The Secret Ingredient (Love Around the Corner)

by Lynn Rae

  She frowned again, narrowed her eyes, and ran her thumb along his cheekbone. When she touched the sensitive skin in front of his ear, he wanted to shake but held it in, suddenly desperate not to reveal how much she was undoing him with her every movement.

  “You remind me of the boys in school, getting into scrapes and needing a dose of swagger to get through the day.” Her whispered words hit hard, and he drew back to stare at her.

  “I’m not a kid, June.”

  She pulled her hands away and gripped them tight together as she gave a quick shake of her head. “Of course you aren’t. I didn’t mean—”

  Enough. Enough of this careful pretending. Nate took a breath and leaned toward her as he found her arms and pulled her his way. He got a startled look from her warm eyes before he pressed his lips to hers, relieved his memory hadn’t overblown how good she felt. Her touch flooded him with warmth.

  She wriggled a moment like she might try to escape, but her body relaxed, and her mouth opened enough that she could more closely fit to him. Warning himself to take it easy, Nate did his best to not drag her into his lap, but the little sounds she was making and her soft nibbles tested him.

  The faint sweetness from the ice cream she’d eaten soon disappeared, and all he could taste was June. Her skin was warm under his hands, and he stroked up her arms and gave a gentle tug. She fell his way, her mouth leaving his as she gave a surprised cry.

  Suddenly, she was sprawled in his lap as her chair fell over with a clatter. June tried to rise up and pressed her palms against his thighs. Nate ordered his body to stop reacting to having her mouth so near his groin.

  “Sorry.” Nate kept hold of her arms. Most of her body weight was pressing against him, but he barely noticed.

  “I’m mushing you.” She blinked at him, her eyes dark. She struggled to rise, and Nate hoisted her up, following her to hold her steady. She ran a hand along her cheek and pushed back her fine, blonde hair. He couldn’t let go of her, even when she momentarily leaned away to reach for the chair.

  “Leave it.” Stomach roiling with nerves, Nate caught her gaze with his own. “I didn’t mean to pull you.”

  “You didn’t. I slipped.” She swallowed and looked so earnest he wanted to laugh, but he was too aroused for humor. Surely he had a suave line to employ to convince her to get back to kissing him. When June brought her hands up to his chest and, with a slight hesitation, rested her fingertips against him, he couldn’t help jumping and tightening his hold on her. She had to know he wanted her. For two breaths she just stared up at him, and then her hands crept up to his shoulders.

  It was all the invitation he needed to kiss her again. He took his time and made sure he kept his balance as he stroked her arms and gently moved against her mouth. No pushing or suction, just a careful exploration of whatever she allowed him. He felt her breath along his cheek, and she shifted closer, pressing her soft breasts to him and pushing herself up on her toes.

  Lust rocked through him, and he warned himself to ease back before he tilted her back onto the table and pushed himself between her legs.

  “June, hang on—”

  “I am,” she said in a whisper as she tightened her grip on him to demonstrate.

  “We need to stop, slow this down.” How he managed to get it out, he had no idea, but June stopped moving against him and frowned. This wasn’t going to be some hookup, and he wanted her to understand—

  A pounding on the door startled him, and when he heard Heather’s loud voice through the panel, he winced. Not now. June drew her hands away and stepped back, only to stumble over the chair still lying on the floor. She went sprawling, and he reached for her again, encouraging her to get up. With a sinking feeling in his gut, he knew this evening wasn’t going to end the way he’d fantasized, or even dared hope.

  “Hey! Open up. I know you’re in there!” Heather shouted, a frantic note in her voice, and June again withdrew.

  “I should be going.” Something flickered in her eyes.

  “Wait, June, please. I want to talk—”

  She didn’t reply. Instead she grabbed her bag from beside the door where she’d dropped it and wrenched open to door to have Heather nearly hit her in the face as the other woman prepared to strike her fist against the wood. The women blinked at each other until June shuffled to the side and left his apartment. Heather’s face crumpled, and she began to cry. Heather never cried.

