by Melissa Blue
“After ten years, they should be like family now, and family is not the same as friends.”
“Probably not, but I never really understood how you and Greg became buddies.”
“Forced at first, because we were the same age. You know how parents are. Get along or else. Then the mischief started. Nothing like getting into trouble together to secure bonds of friendship.”
Abigail thought of her friends and had to laugh. “Very true. I’m sure Greg told you about the break up dares my friends and I do for one another.”
“He did mention them.”
The tone was off, but she went ahead anyway, turning on the next block. He didn’t miss a step. “If we’re with a guy for six months—don’t ask, long story—and there’s a break up, straws are pulled, and the challenge is a dare. Emma was the one who started it, and as karma would have it, she’s the one who usually ends up with the short stick.”
He slid his gaze to hers. “What’s going to happen when all of you get married off?”
The question gave her pause. She’d never thought that far into the future. “Emma’s engaged now. She’s different, but I think real love changes you. There’s a security in it that deepens who you are and what you believe, but I don’t think it changes the core of who you are. So, I don’t think our friendship will end.”
He bobbed his head in agreement. “You do want to get married?”
“The thought of one man forever scares the beejesus out of me.” She stopped in front of a small building. “Here we are.”
It looked like an every-day restaurant with cloth-covered tables, but inside was already packed with people. Most of the warm bodies lined up at a take-out window.
He opened the door for her and didn’t go in until she did. “Don’t look so shocked. I have manners.”
“It’s a ploy,” she said with a smile.
“Let me guess: Crafty is my middle name?”
“No. Charm.” She grabbed a menu from an empty table and handed it to him. “So, do you want to get married?”
He scanned the menu. “Yes.”
She jerked away from the line to look at him. No coy smile with the announcement. He wasn’t joking. “Wow. I’m trying to imagine you all…married.”
“Facets,” he said, and put the menu back down at the empty table, right when a couple sat down.
She tried to imagine the type of woman who would steal his heart. Abigail simply couldn’t. “Who? What kind of woman?”
Hands back in pockets, he shrugged. “I don’t know. Someone who can surprise me. In and out of bed. Someone who makes me laugh, and I do the same for her. Sexy, considerate and honest. Challenges me.”
“Sexy?”
“That would be the word you latch on to.” He scratched at the scruff along his jawline. “I would ask what you think I believe sexy is, but I know the answer.”
She couldn’t argue, but Abigail did anyway. “We’re being friends. I was going to be nice. What do you think sexy is?”
“Depends.” His gaze clashed with hers. “A woman’s wrist. It can be delicate or sturdy, but I could be attracted to the way a bracelet or watch dangles. Or, I could imagine kissing her skin, right at the wrist, and feeling her pulse spike. Or, that she can break down an incredibly difficult math equation. The curve of her lips when she smiles. It’s whatever makes me feel like I’ve been punched in the gut with want.”
He stepped forward with the line and Abigail had to force herself to move. She cleared her throat. “I see.”
“Facets, Abby.” He held her gaze.
For one wild moment she wanted to discover all of them. How delightful and satisfying to uncover another one. Her heartbeat thumped and it was thrilling to imagine the prospect. Insane to fantasize about it, because this was probably his long game. Get her intrigued until she opened up. And what would he find? Abigail’s palms dampened at the thought. Suddenly, what he discovered mattered.
She gave herself a mental shake and broke eye contact with him. “I can admit you may have some parts of your personality that are surprising and unexpected.”
“But?” he said.
“Nothing. We’re trying to be friends remember?”
Someone bumped into her and the action tossed Abigail into Drew’s space. His hands caressed the bare skin of her arm when he caught her. Another thrill zapped down her spine at the soft touch as he steadied her. The brief moment stretched when he smiled down at her. The same smile at the wedding, full of secrets and promises. Despite her better intentions, Abigail wanted to know them.
His hands traveled down her arms and stopped at the tops of her palms. A bracelet filled with charms dangled from her left wrist. Since her friends often picked up one on a whim, it bordered on gaudy and she didn’t wear it often. On her right wrist she wore a simple gold watch. A gift from her father when Adtivity first hired her. The only gift from him she cherished. Had Drew been talking about her wrists being sexy? Abigail pulled herself free.
He cleared his throat. “Do you ever want to get married?” he asked again and again stuffed his hands in his pockets.
Abigail frowned at the gesture, because it wasn’t a long game type of move. Drew caught her, literally and figuratively, at a weak moment, and he hadn’t tried to use it to his advantage. She swallowed.
To be honest, she hadn’t minded his hands on her. If he had decided to pull her closer, bend his head and kiss her, Abigail wouldn’t have been piqued. She might have allowed herself to fall into the kiss, because even if his reputation held a fourth of truth, Abigail would have been in for a treat.
The simple gesture spoke of trying to respect her boundaries and the agreement to be friends. She searched her brain for another possible reason and found none. His reaction baffled her, and intrigued her. It made her want him.
Abigail narrowed her gaze. “I don’t think marriage’s in my cards. First, I’d have to find a man who could put up with me.”
“I don’t know.” He stepped forward with the line. “I think marriage is more about finding a person you can put up with until the day you die.”
