Blonde With a Wand Read Free Page B

going on.
    At last Anica came out and started toward him. He stood, smiling, and picked up the take-out carton of chocolate mousse. When she didn’t return his smile, his anxiety level shot up about a thousand percent.
    “We need to talk.”
    He groaned. When a woman said that to a man disaster was in the air. Now he was virtually positive Sheila had followed Anica into that bathroom. “Would you rather sit down and eat dessert here after all?”
    “No, let’s leave.” She headed toward the restaurant’s foyer.
    Jasper had no choice but to follow, but suddenly he craved the protection of other diners. He didn’t think Anica was the type to make a scene in a nice restaurant. Then again, he wouldn’t swear to it. He didn’t know her that well.
    When Anica reached the front door, she paused to take her black wool coat from where it hung on a garment rack. Jasper helped her on with it. He’d admired this coat the first time she’d worn it because it was so unusual; more a cape than a coat, with a generous hood. Contrasted with Anica’s blond hair, the black coat and hood made quite a statement.
    Once she’d settled her hood over her golden hair and was ready to step outside, he handed her the mousse so he could put on his tweed topcoat. Then he took the mousse back before walking with her into the chilly night.
    The night was balmy, though, compared with Anica’s tone as she faced him on the sidewalk. “Your ex-girlfriend came into the bathroom while I was in there.”
    “Sheila?” He’d hoped to sound vaguely interested, but the word came out as a croak of alarm.
    Anica clutched her hood when the wind threatened to blow it off. “She made some pretty harsh claims, and I need to know if anything she said is true.”
    “Okay.” Jasper turned up his collar as he tried to imagine what complaints Sheila might have had about him. He’d thought that he’d pleased her in bed, but maybe she’d been faking those orgasms. That wasn’t really his fault, although maybe he should have—
    “Sheila says that you dumped her.”
    “That’s not true.” He’d never dumped a woman in his life. Sure, he’d broken up with them, but he’d done it in the kindest way he knew how.
    Anica let out a breath. “Thank goodness. I knew she had to be lying. She must be trying to salve her conscience by claiming that you’re the one who broke up with her. I apologize for doubting you.”
    He should let it go at that. It was a harmless thing, this habit he had of using a broken heart as an entrée with a new woman. He should just agree with Anica that Sheila was lying and they could move on to the most excellent conclusion of their evening.
    Admitting he had been the one to leave was only going to cause problems. The main thing was that he and Sheila were finished. Yep, that was all that mattered.
    “Jasper?” She peered up at him. “Shall we go? It’s pretty cold out here.”
    “Yeah, let’s go.” He took her hand as they faced into the wind and started toward her apartment building. Maybe Anica wouldn’t even care if she knew the truth, and at least that would clear the air between them. Nah, that was stupid. Why buy trouble?
    “Does Sheila’s behavior bother you?”
    “No. Why?”
    “You’re being very quiet. Listen, if seeing her again has stirred up old feelings, then maybe—”
    “It’s not that.” The wind blew harder, enough to make his eyes water. “You know, it’s not that important who does the leaving, is it? I mean, when a relationship is over, it’s over. Somebody has to make the move, but what difference does it make who walks out the door?”
    “It seemed to make a big difference to you three weeks ago.”
    “Oh, well . . .” He managed to dredge up a chuckle. “You know how it is. When you first meet somebody, it’s like a game. Every guy has some little strategy for breaking the ice. No harm, no foul, right?” He glanced at her to see if she was going along with this line of reasoning,