“Yeah. I don’t have any tomato, though. Do you?” Bella pointed to a plate of lettuce. “I need mayo, too. I probably should have gone to the grocery store today.”
“I’ll get some. Can you throw one on for me?” Jenna called over her shoulder as she crossed the quad—the grassy area between the cottages. She noticed Amy and Bella whispering to each other. She was sure they were talking about her and Charlie’s kiss. Ugh. The kiss. The kiss that should have set her world on fire but instead set her mind spinning in circles. She’d invited Charlie to join them tonight with the hopes of stirring some sort of feelings inside her stupid body, but it was like her private parts were on vacation. She didn’t even get a fluttery belly when they’d kissed, and she hadn’t been able to stop wondering what it would be like to kiss Pete ever since.
She brought a plate of tomato and mayo back to Bella’s and found her and Amy whispering again.
“Why do I feel like I’m missing out on something?” Jenna asked as she walked into Bella’s cottage.
“You’re not,” Bella called through the screen door. “Margaritas are in the bucket in the freezer. Bring ’em out?”
Amy went inside to help Jenna. “I’ll get the glasses.”
Jenna carried the bucket of margaritas out to the porch with Amy on her heels.
“When is Charlie getting here? Should I cook him a burger?” Bella asked.
“He’s meeting me there. He had to go home and shower after work, and he had to run a few errands. Where’s Evan?”
“He’s at Bobby’s. They’re meeting us there, and Leanna said she and Kurt are meeting us there, too. She had to fill a rush order this afternoon, and she said Lacy is going to hang out with us. Should be fun.” Bella loaded the burgers onto a plate, and as they sat down to eat, Caden pulled up. “There’s my handsome hubby-to-be.”
“You guys need to come up with new pet names. You make me feel very single.” Jenna took a bite of her burger.
“Hey, babe.” Caden leaned down and kissed Bella, then patted Jenna on the shoulder. “Heard you had a magnificent kiss today.”
Jenna covered her mouth, which was full of burger, and glared at Bella.
“What? It looked pretty magnificent to me.” Bella laughed.
Jenna rolled her eyes.
“Uh-oh. You mean a kiss that looks that good to one woman might not actually be that good to another? I don’t think I want to know this.” Caden went inside the cottage.
“She didn’t feel a zing,” Amy whispered.
“No zing?” Bella’s eyes filled with worry; then they widened. “See? You aren’t over Pete. I mean, unless this guy has a forked tongue or something, what else could it be? He had the whole possessive hold thing going on, and, girlfriend, your body was plastered to his, so I’m sure he was doing all the right things.”
Jenna pushed her plate away. She wasn’t hungry after all. “When you first kissed Caden, you knew, right?”
Bella glanced inside the cottage and leaned closer to Jenna. “Don’t you remember? He turned me inside out. Still does.”
“Charlie didn’t even fold down my edges, much less turn me inside out.” Jenna sighed. “I’m gonna go shower and get this date over with.”
“Why did you even invite him to come with us if there wasn’t a spark?” Amy asked what Jenna had been asking herself all day.
“Because it must be me. If Charlie had kissed either of you, you’d have felt a zing. I want a zing! It isn’t fair. I want a zing so badly I’m ready to fake it.”
Jenna let out a frustrated breath. “I keep hoping something will kick in. He’s hot and sweet, and…” She stepped off the deck.
Bella shifted her eyes to Amy, and as Jenna walked across the lawn to her cottage, she was sure they thought she was just as nuts as she did. She went inside and stared into her closet. She had no idea what she wanted to wear. Did it even matter? She was with a hot guy and felt nothing. Maybe her body really was broken. It had been a long time since she’d had a real date. Could a person’s body just turn off like that?
No. She completely lost all semblance of intelligence around Pete, and her body went all tingly. She was still alive in some way, even if it was a mindless way.
Mindless. She mulled the word over, then went to the window and gazed out at the pool. She’d missed peeking at Pete when he was cleaning the pool that morning, and now that he’d seen her not only practically throw herself at Charlie, but then kiss him in what apparently looked like a magnificent kiss, he probably wouldn’t want anything to do with her. Thinking about Pete made her stomach quiver. Was that out of longing for what she’d never have, or was it something more?
Jenna wanted it to be so much more. She wanted a kiss that made her mindless. I want Pete to make me mindless.
Being mindless would be so much better than being mindful while kissing. So mindful that she couldn’t put her finger on what was missing. A great kiss should steal my ability to think. She sighed loudly, and then she went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. She’d give this one more shot. Dress sexy, act sexy, and darn it, no more evaluating. And she was going to kiss sexy! When had kissing become such a pain?
She stepped into the shower and relaxed her head back—until the water turned ice-cold. Jenna screamed and scrambled from the shower. She wrapped a towel around herself and pushed the lever all the way to hot. She stuck her finger under the stream of water and still it was ice-cold. She turned it off, stomped out of the bedroom, yanked a picture off the wall, and flipped open the fuse box. No fuses were tripped. Great. Now what? She threw open the door and ran over to Bella’s cottage.
“Bella? I need Caden,” she said as she breezed through the cottage door.
Bella ran her eyes down Jenna. “He’s not here. What’s wrong, and why are you in a towel?”
“My hot water isn’t working. If Caden’s not here, and Tony and Jamie aren’t here, what the heck am I going to do?”
Bella grabbed her keys and dragged Jenna outside. “You have to call Pete. He’ll come fix it. But I have to leave. I’m meeting Caden. Now. I’m meeting him now.”
“Can I use your shower?”
Bella’s eyes widened. “Um. Of course, but you need hot water. You should call Pete.”
“But—”
“Call him. He’ll come fix it, and you never know. If the hot water doesn’t work, the toilet could be next.” Bella climbed into her car.
“The toilet? Why?” No toilet? Overnight? This cannot be happening.
“Plumbing,” Bella said out her car window as she backed out of the driveway. “Call Pete before he goes out for the night.”
“Ugh!” She waved to Bella and turned to go to Amy’s, but she was backing out of her driveway, too. Darn it. Jenna wanted to cry. She glanced at Vera’s cottage, but what could an eighty-year-old woman do to help? Maybe she should just shower at Bella’s, then not worry about the stupid hot water.