“So romantic,” she said more to put them back on an even keel than anything else. “Be still my heart.”
“You said it,” he argued. “Plus, my idea of ’put up with’ would be someone who you’d rather wake up to than not. I have a very, very short list of people in my life I’d rather have in it than to live without them.” He scowled. “If I could have said that a little more confusing, I don’t know how.”
She edged closer to him as another couple passed by, but made sure empty space separated them. “I get what you mean.”
“Abby, it’s ok for friends to touch each other.” Drew met her gaze, put up his hand and then placed his palm on the middle of her back. “See. Innocent and friendly.”
She stiffened at the touch, because it felt nothing like innocent or friendly. Abigail could imagine his hand going lower, cupping the supple flesh of her bottom until there were no more friendly or innocent intentions.
Her skin flushed at the thought. This close she could tell he’d worn cologne today. A subtle but potent scent. A scent infused with hot summer nights filled with fireflies and very little clothing. Summer made her think of heat. The kind that was making her skin prickle with awareness of his hand gentle but firm on her back. Heat made her think of sweat slicking down a bare chest. His chest.
His hand on her back, friendly and innocent, was a long-game gesture. The conviction made it easy for her to step away from the touch. “Smooth, but I’ve never done that to Emma or Sasha.”
“Really?” His gaze went out of focus.
Abigail lightly punched him in the arm. “Really?”
“Don’t tell me you’re surprised where my mind went. Now the only thing you may not know is if I had the image of you guys in tank tops and boxers playing a very sweaty game of pillow fight. Or—”
She punched him again in the same spot on the left side of his chest. Her fist met solid
muscle and gave credence to the image she had of him shirtless on a picnic blanket as he fed her freshly picked strawberries in the summer heat.
Abigail let out a quiet, shaky breath. “That’s not what friends say to each other.”
“It’s a pro to having a male friend. He can imagine what you do with your female counterparts.”
“It’s a pro for you. And you just made that up.” The line moved forward and so did she. Yet, this time when he followed suit, he closed the distance between them. More people had come in behind them, crowding the large room.
“I didn’t,” he said and sounded full of shit. “It’s a proven fact men will fantasize about his friend’s friends. If they’re female. I hate to prove a stereotype, but I am a man.”
She shook her head. “If women did this, men would find it degrading.”
He said in a droll tone, “Have you ever been to a strip club? Women do it too and are much more hands on.”
At a loss for words, she laughed. “But you think I’m putting you in a square peg? You were in a strip club. You don’t even say it with a little bit of shame.”
“Why? As an adult it’s one of those things you’re supposed to do because you can.”
She pffted. “That’s patently ridiculous.”
“When you turned eighteen, what was one of the first things you did?”
She thought back. “I went to bingo. One of those big ones at the casino.”
“Do you normally gamble?”
“No.”
“And I bet when you turned twenty-one you went to a bar and ordered a drink.”
“With the girls, yes. Matter of fact we went to Vegas.” Remembering the weekend put a grin on her face.
“See.” He pointed to the smile. “I rest my case.”
“But a strip club? Just for the hell of it?”
He took his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms. “You’re going to stand there and tell me you have never done something just for the hell of it?” He made a sound of disbelief. “No, better yet, you’re going to stand there and tell me life shouldn’t be doing all the things you want to do, exploring everything you’re curious about and brave enough to do?”
She stepped forward and he followed. Abigail had to admit how much she loved the simple action. “That is exactly what I am saying.”
“So what are the dares you do with your friends?”
It was hard to take the high road when he knew her one weakness. Like normal friends, Emma, Sasha and Abigail went out for drinks. Pre-Tobias they went out in high heels and tight dresses to troll for eye candy and the occasional date. The trolling was a treacherous venture since they lived in a college town with boys looking to score a hot, older woman. Yes, they even stayed in and pigged out on Emma’s desserts whenever she got hit with a baking fever. Sasha took them out to art openings or gallery showings. They watched movies. They did normal girlfriend things.
The dares, though rare nowadays were anything but normal. The last one involved Emma bungee jumping. The one before that, Emma had to streak down a street. Needless to say, the dares were things they did for the hell of it. Depending on which friend picked the short straw, their challenges could fall into the category of the stereotypical woman acting wild.
Abigail sighed, this time following him as the line inched forward. “Why can’t you let me sit on my high horse with my nose held high? It’s gentlemanly.”
His mischievous laugh made her smile. Without warning, he brushed her hair from her face, his fingertips trailing over her cheekbones, and Drew watched her as he did it. The expression he wore finally stole her breath. He looked…enraptured.
That look, his darkened gaze were the reasons why she lifted her head with her mouth parted. Abigail told herself it wasn’t an invitation for more, but she understood why he bent his head to meet hers. Like a puppet master pulling a string, she curled into his heat, his scent and let him kiss her.
The light pressure of his mouth on hers hardened. A soft moan escaped. He suckled softly at her mouth, alternating between the top and bottom lip. The kiss was anything but gentle, though his hands were as his fingers ran through her hair.
