He got up, threw a clean T-shirt on, and headed toward her room. He could hear her on the phone as he approached and he politely waited outside her door in the hall until she finished, and so he could overhear what she was saying. He was FBI, after all.
“Nicki, what the hell? Matt knew and didn’t tell you?” Jenna was still wrapped in her towel and had yet to hear the front door open and shut. “And Ali didn’t even know? No, of course not, because she would have told you.” Jenna answered her own question then listened to Nicki talk. “What? He’s staying?” She let out a deep breath. “Have you seen him? He looks like GI Joe, for God’s sake!”
Mike frowned and crossed his arms. GI Joe? He guessed that wasn’t that bad of a comparison.
Nicki put down the paintbrush she’d been holding and sat on her stepstool. “Jenna, he’s really nice, and he’s just there for a week to do a quick job. Rafe says it’s no big deal and to just pretend he’s not there. He’s good-looking and he’s funny, he’ll make you laugh.”
Jenna frowned, feeling a little jealous that her sister had met him and thought he was funny. If he had laid eyes on Nicki then he wouldn’t think anything of Jenna; not that she should care, but for some reason she did. Nicki was only older by eighteen months but she was gorgeous and had always had plenty of male attention. Their looks couldn’t be more different. Nicki had paler skin and auburn hair taking after their father and Jenna had olive skin and dark hair like their mother. They had the same smile, though, and that’s the only way people knew they were sisters, that and they each had their mom’s nice long legs—thank God, Jenna thought.
“Besides,” Nicki teased, “you always loved GI Joe, even better than Ken. Remember when I caught you making Barbie have sex with him?”
“Yeah, I know I loved GI Joe better than Ken,” Jenna huffed, not wanting to laugh at Nicki’s childhood memory; she was too aggravated. “And I did not make Barbie have sex with him! She wanted to!”
Out in the hall, Mike had to shove his fist in his mouth to keep in the burst of laughter that threatened to escape.
Nicki laughed out loud. “You loved his blond hair and said that’s what you wanted your husband to look like.”
“Oh my God, will you be serious?” Jenna smirked, biting back her own laughter. “This is a problem; you should have seen how he looked at me. I should be scared right now!” Why did Nicki so not think this was a big deal? “I’m hanging up. If they find my body in the bay, you’ll know who did it.” Jenna stood up from the bed.
Mike winced at that, feeling bad for the impression he must have given her.
Nicki tried to convince Jenna what a great guy Mike was and told her how he was the one who had driven her to the hospital when Ali had been attacked.
“Yeah, he probably drove you to the hospital because he wanted to score points and get in your pants!” Jenna could just imagine.
Mike shrugged; maybe there had been a little of that going through his mind when he first met Nicki, but not after he knew she was in love and he’d met her man. He liked Matt, and he wasn’t in the habit of poaching other men’s women.
Jenna held the phone away while Nicki yelled at her and continued to sing Mike’s praises.
“I’m sure he has a great smile, Nicki, but that might be on his alter ego. The face I saw would scare the fur off a cat.”
Mike flinched at that one too; no one had ever described him quite that way before. He had to redeem himself fast.
“I’m going to go lock my door, goodbye, Nicki.” Jenna listened to Nicki’s last words. “Yes, I realize it’s my own fault, I should never have come early without telling anyone, I know,” she droned. “But I’m here and I’m staying too, so he’s just going to have to deal. Tell Ali to tell Rafe that I won’t interfere in his secret spy work, I’ll be at the beach every day anyway.”
“He’s a great guy, Jenna, try to get to know him, trust me, okay?” Nicki pleaded.
Click Follow to receive emails when this author adds content on Bublish
Comment on this Bubble
Your comment and a link to this bubble will also appear in your Facebook feed.