  Nate went to the door where his friend blocked him from going farther by latching on to his arm. He watched as June disappeared into the night.

  “Wait, I’ll give you a ride,” he called out, but June merely raised her hand and called out she’d be fine before she disappeared down the sidewalk. What the hell?

  Nate glared at Heather, and she burst into fresh tears. He knew he was a jerk for thinking it, but he resented her breakdown, because now there was no way he could chase down June and explain himself. What he’d say to her if he caught her, he had no idea.

  “Nate, I need to talk with you.”

  “I need to talk with June.” Nate knew he sounded impatient as he gestured for Heather to come inside. He pulled his phone from the table where he’d dropped it earlier. He’d turned it down when he’d picked up June, and as he powered it up, he saw Heather had called him three times that evening. Something serious was bothering her, but before he tackled that, he needed to contact June. He hit her number and impatiently listened to it ring several times before it went to voice mail. Very aware that Heather was crying and listening, he left a terse message asking June to call when she got home, and he ended the call.

  “Heather, what’s going on?” He wanted to sound sympathetic but he was sure it came out as disgruntled as he felt.

  “What was she doing here?” Heather sniffed and threw herself on the sofa.

  “We were having dinner together. Tell me what’s wrong, please.” Nate took a breath and sat on the chair near her, his phone in hand. It was rude to not put it away and pay attention to his friend, but he didn’t want to run the risk of missing June’s call.

  “I’m turning thirty, that’s what’s wrong.”

  Nate’s blood ran cold. Had he forgotten? Heather’s birthday was in…September. Thank God he hadn’t missed it. A month and a half away and she was already upset?

  “Hey, I did it earlier this year, and it didn’t hurt at all.” Hopefully his weak joke would snap her out of it, but it only resulted in more tears.

  “You’re a man. It isn’t the same for you.” She blinked her eyes and sniffled. He grabbed a box of tissues from the end table and handed her a couple, which she took quickly. Becky’s odd assertion that Heather wanted to settle down came back to him in a rush.

  “You aren’t worried about having kids, are you? You’ve got time before everyone starts to pressure you.”

  “I don’t care what everyone else thinks. I care what I think.” Heather gulped and slid his way, her blue eyes staring at him. “What do you think?”

  Nate could have easily pointed out she’d just declared she didn’t care about other’s opinions, but her vulnerable state held him back from his usual teasing. “What do I think about you having kids? If you want them, you should have them.”

  He felt some reservations about saying it, since Heather wasn’t exactly the most maternal person he knew. But people changed once they became parents, and she would too. At heart, she was a decent person, which, in his experience, put her ahead of a lot of the people reproducing out in the wild.

  Heather leaned his way, pressing tight to the arm of the sofa. “What about you? Don’t you want a family? I know you do. I’ve seen you with Becky’s kids, and you’re a natural.”

  The intensity of her questions and her unblinking stare made him feel uncomfortable, and he wanted to stand up and put some distance between them, but his friend was hurting and the last thing he wanted to do was act as if he didn’t care. Instead, he gripped the phone tighter and thought of June walking down the sidewalk, in
the dark, alone. Not a reassuring image at all. Palmer was pretty safe, but bad things happened to people no matter where they lived. Please let her call soon.

  “I suppose I want a family. Someday.”

  “I do too!” Heather smiled suddenly and reached out for his hand, bumping the phone. He clenched it tighter and pulled back, wondering if she’d accidentally turned it off. “So, it works out okay.”

  Nate glanced at the phone to see its functions seemed to be normal, and then Heather’s statement sunk in. He looked at her more closely. She was grinning at him and nodding her head slowly, like he’d figured out the solution to a puzzle they’d both been stumped by.

  “What works out?” Not his time with June, that was for sure. He wanted to kick himself for how many times he’d messed things up with her. It was a wonder she’d even kissed him back tonight.

