AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know I already asked you about this,” she begins, “not that it’s any of my business, but you said that you’re not involved with her romantically, but…” she trails off for a moment. “What exactly is going on with you and her?”
“Me and Candace…it’s not what you think,” I tell her softly. “Candace’s married. She has a wife. Not only are they happy but, they’re in the middle of doing IVF to try and have a baby. Trust me, there’s nothing romantic going on between us.”
Her face scrunches up adorably with confusion. “But you’re always—”
I cut her off with a shake of my head. “Again, not for the reasons you think.” I pull in a breath. “Candace is a political strategist who—for the past year—has been trying to convince me to run for mayor. According to her polls and surveys and research data, I seem to have the best shot at winning.” I shrug sheepishly. “That’s why she’s always with me around town. I can’t exactly invite her into the station, so our meetings are sort of always on-the-go.”
Alana’s eyes widen and her small hand covers mine on the bar top. “Davis.” She breathes my name, wearing an excited smile. “Not that it probably matters, but I’d completely support your candidacy, too. I know you can win and you’ll do great things for our town.”
Something in my chest squeezes, and I just stare back at her, savoring this tender moment between us. If she only knew exactly how much her opinion matters to me.More than it should.
A moment later, she shakes her head and says, “Geez. I feel dumb. For a long time, I really thought you two were together.”
“No, we are most definitely not together. But I couldn’t say anything about her, because we signed an NDA. I couldn’t exactly talk about the nature of our relationship.”
She cocks her head to the side. “But, you’re tellingme.”
“But I’m tellingyou,” I repeat, hoping she understands what I’m saying. I trust her.Despite everything.
“It all makes sense now…why I’d always see the two of you around town, yet there wasn’t a peep about whether you two were actually dating or not.”
A smile cracks my face, and I lean in, nudging Alana’s ribs lightly. “You were snooping around on me?”
“No,” she answers too quickly. “No, I wasn’t. I was just…curious. You know. About your life. About whether you’d found someone to love you the way you deserve.”
I can’t help but to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. Can’t she see? She’s the only one who could ever love me the way I want to be loved…
“No love going on between Candace and me.” I laugh sadly. “She just has my balls in a massive vice grip.”
Her nose wrinkles. “I know it’s weird, but I’m getting jealous imagining some other woman having anything to do with your balls.”
“You want my balls all to yourself, huh?” I joke, not expecting her next words.
“I really,reallydo, Davis. I want every part of you.” Her words are barely above a broken whisper, her eyes filling with sadness as they dive into mine.
“Fuck, Allie.”
Not giving a shit where we are or who might see us, I take both of her cheeks in my hands. For a moment, we search each other’s eyes.
Then I press my mouth to hers.
She kisses me back, allowing her lips to open. When she does, I swipe my tongue into her mouth.
Sweet heaven. That’s what her kiss is. Pure bliss. Blinding magic.
We kiss like we have nothing left to lose. Because really, we’ve already lost everything else of value.
Our pride. Our dignity. Each other.
Breathless, Alana pulls away from the kiss.
“You okay?” I ask, lightly touching her beautiful, swollen lips with the pad of my thumb.
“Yeah,” she says on a fluttering exhale.
Her eyes glance around the bar. Mine do, too.
I notice a woman with a bright red pixie cut intently staring at us, a grimace on her hard face. Tonya? Tonya Thompson? No way it’s her. She moved away years ago, didn’t she?
