“The mountains.” She smiled, pleased to see him. He was skinny, unpretentious and harmless. Despite the dramatic kiss, they had decided years before not to complicate their friendship with romance. “How’s the real world?”
“Dog-eat-dog, love. Thank God.” He glanced over her shoulder and found himself being burned alive by a pair of direct green eyes. “Ah... who’s your friend?”
“J.T.” She laid a hand on Jacob’s arm. “This is Marco, an old poker buddy. You don’t want to play with J.T., Marco. He’s murder.”
Marco didn’t have to be told twice. “How ya doing?” He didn’t offer his hand, because he wanted to keep it.
“All right.” Jacob measured him. He figured if the man kissed Sunny again it would be simple enough to break his skinny neck.
“J.T. happens to be the brother of my sister’s husband.”
“Small world.”
Jacob didn’t bat an eye. “Smaller than you think.”
“Right.” If Marco had been wearing a tie he would have loosened it. But with his collar already open he didn’t have a clue how to ease the constriction in his throat. “Listen, do you guys need a table?”
“Absolutely.”
“We pulled some together back there, if you want to climb in.”
“Okay.” She looked up at Jacob. “Okay?”
“Sure.” He was already annoyed with himself. The jealousy had been an emotional rather than an intellectual reaction. He watched Sunny’s long legs as she walked between the tables. And an entirely justified reaction. Maybe men had progressed, but they had always been, would always be, territorial.
Half a dozen people greeted Sunny by name as they stopped at the table. Because most of the introductions were lost in the roar of the music, Jacob only nodded as he took his seat.
“This round’s on me,” Marco announced when he finally managed to flag down a waitress. “Same thing,” he told her. “Plus a glass of chardonnay for the lady and...” He lifted a brow at Jacob.
“A beer. Thanks.”
“No problem. I sold three cars today.”
“Good for you.” Sunny leaned over a bit, easily pitching her voice above the noise as she elaborated for Jacob’s benefit. “Marco’s a car dealer.”
Jacob got the image of Marco shuffling automobiles, then passing them around a poker table. “Congratulations” seemed the safest possible comment.
“I do okay. Just let me know if you’re in the market. We got in a shipment of real honeys this week.”
Jacob spared a glance at the brunette on his other side as she rubbed her arm against his. “I’ll do that.”
Relieved that Sunny’s new friend no longer looked as though he wanted to rearrange his face, Marco shifted his chair a little closer. “So what do you drive, J.T.?”
There was a universal moan around the table. Marco accepted it with a good-natured shrug and popped a handful of peanuts into his mouth.
“Hey, it’s my job.”
“Like taking little old ladies for test drives is a job,” someone joked.
“It’s a living.” Marco grinned. “None of us are rocket scientists.”
“J.T. is,” Sunny said.
“Are you?” The brunette scooted her chair closer.
She had big brown eyes, Jacob noted. Eyes that just brimmed with invitations. “In a manner of speaking.”
“Oh, I just love brainy men.”