  “You and me. Us.”

  Nate finally left off his contemplation of June to focus fully on Heather. What the hell was she talking about? “Us what?”

  “Come on, you can’t tell me you’ve never thought about it. We’ve just always been involved with other people, and whenever one of us was unattached, the other was, so we never had a chance to give it a try.”

  With a terrible sinking sensation, Nate caught on to what Heather was trying to communicate. It confirmed what his sister had hinted. This was going to be bad. Giving in to his instinctive urge to move away, Nate stood up and shook his head with Heather following along. She grabbed at his arm and pressed tight to his side.

  “No, Heather, that’s not a good idea. We’re friends. I’ve known you since first grade.”

  “That’s why it’s perfect. We already know everything about each other, and we still hang out. Taking it to the next level is logical.” Heather’s hands crept up his arms, and she stared up at him. “What’s the harm in trying?”

  Nate didn’t want to open that can of worms. There was no way he could flat-out tell Heather she didn’t trip his trigger, or say anything about how June did in a way he’d never experienced before. His friend was pouring out her heart and laying it out for him to stomp on, and all he could think about was how much he wanted June to call. “It’s because we’re friends. I don’t want to lose that.”

  Heather took a breath and narrowed her eyes. “Are you kidding? That’s the lamest line in the book. There’s got to be another reason.”

  Nate shook his head, not willing to speak any more and cause more drama. This was already so awkward he wanted to climb over the back of the chair to get away from her.

  “You don’t think I’m sexy?”

  “Please, Heather, don’t talk about sex.” Now, he did back away from her, aghast at what she was saying. Just the idea of Heather making a move on him was enough to make him a little nauseated.

  “Why not? We do all the time.”

  “No, we don’t. Yes, we do, but that’s about other people. Not personally.”

  “I don’t mind. I’m a good communicator in bed, and I know we can figure out what would make us both happy.” Heather followed him as he backed into the kitchen, retreating to his safe place. He felt blocked in with the counter on one side, the narrow island on the other, and Heather filling the space in between. “What I can’t figure out is why we never made one of those marriage pacts, like if we were both single and thirty we’d end up with each other. It would have made my twenties much less stressful.”

  Nate’s anxiety was at a level he hadn’t felt since he’d set the deep fryer on fire at the diner one particularly awful lunch rush. “Come on, Heather. There are lots of guys out there, better than me.”

  Heather shook her head and bit her lip. “Nope. I’ve met every single one of them in a fifty-mile radius.”

  “Maybe an online dating site—” Heather closed the gap between them and launched herself at him, leaving Nate to awkwardly catch her as she slammed against his chest. Her mouth fastened on his, and he pushed at her while she snaked her arms around his neck and held on. He barely registered what she’d done before he pulled his head back and away from her, slamming it against a kitchen cabinet in the process.

  Blinking his eyes at the unexpected pain, not to mention Heather’s far too close for comfort embrace, as she asked if he was all right; Nate tried to rein in his temper.

  “Heather, enough. Let go of me.”

  “Sorry, I was so rough; let me try again,” Heather said as she grabbed for him, her mouth brushing against his as he turned aside. He managed to grab her arms and pull himself from her grasp while forcing her back a step. He stared at her until she met his gaze, and he saw stubborn Heather, the girl who in third grade had endured attempt after attempt of assaults on her arms in an epic game of Red Rover, and she’d never broken. God, she really meant to do this.

  “It’ll be great, Nate. Who knows you better than I do?”

  Nate shook his head, weary with Heather’s irrational behavior and again worrying about June. Why hadn’t she called? “Heather, listen, I’m tired. You’ve really put me on the spot here.”

  Heather nodded and stroked her fingers up his arm, her manicured fingernails dragging on his skin. “I understand. You need time to think. I know it’s going to be perfect. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  She tried to kiss him again, but he swerved around her and headed for the front door, realizing he’d just given Heather false hope. How could he tell his lifelong friend he’d rather kiss Tiny than her?