When her tongue flicked forward to taste him back, Drew’s wasn’t what she imagined. She expected something decadent and forbidden or even something potent and strong. Abigail couldn’t describe him on her tongue, but it felt right to have the taste of him filling her. She wanted to climb into him and revel in the sumptuous facets of his mouth.
His fingers played lightly at the nape of her neck, and just as gently he arched her head up more. He dipped his tongue into her mouth, and a moan ripped from her throat, but he was the one who reveled in the taste of her. He repeated the motion, and she couldn’t help but moan again. She felt the chuckled rumble through him.
“Abby, I want you so much right now,” he said against her lips.
“Hmm,” she managed to say.
He chuckled again and pressed his lips softly against hers. Tender caresses, but no mistaking the passion behind them. An incessant buzz from her chest jolted Abigail. She blinked and shook her head.
“You’re vibrating.” His lids were low and his voice was gruff.
More than he knew. She swallowed. “It’s my phone.” The buzz continued between them.
“Are you going to answer your phone or do you want to kiss again?”
Pressed against her, Abigail could guess his choice. She cleared her throat, but didn’t move back. His fingers still made lazy circles on the nape of her neck. If she answered the phone, she’d have to end this moment. Abigail wasn’t sure if she wanted to. If she pressed that stupid send button, the message her brain had been trying to send her would finally penetrate the fog of the kiss, the punch of his mouth on hers that must have knocked out her common sense.
Abigail sighed. “I better answer.” She undid the top most button on her shirt, and took the phone out of her bra. “Abigail Johnson,” she said and turned her back to Drew.
“You sound weird,” Sasha noted.
She had answered the phone, but still felt an incessant buzz. “Just waiting in line for lunch. It’s kind of hot in here.”
A silence greeted the comment. “Where’s Drew?”
Abigail cleared her parched throat. “He’s here.”
“Let me talk to him for a moment.” The breezy tone didn’t fool Abigail for a moment.
She narrowed her gaze. “Why?”
“Well, I don’t have his number, and fortuitously he’s standing right there with you.”
Drew tapped her shoulder, and mouthed, “What do you want?”
They’d made it to the front of the line. She covered her hand over the mouthpiece and told him, but turned back around. “’Fortuitously’ gave you away.”
“No, really,” Sasha said without a whit of a convincing tone. “I wanted to talk to him.”
“You still haven’t answered why?”
“Is he no longer for the taking?” Sasha threw down the challenge.
Abigail lifted her chin. “You’re objectifying a human being.”
“Oh.” Surprise filled her voice. “He’s a human being now?”
“He’s always been.” Abigail scratched at the tingle on the back of her neck. She could still feel his fingers working some sort of magic on her skin. It was definitely a shiver this time, not a shudder.
“The way you made him out to be, Drew might as well have been some lusty beast. Humping anything that smelled to his liking.”
“You’re laying it on so thick.” Abigail couldn’t exactly deny the accusation. “We’re trying to order lunch.”
“Is he on the menu? You sound a little breathy.”
She licked her lips and tasted him again, but still wasn’t able to place a name to it. Now with the fog gone, it didn’t taste right, but intrusive. And it was bad, bad, bad to even have a single moment of wishing the kiss had lasted longer. “Why are you really calling?”
“My lips were tingling an
d I had a thought. Maybe because you were doing something you swore you’d never do.”
Abigail’s gaze whipped around the room. In the back corner sat one of her best friends with a sly grin on her face. Abigail’s ears burned hot, because in a word she’d been caught kissing the lusty beast who probably never considered the consequences of acting on the friction between them. She dug into her pocket for cash and handed the money to Drew.
“Sasha.” She gestured with her head.
“We’ll be eating here?”
She checked the time on her phone. They had more than enough, unfortunately. “Yeah.”
She marched over to the table and sat down. Sasha looked like the cat who caught the canary. Abigail tried to relax, but her neck still tingled from Drew’s touch. “Aren’t you supposed to be teaching class right now?”
“Changed up my schedule.” Glee dripped from Sasha’s every word. “I’m teaching nights every other day.”
“As you would say, being here is fortuitous.”
“Exactly,” she said with a laugh. “So?”
Abigail checked to make sure Drew was still on the other side of the room. “It was a lapse in judgment. It sort of happened.”
“I could see how you tripped and fell on his lips. It’s interesting and telling nonetheless, don’t you think?”
“Am I like this?” She hoped the question would distract her friend.
Sasha dipped a chip in the small bowl of salsa. “Annoyingly so.”
Abigail leaned back into the chair. “I don’t want to talk about what happened. I don’t know what to think about it.” She stopped and then said, “I do. Doom. Bad. Reckless.”
“Hot and lusty from where I was sitting.” Sasha hummed in a seductive way.
Abigail checked again, and Drew was making his way to the table with their food. “Doesn’t change the fact there’s no way he can be unbiased about my team.”
Sasha’s curls bounced when she shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re going to pass up this opportunity.”
“I can’t believe you’re suggesting I’d do anything.” Sasha just bit into a chip. Abigail snorted. “Ok. I can believe you would encourage this kind of behavior. Nothing will come of it though.”