Forevermore (23 page)

The smile I’d been wearing from the prospect of the new case widened when I looked up at Elise. That pesky school of fish swam swiftly through my midsection again, causing a little lightheadedness. She was in a skirt today conservatively an inch above the knee but plenty enticing. For instance, I was having a hard time not fantasizing about how soft the skin would be at the back of her knee. If my friend Des was here witnessing my perusal of Elise, she’d say something crass like how badly I needed to get laid. Crass, but true.

“Hi,” I tried for nonchalant, but I’m guessing she saw right through me. “What are you doing here?”

She tipped her head back toward the hallway. “I was going over an investigation on a case that Rachel’s taking to trial next week.”

“Wasn’t Jake on that?” I waved her inside the office to sit in one of my guest chairs. I tried to keep my eyes from staring at her toned calves as she floated into the chair and kicked one leg over the other. Her skirt rode up another couple of inches, and my mouth dried with each revealing hike of material.

Oblivious to my parched state, she responded, “He put in for a transfer to Phoenix to help out the family business now that his father’s gone. He wanted to be more available to them.”

Jake’s dedication helped relieve my dazed reverie. “Amazing how it takes a death to make us realize which things are really important in life.”

“You’re so right.” She sloped into that sexy head tilt again. “Jake asked me to tell you goodbye for him. I think he was a little enchanted with you.”

“No.” I tossed aside her remark without any consideration. Jake and I had worked seven cases together, and he was never more than affable with me.

Elise studied me for a long moment, not letting up on her sexiness. “Fascinating. You don’t believe someone could be enchanted by you?” She was taking great enjoyment from my astonished expression. Before I could react, she stood up to leave. “I didn’t really mean that as a question. Good seeing you, Austy.”

Sassy, smart, and sexy: the very definition of trouble for me.

Imagining Reality

“Oh yeah! Who’s that?” someone yelled above the music.

I looked over and groaned. Jordan Palow stood among the tree stumps of her friends staring at our table. More specifically Elise whose striking looks would catch anyone’s attention. Jordan mistakenly believed that she was in a contest with me about who could bed more women. She didn’t seem to care that I wouldn’t play along. Leering pointedly at Elise, she ignored the rest of us. “You’d make my whole year if you danced with me.”

“No thanks,” Elise forced a steady voice.

“Aw, come on, hottie. You won’t get a better offer.”

“Will I do, doll?” my mouth spoke before my brain did. Seduction permeated my skin, rising in waves that I’m certain everyone could see. Why was I doing this? Just because my friend was overwhelmed, didn’t mean I needed to step in to make things easier.

Jordan looked astonished. We were barely civil to each other. I traced my fingers over her arm, feeling it flinch before eagerly pushing into my fingertips. I didn’t bother to look for the shock from my friends.

She obediently followed my lead to the dance floor. When we faced each other, she snapped her eyes up with a suspicious look. I gave her my most seductive smile, latched my fingers onto her hips, and pulled her into me. With the sound of the thumping beat, I pushed who she was from my mind and began a slow grind with her.

When the fifth song ended, I leaned back and looked into her startled grey-blue eyes. “That was spectacular, doll. We should do this more often.” My husky voice made my own skin crawl as I released her and watched her float away from me.

A hand grabbed me before I made it all the way off the dance floor. “You’re dancing with me now.” My friend Lauren ordered, grabbing my waist to keep me in place. I laughed at her forcefulness. She was so cute sometimes.

She gave me a wink and turned around to wiggle her tush in time with the music. My lousy mood at working over Jordan vanished as I got into the enjoyment of dancing with my friend.

When the next song turned slow, she grabbed my hands and slid them around her waist before looping her arms around my neck. When she pressed against me, she led us in a slow dance.
Hmm, this is interesting.

“That was nice what you did.”

I leaned back and gave her a questioning look. “What did I do?”

“You know what you did. You don’t fool me, Jess.”

“How much have you had to drink, L?”

“Ha-ha. Play all toughie with everyone else, but I know what you did.”

I quirked my eyebrows at her.
No? She couldn’t actually know, could she?
“Don’t know what you’re talking about, shug.”

“Yes, you do. You made Jordan disappear so that Elise wouldn’t be uncomfortable anymore. You took a woman that you don’t like out on the dance floor and made her think she was the only person in the world. You’re a good woman, Jessamine Ximena, even if you won’t let yourself believe it.” Lauren pressed closer, moving our bodies with ease. “One of these days, I’ll make even you see it.” She tilted up and kissed my cheek before detaching herself to walk away.

Five seconds passed before I realized the song had ended.

Finally

Kiss her!

The order screamed so loudly in my head I had to look around to make sure no one had spoken it aloud. All I could see was a bustle of deplaning passengers jostling each other while they moved in a slow herd toward baggage claim. All movement stopped when I spotted Quinn emerging from the jet way. My step left to avoid a businessperson halted suddenly as the plea to kiss her activated paralysis.

This crush of mine was getting ridiculous. And yes, I’d started to admit that it was a crush not just friendship. It was so unfair to Quinn. I’d hoped by now that these feelings would have subsided. The euphoria of a new friendship usually wore off within a month, but after four, I felt all the telltale signs of romantic feelings for someone.

I pressed back against a railing to fight the impulse to push through the passengers. I clenched my teeth, attempting to bite down on the need to be next to her. I had to stop this. Quinn is a friend. Quinn is a friend. Quinn is just a friend. A mantra, that would solve it for sure.

