laughter.
It had been a great house, long ago.
He turned and headed back to his car. The past couldn’t be changed, but the future loomed ahead, and he damn well meant to change it.
“A hurricane, please,” Deanna told their server. He was tall, ebony, and had a smile that could light up the world. He was also outrageously flirtatious, and they were being flirtatious in return.
“Hurricane,” he murmured.
Deanna hesitated, afraid she had done something that was now incorrect. “People still order hurricanes, right?” she asked weakly.
The waiter offered them his killer grin again. “Yes. Hey, it’s just a drink, you know? We had one bar that never closed during the whole storm. When they ran out of beer, the owners went over and picked some up at the A&P, and left an I.O.U. Anyway, it wasn’t really the hurricane that did us in, it was the flood waters. You go right ahead and order whatever you want.”
“Thanks,” Deanna said. “What a face,” she murmured, watching the waiter leave to get their drinks.
“Not bad buns, either,” Heidi said, laughing.
They could actually hear each other speak, Lauren noticed. Maybe a lot of people had stayed inside after all. But not them. They’d overeaten at K-Paul’s, then chosen a place offering smooth jazz. In fact, Lauren thought she recognized one of the musicians, a huge African-American man. He was playing a saxophone, while she could have sworn that earlier in the day he had been playing a trombone.
“Hey, you’re engaged,” Deanna reminded her.
“I know that. I’m still on the look-out for the two of you.”
“Heidi, please,” Lauren groaned.
“That’s right. She’s already earmarked for tall, dark and handsome cottage six,” Heidi teased.
Lauren refused to rise to the bait and instead listened to the smooth tones of the music, her gaze directed toward the band again. The big man she had seen earlier nodded, as if he recognized her, as well.
She lifted her beer to him.
He grinned, then started playing his sax again.
The bar was busy, but fairly large, and the acoustics were good. “Irene’s—great place for dinner,” she heard, as someone next to her recommended it to someone else at.
For a moment, it felt good just to be there.
“Deanna, he’s gorgeous,” Heidi said, startling Lauren from her thoughts. She looked back to her two companions. Heidi was tilting her head dramatically, indicating the waiter. “You have to make a play for him.”
“Deanna is waiting for Jonas,” Lauren heard herself say, then wondered why.
Deanna flushed, obvious even in the dim light, and Lauren caught her breath.
Her friend
Heidi sighed dramatically. “What a waste of hot masculinity.”
“You go ahead and flirt with him, then,” Deanna said.
“Heidi, you have to let
“I just want everyone to be as happy as I am. I want it for the whole world. Can you imagine? No mistrust, no war, because everyone would always be really happy, even the people running all the countries.”
Lauren stared across the table, and Deanna tilted her beer bottle and grinned. “I think she’s had a few.”
“Think about it,” Heidi said stubbornly. “Laugh if you want gto. But let’s face it, we have some world leaders out there who would definitely benefit from a better sex life.”
Lauren smiled, relaxed and ready to go with the flow after three beers.
“Here, here,” Deanna said dryly as the waiter swooped in with her hurricane. She managed a thank-you, but she wasn’t even really looking at him. Her gaze was riveted on the bar.
Lauren quickly turned, trying to see what had captured Deanna’s attention, and she saw him at last. Deanna’s stranger.
She tensed immediately.
He was attractive. Tall, six-one or so, and lean. Just under or about thirty, with thick, dark, slightly wavy hair, one strand falling and forming a C on his forehead. He pushed it back, accepting a drink, thanking the bartender. Then he turned and saw Deanna.
He smiled. Nice smile.
Deanna stood. Hurricane in hand, she started toward the bar.
“What?” Heidi demanded.
Lauren, too, was on her feet. “It’s him,” she explained.
“Him, who?”
“Deanna’s…crush,” Lauren supplied. “Jonas.”
She followed Deanna with her eyes, but before her friend could reach Jonas, someone came between them.
