Then Makayla cleared her throat and stepped forward, choosing a book from the pile and thrusting a bill my way. “I just came by to pick up this book.” There was a hint of disappointment in her voice. Disappointed in me? She had it all wrong. It looked bad, but I wasn’t really going to kiss Jude. Was I? “And to see if you were getting ready for your dinner break. I have a ticket to the do-it-yourself seminar.”
“Sure.” I fumbled to make her change, my hands shaking with shame. Could I really say what would have happened if she hadn’t shown up? What was wrong with me? I loved Sean. This thing with Jude . . . well, it was just plain stupid. After handing Makayla her change, I turned back to Jude. “I’m heading for my dinner break,” I told him, joining Makayla on the other side of the table. “If you need help, I suggest you call Zach or one of the other agents. I won’t be back here this evening.”
“Sure, darlin’,” he replied in his easy way. “I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.”
“That wasn’t what it looked like,” I said to Makayla as soon as we’d walked out of earshot.
She kept walking, pursing her lips and shooting me a sideways glance while she tucked the book she’d bought into her shoulder bag. “Then what was it? Because to me, it looked like y’all were heading into major lip-lock.” Suddenly she stopped and turned to face me straight on. “What’s this all about, Lila? Do you have a thing for Jude Hudson?”
I shook my head. “No, not at all. It’s just . . .” I hesitated, not knowing how to articulate my feelings. Why couldn’t I shake the attraction I felt toward Jude?
Her eyebrows shot skyward. “Just what?”
Shaking my head, all I could answer was, “I guess I don’t know. I don’t understand it myself.” I told her all about Jude and me, the kiss we shared the first week we worked together, his continuous flirtations, my sometimes attraction to him. “What you just saw . . . I wasn’t going to . . . I just . . . I just don’t know.” I brought both hands to my cheeks. “What is wrong with me?”
Makayla reached up, grabbed my hands, and held them in hers. “Look. I’ve known Jude since long before you moved to the Valley. He’s used to getting what he wants with women. The fact that he can’t have you must really bother him. That’s all it is, Lila. A silly game to him. Do you really want to throw away everything you have with Sean on a guy like that?”
A silly game. I knew she was right, of course. It was all just a game to Jude. He agented thrillers and suspenseful adventures. And his love life offered the same genre of intrigue and conquests with an ultimate lone—and satisfied—hero striding off into the sunset, leaving a string of broken hearts behind him. Life imitating art; Jude imitating fiction. “No. Of course not.”
“Then keep your distance from Jude. Okay?” She gave my hands a final squeeze before letting go. Sighing, she plastered on a smile and nodded in the direction of the Dragonfly Room. “Come on. Let’s go check out those crafts. After what happened to my café this morning, I’m going to need every budget tip I can get.” We started walking again.
“Have the police come up with anything yet?”
“Nope. I don’t think they will, either. They didn’t even bother dusting for prints. Said it would be fruitless in such a public place.” She shrugged. “Guess it could have been worse. I’ve just lost a few supplies. Nothing major. I just can’t figure out why someone would do something so malicious.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t make sense, does it? Especially since nothing was taken. I mean, I could understand it if you had a bunch of cash on hand. But even what you had wasn’t touched. Maybe the police are right. It was just a bunch of kids up to no good.”
Once we reached the Dragonfly Room, we dropped the subject, choosing to focus instead on the spectacular displays and fun-filled craft seminars. However, my heart wasn’t into tonight’s special events. What I really wanted to do was sit down over a warm, soothing caramel latte and talk to Makayla about all the things weighing on my mind: Trey’s newfound career as a chef, Mama’s “special” friend, my niggling suspicions about Lynn, and now this “thing” with Jude. I knew Makayla would listen attentively and offer me some little tidbit of insight that would soothe my worries. Just as I would do the same for her. Because, even though she was only in her midtwenties, Makayla possessed the self-assurance and prudence of a much older woman and over the last couple of years, we’d grown to become each other’s best confidante.
The last thing I wanted, however, was to drag her down with my problems. She had enough of her own problems with her business trashed just this morning. I’d been there for her physically to help clean it up, sure, but I needed to be there for her emotionally now as well. She deserved to enjoy this time focusing on the joy of preparing for her wedding. So for Makayla’s sake, I worked extra hard to push aside all my worries. Instead, I put on my best happy face, mingled with other, more lighthearted brides-to-be, and did my best to pick up a few money-saving craft ideas that might come in handy when I started finalizing my own wedding plans.