The Trouble with J.J. Read online

  “Come on, J.J.!” the boys’ plaintive voices intruded. “Throw us a pass, will you? Pleeease!”

  “Sure, guys.” He turned, grinning, and accepted the football, his hands stroking it lovingly. “This’ll be a long one, fellas. Brad, zig out left then cross back. Kyle, go straight.”

  With a quick motion of his arm, he fired the thing a good fifty yards down the block. The boys dashed after it like eager retrievers.

  Jared turned back, his sexiest grin firmly in place, only to find his quarry had ditched him. The side screen door of Genna Hastings’ little house banged shut, signaling her successful retreat. He smiled to himself. What a doll! She wasn’t tall and svelte with a cover girl face like the models he’d dated in the past, but she was damn-darn adorable, from her twenties-style haircut right down to her preppy penny loafers. And to think he was going to be living right next door to that cute little curvy brunette. He chuckled to himself. “You lucky dog, Hennessy.”

  His life in Tory Hills wasn’t going to be dull with Genna Hastings for a neighbor. Not only was she cute, she had it. The intangible factor, the odds makers called it. Jared just called it it. A fire, spark, an inner spirit. Genna had it, he could tell; he had a nose for that kind of thing.

  Smiling, he closed his eyes and recalled her flashing smoke-blue eyes, tilted-up nose, and pained smile. Pained smile? He frowned. He’d have to work on that. All he needed was a little inside information, then he could come up with a game plan. She’d be smiling sincerely at him in no time. Confidence was seldom a scarce commodity for Jared Jay Hennessy.

  He knocked his sunglasses into place and sauntered back into his yard, humming.

  • • •

  Genna sorted through her mail, still a little unsteady from her encounter with her new neighbor. Anger, she told herself. That was what was making her shake all over. Now that she was out of range of his sexy smile and bone-melting blue eyes, she could say that.

  “Colossal jerk. He’s a Philistine. A philandering Philistine who put flamingos in front of your dream house. Get that through your thick head, Genna Hastings!”

  Memory of that gleam of humor in his eyes came back to her and threatened to soften her up, but she got a firm hold on those feelings and strangled them.

  “God’s gift to women,” she muttered, tossing bills into one pile and personal stuff into another on the cherry dining room table she had rescued from a yard sale in the Berkshires.

  “I’d love to have you in my Jacuzzi, Genna,” she jeered, ignoring the fact that her leg still tingled from his touch. That sensation was obviously from the swelling. A couple of aspirins and an ice pack would take care of it.

  Her heart did a little jitterbug as she recalled the hot look in his eyes just before the boys had called him off. She scowled. “Conceited creep.”

  A letter from her friend Mary Woods caught her eye as she tossed it onto the pile. It was postmarked Crested Butte, Montana. Montana? Mary had never been west of New York City. She tore the envelope open and extracted the note.

  Dear Genna,

  I met the man of my dreams at the corner of Park and Prospect. My car is a total loss, so is my heart. We’ve eloped! He’s a rancher. Will send pics later.

  Closed the catering service. Had to give all my business to Betsy—yuk! Sorry about the short notice. Hope you can find another summer job.

  Gotta go. Matt’s getting anxious to ride off into the sunset. I’ll write again soon.

  Love,

  Mary

  “‘Love, Mary’! I’ll strangle her!”

  “Strangle who?”

  Genna didn’t have to look up to know it was Amy Dennison letting herself in the kitchen door. Amy’s distinctive if grating voice always gave her away. She sounded like a Volkswagen horn with a Brooklyn accent.

  “Mary!” Genna remained seated at the table, glaring at the letter. “Do you know what she’s done? She’s run off with John Wayne and left me unemployed with a brand new car to pay for!”

  Amy helped herself to a Coke from the refrigerator and plunked her chunky frame down on a Windsor chair opposite her friend. “Yeah, I’m happy for her too.”

  “Oh,” Genna scowled, tossing the note aside. “Of course I’m happy for her, but I’d love to beat her with my bankbook! I was counting on that money when I bought my car. What do I do now?”

  “You’ll find something else,” Amy said matter-of-factly.

  “Sure,” Genna said, her spirits sinking. “You know as well as I do that all the summer jobs are taken by the end of March.”

