by Noelle Adams
She’d responded to him. Physically as well as emotionally. He was almost positive that she had. He couldn’t be so completely wrong about this. He’d know if there was no hope at all between them.
For a long time, she’d genuinely never thought about him like that. Back in school, he’d known for sure there was never even a chance, so he’d contented himself with their friendship and he’d looked for romance elsewhere.
Then she’d gotten married—in her freshman year of college—and she’d been entirely out of reach. So he’d done the work to resign himself to never having her the way he wanted. He would have been fine. He was sure he’d have been fine that way, even knowing that Scott didn’t deserve her. He’d settled into a perfectly good life with a job he loved and a group of friends and plenty of possible dates if he wanted to have sex.
But Serena’s marriage had fallen apart, and she was suddenly free and available again, reigniting a small hope. That was when everything changed for him.
And he could no longer find convincing reasons for not acting on his desires.
She’d been wounded by her failed marriage and by the way that asshole Scott had treated her. She needed time to heal. He didn’t blame her for any of that—or even for using it as an excuse for not recognizing what had been growing between them.
But it was hard to be patient when he could sense matching emotion in her too.
He took a long drag of beer and closed his eyes with a groan. Maybe he was just imagining it. Maybe he was letting his hopes cloud his reason. Maybe that was why she’d pushed him away.
He was mulling over this possibility—and not believing it—when there was a knock on his door.
There was only one person it could be, so he jumped out of his chair and strode over to let her in.
It was indeed Serena. She’d changed into pajamas too and looked lusciously soft and curvy in pale blue fleece pants and a gray tank top.
She wasn’t wearing a bra. He noticed that immediately and had trouble dragging his eyes away from the full curve of her breasts and the outline of her nipples.
She grinned at him, completely unaware of the route his thoughts had taken. “Hey, you weren’t already in bed, were you?”
“No. I was reading. But you look like you were in bed. What’s going on?”
“I was in bed, but then I got news and had to come tell you.” She was flushed and glowing.
Her excitement was contagious. Keith’s heartbeat accelerated. His breathing picked up. It felt like something good was about to happen, and there was only one good thing on his mind at the moment.
Serena.
And here she was at his door, looking like she’d just tumbled out of bed.
Just for him.
“What happened?” he asked, his voice a little too gruff. But there wasn’t anything he could do about that.
“I got you a date!”
His galloping heart dropped with a thud to his gut. “What?”
“I got you a date!” she repeated, brimming with warm feeling. “She’s absolutely perfect for you. You’re really going to like her.”
Keith had a bad few moments when he felt like he’d been socked in the stomach. Winded. Exactly like a blow. But he pushed through it enough to ask with a semblance of normalcy, “Who is she?”
“Her name is Kelly. She’s another teacher at Weston. She’s an art teacher, and she’s really artistic and creative. She’s lovely and smart and sweet, and I know you’ll like her. Kelly and Keith.” She hauled in a breath after that torrent of words. “Wouldn’t that be cute?”
Keith managed not to groan. “I’m not sure a successful relationship can be based on names beginning with the same letter.”
“I know. Don’t be grumpy about it. I know you’re not as excited about this as I am, but I really think it’s worth a try.” She blinked, peering at his face. “Did you change your mind about it?”
Yes. Of course he had. He’d never wanted to do this to begin with. He didn’t want to go out with anyone but Serena.
“No, I haven’t changed my mind. I just wasn’t expecting it to happen so fast.”
“Well, I figured why wait? So I texted Kelly a few minutes ago and told her about you. She said she’d be happy to hear from you if you want to touch base with her and ask her out.”
This time he couldn’t quite suppress the groan.
“Don’t be that way,” Serena told him firmly, giving his arm a gentle punch. “Someone has to look out for you, so I’m doing it. Kelly wants to get married and have kids.”
Keith’s eyes widened. “I’m not sure—”
“Oh my goodness, don’t be ridiculous. She’s not going to expect anything serious right away. I’m just saying she’s a nice girl who wants the same kind of future you do. So if y’all hit it off, then you’ve got that going for you.”
Licking his lips slowly, Keith waged a mental debate, and his wise and sensible side won out over the howling animal who wanted nothing but Serena and resented any attempt to keep them apart. “Okay. Fine. Text me her contact info, and I’ll give her a call.”
“Great! You’re going to love her. I just know you will! I bet it will take just one try from me to find you the right girl.”
“I’d take that bet in an instant,” he muttered, doing his best not to sound resentful. It wasn’t Serena’s fault she was tearing out his heart and stomping on it under her pretty little bare feet.
“If you’re going to be grumpy about this, it will never work.”
“I’m not going to be grumpy. Well, maybe a little with you, but I’ll give it a fair shake. I promise.”
That evidently convinced her. She nodded and reached out to give him a quick squeeze—not nearly long enough for his liking—and then ran back to her own front door.
She gave him a quick wave before she went inside and said, “Good night, Keith. Dream about Kelly!”
He wasn’t going to dream about Kelly. He’d probably dream about Serena, which was becoming an unfortunate habit.
