Husband Hunting 101 (13 page)

* * *

Jenna closed the door and leaned against the wooden frame, silent tears streaking her face. She was in love with Zack.Totally, whole-heartedly, foolishly in love with him. A man who was terrified of the mere idea of commitment.

A man who'd been shown over and over as a child that love never lasted.

If she could find his mother and father she'd take them both out to the woodshed.

Scrubbing at her tears with the backs of her hands, she locked the door and headed toward her bedroom, knowing sleep would be impossible tonight.

Was there any way she could make Zack believe in love? Or would his childhood mistrust scar him for life?

Heloise's advice echoed in her ears.
You can't change a man.

No, she couldn't. But God help her, she was falling in love with the man anyway.

Weary she removed her hearing aid before stepping into the shower and realized with painful clarity that she wasn't the one with the handicap at all. It was Zack.

And she had no idea what to do about it.

* * *

Zack counted the ceiling tiles to make himself fall asleep. Finally when he passed out, he dreamed he was covered by mountains of laundry, drowning in it, then the sharp trill of the phone jerked his awake, and he was fighting his way out to reach it. But it was too late.

Mark was on the phone, telling him that Jenna was marrying someone else. But who?

Eventually the dream turned into a full-fledged nightmare. Dozens of men were chasing Jenna while he was trapped in some steel vault with women throwing darts at him.

The next minute he'd escaped, but he was racing to the church to stop Jenna's wedding. Only when he ran inside, everyone gasped and turned, staring at him, waiting for him to do something. But he was frozen, rooted to the spot. All he could do was sweat and shake like a fool. Even worse, the guests were dressed to the hilt in formal attire, and he was stark naked.

He woke up, horrified and dazed, wondering if the dream had been real. But he checked the clock and it had only been a few hours since he'd left Jenna's.

Not enough time for her to find her soulmate.

But definitely enough time for her to realize he wasn't worth her trouble.

At five a.m., he shoved the covers aside, dressed in jogging clothes and called his brother. "It's dawn. I need a run."

"It's a little early, isn't it, bro?" Mark said groggily.

"Not if you haven't slept. Will you meet me at the park or not?"

"Geez, man. What's your problem?"

"Nothing," Zack growled as he yanked on his tennis shoes.

"Who is it, sweetheart?" he heard Colleen whisper.

"My brother," Mark answered.

Colleen's sleepy sigh echoed over the line. "Tell him to call back later, and come back to bed."

Then he heard kissing noises and Colleen's giggle.

Great. Just what he needed to hear—someone else happy and in love.

"Dammit, you're lying there all cozy and making out while I'm miserable," Zack said. "It's not fair."

Mark chuckled. "You know, Zack, if you'd stop being such a bear you might have someone to wake up with yourself."

Zack scrubbed his hand over his beard stubble, studying the bare walls of his apartment, the tousled bed that he hadn't shared with a woman in ages. He could imagine Jenna's red hair fanned out across the pillows.

"Zack?"

"Yeah. Sorry."

Mark sighed. "I'll meet you there in five."

"Thanks."

An hour later, he and Mark had circled the mile- long track several times in silence.

"Are you going to tell me what's eating you?" Mark finally asked, panting for air.

"How did you know Colleen was the one, that you wanted to, you know—"

"Marry?"

"Yeah."

Mark shrugged. "I told you before—I couldn't stop thinking about her."

"But you'd already slept with her?"

Mark glared at him. "Yeah, I had. And I'm not discussing our sex life with you."

Zack grinned. "That's not what I meant. It's just I've been with a lot of women—"

"Don't tell me you dragged me out of bed so to flaunt your escapades?" Mark muttered. " 'Cause if you did, I don't want to hear about it."

"No, that's not it." Zack bent over with his hands on his knees and took several deep breaths. "But how did you know you wanted to be with Colleen for the rest of your life?"

"If I told you, you'd think it was cheesy." Mark paused beside him. "What's really going on, Zack? Is there someone you're serious about?"

Zack glanced up at Mark, debating how much to share.

Mark's eyes widened in shock. "It's finally happened? You're in love? Man, oh, man, I can't believe it."

Zack held up his hand. "Whoa, don't go jumping to conclusions." He started jogging in place. "Level with me. How did you know, Mark?"

Mark shrugged. "You won't laugh?"

Zack shook his head.

"Actually there were a lot of little things. I kept waking up, missing the way she smelled. And she likes to leave these silly little love notes around the house." A sheepish smile curved Mark's face. "And I actually liked it."

Zack remembered how he felt when Jenna simply touched him. "But with Dad's history, weren't you afraid you'd wind up in divorce court like him?"

Mark scoffed. "No, I decided a long time ago that I wanted the total opposite of what our parents had."

Zack mulled over Mark's words. "But didn't you get nervous? Weren't you afraid you might be making a mistake?"

"Of course I was nervous," Mark said. "But I knew it wasn't a mistake. Just think about the women Dad married, Zack. They were all too young for him, Dad had nothing in common with them. Those relationships were doomed from the start."

Zack pumped his arms as they picked up speed again. "So, you think Dad chose the wrong women?"