  Amy was silent for a moment as she stared out the window, her eyes fixed on the striped lawn next door, the kernel of a harebrained scheme forming in her mind. “Oh …I’ll bet something will turn up.”

  Genna was too busy feeling sorry for herself to notice the odd note of excitement in Amy’s voice. Here she was, just back from her disastrous vacation, with a sprained ankle and a budding migraine, Jared the Jerk had moved in next door, and her summer job had flown the coop. She loved her position at the Tory Hills Elementary School, but it didn’t pay well enough for her to afford a brand new car. Damn! If only Mary could have eloped before the interest rates on car loans had lowered so temptingly!

  It wasn’t just the money either, though Genna was almost a fanatic about financial security. She had been looking forward to her usual summer stint in the catering business. If she had one fantasy occupation, it was to be a chef. She loved to cook and bake and took great joy in creating wonderful meals and desserts. The summer was Mary’s busy season because she specialized in catering outdoor affairs. Working with Mary had given Genna a chance to make a little extra cash and live out her fantasy.

  Amy heaved a sigh that mixed relief with frustration. She had feared Genna would catch the suspicious tone in her voice and make her spill the beans, but Genna was staring glumly at a stack of bills. That was good, she thought, except that in a way she had wanted to spill the beans. Her mouth was just aching to blurt out that J. J. Hennessy had intercepted her in Genna’s driveway and asked all sorts of questions about her.

  She swiveled her head back in Genna’s direction, her mop of blond curls bouncing, her smile sunny.

  “Have you met our new neighbor?” “Jared the Jerk, God’s gift to women?” Uh-oh. Amy kept her smile frozen firmly in place. “He’s a nice guy, Gen. I know he comes on a little like—”

  “A jackhammer,” Genna supplied. “I’ll admit he’s a little … different—” “He’s an oddity.” She said it as if she were saying “he’s a toad.”

  Amy bit her lip and tried to regroup her thoughts. “So he’s a little … flamboyant,” she said, gesturing airily with her chubby hands. “But he’s really sweet once you know him, and he’s been unbelievably patient with the neighborhood kids. They’ve been hounding him day and night.” A man who was good with kids would appeal to Genna, Amy realized.

  “If he’s so famous,” Genna said, ignoring the obvious man-who’s-good-with-kids ploy, “what’s he doing in Tory Hills?”

  “If? If he’s so famous?” Amy questioned, incensed. “Genna, where have you been? J.J. Hennessy is the most famous quarterback! He ranks right up there with McMahon, Kramer, Simms, Montana. He put the Hawks on top. They won the Super Bowl last January!”

  Amy had nearly died and gone to Hartford-Hawks heaven when she’d heard who was moving in across the street from her. How could Genna live on the same planet and be so indifferent?

  “You know I don’t follow sports, Amy,” Genna said, pouting, as she doodled sad faces on the envelope of her electric bill with a ball-point pen.

  Amy cast her gaze and hands heavenward. “His face has been on every major magazine cover: Sports Illustrated, People, Playgirl.”

  Genna just shrugged and brushed back a lock of wavy, chin-length chestnut hair.

  “He does commercials on television.”

  No response.

  “He’s been on Donahue, for Pete’s sake!” she said shrilly.
/>   “Enough about this guy, Amy,” Genna complained. “Aren’t you going to ask me about my vacation?”

  Amy gritted her teeth but let the subject of J. J. Hennessy drop for the moment. She took a deep breath, forced a smile, and asked, “How was your vacation, Genna?”

  “Hell on earth.”

  Genna still couldn’t believe it herself. Who would’ve thought a week on Cape Cod would turn out to be like living out a Stephen King novel? Not Genna. She’d been looking forward to it for months. All she’d had to do was get through her cousin’s wedding. After that she was going to lie in the sun on the patio of the hideously expensive beach cottage she’d scrimped and saved to rent and enjoy the peace and quiet while reading a stack of romance novels. But no …

  “First there was Lauren’s big surprise,” she began. “My sweet cousin canceled my reservation and arranged for me to stay with her in-laws. I lost a sixty-dollar deposit.”

  Amy grimaced. “So what were the in-laws like?”

