A blush stained her cheeks, and she hunched her shoulders. Looking at Marie brought it all back, the horrid insecurity of adolescence, and Jane thanked God she never had to go through it again.
“Tenth,” Marie answered.
“We were in tenth last year.”
“Yeah, everyone picks on the tenth-graders.”
Marie nodded. “They throw tenth-graders in Dumpsters.”
“We don’t. At least not the girls.”
“If we were at your school, we’d look out for you,” one of the twins said, impressing Jane with his gallantry. They were really nice young gentlemen, and their parents had raised them right and should be proud. “Tenth blows,” he added.
Maybe not. Maybe someone should inform him that he shouldn’t talk like that in front of girls.
“Yeah, it blows,” Marie agreed. “I can’t wait till next year.”
Okay, maybe Jane was just getting old. And she supposed, that when you got right down to it, saying something blew was the same as saying it sucked.
The more the teens talked, the more Marie seemed to relax. They talked about where they went to school, what sports they played, and what music they liked. All of them agreed that the jazz band playing at the opposite side of the room was lame.
While Marie and the twins talked about what “blew” and what was “lame,” Jane glanced about the room, searching for more adult conversation. Her gaze skimmed over Darby, who was in a deep conversation with General Manager Clark Gamache, and landed on Luc where he leaned against the end of the bar, talking to a tall blond woman in a white slip dress. The woman had her palm on his arm and his head was lowered over hers as she spoke. He brushed aside the edge of his jacket and shoved one hand in his pants pocket. Charcoal suspenders lay flat against the white pleats of his shirt, and Jane knew under those formal clothes the man had the body of a god and a horseshoe tattooed on his flat belly. Luc laughed at something the woman said, and Jane looked away. Something alarming that felt a lot like jealousy landed in the pit of her stomach and her hand tightened on her little purse. She couldn’t be jealous. She had no claim to him, and she didn’t even like him. Well, not that much. What she felt was anger, she reasoned. While she babysat Luc’s sister, he trolled for Vanna White look-alikes.
Rob Sutter asked her to dance and she left Marie in the care of the Miner twins. The Hammer led her to the middle of the floor and surprised her with how well he moved. His hand on her side, he led her around the dance floor. If it hadn’t been for his black eye, he would have looked utterly respectable in his black tux.
After Rob, she danced with the Stromster, who’d dyed his Mohawk a light blue to match his tuxedo. At first conversation with the young Swede was difficult, but the longer she listened to him, the better she understood his heavy accent. When the band paused between songs, she thanked Daniel and made her way to Darby, who waited for her on the edge of the dance floor.
“I’m sorry, Jane,” he began as she approached him, “but I have to take you home now. An acquisition we’ve been working on is finally taking place tonight. Clark has already left for the office. I have to meet him there.”
The Space Needle was a stone’s throw from the Key Arena and, depending on the time of day, about half an hour from her apartment. “Go ahead. I’ll take a taxi.”
He shook his head. “I want to make sure you get home.”
“I’ll make sure she gets home.” Jane turned at the sound of Luc’s voice. “Marie’s up on the observation deck with the Miner twins. When she comes back down, we’ll take you home.”
“That would help me out a lot,” Darby said.
Jane glanced behind Luc for the blonde, but he was alone. “Are you sure?”
“Sure.” He looked at the assistant general manager. “Who’s involved in the acquisition?”
“Keep it under your hat until morning.”
“Of course.”
“Dion.”
Luc smiled. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Darby turned to Jane. “Thanks for coming with me tonight.”
“Thank you for inviting me. The ride in the limo was wild.”
“See you two at the airport in the morning,” Darby said and headed for the elevator.
As Jane watched him go, she asked, “Who’s Dion?”
“Boy, you really don’t know much about the game.” Luc took her elbow and, without bothering to ask, pulled her out onto the crowded dance floor. Luc took her small purse and stuffed it in the pocket of his jacket. He folded one of her hands in his and placed his warm palm on her side.
In her new heels, her eyes were level with his mouth, and she set her hand on his shoulder. The light on the dance floor cast a diagonal shadow across his face, and she watched his lips while he spoke. “Pierre Dion is a veteran sniper,” he said. “He knows the ice. When he shoots from his sweet spot, the puck stings like a son of a bitch.”
Watching his mouth did funny things to Jane’s nerve endings, and she raised her gaze to his. It was probably best not to talk about sweet spots. “Your sister seems like a very nice girl.”
“Really?”
“You sound surprised.”
“No.” He looked over her head. “It’s just that she’s moody and unpredictable, and tonight hasn’t been a real good night for her. She was asked to a high school dance, but the boy decided to take someone else at the last minute.”
“That’s horrible. What a little bastard.”
His gaze returned to hers. “I offered to kick the kid’s ass, but Marie thought it would embarrass her.”
For some bizarre reason, Jane felt herself fall deeper into infatuation with him. She couldn’t help it, and all because he’d offered to kick some ass on his sister’s behalf. “You’re a good brother.”
“Actually, I’m not.” His thumb brushed the back of her hand and he pulled her a little closer. “She cries a lot, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
“She just lost her mother. There’s nothing you
His knee bumped hers. “She told you that?”
“Yes, and I know how she feels. I lost my mother too. I told her if she needed to talk to someone, to give me a call. I hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all. I think she really needs a woman to talk to. I’ve hired someone to stay with Marie while I’m on the road, but she doesn’t seem to like her.” He thought a moment, then said, “What she really needs is someone to take her clothes-shopping. Every time I give her my credit card, she comes back with a bag of candy and something two sizes too small.”
That would explain the tight dress. “I could hook her up with my friend Caroline. She’s really good at making people over.”
“That would be great, Jane. I don’t know anything about girls.”
Even if she hadn’t read up on him, she would have known within five seconds of meeting him that Luc knew a lot about girls. It was the look in his eye and the confident curve of his smile. “You mean you don’t know anything about sisters.”
“I don’t know anything about
“Yes.” She frowned. “You and Hef.”
He laughed, deeply amused with himself. “You’re so gullible,” he said as the music ended and she stepped back. Instead of releasing her, he pulled her against his chest. The band struck up another number. “What did you and Hogue do in the limo?” he asked next to her hair.
“What?”
“You thanked Darby for a wild limo ride.”
She and Darby had drunk champagne and played with the television, as the driver drove them around the city as if they were Bill and Melinda Gates. But she figured that wasn’t really what Luc wanted to know. His mind was in the gutter, and she decided to give him something to think about. “We got freaky.”
He stopped. “You got freaky with Hogue?”
She almost laughed, and looked up into his face. The only thing freaky about her was her imagination. “Beneath