But there was nothing he could do about that. He’d give it a try—like he always did. After all, he didn’t want to be saddled with this unfortunate devotion to his best friend who didn’t want him the way he wanted her.
But none of his past tries had led to much success, and he didn’t have much hope for this one either.
three
SERENA WAS AS EXCITED about Keith’s upcoming date as she would have been for a date of her own.
More excited, truth be told.
She wasn’t looking for romance, but the idea of finding someone for Keith was new and thrilling. It felt like a relief. Like an invisible burden she’d barely been aware of had been miraculously lifted off her shoulders.
So all week she was bright and cheerful, feeling good about her life and about the world. And she was still in a good mood on Thursday afternoon as she met Taylor for coffee after school.
Taylor worked from home on her own hours, so she wasn’t bound by a normal office schedule. Since Serena had to kill an hour on Thursday afternoons for Eva’s piano lesson, they sometimes met up. Up for discussion today: who Serena should fix Keith up with next if his date with Kelly didn’t work out.
“What about Trisha?” Taylor asked. “She’s way too cheerful all the time. Kind of gets on my nerves. But Keith might like that in a woman.”
They’d both gone to school with Trisha Callahan, but Serena had never been close to her. She shook her head. “No. I don’t think so. I’m not being mean, but I don’t think she’s smart enough for him. He needs someone who’s a thinker. She doesn’t have to be brainy, but she does need to be able to think deeply about ideas and stuff.”
Taylor was a tall, slim brunette—the kind of gorgeous that strangers turned to stare at in the street. Right now in the coffee shop, at least three guys were making obvious attempts to get her to notice them. But she’d never cared about her looks and brushed off compliments and attention. Other than her few close friends, she usua
lly preferred to be alone. It was one of the reasons Serena couldn’t be jealous of her. Taylor treated her appearance more as an annoyance than anything else. “I guess that makes sense. He’s a smart guy, for all he tries to fade into the background.”
“He doesn’t try to fade into the background.”
“Don’t get huffy. I’m not insulting him. He just doesn’t like to be the center of attention. I happen to like that trait in people, so no need to jump to his defense.”
Serena ignored Taylor’s grumpy tone since it was typical of her friend. “I’m not huffy. I’m just saying he’s not as much like that as he used to be. I know in high school he always tried to stay under the radar, but he’s got a lot of friends now. Women are always after him.” For no good reason, she didn’t like the sound of those words. They bothered her. A lot.
“Don’t sound so excited about it. I thought you wanted to fix him up.”
“I do. I was just—” She was saved from trying to explain herself by her phone ringing. Since Keith’s name popped up on the screen, she answered it immediately. “Hey, what’s going on?”
“I had to take my car to the garage at lunchtime. The Check Engine light came on. They didn’t have time to get to it this afternoon, so is there any way you can pick me up from work and take me home?”
“Of course I can. I pick Eva up from piano lessons in a half an hour, but I’m free after that. What time should I be there?”
“Five thirty okay?”
“Yep. See you then!”
She was smiling as she hung up, only to be confronted by Taylor’s knowingly observant expression. “What?” she demanded with a frown.
“What, what?” Taylor’s dark eyes widened in fake innocence.
“Why are you looking at me that way?”
“Still just friends?”
“Yes, we’re just friends. What is that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know, but your face sure lit up when you talked to him. I’ve never seen it light up like that with anyone else but Eva.”
Serena’s cheeks warmed. “We’ve already had this conversation. More than once.”
“I know. But maybe I think you’re not telling yourself the truth.”
“I am. You don’t have to believe me, but I am.”
“Okay. Sure.” Taylor didn’t look convinced.
Serena let the conversation drop. She didn’t have to win a debate with Taylor. And she was right anyway.
“So his car needs work?” Taylor asked, clearly willing to change the subject too.
“Yeah. Check Engine light. He just needs a ride home. I like to help him out when I can since he’s helped me out so much for so long.”
“I’m sure he didn’t do all that because he expects you to give him rides.”
“I know that. But still. He’s been so good to me. Even little things I do let me feel like I might deserve it.”
She didn’t actually intend to say so much. She bit her lip and hoped Taylor wouldn’t follow up.
Naturally Taylor did. “Deserve it?”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I know I don’t have to earn his friendship. I just...” She sighed and rubbed her head distractedly. “I just mean I want to be good to him too. I can’t help it. I’m one of those overresponsible people who like to work hard and do a good job and earn my place in the world. I don’t like to feel obliged.”
“I get that. I just don’t think Keith would think you’re obliged to him for anything. He’s your friend. He helps you because he wants to, just like you want to help him.”
“Yeah.” Serena sighed, her stomach tightening strangely. Since she didn’t understand it, she tried to push the feeling away. “Yeah. I agree. I think it’s just that my life was a mess for so long that now that it’s in order, I want to keep it in order. And it kind of feels like any misstep will send it tumbling into chaos. And I couldn’t deal with chaos involving Keith. So I want to make sure everything is always good between us.”