"Yep," Mark said. "He wasn't looking for long term commitment. He wanted a trophy wife, someone to show off, to stroke his ego, not a real companion."

"Not someone to have dinner and watch movies with."

"Exactly," Mark answered. They rounded the track for the sixth time and Mark stopped, his shirt soaked with sweat. "So, have you really found someone you're seriously interested in?"

Zack ran in place for several seconds, then they walked the track to cool down. "I don't know, man. Sort of. But I have this strange reaction every time I think about committing to her." He shrugged. "My stomach hurts and I start to shake."

Mark gave him a sympathetic look. "Listen, Zack, I know you were younger than me when our folks split, and I can see it's affected you. But if you've met someone you like, don't be afraid to give a relationship a try just because our old man screwed up. A good marriage is like having a best friend for life."

Zack's stomach knotted.

"Now, who is she?" Mark asked. "What kind of woman finally snagged you? Is she someone you met at a club, a singles bar, a topless dancer, who?"

"It's Jenna," Zack said, his throat rough.

"Jenna?" Mark's shorter height seemed to diminish as he squared his shoulders. "What the hell have you done, Zack?"

Anger surged through Zack. "I haven't done anything, Mark."

"Did you seduce her?"

"That's none of your business," Zack said through gritted teeth.

"The hell it's not. I warned you not to mess with her." He poked Zack in the chest. "I told you she was a nice girl and to leave her alone."

"And I told you it's none of your business," Zack countered. "She doesn't need your protection, bro."

Mark lowered his voice, his eyes questioning. "What happened?"

"We've been working together," Zack snapped.

"You know she has a hearing impairment?"

"What difference does that make?"

Mark shoved his hand through his dark curly hair. "It doesn't to me, but you've never stuck with any woman. How will you handle problems if they come up? "

Zack glared at him. "You really think I'm that shallow?"

"No. But Colleen cares a lot about Jenna, man." Mark's anger seemed to fade. "Just think long and hard about it, Zack. Her hearing loss was inherited. If she has kids, she might pass it on."

Zack swallowed, remembering Jenna's abbreviated version of her childhood. A relationship was one thing, but marriage was yet another.

And kids—he hadn't thought about the implications of having children. Children meant more responsibility, a lifetime commitment.

Kids meant chewing gum on your shoes, dog poop on the lawn, a house, trading his sports car in for a mini-van, and dirty diapers. He could handle the house and the dog, but he staggered backwards at the idea of selling his Triumph.

And the thought of messy diapers made him so dizzy he had to find a park bench and sit down.

Chapter 8

Jenna listened to the cheery Christmas music while she served hot cider and Christmas cookies to her customers, yet her heart wasn't in it.

She'd decided to have an open house to mark the beginning of the holiday shopping season. But, in spite of the gaiety of the atmosphere and the constant ringing of the cash register, she was so depressed that she wanted to crawl into one of the big gift bags, yank the red and white tissue paper over her head, and hide.

She'd always thought falling in love was supposed to be exhilarating, dreamy, leaving one aglow with happiness. But falling in love with the wrong man had brought her heartache that wouldn't go away, no matter how hard she tried to distract herself with holiday festivities.

Maybe this soul-filled hurt was the reason Zack had sworn off love.

He was the smart one. She'd jumped in without thinking and her heart felt like one of the crumbled leftover cookies on the tray.

"Wow," Angel said, as the last customer left the store. "You're going to have to order more merchandise if business continues like this."

Jenna nodded, remembering Zack's clever new slogan. "I can handle that. Hopefully, the new ads will increase foot traffic even more."

She straightened an assortment of green and black velvet panties on the table as another customer left, then glanced around the interior of the boutique and noticed it had emptied. It was almost closing time and with a storm watch in effect, she didn't expect any more business. The wind had picked up outside, howling in the distance, adding to the miserable weather.

Even the bouquet she'd saved and dried from Casey's wedding looked forlorn as if it had been wasted on her.

"The weatherman predicts it's going to start sleeting soon," Angel said. "You mind if I take off?"

"Of course not. You should get off your feet anyway."

"They are starting to swell," Angel said, pointing to her ankles.

"Then go." Jenna fanned her toward the door. "If the weather's getting bad, I'm going to close up and leave early, too."
I'm not in the mood for class.

Angel grabbed her purse and left, and Jenna shivered at the silence that followed. Refusing to give into her melancholy feelings, she punched in another tape and restacked a display group of gift books featuring solutions to romantic problems—
How to Kiss Your Lover
and
101 Ways to Say I Love You.
Too bad there wasn't a manual on how to make a guy fall in love with you and
believe
in marriage.

The doorbell tinkled and she glanced up, expecting to see another customer, but the unattainable man of her dreams stood in the doorway, brushing a stray leaf from his windswept dark blond hair, his gaze meeting hers with an awkwardness that only confirmed his commitment to bachelorhood.

"Hi," he said, his sexy lips forming a hesitant smile.

"Hi, yourself."

He scanned the store, his gaze settling on the half-dozen scented candles burning in the windows and the bucket of champagne and crystal glasses in the center of the front table. "It looks nice in here."