  “Rich. Their summer house was just a few bobbing boats down the beach from the Kennedy place.”

  Amy’s brown eyes almost popped out of her head as she went through the stack of photos Genna had shoved at her. She was looking at an estate complete with tennis courts and a private boat launch. “Holy buckets, this place looks like a Club Med! What the blue blazes are you whining about?”

  “You’ll see,” Genna replied placidly. When Amy came to the wedding pictures, Genna pointed out the groom. “That’s Robert. He’s an investment banker from a long line of investment bankers. The Holmes-Cummingses were the investment bankers on the Mayflower.”

  “Was he born wearing pinstripes?”

  “Yes. And when he smiles you can see that being born with a silver spoon in his mouth gave him the overbite of a parrot. But Lauren loves him and he’s good to her ….”

  Genna felt an undeniable twinge of envy. At thirty, she was the eldest of three daughters and the only one as yet unmarried. She wasn’t holding out for an investment banker, or even a surgeon. She just wanted a nice, safe, normal kind of guy with a steady, normal job.

  “You looked nice in your dress,” Amy commented.

  “Thanks.” Genna frowned. “I’ve been maid of honor so many times, they’re going to start calling me old maid of honor. If I had a dollar for every time my mother said, ‘That’s my Genna, always the bridesmaid, never the bride,’ I could pay off the national debt. Then there was her oft-repeated explanation of her eldest daughter’s unmarried state, complete with apologetic face and tragic blue eyes—‘Genna is career oriented.’ As if that were some sort of a birth defect!”

  Abigail Hastings never said “Genna graduated summa cum laude,” or “Genna is an excellent teacher.” If Genna had become president of the United States, it wouldn’t have impressed her mother half as much as her marrying a gynecologist and becoming secretary of the PTA.

  That idea didn’t sound so bad to Genna either, but she was proud of her accomplishments. She’d done a lot on her own. To her, a woman’s worth was not contingent on her having a husband. That was icing on the cake. A person could have cake without icing; it just wasn’t as sweet.

  “Oh, yuck! Who is this?” Amy’s disgusted voice brought Genna back to the present.

  She smiled unpleasantly at the photo of a buck-toothed super nerd with Coke-bottle-lens glasses. “That, as Paul Harvey says, is the rest of the story. That is Cousin Lauren’s cousin Rodney, who also answered to ‘Dinner is served.’ Rodney the instant migraine, the family oddball, my constant and unwelcomed companion for the entire week. He’s a Roto-Rooter man.”

  Amy looked as if she’d just swallowed a bug.

  “That about says it all.” Genna nodded. “Did I mention he’s on parole? He tried to rob Dunkin’ Donuts with a gun carved from a bar of soap.”

  She proceeded to tell the tales of her misadventures with Rodney, which included swamping a sailboat, nearly falling overboard while on the Nantucket ferry, and spraining her ankle when Rodney mowed her down during a game of mixed doubles.

  “So, that’s the way of my life. My cousin marries a Holmes-Cummings and I am relentlessly pursued by a Roto-Rooter man.”

  “Poor Gen.” Amy patted her friend’s hand. “You need a vacation.”

  “Howdy, neighbor!” came J. J. Hennessy’s voice through the screen door.

  “Or a gun,” Genna amended Amy’s statement, her teeth gritting automatically at the thought of J.J.

  Jared let himself in. He had changed into a pair of cutoffs and a blue Hawaiian print shirt that hung open over an orange T-shirt. He had a Red Sox cap turned backward on his head and was brandishing a measuring cup in one hand.

  “Just come on in, Mr. Hennessy,” Genna drawled sarcastically.

  Amy grimaced at her tone but then caught the twinkle of amusement in Jared’s eye. He was up to something.

  “Nice pad you got here, Gen,” he said, nodding approvingly as he looked around.

  “I’m so glad you like it.”

  “Hey,” he said as he grinned and shrugged, “it’s you, gorgeous!”

  The house had looked like a cracker box from the outside, but inside, the first floor was almost totally open, giving the illusion of space. The living room, dining room, and kitchen all flowed together, decorated in various shades of blue. The look was cozy and welcoming. It was the kind of place that would offer comfort and haven after a long day. It suited her, Jared thought, even if she didn’t seem too welcoming herself at the moment.

