Shirley Jump - Sweetheart Lost and Found

“Get him some coffee,” Jared said, signaling to the bartender. “And call him a cab.”

“I ain’t paying for that.” O’Malley scowled. “If I took care of every drunk—”

“I’ll pay.” The man may be a stranger, but his story hit a familiar note in Jared’s chest, one he had to heed. He turned to the man, and helped him onto one of the seats, ignoring the nearly overpowering stench of alcohol. “Sir, why don’t you sit here a bit? Have some coffee, wait for the cab.”

It took a second, then understanding filtered into the older man’s bleary gaze. “You’re a good man.” He patted Jared on the back. “My new best friend. And I don’t even know your name.”

“Jared Townsend.” Jared doubted the man would remember his name in the morning, but it didn’t matter. Jared had been down this road often enough to know where it led.

“I’m Sam.” His inebriated tongue slurred the “s,” and his handshake had a decided wave to it, but the sentiment was there. Jared slid the coffee in front of Sam, and encouraged him to drink up.

The door opened again and Jared swiveled toward the sound, once again grabbing his clipboard and pencil. This time a single woman walked in, but no man followed behind her. Jared’s spirits plummeted. Clearly he’d picked the wrong bar. Not a big surprise, given how little experience he had with this kind of scene.

Maybe he should leave, try another place, one with more atmosphere—some atmosphere at least—or try a restaurant, a diner, a—

Holy cow. Callie Phillips.

Jared’s breath caught, held. The pencil in his hands dropped to the floor, and rolled across the hardwood surface. A woman sang about a broken heart on the jukebox, Sam said something about the quality of the coffee and the tequila toting couple went on fighting, but Jared didn’t pay attention. He pushed his glasses up his nose, refocused and made two hundred percent sure.

Yes, it was Callie.

She’d just walked into the bar and upset his perfectly ordered, perfectly balanced life.

Again.

He had the advantage of watching her while her eyes adjusted to the dim interior. He studied her, noting the difference nine years had made. It could have been nine days for all his heart noticed.

She’d cut her hair, and now the dark blond locks curled around her ears, framed her face, teased at her cheeks. But she still had the same delicate, fine boned face, wide green eyes, and those lips—

Bright crimson lipstick danced across her lips, lips that had always seemed to beg him to kiss them, mesmerized him whenever she talked. He watched her approach, his gaze sweeping over her still lithe curves, outlined in jeans and a bright turquoise top, then returning to her face, to her mouth, and something tightened in his gut.

And Jared Townsend, who never did anything without a reason, a plan, completely forgot why he was here.

“JARED? Jared Townsend? Is that you? Oh…Wow.” She inhaled, her breasts rising with the action, along with Jared’s internal temperature. “My goodness. What a…a shock.” Callie stopped in front of him, clutching a large box to her chest, her mouth shaped in an O of surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh…” His brain fired, sputtered, fired again. “Research.”

She smiled. “Let me guess. You’re trying to determine the best beer for forgetting a broken heart?”

“Coors,” Sam put in. “Best in sh-sh-show.” Then he sent the two of them a wave and headed off to the rest rooms.

Jared glanced down at his icy mug. Beer hadn’t helped him get over the broken heart he’d suffered after her, but he kept that ancient history buried, didn’t talk about it or drag it out.

Only a masochist dug up a skeleton like that. But damned if his body didn’t start playing archaeologist all the same, resurrecting old feelings…and a lot more. There was nothing analytical, statistical or sensible about it. There never had been, not when it came to Callie.

Still, he reminded himself, she had hurt him—and hurt him badly. If he was smart, he’d simply greet her as an old acquaintance and leave it at that.

“I’m here for work,” he told her. “Really. Even if it doesn’t look it.”

Her smile widened. “It doesn’t, except for the clipboard, which is so…you.” She shrugged, laughed a little, then started to move away. “Well, it was nice to see you again, Jared.”

Clipboard was so him? Well, damn it, maybe it was, but once upon a time she’d thought of him in a very different way.

Yeah, and how well had that ended up?

He shut off his inner voice. No matter what had happened in the past, a part of Jared wanted Callie to see he had grown and changed. Become a different man. One who wasn’t the nerdy professor she had so cavalierly left behind.

A man who could—contrary to his plan five seconds ago—have a conversation with her and be completely unaffected.

Cool with it, even.

“Callie.” She pivoted back. “Are you meeting someone here tonight?”

In the space of time it took her to answer, Jared’s heartbeat doubled. He caught his breath, waiting. And not because it would make a damned bit of difference to the sheets on his clipboard.

Tonight, he’d stepped into unfamiliar liquor-infused territory to analyze couples, to take that data, feed it into a computer then hand the information over to Wiley Games so they could use it to develop the next generation of couple-oriented games and products. Not exactly the high end research Jared had set out to be doing after he’d received his doctoral degree, but the work at Wiley Games paid the bills and kept him in spreadsheets.

Either way, if there was one particular half of a couple he didn’t want to add to his sheaf of papers, it was Callie Phillips.

“No, I’m not meeting anyone, not tonight,” she said.

Not an answer that gave him any indication of her status. Single? Attached? No ring adorned her left hand ring finger, so she wasn’t married or engaged. What happened? Where was Tony?

“Hey, Callie, what brings you by?” The bartender crossed to them, a friendly smile on his face.

Callie raised the box in her hands. “Your daughter is now marrying Clarence instead of Clarice.”

O’Malley chuckled and took the box from her. “Thank you. Glad you guys caught the mistake before we sent them out. That would have been quite the mess.”

“You’re more than welcome. The wedding’s going to be beautiful.”

O’Malley’s face softened. “My Jenny, she’s an angel. I can’t believe she’s going to be a bride. Or that I’m old enough to be the father of the bride.” He laughed, then thanked her again and moved down to the far end of the bar to refill the other couple’s shot glasses.

Callie called a goodbye to O’Malley and turned to go. Before Jared could think about what he was doing—and whether it was a mistake—Jared gestured toward the empty seat beside him. “Would you like to join me?”

What was he doing? Inviting her to stay?

Simple curiosity, that’s all it was. Getting caught up on where she’d been all these years.

“I thought you were working,” she said.

“It’s not busy here, so I’m taking a break.” He waved the bartender over to them. “A margarita, on the rocks, with salt.”

Callie smiled. “You remembered?”

“I did.” He remembered a lot more than just her favorite drink, but he kept that to himself. Jared reminded himself that he and Callie had broken up for a reason—and staying broken up had been in their best interests.

She took the seat, brushing by him as she did. He inhaled, and with the breath came the light, sweet floral scent of her perfume. “Thanks,” she said, when the bartender laid the drink before her.