Kenny tipped his head back and let out a loud laugh. “Honey, you and I are going to get along just fine.”
Twice that bastard had called her honey. Jared waited for her to give Hart what for, for her to tell him to stop calling her that, but his Jenny just smiled up at pretty boy and flipped her hair. Flipped her hair.
“I was just about to have some iced tea,” she said to Kenny in a voice so sweet Jared wondered where that had come from. She’d never spoken that way to him. “Would you care to join me?”
Kenny shoved his half-empty beer at Jared. “I’d like nothing better.”
For over two hours they sat on the front porch, drinking tea and talking and laughing like long-lost friends. Jared tried to concentrate on what he was doing. But the third time the pry bar slipped out of his grip and he smacked his fingers into the board below, he gave up.
He glared at Kenny. What did that son of a bitch think he was up to? Iced tea, my ass. Hart was a hard-core party animal if there ever was one. And if he didn’t stop smiling at Jenny like he wanted to take her straight up to her room and do every dirty thing Jared had fantasized doing to her, he was going to make good on his silent threat and punch the bastard right between the eyes.
Jared flexed his hand, warming to the thought.
He moved closer to the porch on the pretext of staking up some of her flowers. He didn’t give a crap if the flowers fell over, but at least he was close enough to hear what they were saying. Or so he thought. While their laughter was loud, their voices were hushed. All he heard was bits and pieces of their conversation.
“. . . tux . . .”
“. . . Tomorrow night . . .”
“. . . you don’t say . . .”
You don’t say what?
Jared was being driven insane. And each time he looked at them cozied up on the porch, seated in rockers, he couldn’t help but think how perfect they looked together. He clenched his teeth so hard, the back of his jaw felt like it was going to snap in two. And that was before Kenny shot him a big, Cheshire cat grin.
He really was going to have to punch the bastard.
Finally, Kenny rose and prepared to leave. But not before he engulfed Jenny in a hug that lasted way too long and had his hands riding on the top of her tight derrière.
The stake in Jared’s hand snapped in two.
Jenny told Kenny good-bye then headed back inside the house.
Jared stopped Hart at his car. “Keep your hands off her.”
“Possessive, aren’t we?”
Yes. No. “She’s not one of your bimbos, Hart. I meant what I said. Come near her again, and I’ll lay you out flat.”
“That’s going to be hard to do.”
“All it will take is one punch.”
Kenny laughed. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
“Try me.”
“As much as I’d like to, I’d hate to mess up my hands before tomorrow night.”
Jared felt his scalp tighten. “You’re not going.” He knew Hart was referring to the charity ball.
“Sorry, Worth. Can’t disappoint the lady.”
“Stay away from her.”
“She’s already promised me a dance.”
Jared’s hand clenched into a fist. He knew his reaction was unreasonable, but knowing it didn’t change how he felt.
Kenny grinned as he opened the car door. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had turned into a one-woman guy.”
NINETEEN
Jenny spent all of the next afternoon preparing for the fund-raiser. She showered, washed her hair, shaved her legs, and spent an exorbitant amount of time on her makeup and even longer on her hair. She lost count of the number of hairstyles she tried. Finally, she settled on a simple upswept style even her mother would approve of. The one thing she didn’t have to worry about was her dress. As always, her mother had come through.
White and strapless, the designer evening gown clung to her every curve. The sweetheart neckline enhanced her cleavage, so much so that as Jenny stared at herself in the full-length mirror, she had a moment of trepidation. And that was before she saw how much the long, single slit in the back revealed. The shoes her mother chose were also perfection: white, with a touch of sparkle.
There was no denying the fact that she was nervous. Last year, she had attended the event on Steven’s arm.