“Would you?”
He forced a smile. “Maybe another time. But you’re right. Amanda does seem to know what she wants, and she wants you, so congratulations.”
“I’m a lucky man.”
Yeah, you sure as hell are.
He forced any malicious thoughts away. It wasn’t David’s fault that Amanda was the way she was.
“I’m still not sure how she even came to work for PARA in the first place,” David said.
“Could be because she’s the most talented clairvoyant I’ve ever met,” Jacob replied.
David blinked. “Clairvoyant?”
Jacob frowned at the other man’s confused expression. “Yeah, clairvoyant. Medium. Able to talk to ghosts and perform exorcisms.”
“She can?”
“Well, of course—” Then Jacob stopped talking. It became suddenly obvious to him that Amanda had never told David exactly what she did at PARA.
And why was that? For fear that he wouldn’t approve?
Of course that’s what it was.
Jacob gritted his teeth. Amanda only dated so-called normal guys so she could feel normal. She’d never dated anyone at the office before, at least, that’s what he’d heard. Maybe if she had, she would have realized a lot sooner that she didn’t have to work so damn hard to be accepted.
David was silent for a moment, deep in thought. Jacob expected him to get angry at the news that his girlfriend was a closet ghost-whisperer.
But he didn’t.
“This must be why she wants to move away and quit her job,” he said softly. “So she can leave this bizarre life behind her.”
“You’re very insightful.” Jacob tasted the acid on his tongue.
“If she’s kept this from me, it’s for a very good reason. I trust her. Even though it disturbs me, I’ll keep this discussion we’ve had between us.”
“Great.”
“I’m just so glad she’s had friends like you to help ease her way,” David said. “Quite honestly, when I saw you last night, I was a bit intimidated.”
“Oh, yeah?”
David nodded. “I thought you’d become a rival for her affections. But obviously there’s nothing like that between you.” His previously tense face now held a smile. “If there was, you’re certainly not giving me much of a fight, are you?”
If Jacob hadn’t felt true emotion coming from David toward Amanda when he’d shaken his hand and gotten a mild empathic read on him, he’d probably have punched him in the nose.
“I only want what’s best for her,” Jacob said after a moment. “And if moving to New York and forgetting about her psychic abilities is going to make her happy, then I support her decision a hundred percent.”
And it was true; despite Amanda being incredibly stubborn and frustrating, he did want her to be happy. If being “normal” was going to do that, then more power to her. Jacob would stay behind with the freaks in Mystic Ridge where he belonged.
David pulled a small blue box out of his jacket pocket and opened it up to reveal a diamond solitaire ring. “Do you think she’ll like it?”
A wave of nausea swept through Jacob. It was an engagement ring. David was going to propose to Amanda.
“You’re going to ask her tonight?” he asked weakly.
David nodded and put the ring back into his pocket. “I am. Even after learning she’s kept secrets from me, I want us to be together.”
Jacob’s jaw tightened. “Well, then, if you’re really the best man for her, I wish you every happiness in the world.”
David shook his hand. “Thank you.”
The empathic read Jacob got gave him the impression that David was filled with confidence and certainty.
Two things Jacob wasn’t feeling at that moment, that was for damn sure.
SINCE Amanda had entered the pub, she’d been hugged about two dozen times. Tightly. The outpouring of emotion from her friends who’d come out tonight to say goodbye to her was enough to bring tears to her eyes.
“We’re going to miss you,” Lauren, a psychic who specialized in palmistry, said.
“Thanks,” Amanda said, accepting yet another tight hug. “I’m going to miss you, too.”
She was then shuffled off to Ben, tarot card reader extraordinaire, who actually lifted her off the ground with his bear hug and then gave her a hard kiss on her cheek.
Then somebody shoved a chocolate martini in her hand and the entire place made a collective toast in her honor.
And here she’d thought the night would be awkward. Her chest felt tight with emotion from the outpouring of best wishes for her future.
She was on her second martini when she saw Jacob and David come into the bar. Had they been talking for that long? And about what? The thought made her nervous.
Truthfully, she’d been nervous ever since she’d gotten home that day, had a shower, and started to get ready for the night. It had taken her an eternity to pick out her outfit and accessories. Then she’d burned her finger on her curling iron. Obviously she was distracted.
When David had arrived in his Volvo to take them to the party she’d only half-heartedly kissed him. She felt horrible that the spark she’d felt between them had been all but extinguished. She wondered, frankly, if there had ever been a spark there in the first place.
Jacob sidled up next to her at the bar when her head was turned in the opposite direction. She tried to ignore his thoughts. It was easy to do at the moment. It was very noisy in the pub.
“Can I talk to you?” he asked.
She swiveled around on her stool. “Talk.”
“In private.”
She tensed. “Not sure that’s such a good idea.”
He slipped off his seat and took her hand. “Come on. I promise I won’t bite.” He grinned. “Not hard, anyhow.”