Follow Your Heart (Catalina Cove #4) - Brenda Jackson Page 0,4
in February...the month after her chat with Tanner. Interesting.
“Ms. Felicia Laverne even gave me a couple of gift cards to this bakery,” he said, and nodded. “She said the owner was the granddaughter of an old friend who’d sent her a few gift cards as a Christmas gift. Since she knew I was headed this way, she passed those gift cards on to me.”
Umm...interesting. Her great-grandmother had given some of the same gift cards to her, as well. Had she done so hoping that she and Tanner would run in to each other here? “That was nice of Mama Laverne.”
“I thought so, too. She knows how much I like sweets and was looking out for me.”
Victoria shook her head. The man was being played and didn’t even know it. She was about to ask him more about his meeting with her great-grandmother and the gift cards when he asked her a question.
“How do you like New Orleans, Victoria?”
She couldn’t help but notice all the female attention Tanner was getting. Because of her brothers and older male cousins, she was used to seeing women’s reactions to them. Some things never changed when it came to a good-looking man and she had to hand it to him. Tanner was definitely good-looking.
“I like it. I’ve been working at a television station here for almost two years now, but I live in Catalina Cove. That’s an hour drive from here.”
“I’m familiar with the place. It’s a beautiful little town.”
“Yes, it is,” she agreed. “Are you in town visiting or sightseeing?” she asked him.
“No. I’m opening a new club in town.”
“You are?”
“Yes, it’s the third Gentlemen’s Club to open and the first one outside of Texas.”
Victoria had heard all about the Gentlemen’s Clubs that he co-owned with Blade and Wyatt. From overhearing her brothers talk, the members of the all-male club were far from being gentlemen of any kind. She’d heard what went on in their clubs, especially about the strippers who were hired to entertain the men. All legal, but definitely pushed to the extreme. Women who went to the club had to be invited by the members. “Congratulations on the opening of your new club. I’m sure it will do well. Now if you will excuse—”
“How about dinner?”
She tilted her head. “You’re asking me out to dinner?”
He chuckled. “Yes. Nothing wrong with that, is there? You’re the sister and cousin to several of my close friends. That’s the least I can do since it’s like I’m practically a member of your family, anyway. And I did tell your great-grandmother while I was here that I would check on you.” He chuckled again. “In fact, she all but insisted I did.”
Oh, she did, did she? From the sound of it, Mama Laverne was making sure that their paths crossed here in New Orleans. Was Tanner the man Mama Laverne had chosen for her? A man who wore bachelorhood like a badge of honor? A man who’d been just like her brother Nolan and several male cousins that Mama Laverne had successfully married off? Did Mama Laverne actually believe Tanner Jamison would give up his man-whore ways for her?
“Victoria?”
She looked up at him. “Yes?”
“Will you have dinner with me? I just flew in today and haven’t had a chance to go grocery shopping yet.”
She blinked. “You’re moving to New Orleans?”
His smile widened and she noticed several women in the bakery who weren’t hiding the fact they were listening to their conversation, and seemed to be holding their breath waiting for his answer.
“Yes. We bought an old nightclub that needs renovations. It’s easier for me to move here temporarily while the work is being done than to fly in two to three times a week.”
She nodded. How convenient for Mama Laverne. “And how long do you think the renovations are going to take?”
“Our plans are to have the club open and ready to jam with a New Year’s Eve party.”
There was no doubt in her mind it would be one wild party. “Then I’m sure it will be ready.”
He glanced at his watch. “So are you free for dinner tonight?”
Honestly, she wasn’t. However, if he was the man Mama Laverne had chosen for her, then the opportunity would present itself for them to run in to each other again. Tonight she already had plans. Her cousin Christy was flying into town to attend a conference, and Victoria promised she’d pick up Christy from the airport and have dinner with her.