Long Gone Girl by Amy Rose Bennett Page B

smack
him.
    But she didn’t. She simply nodded. “Yes.
Except for the cat, it’s deserted.”
    “So.” He took a few steps toward her then
caught her hand and raised it to his lips, his gaze capturing hers.
“I guess this is good-bye.”
    “Yes,” Ginny said faintly. Her skin still
tingled where his lips had brushed and for one wild moment she
contemplated taking everything back. “Thank you…I…I wish you all
the very best with your new career as an airline pilot.”
    Jett shrugged. “It’s a living. Good luck
with your interview tomorrow too.”
    “Thanks.” Impulsively she leaned forward and
kissed Jett’s stubbled cheek, then took a step back toward the door
before she could do anything else she might later regret. Like
throw herself into his arms and beg him to stay. “Who knows, maybe
I might see you around some day.”
    Jett flashed her a bright grin as he opened
the door. “You bet.”
    And then he was gone.
    Shit. Ginny bit her hand to stop a
sob from escaping. She was doing the right thing wasn’t she? She
had to be. Suck it up, Williams. No time for tears .
    Which was easier said then done when she
felt like her foolish heart was breaking into a thousand
pieces.
     
    ***
     
    You bet I’ll be seeing you again, Ginny
Williams .
    His gut might be full of leaden
disappointment, but as Jett strode down the boardwalk toward
Jenkinson’s Pavilion in the direction of his hotel, his heart was
full of steely determination. Ginny might have pushed him away this
morning, but he knew she cared about him. He’d seen it in her eyes
last night when they’d made love. And the reluctant attraction in
her eyes this morning even as she’d shied away from him like a
cornered deer. She didn’t trust him yet. He got that. And along
with that, there was probably a good dose of fear—of being hurt by
him again.
    Then there was her desire to be her own
woman attaining fulfillment from her career. He got that
too—admired her for it in fact. But having a career and a loving
relationship weren’t mutually exclusive, for him at any rate. He
just had to get her to see that too.
    The rising sun over the Atlantic peered out
from behind a distant bank of clouds, as if reminding him there was
always hope. Smiling, he pulled out his sunglasses from his still
damp jeans’ pocket then put them on to shield his eyes from the
glare off the water. Plan A of Operation Ginny might not have
panned out exactly as he’d wanted, but there was always Plan B.

Eleven
    Six days later,
Ridgewood, New Jersey
     
    “So when do you think you’ll move to Manhattan,
dear?”
    Ginny took a sip of her steaming cup of
coffee before responding to her grandma’s question. She so needed
coffee after pulling an unexpected all-nighter at the county
hospital. It also gave her time to consider her answer. The
telephone call heralding the good news that she’d been the
successful applicant for the surgical nursing position had come
late yesterday afternoon, just as she was getting ready for her
shift. Given the crazy night she’d had, she’d barely had time to
get her head around that fact, let alone consider her plans—her
plans to start a new life afresh, and be her own person . A career woman .
    She should be over the moon happy but for
some reason, she felt a little like a deflated balloon the day
after the party. And she really didn’t want to think about why that
should be so. Maybe she just needed more coffee. And sleep. Sleep
would be good.
    “Well the job at Mount Sinai starts in a
month,” she said eventually, summoning a smile for her grandmother
who’d been toying with the handle of her own cup of tea with one
gnarled finger while she’d patiently waited for Ginny’s response.
“So I figure I’ll spend the next few weeks finding an apartment to
rent in Greenwich Village. Hopefully I’ll be moving in the week
before, but if not, there’s always the nurses’ quarters.”
    “I’ll be sorry to see you leaving again