AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She holds a hand up. “Okay, I get it. You’re not ready to share. But remember how long it took Logan and I to realize that we wanted to do more than verbally spar with each other.”
Katie joins us, hugging me tightly. She’s positively glowing, probably due to her barely visible twenty-week baby bump swathed in the teal silk folds of her dress. We were all so excited to hear the news that her and Drew are expecting. If I remember correctly, there was a lot of squealing and happy tears over FaceTime, and most of that was Katie.
“Oh my God, Dana, look at you. That dress is so damn sexy,” she exclaims a little too loudly.
“Thanks. And you and your little baby bump look beautiful too.”
She beams back.
These girls are my rock, my safe place, and I love them to bits. They’ve let me be me with all my quirks and standoffish behavior. Never pushing into those soft, damaged parts I keep deeply hidden from the rest of the world but only covered with a thin veneer of protection with them. They’ve always understood that I’m a little bit broken, and when I’ve felt that I could share some of that hurt, they’ve been there to listen.
Chapter six
Jason
Temporary relief washes over me like a cool breeze on a hot summer day as Dana and Allie wander off. I don’t care where at this point because standing next to Dana in that smoking-hot dress, looking like a Greek goddess, steals the breath from my lungs more effectively than one of my ten-mile runs. I ache to run my fingers through the valley of her cleavage or explore the soft, creamy skin I get the occasional glimpses of through the slit in her skirt.
Nothing I do can counteract the desire coursing through my veins. All because weeks ago, I decided that tonight would be the right time for us to discuss the inevitability of our friendship turning into something more. It’s a simple conclusion to reach, when more and more I find myself wandering into her office for a chat or suggesting we meet after work. Any opportunity I can find to share a laugh, hear her opinion on any or every topic, or just be in her presence. The signs are there, as loud and clear as a brightly lit Times Square billboard.
That was all before my ability to form coherent sentences disappeared, replaced by a tongue-tied jerk. I need to get a grip on my lust before I face her again. I shove my hands into my pockets, doing a quick adjustment of my junk, which perked up the moment I saw her standing in the doorway. Hopefully, Logan doesn’t recognize the move.
“Whiskey?” he asks, already turning toward the bar.
I nod, then silently wait beside him as the bartender pours our drinks. My gaze only able to focus on the cardboard coaster in my hand as I pick at it with my fingers.
My mind is stuck on repeat with the image of Dana sitting on that chair moments ago, looking up at me with laughter still sparking in her aquamarine eyes. It reminded me of the afternoon in her London hotel room when I woke to find that the woman I’d been dreaming about touching was actually in my arms for real.
After the initial awkwardness had quickly worn off, she had that same sparkle when she looked across the room at me, like she was being lit from within. And in that moment, I knew we belonged together. Not just as friends but on a deeper level. The invisible elastic band that had stretched us wide apart at times was contracting and bringing us back together.
Dana has always been special, but since she began to open up to me in London, our connection has strengthened. Her heart holds a boulder-sized lump of pain, and I’ve only been able to chip away at it a little bit. I can’t imagine how losing someone as close as her twin brother feels.
Thankfully, her visits to a therapist seem to be bringing her some peace. I can see it’s working. These last few months when we’ve left the office late, stopping to share dinner or a drink before going home, she’s been opening up to me more and more.
A month after London, we were having dinner alone at the little Italian restaurant near the office, which wasn’t unusual. What was unusual that night was how she began to talk about her family. I asked what had happened to her brother, and she looked at me for a solid minute before telling me in a soft voice that cracked at times. I remember clearly what she said.
“We were home one weekend for the summer holidays, and Jack and one of the farmhands were out in the fields, while Dad and I had gone into town. I remember Mom’s call like it was yesterday. Dad standing in the hardware store, his face aging ten years in a matter of seconds as she told him there had been an accident. I knew instantly it was bad but not that it was Jack. The old tractor had rolled … and he was pinned underneath. By the time we were back at the farm, he’d gone. Just like that, a fit, healthy six-foot twenty-year-old man gone in a tragic accident.”
Her heartbreak was palpable. I rub my hand over the lapel of my jacket, feeling like those earlier-gulped champagne bubbles are still going down the wrong way.
“What the hell is up with you? You look like someone just stole your nuts,” Logan grumbles with an added jab in my ribs.
“None of your fucking business,” I reply angrily, and his brow shoots high. Rightly so. I’m the light, fun one of the two of us, not the moody one. But when I think about how upset Dana was that night while telling me how she’d lost half of herself when she lost Jack, I once again feel the same utter helplessness.
“And fuck you too,” Logan echoes with a smirk before leaning back against the bar. Neither of us means it, of course.
I’m about to apologize when Logan mutters, “I get it now.”
“Get what?”
“You’ve seen Dana talking to that guy,” he explains, nodding his head back behind me.
What the fuck is he talking about? I spin around and look in the direction he’s pointing. Allie is nowhere to be seen, and Dana is talking to some guy I don’t recognize. I know I’m not the only one who thinks she’s gorgeous. So does every other hot-blooded male in her immediate vicinity.
“Who the fuck is that?” I ask, unable to look away from Dana, the woman I’m always seeking out even in a crowded grand ballroom like tonight. I try to ignore the guy standing way too close to her; he too needs to learn about personal space.
My frown deepens when Dana’s face tilts up at him and it’s painted with one of her brilliant smiles, her blue eyes sparkling. A jealous haze takes hold of my usual good sense. That smile belongs to me.
“Jason, leave it. Remember how badly it went last time you interfered.” Logan’s warning flows over me with as much effect as a sun shower on a steamy Manhattan summer day. “I don’t want to have to drag your drunk ass home after another bender all because Dana is no longer talking to you.”
