“I knew the score,” she contradicted. “I just didn’t want to tell you. I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to speak to you at all.”
“And now?”
“You’ve almost redeemed yourself with that comment about me maybe mattering too much.”
“Almost? What else do you need to hear?”
“That your mother’s been banished to Siberia,” she suggested.
He grinned. “It hasn’t come to that, but I did tell her that I wouldn’t listen to another word said against you.”
She looked surprised. “Really? Did you mean it?”
“I walked off and left her sitting in Sullivan’s parking lot when she tried to get in the last word.”
Her expression brightened. “Thank you.”
“Anytime. Now can we go someplace and talk?”
A worrisome glint sparked in her eyes. “Sure, but there’s one thing I need to do first.”
“Oh?”
To his shock, she looped a hand behind his neck and laid a kiss on his mouth that sent his pulse scrambling and set off more fireworks than a Serenity High victory.
When she finally pulled back, he stared at her, dazed. “What was that for?”
She regarded him with a self-satisfied smile. “One of these days I’ll explain,” she promised, then gave him an impish grin. “Or not.”
Just then Tom realized that Cal, Maddie and half the people in the bleachers were staring at them with fascination. Given the speed of the Serenity rumor mill, the whole town would be talking about that kiss by morning, how she’d staked her claim on him right out there in public. He was stunned that Jeanette had been willing to do that.
“I think more people are watching us than the game,” he told her, watching closely for her reaction.
“Precisely,” she said with surprising satisfaction. “We can go now.”
Tom still had no clue what she’d been up to, but maybe it didn’t matter. Why question a kiss that had pretty much rocked his world? He stood up and followed her.
She handed Jessica Lynn off to Cal as they passed. “Good night,” she told them. “Thanks for inviting me along.”
“Glad you could come,” Cal said, a wide grin on his face.
Maddie just stared at her in a way that suggested she was going to have a whole lot of questions for Jeanette first thing Saturday morning.
Tom didn’t know what the heck had just happened here tonight, but whatever was going on in Jeanette’s head was more promising than anything she’d said or done to date. In the past that small victory might have been enough to satisfy him, to restore his ego and have him moving on. Instead, he could hardly wait to see where that kiss might lead.
* * *
Though it had probably been wildly misguided, Jeanette took great satisfaction in her public display of affection for Tom. That ought to take the wind right out of Mary Vaughn’s sails and squelch any rumors about Tom’s sexuality she might consider spreading. It was the least Jeanette could do for a man who’d taken her side over his own mother’s. She was still a little overwhelmed by that. It couldn’t have been easy.
“Where would you like to go?” he asked as he led the way toward his car.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m starved,” she said.
“Sullivan’s?”
She shook her head. “Dana Sue and Erik,” she said meaningfully.
“Of course,” he said at once. “Meddling.”
“Exactly.”
“How about Rosalina’s?”
“Much better. And we’ll be ahead of the game crowd, so we should pretty much have the place to ourselves.”
“Oh? You looking for privacy because you’re planning on kissing me again?”
“No, because you said you wanted to talk.”
“Kissing sounds more interesting.”
“I was afraid I might be giving you the wrong idea about that,” she said.
“What exactly would be the wrong idea about a kiss that could have heated an entire village in Alaska?”
She fought to hide how pleased she was by his assessment. “The wrong idea would be that there’re going to be more of them on a regular basis.”
He sighed dramatically. “I had a feeling that’s what you meant. Of course, that does raise the question of why you did it in the first place, given all the potential negatives, such as me getting ideas, people talking and so on.”
“It’s probably best if we don’t get into that,” she said, still thinking of Mary Vaughn’s ill-informed opinion. He might find it as laughable as she did, but then again, he might not. She didn’t want to be responsible for stirring up ill will between those two. If nothing else, in their capacities as town manager and president of the chamber of commerce, they were bound to have to work together.
When she and Tom arrived at Rosalina’s, they did, indeed, have the small, family-run Italian restaurant to themselves. Jeanette loved the smells—garlic, tomato, baking dough. The aromas were as comforting as some of the herbal scents she used at the spa.
“A large pizza with mushrooms, olives and green peppers?” Tom asked after they’d been seated.
She regarded him with surprise. “You remembered that from when we were here with Maddie and Cal?”
“I pay attention to the important things, Jeanette,” he said solemnly.
She was impressed. “What else do you think you know about me?”
“Let’s get our order in and then I’ll tell you,” he suggested, beckoning the waitress and ordering the pizza and soft drinks. He glanced at Jeanette. “No salad, right?”
“The veggies on the pizza count,” she said.
“I’ll be back with your drinks in a sec,” Kristi Marcella, the pretty, dark-haired daughter of the owners, told them. Kristi was going to community college now, but she still helped out at the restaurant on weekends. “About fifteen minutes on the pizza.”
“Thanks,” Jeanette said, then regarded Tom quizzically. “Okay, shoot.”
His expression turned thoughtful. “Let’s see now... You smell like lavender. You’re crazy about orange-cranberry scones and Sullivan’s apple bread pudding. You’re low-key and easygoing most of the time, but you have a fiery temper when someone does you wrong. And there’s something keeping you from getting involved with me
