by Morgan Fox
“Well, which is it—no or yes?”
Sam’s gaze lingered, and he knew they were treading on rough water. Sam was his best friend, but she was also Liza’s, and then there was Layla. Dealing with uncertain feelings was difficult. He got that. But he was a big boy, and Liza was a grown woman.
Even knowing that, it didn’t make their situation easier to digest.
“She’s Layla’s sister, for starters.” The first and most predictable reason. Again, if Layla never finds out, it’s not a big deal. Right?
“And?” he asked, stressing the word in a long exaggeration of interest for her to continue.
“She’s my friend.”
He arched a brow. “Still waiting.”
She rolled her eyes, obviously annoyed with his dismissive behavior. “Jason, you’re ten years older than her, and you’re from two different worlds.” She scoffed. “Ever seen a doctor who was married to a garbage man? I haven’t.”
And there it was. The elephants in the room. His age and his blue-collared profession. He wished he could’ve said it didn’t bother him, knowing how Sam viewed the difference between them and Liza, but it did.
Sam was no different from him. She’d married his brother who was becoming a cop. But they were close in age, and that was clearly acceptable. However, for him to be with a younger woman who was a corporate professional, that wasn’t okay.
“Afraid Liza’s going to slum it too much with the likes of me? Maybe I’ll end up somehow ruining her.” He frowned. “After all, I’m the garbage man in your scenario, right?” Fury blasted its way into his mind. He’d never been ashamed of who he was, and he sure the fuck wasn’t going to be now.
“You know that’s not what I meant, and it’s not funny,” Sam blurted, the lines around her eyes deepening.
“You’re damn right it’s not funny. I’m thirty-six. Not eighty-six. We’re both adults, and last I checked we were both single. It was just sex. Nothing more. And need I remind you that you’re a bartender too?” He rolled his eyes. “But you’re not the one on trial apparently.”
Why were they even having this conversation? None of it should matter. It was his and Liza’s business. No one else’s.
“If it was just sex then way are you getting so defensive?”
“Why are you questioning me?” he redirected.
Sam motioned to speak, but she pursed her lips tightly shut and glanced away from him. “It was just sex,” he repeated, not sure if it was for his or her benefit.
Sam’s eyes rounded, and she leaned in closer as if to whisper a secret. “Are you sure about that?”
What the hell did that mean? Was he sure that they’d had sex? Or that it was only sex? Women were fucking confusing.
“She’s had a crush on you for months, Jason,” she clarified.
Motherfucker.
Now that caught his attention. He hadn’t considered Liza’s motives beyond what she’d said to him in the hotel room. “What do you know that I don’t?” He leaned forward, resting on his elbows. “Did she say something to you?”
“Not recently,” Sam said. “As it is I hardly see her anymore, but she mentioned awhile back that she was into you.” She sighed, looking defeated. “I’m sorry I’m acting like a spaz over this. I’m concerned for both of you. I wouldn’t want things to be awkward around here.”
Awkward around the bar? A place Liza never visits. He wanted to laugh. “Why would it?” He didn’t let her answer, his emotions getting the better of him. “Look, Sam, Liza and I have an understanding. We spent the night together. There’s nothing anyone needs to worry about. Shit, it’s not like she comes around the bar anyway. I only see her on occasion, and even then we don’t spend much time together.”
“Are you going to tell Layla?”
He grimaced, wondering why that mattered. Would it really be an issue if Layla never found out? “Are you?” He groaned. “Sam, is this really what’s bugging you? That I slept with Liza? Or is it that she slept with me?”
Sam opened her mouth to speak but then clamped her mouth closed.
Studying her for a second, he said, “Sam, you don’t have to worry about it anymore. Liza bailed before I even woke up. I was just a good time for her, and that was it.” His chest tightened, hating the truth of his words. “I don’t know what she’s told you, but she was pretty clear with me that she wasn’t interested in anything more than last night.”