  Jared suppressed a chuckle. He was definitely getting her attention. Never mind that she looked ready to spit tacks. He had her emotions running high. Eventually he would turn that to his advantage.

  Genna was a challenge. Not that Jared was conceited, but he usually had to beat women away with a stick. Now here was one that not only snarled at him, but practically sizzled when he touched her. She was a challenge all right, and Jared had been schooled from an early age to approach every challenge like the football field general he was. Strategy was the name of the game.

  “Aren’t you going to give Jared the grand tour?” Amy asked innocently. “I’m sure he’d enjoy seeing the loft.”

  Genna gave her smiling friend a meaningful scowl. She turned her attention then to her unwelcomed guest and asked, annoyed, “Did you come here to borrow something? The traditional cup of sugar, perhaps?”

  “Naw.” He leaned negligently across the counter that divided the kitchen and dining room, a teasing smile twitching the corners of his lips. “Too cliché for me. Do you have any coffee?”

  “You want to borrow a cup of coffee? And you drink your coffee out of a measuring cup?”

  He shrugged, an elegant lifting of his magnificent shoulders. His gorgeous eyes crinkled at the corners. “Why not? Live it up, Gen. Life’s too boring. I’d prefer something with an international flavor if you have it—café au lait, mocha mint—”

  Genna gritted her teeth and lied right through them. “I don’t have any coffee.”

  “No coffee.” He pretended to frown. “Frosted Flakes?”

  Amy giggled, earning her a baleful glare from Genna.

  “No.”

  “M&M’s?” He tried a boyish grin. “They’re my favorite.”

  “No, Mr. Hennessy.”

  He could almost hear the threads of her temper beginning to snap. He came around the counter and put a brotherly hand on her shoulder. Genna’s hair nearly stood on end from the electricity that zinged between them.

  “You don’t have to call me mister, Gen. We’re neighbors! J.J. or Jared, whichever you prefer.”

  Genna glared at him. “I prefer not to call you at all.”

  He mussed her hair and smiled. “You can call me a cab, but I won’t pay the fare.”

  Peals of laughter that sounded like a flock of geese in a frenzy erupted from Amy.

  Jared spotted the photo of Rodney on the table. “Hey, who’s the Roto-Rooter man?”

  Genna bit her lip.

>   Amy fell off her chair.

  TWO

  “OF ALL THE insufferable clods to have move in next door,” Genna grumbled to herself as she settled on her lounge chair. She fluffed the pillow under her sore ankle, arranged the ice pack just so, then carefully eased her foot onto the pile. Leaning back on the smoke-blue flowered cushion, she adjusted her bikini top and picked up her book.

  “I can’t believe the nerve of that guy. Just walking into my house as big as life,” she muttered after reading three sentences. As big as life. That phrase conjured up a memory of mile-wide shoulders and rippling muscles. She frowned. “So he’s decent looking. So what?”

  … sparkling ice-blue eyes, a wry, quirking mouth …

  “Okay. Gorgeous. Big deal.”

  Three more sentences passed before her eyes.

  “Arrogant doesn’t even begin to describe him.”

  … humor in his eyes. Humor at what? Her? Himself? The folly of life?

  She let the book in her hand dangle down near the red brick of her tiny patio. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had flustered her as badly as J. J. Hennessy had. Rodney didn’t count; he could almost be considered a lesser life form. Jared Hennessy was a man. All man. Every sexy inch of him.

  A scowl pulled at Genna’s features. Not only was he arrogant, she told herself, he was obviously an irresponsible goof-off. Not her type at all. Anybody could tell that just by looking at him. Where did he shop for his clothes, rummage sales? He probably thought Brooks Brothers was a comedy act.

  A football player. Huh. That said it all, didn’t it? He must be about thirty going on seventeen. A man playing a boy’s game for a living. The word “responsibility” was undoubtedly absent from his vocabulary.

  With him living next door she was definitely going to have to invest in high blood pressure medication. It had been hours since the scene in her kitchen, and she could still hear her pulse pounding in her ears when she thought of him. He had to be the most obnoxious man in the tri-state area.

  Then why do your hormones go into overdrive when he touches you, Genna?