  Chapter 10

  June sat on one cushion of the big sectional sofa in Becky’s nicely finished basement and watched everyone around her having a good time. It was a crowd of local thirtysomethings who knew each other well, sharing stories and jokes that seemed to originate decades before. She felt very out of place.

  Smiling and responding whenever someone bothered to notice her, June was careful not to observe Nate too closely since Heather seemed to have attached herself to him. They must have worked out whatever their relationship troubles had been. Knowing Nate had kissed her and then reconciled with his girlfriend soon after, made June feel like she’d been a pawn in a tawdry little drama. She resolved to harden her heart in the future, so she wouldn’t feel so stomped on.

  She sipped her water and glanced around the room. Big, man-sized furniture, tan walls, a small built-in bar, and an enormous television on the wall completed the decor. Right now the screen displayed an old Julia Child episode no one seemed to be watching but her. The clock was ticking on revealing Nate’s audition and she dreaded being noticed.

  Glancing around, she caught Heather’s cold blue gaze and looked away but not before the other woman stroked her hand along Nate’s arm. The two were sitting together on a love seat opposite June, and she couldn’t resist thinking how appropriate that furniture choice was. If there was one thing to be thankful for, it was that the boisterous crowd had kept her from having to speak to Nate so far. She’d really misjudged him, and her error was an ache in her heart.

  Startled out of her misery by the arrival of Becky, June stood up and agreed to start the audition video. She followed Nate’s sister to a wall unit filled with electronic boxes with blinking lights, and they managed to find the correct file in the system.

  “Is it good?” Becky asked as her finger hovered over the buttons, ready to play it.

  June shrugged. It was good, but looking at Nate’s charming smile now just made her feel slightly sick instead of giving her the little thrill she’d grown used to. “I hope it’ll help him get on the show.”

  “Do you think he has a chance? When I think about him getting to go to California and kicking ass on a television show, I’m so proud of him. He wouldn’t believe me if I told him.” Becky cocked her head and looked at her brother as he talked with a very large man leaning on a nearby chair. Heather’s arm was now around Nate’s shoulder, and June repressed a jealous twinge. “Poor Heather’s missing him already. They’ve been friends since elementary school.”

  And June had been the catalyst in
their reunion. Girl next door gets her guy. Her stomach turned over, and she was glad she hadn’t eaten much from the food displayed all over the top of the bar. She was sure Nate had prepared most of it, and she was equally sure he’d made what his friends liked to eat rather than what he’d wanted since it was a selection of pedestrian cold-cut sandwiches, baked beans, and potato chips with dip. Not a sliver of truffle or a twist of lemongrass in anything. Granted, the baked beans had been laced with whiskey and maple syrup, and the cold cuts had included a spicy chipotle-glazed chicken option, but it was not even close to what he could accomplish.

  Despite her personal ache over the situation, June agreed with Becky. Nate definitely needed to get out of Palmer and see what he could do on a bigger stage.

  “Okay, everyone, listen up!” Becky announced they needed to sit down and quiet themselves, because she was going to play the video in a moment. “Nate, get up here.”

  His sister gestured at the space by her side, and Nate rose after disentangling himself from Heather’s hands. He ambled over to good-natured catcalls from the group and stood next to Becky after giving June a hard to interpret look, identical to the others he’d sent her way that evening.

  “It’s time for what we all came here for, other than some good munchies courtesy of our resident gourmet chef.”

  More catcalling ensued as someone made reference to beans as the musical fruit. June tried not to close her eyes and wish herself away. She very much did not fit in here and being this close to Nate was painful.

  “Let’s all watch my big brother’s audition for this new television show, The Knife’s Edge, and wish him good luck because without it he’s never getting out of here.” Becky gleefully teased her brother, and June winced with another pang of jealousy. She’d never had such a comfortable relationship with her brother and the lack hurt.