Sam stood and pressed her knuckles to the edge of his desk and stared down at him. “I’ve known Liza and Layla for a long time. I meet them at summer camp when we were teenagers, and we’ve been friends ever since.”
“I know that already. You begged, more like ordered me to give Layla a job, remember?”
A soft grin played at her lips, but was quickly wiped away. “Did you know that Liza fell in love with the camp director who convinced her to run away with him?” Jason said nothing. He just listened. “She was infatuated with him and believed he loved her. All it took was for him to steal her virginity and to whisper sweet nothings of bullshit in her ear for her to give up everything she’d ever known.” Sam’s eyes glistened. “I’m sorry I was such a shit about the two of you sleeping together. I panicked. It was a rough time for Layla and her family. The memory of what it was like when Liza finally returned home after only a month away is still vivid in my mind.”
“That had to have been more than five years ago, right?”
“Almost ten,” she corrected. “Liza was different. After being with him, she disliked everything about herself, and all she wanted was to get away from her Kentucky life. She shut everyone out, everyone from her past. It’s why she picked her new career—the one so different from her country roots and moved to the city. I begged her to come to Texas. I still can’t believe she did. Jason, I don’t want to lose her again.”
He stood. “Sam, I had no idea. But, I’m not that guy. I care about her. I’m not asking her to run away with me. Shit, I’m not asking her for anything.”
“I know.” She sighed. “I just needed you to know why I acted like such an ass. Liza means a lot to me. But you do, too. I couldn’t bear it if either of you were hurt.”
He rounded his desk and hugged her. He loved Sam and valued her opinion. Learning this tidbit of history about Liza didn’t change the way he saw their situation. Liza was a grown woman, and from what he could tell, she had a clear and intelligent mind. They’d needed each other for a night of pleasure, and that was that.
Jason was sure that was the end of it.
* * * *
“Liza, are you joining us tonight for drinks to celebrate?”
Liza’s hard work had paid off. She’d landed a new account with her partner and traditionally that meant that everyone went out and celebrated over drinks. Not today, though. She was mentally exhausted. It had taken everything she had to close the account. All day long, most of her thoughts had wandered their way back to Jason. She needed to be alone right now, to figure things out. Celebrating was the last thing she felt like doing.
“I can’t, Bryan. I’m not feeling so great, and rather than make myself feel worse, I should really get home and get some rest,” she replied. Not exactly a lie.
“Well, that’s too bad,” Bryan said, frowning. “We’ll miss you.”
“Thanks. Have a drink for me,” she cheered, pressing the elevator button to escape before someone else could stop her and guilt her into going.
“Oh, I will,” he told her with a grin just before the doors closed.
She collapsed against the wall and waited for the elevator to open. The day had been long, and she was eager to get something to eat and just veg out. Nothing sounded appealing, so she figured she’d grab a frozen dinner from the refrigerator, a bottle of diet soda, and call it a night.
Just another day in successful paradise.
Liza made her way to her car, tossed in her briefcase, and moved behind the wheel. She pictured Jason alongside her laughing about how small her vehicle w
as, his massive frame cramped in the front seat. He’d chuckle, telling her how she could stretch out on a motorcycle with the wind in her hair and the warmth of the sun on her face—the soothing image was freeing. A swirl of excitement chased its way through her veins as she took a moment to enjoy the thought. Then she turned her car on and headed home.
As she pulled into the garage of her two-story loft apartment, she spotted an unfamiliar car sitting along the curb. No one usually parked there, and it surprised her since there was no new residence in the area. She’d had the same neighbors for almost a year and never once had she seen that car. As a single woman, she made sure to keep her eyes open for things that went bump in the night. After her sister Layla was attacked, Liza had taken a few precautions to avoid being a victim. She absently rubbed her hand over her purse to feel for the can of pepper spray. It was there, and a sense of relief crept its way back in.
