If only the thought of being with another man was in the least appealing.
Her day flew past, and when five o’clock arrived, Jewell was more than ready for some girl time.
“Jewell, let’s get the heck out of here. It’s Friday night and I’m hoping to find some cold drinks and some hot men.”
Jewell looked up at her co-worker, Stacy, a single mom in her late twenties who maybe partied a bit too much, but who was said to be a fun person to hit the town with.
“Who’s coming?” Jewell asked after she shut down her computer and was putting on her coat.
“A couple of the nurses and the new receptionist. I hope you plan on staying out late,” Stacy remarked as the two of them made their way to the elevator.
“Are we meeting there?” Jewell asked her.
“We should carpool. Jenna has agreed to be the designated driver tonight,” Stacy said, and she grabbed Jewell’s hand and led her to a minivan in the corner of the lot. Four other women were standing there.
“I have had a crap week. Let’s get there before all the tables are gone,” Jenna said. She unlocked the van and the women piled in.
It didn’t take them long to get to the bar, and within an hour Jewell was more than ready to go home. This just wasn’t her scene, and she would much rather have been spending time with Justin — okay, and with Blake, if she were forced to admit it — than with a bunch of women intent on getting drunk.
“May I have this dance?”
Jewell looked up at a nicely dressed man who was gazing down at her as if she were his next meal. The refusal was on her tongue when Stacy leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Yum…he’s beyond hot. Go for it.”
Jewell found herself being pushed from her seat and led to the dance floor. Maybe it was the two drinks she’d consumed, and maybe it was depression from feeling unwanted by the man she so wanted to want her, but one dance turned into two and then three, and soon she found herself sitting at a corner table with Frank. The guy was telling her the story of his freaking life! Sheesh!
The only thing keeping her sitting there was the hope that maybe by receiving a little bit of male attention she could somehow push away her all-consuming feelings for Blake.
So far, that wasn’t happening.
Chapter Twenty-Three
An hour later, Jewell was waiting for a break in the conversation, an acceptable opportunity for her to excuse herself. She wasn’t in any way attracted to Frank, who obviously thought work was his life, and she was hoping to make it home in time to watch a movie with Justin and Blake That was far more her idea of a perfect Friday night than sitting here with a man who was starting to drop heavy hints the way he wanted the evening to progress.
“I’ve enjoyed spending time with you tonight,” Frank said as he reached across the table and took her hand before she could pull it away. “I’d like to continue this somewhere…quieter.”
He ran across her knuckles, and she shuddered.
The guy wasn’t taking the normal social cues she was giving him, cues that should have told him she just wasn’t interested in what he had to offer. But before she was able to respond to his suggestion, he continued.
“We’re both attractive people with needs and the two of us have a connection,” he said with what she was assuming he thought was a seductive grin.
This had to stop now.
“Frank, I really appreciate the dancing tonight, and the drink you bought me, and company, but I’m not interested in starting a relationship. I just wanted to come out with my girlfriends for a few hours. I’m sure I’m not the only woman in here who is looking for something that might last longer than an hour,” she said with a gentle smile.
No one wanted to be rejected and she wasn’t out to mislead this man or hurt his pride.
“Oh, I wasn’t expecting that. It seemed like we’ve had something going on tonight,” he said, still holding her fingers. “Is there any possibility that you might change your mind?”
“No. I’ve had a rough year, really, and I’m just not on the market, so to speak. Sorry, Frank.”
He looked disappointed but certainly not devastated, which made her feel better. Of course, why would he be too upset? It wasn’t as if they knew each other, not after an hour in a club.
She looked away from him at all the people, at the men leaning against the bar and flirting with women, at the groups sitting around tables and engaging in serious people-watching, and she could almost guess which people were hoping to hook up with someone and those who just wanted a little down time after a long workweek.
She wasn’t really in either category. She’d just wanted to do some female bonding, but it seemed that she wasn’t at all tuned in to everyone else’s idea of night life. She’d worked too hard during college and afterward, and though she was only in her twenty-four, she felt so much older. Maybe taking on the responsibility of caring for her mother before she died and of raising her little brother had aged her. She really didn’t know.
“Well, I’m just out celebrating tonight anyway, Jewell. I wasn’t really looking to hook up with someone, but then I saw you and couldn’t seem to take my eyes off you, so I thought what the heck. But I get it. I was in a relationship last year that threw me for a loop when it ended. I haven’t gotten serious with anyone since.”
“I’m sorry about that. Maybe a bar isn’t the best place to go hunting for a nice girl,” she said with a friendly smile.
“Yeah, you’re probably right about that,” he said with a small chuckle.
“I’m really ready to go home,” she told him. She was finished with this for the night.
“Let me walk you out,” he said as he stood and held out a hand.
She gave him her hand and stood up, then allowed him to escort her back to the table where her co-workers — other than poor Jenna —were feeling a buzz from the large quantities of alcohol they’d been consuming. They barely registered her telling them she was going to call a cab and head home.
“Good friends?” Frank asked, making Jewell laugh.
“New co-workers,” she informed him.
The valet called a cab and Frank waited with her in the chilly evening air. When the cab arrived, she turned to thank him and he pulled her to him for a hug. “Thank you for a wonderful evening. I hope to run into you again,” he said, and she could see he was hoping to get her phone number.
“I don’t think that will happen, but it was a pleasure talking with you tonight,” she told him gently. She quickly hugged him back and then pulled away when it went a bit too long.