Taylor was clearly listening, but it took her a while to reply. When she finally did, she said, “Sometimes chaos comes anyway no matter how much we try to keep our lives in order. That’s why we need friends to begin with.”
She was right.
Serena knew she was right.
But after years of being the only scholarship girl in her group, it was hard not to feel like she always had to earn her place.
BY THE TIME SATURDAY actually arrived, Serena’s excitement over Keith’s date had shifted into a weird, inexplicable reluctance.
Since it was a silly response, she kept pushing it down, telling herself it didn’t mean anything and would go away soon. But all her bright anticipation had transformed overnight into something like dread.
She spent the afternoon helping Keith clean out his “junk closet.” It was full of random stuff from the past few years that he’d put in it to get out of the way until it was finally too packed to even close the door. That was evidently the last straw for Keith, who was usually a fairly neat person. He declared the Saturday junk-closet-clean-out day and asked Serena if she wanted to help.
Eva was at her dad’s this weekend, so Serena had nothing better to do. They had a surprisingly good time pulling out every crazy item from the closet—from a brand-new winter coat to an ancient humidifier—and making piles for what needed to be kept, given away, or dumped.
By 5:20 they’d finally sorted the final item and closed the door on a perfectly tidy and half-empty closet.
“It looks so good!” Serena was grinning as she opened the door again to peek inside at all their work. “You’ve got tons of space in there now.”
“So I can start filling it up with more random junk.” Keith looked particularly warm and sexy at the moment, sprawled on the floor next to the pile of giveaway items.
“Don’t you dare! Not after all our work. Now you’ve got to keep this closet perfectly organized.”
The muscles in Keith’s arms rippled deliciously as he leaned back on his hand. He wore a heather-gray T-shirt, and the sleeves hugged his biceps. He’d never been obsessive about working out and didn’t have hugely developed muscles, so she wasn’t sure where those biceps had even come from. Or why she was noticing them right now.
“We’ll see,” he drawled, laughter and affection in his eyes as they rested on her face.
The twirly feeling in her chest and stomach prompted her to say, “So are you excited about your date tonight?”
His expression shifted to dry skepticism. “I’m not sure I’d call it excited, but I’ll definitely give it a try.”
“It will be great. You’re going to love Kelly.”
“So you keep saying.” He gave his head a little shake. “We’ll see.”
“Yes, we will.” She hefted herself to her feet and smoothed down her top since it was hiked up above her ass. She was wearing leggings today, so the shirt definitely needed to stay pulled down. “What time are you picking her up?”
“I’m meeting her at the restaurant at seven.”
“You’re not picking her up?”
“I would have, but she suggested meeting there. I assume she’s more comfortable with that since I’m a stranger to her.”
“Oh. Yeah. That makes sense I guess. Just because I know both of you doesn’t mean you know each other.” She glanced at the clock. “Well, I guess you’re going to want to start getting ready soon.”
He chuckled. “Exactly how long do you think it takes for me to get ready for a date?”
“I don’t know. It takes me about an hour.”
“It takes me about fifteen minutes.”
“You’re going to take a shower, aren’t you?”
“Of course. But showering and putting clothes on doesn’t take very long. It’s not like I ever do much primping.”
She sniffed as she checked him out from slightly mussed hair to his bare feet. He’d always been a low-maintenance-type person. He’d clearly shaved that morning, so he wouldn’t have to do that. I
t didn’t seem quite right that guys could just jump in the shower and throw on some decent clothes and be ready for a first date, but evidently that was Keith’s habit.
“You’re not going to inspect me before I leave, are you?”
She hadn’t been thinking anything of the kind, but his tone was so wry that he deserved a little punishment. So she said primly, “Yes, I am. Since I arranged this date, I’m going to make sure you look up to par. So stop by my place before you leave please.”
He rolled his eyes but didn’t argue, so she took that as agreement.
AT FIFTEEN MINUTES till seven, Serena heard a knock on the door. Knowing it was Keith, she ran to swing it open.
She gulped when she saw him standing at her doorstep. He wore khakis and a nice green shirt. He looked really good. He’d never been movie-star handsome. Or the center of attention. Back in school, he’d been a little bit cute, but not in a way that appealed to her, so she’d never thought about him as attractive until the past few years.
But he was.
Attractive.
Not traffic stopping. Not like you might expect to see on the cover of a romance. In a regular, natural way. But hot.
His brown eyes. Broad shoulders. That hint of a cleft in his chin. Long, agile hands.
Definitely hot.
For a minute it felt like he was here to take her on a date.
That was when the weird flutters got overpowering.
“What?” he demanded when she just stood frozen and stared at him with cold hands and trembling knees. “Do I not look okay or something?”
“No! You look great. Really great. I mean, you look... great.” Oh my goodness. She was seriously losing her mind here, and she needed to pull it together right now.
He frowned slightly, narrowing his eyes as he peered at her face. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing. I’m just... out of it, I think. You do look good. So have a great time with Kelly this evening, and let me know how it goes.”