She exited her car in the small parking garage beneath the building and headed up the winding stairs to her apartment. Moving inside, she turned to close the door, but before she could the door was pushed open.
“Todd,” she muttered. “What are you doing here?”
“Can I come in?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she told him, backing up. “I’ve had a long day, and I’d like to get some rest.”
He reached for her, and she shook away from his touch. Doing so gave him more access to her apartment, and before she realized what she’d done he was inside her home.
“Todd, you need to leave.”
“I just got here,” he reminded her as if that made a difference.
She eyed the door at his back, hoping for a way out. She didn’t have any rooms to hide in except the bathroom, and that was upstairs with her bedroom. That was the last place she wanted to be trapped with Todd.
She trembled as fear plagued her. Todd had never physically hurt her. He just wouldn’t leave her alone. Instantly, Jason’s words haunted her, and she imagined that things might be crossing a line. Todd was becoming a stalker, and she’d allowed it to happen.
Her mouth dried. “What do you want?”
Before he could answer, her door opened, and the breath caught in her lungs as she stared at Jason. His eyes were like missiles of destruction, and their focus was on Todd.
“Is there a problem, Liza?” He clenched and unclenched his hands, his arms flexing. “Is he bothering you?”
“Who the hell is this guy?” Todd snapped, hiking his thumb over his shoulder in Jason’s direction.
“Todd, you need to leave,” Liza said, stepping back. “Please go.”
He reached for Liza and grabbed her arm, yanking her toward him. “Not until you tell me who he is.”
Jason moved in closer. “You would be wise to take your hands off of her and leave. Now,” he said, his tone calm.
“What are you going to do about it, jackass?” Todd said with a snicker.
“You really don’t want to find out,” Jason warned.
“Please go, Todd,” Liza begged, not wanting things to get any further out of hand then they already had.
“Not until you give me my shit back,” he snapped.
She grimaced, and soon she realized that he’d left a box of his things in her closet. Had that been what’d he’d wanted all along? She shook her head, heat filling her face as the embarrassment of her thoughts settled on her.
“I’ve been trying to get my stuff back for weeks. You keep avoiding my calls.”
“Why didn’t you just say so?” She stalked to her closet to get the box. “Here,” she said, shoving it at him. “Now go.”
Todd took the box and left. Then she came to terms with the fact that she was standing face-to-face with Jason—someone she was not supposed to see again. At least not so soon. Her pulse quickened. She moved into the kitchen, and he followed her.
“I couldn’t help but notice how not on a business trip you are,” he said, placing her earring on the island counter that separated them.
She cringed, eyeing her jewelry. She hadn’t expected him to return it so quickly. Honestly, she thought he might give it to Sam to give back to her. “I’m sorry I lied about that,” she confessed, the heavy weight of her lie crushing down on her. She hated doing that to him.
“Why did you?”
Bile rose up at the back of her throat as she contemplated the repercussions of the truth or a fragment of the truth. “I was afraid,” she admitted.
“Afraid of me?”
Yes, afraid of losing myself to you. “No,” she said on a gasp. “That’s not it. I feared that I would want to stay longer than I should,” she confessed, unable to look at him. “I was concerned things could get more complicated if I did.”
He folded his arms over his chest, not saying a word.
“I thought if I snuck out early enough that no one would know I was ever with you and our night together would be our little secret.”
Wasn’t that the way it was supposed to be? The way they both wanted it?
Yes! There was no other option for her, even if her nights for months had been spent dreaming of him. Desiring him more would only lead to disaster.
When he still hadn’t said anything, she moved to the mini-fridge and pulled out a bottle of inexpensive wine. She needed a drink. If she could, she’d chug the whole damn bottle to numb the unease churning around in her head and stomach.
“You’ll drink that shit, but you won’t have a beer?”
His comment caught her off guard. Hearing his teasing humor somehow softened the tension around them. She lifted the giant wine bottle and snickered. “I guess so.”
