work out. “Glad to have you back in Hope.”
“Thanks. I’m really excited to be here. So, you’re married?”
“Divorced, actually.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s okay. It’s been a couple years since the divorce. But I have two great kids.”
Again, that charming smile that made her look even more beautiful. Could you hate and like someone simul-
taneously?
“Two kids? That’s awesome, Jane. Congratulations. How old are they?”
Emma continued to engage her in conversation, forcing Jane to try to work this elliptical and breathe and talk at the same time. But it did help pass the time, and before she knew it, her timer beeped and her hideous workout was finished. She moved her nearly immobile legs off the elliptical.
“I guess I should move on to the weights,” Jane said while huffing and puffing. And sweating. In the meantime, Emma looked like a catalog model for perfect fitness.
“It was great to catch up with you,” Emma said. “If you have any pets, I’d love to see you at the clinic once we open.”
“No pets, though Ryan and Tabitha keep pestering me about a dog.”
Emma grinned. “Well, kids and dogs. They kind of go together, you know.”
“So they keep telling me. See you around, Emma.”
Jane went and grabbed a cup of water, downed it in three very unladylike gulps, then swiped the sweat from her neck with a towel and limped over to the weight machines.
She wasn’t sure she had any energy left to lift more than the towel in her hand, but she set it down and tried the chest press, keeping the weight low.