in bed. Except for that last one, he was nothing she’d imagined. Not that she was complaining. She really liked the funny, slightly quirky, affectionate man she’d come to know. He was a down-to-his-bones good guy and someone she was lucky to have in her life.
She’d been so frightened for so long, she thought as she shelved the cookbook. Afraid of getting hurt, afraid of being like her mother. She was nearly thirty and as Jasper had pointed out more than once, she had no hint of her mother’s gift. There was no reason to think it would suddenly show up now. If she wanted to get on with things, she needed to let that fear go. Hanging on to it wasn’t helping her at all.
As for not wanting to risk her heart, well, that was harder to deal with. She’d lost her father, friends, the career she’d wanted, Turner and maybe a piece of herself because of what had happened. The losses weren’t her fault, but how she dealt with them was completely on her. She could be a victim and wallow in a lifetime of “poor me” or she could put on her big girl panties and figure out a way to move forward. The choice was hers. It always had been. It seemed like it was time to start acting like it.
She walked along the main aisle until she spotted Jasper poring over some car manual. She stopped in front of him.
“I would very much like us to go back to my place and make love for a couple of hours. What do you think?”
He shelved the book, grabbed her hand and practically ran out of the building.
“I knew the library would make you hot,” he said as they headed back to where their cars were parked. “I love it when a plan comes together.”
* * *
NINETY MINUTES AND two orgasms later, Renee felt a little melty and a whole lot more like herself. While she would have loved to spend the rest of the afternoon in bed with Jasper, he had to get home and do some writing and she needed to head back to the office. She still had some work to do before she could call it a day. But she would be smiling the whole time.
“Thank you,” he said, kissing her as they picked up their items of clothing and put them back on. “Want to come over and spend the night?”
“Let me check with my mom. I don’t know if she has plans or not. She’s been pretty busy the last couple of days. If she’s available, I really should spend time with her.”
“If she’s not, I’m happy to be your second choice.”
She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re not my second choice.”
“I know.”
He kissed her and she had a brief thought that being irresponsible had definite benefits. Then her better angels reminded her about her career goals and she reluctantly drew back.
When they were both dressed, they walked to his truck and he drove the short distance to Weddings Out of the Box, where she’d left her car. He’d just stopped at a light on the west side of the river when a helicopter flew overhead. A helicopter that was getting lower and lower, as if it were going to—
“The pilot is going to land in The Promenade,” Jasper said over the noise, as he drove through the intersection and then pulled over.
They both got out of the truck and walked the few feet to The Promenade—an open area in front of stores by the Riverwalk.
Sure enough the helicopter was sitting on the concrete, its rotors slowing as the engine wound down. There were no markings indicating it was part of a law enforcement task force or even from a news station. Renee was fairly sure the Happily Inc police department didn’t need or own a helicopter, so who could it be and why were they landing there?
More people spilled into the area. Renee saw several of her friends. Her mother came up, Ed, Carol’s father, with her.
“Renee, this is so exciting. What do you think is going on?”
“I have no idea. We don’t get things like this happening in town very much.”
“Maybe it’s a celebrity,” Ed said.
Someone pushed through the crowd. “Oh my God!”
Renee saw Bethany running toward the helicopter.
“What are you doing?” Bethany shouted. “You can’t act like this. You’re disrupting people’s lives!”
The engines were turned off. The sudden silence was nearly as shocking as the