He shook his head and moved to take the bottle from her. “Where are the glasses?”
She pointed to the cabinet, and he grabbed two and filled each one with the fruity wine. Then he handed her one, and they both drank down the contents in a few gulps.
“Sam saw you leaving,” he said matter-of-factly, and her mouth hung open. “She drilled me about the reasons why, first thing in the morning.”
She raised her glass for him to refill it and drank down the contents even faster than she had the first one. “I’m so sorry. I tried to be discreet.”
He was about to refill his own glass when he frowned. “This stuff’s really horrible, you know?”
“It’s all I have,” she replied. “That expensive stuff is not really for me.”
“I don’t know, you seemed to like apple martinis.”
She smiled. “I can’t taste the alcohol in them. Honestly, I’m not at all a big drinker.”
He placed his empty glass in the sink and leaned against the counter. “So was that your ex?”
She refilled her glass and drank it down. She would be drunk soon if she wasn’t careful. “Yep. That was Todd. One of my many mistakes.”
“Like me?” he asked.
She looked at him. His eyes were round and consumed with need. She swallowed hard, her chest rising and falling with shallow pants. “No…not like you.”
He closed the distance between them, making her arch her neck back to look at him. The deep blue of his eyes captivated her, stunning her into submission. All she could do was stare.
“I know we said that last night was just a one-time deal, but how do you feel about having dinner with me tonight?”
Her insides shook like an earthquake. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
He reached up and brushed the backs of his knuckles over her cheek, tucking her hair behind her ear. As he met her gaze head-on, he smiled. “It’s just dinner, Liza. I’m not asking you to sleep with me again.”
Why did hearing his voice make her nipples hard? She held on to the counter for balance. She needed to get control over her body before she did something impulsive and jumped him in her kitchen. She moved away from him. She wasn’t a kid anymore. She was a grown woman, and she could control the desires flooding through her body.
“What did you have in mind?”
He
shrugged. “What do uptown girls eat?”
She frowned, remembering her piss-poor attitude at the reception. I was such an asshole. “I’m sorry I was such a bitch last night, but I don’t—” She groaned. “I like pizza, hamburgers, French fries. I drink generic soda and Kool-Aid.” Maybe he’ll give me a chance to prove that I’m not the person I was pretending to be—the one most assume I am because that’s who I try to get them to believe I am.
He laughed. “Kool-Aid?”
Seeing his adorable smile beam back at her, she laughed, too. “Yes. I like cheap-ass wine, too.”
He nodded. “That’s it then. It’s settled. We’re going out for burgers and beer.”
She furrowed her brow. “I don’t know about the beer part.”
He circled around the island counter and faced her. “You drink Kool-Aid, I know you can handle a good beer.”
She folded her arms over her chest defiantly. “And who’s going to determine exactly what a good beer is?”
He scoffed. “Me, of course.”
He looked her up and down, and she suddenly felt naked. She wished she’d been able to avoid the warm rush that pulsed through her body, startling her with just how much she liked it when he did that. If she could cross her legs to stop the pooling of heat at her core she would.
Maybe.
“Would you like to change first?”
He’s serious. “Into what?” she asked, hoping he would give her some idea of how to dress for an evening out with him.
“Do you own jeans and a comfortable shirt?”
She rolled her eyes at him and dug her hands into her hips. He probably thought she only owned business suits. “Of course, I do.”
“Good,” he said in the deepest, sexiest voice she’d ever heard. “Now go put them on, and let’s get going.”
Chapter Four
At any moment, Jason’s cock was going to punch through his jeans. As Liza descended the stairs, his heart pumped like a locomotive engine. She wore tight blue jeans that hugged her slender thighs and hips, a white short-sleeved button-down blouse that was opened just enough to show the start of the valley between her breasts, and ankle high white boots that had at least a three-inch heel. Her makeup was subtle, and her hair flowed loosely around her face.