Just then, Quinn twisted her head back as if someone had called out her name. Almost immediately, she locked eyes with me and hurried to finish signing a few more autographs before extricating herself from the group.

“You made it! I’m so glad to see you.” Her voice overflowed with joy, and my heart soared at the sound. She pulled me into a hug.

The command to kiss her pounded away inside my head like a throbbing headache. “Same here.” I kept my response clipped for fear that my crazy thoughts might subliminally make their way into my speech. I couldn’t manage anything else until she released me.

“What luck. I get to hang out with you till you board the plane.” Quinn turned us toward the gates with a hand on my back.

Reaching back, I found her arm and stopped us from advancing. Heat seared my fingertips and threatened to send the flush to my cheeks. I pulled her hand away as casually as I could manage without letting my friend know how certifiable I was. “That’s all right. You’ve got to be tired. Grab your bags with the rest of the team and go home. Rest a little before practice this afternoon.”

“But I haven’t seen you for almost two weeks, and you’re gone for four days.” Her eyes showed hurt, even if her face held a hopeful smile.

Tears threatened my perpetual calm, forcing me to blink harshly. Intense emotions accompanied her everyday kindness, and I found it almost too much to bear. My mind issued commands to keep my hands from attacking this woman in the middle of the airport.

“We can catch up when I get back. Thursday night? You don’t have a game, and I’ll have recovered from my trip.” I hoped my statement wouldn’t appear as a blow off. Quinn needed the rest, and I needed to still these feelings I’d been having for months.

“Thursday night? It’s a date,” Quinn said casually. Words like that obviously didn’t have the same effect on her. “I’ll go grab my bags then if you’re sure you won’t let me keep you company?”

I felt longing slip into my glance, but I packed it back in and said with a light tone, “No. Enjoy your week, and I’ll see you Thursday.”

With that, she squeezed my arm and nodded her head goodbye. Scooping up her carryon with ease, she walked down the corridor toward baggage claim, her posture unencumbered by the dismissal. I wasn’t as fortunate. My heart felt like a rodeo bull had been set loose inside it, wildly kicking, twisting, and flailing to buck the rider trying to control it.

Get a sample of Lynn Galli’s Aspen Friends series:
Mending Defects,
Something So Grand,
and
Life Rewired
on the following pages.

Mending Defects

“You’ve never been married?” Lena asked.

I grinned at her. I wondered if she realized this was the first really personal question she’d asked me. I had just asked her the same thing, but she almost never brought up topics from our pasts. “Nope.”

“Not the marrying kind?” she teased.

“Never really thought about it.”

“The woman from the bar? She’s not your Ms. Right?”

I laughed, but her confused expression made me stop. “No. We were friends. I was her diversion.”

“You’re not anymore?”

“No. I hope to be her friend again, but the diversion is done.”

“Didn’t bring her enough baked goods?”

I shot a sly look at her. “I’ve never baked anything for her.”

“Save those for special people only?”

She thought she was teasing, but I answered honestly. “You can tell a lot about a person from her baked goods. She and I were never that close.”

An involuntary sound left her mouth. She was surprised by it and chose to lean down and pet her dog for the distraction. I smiled, knowing I’d just tossed a flirting lob her way. It was dangerous territory, I knew, but sometimes I liked testing boundaries.

“Did you find anyone special at Club Di?”

She snickered softly. “About twenty fourteen-year-olds. God, were we really that young in college?” She glanced at me. “What am I saying? You still are.”

“Hey, I’m way past my teen drama years, thank you very much.”

“Not by much,” she muttered and gave her other dog the same treatment.

“I do have drama queen tendencies,” I said.

“Ha! You’re the most laidback person I’ve ever met. If you were any more laidback you’d be in a coma.”

“That’s only because you’re so uptight.”

“I am not!” she screeched, standing in protest.

I laughed, making a point of sliding my gaze from her once occupied seat to her now indignant stance. “I think it’s admirable. Honestly. I would love to get wound up about so many things.”

“Oh, shut up!” She swiped my shoulder before huffing a bit more and dropping back into her seat. A long moment passed before she asked, “Do you know Molly? She works at some outfitter shop?”

“Yes.” I felt my fingers cross behind my back hoping that Molly wasn’t Lena’s type. Then again, I didn’t have any right to care if she were.

“Any reason you’d know of that she’d have my number and call to ask me out?”

My head shook and pulled back. What exactly was she asking me? “Like maybe I told her you were in need of a date? I’d never do that. Your relationship status is not for me to advertise.”

“I figured, but I asked Joanna and Brandy and they denied telling her anything.”

That sounded right. Even if the ski instructors had told Molly, they probably wouldn’t own up to it. They were a bit mischievous and liked starting things.

“Are you upset that some people know?”

“I just don’t like being set up.”

“No one does, or if they do, they’re nuts.” I thought for a moment, wondering if I should tell her that as soon as she told Terry, she’d told the whole town.

“Definitely nuts,” she agreed.

“One piece of advice?” I waited for her hesitant nod. “If you’re not interested in dating Molly, you need to tell her. Otherwise she’ll just think you’re playing hard to get.”

“Oh, jeez.” She snuck a glance at me. “You’ve been there?”

“Her asking me out? Yes. Been with her? No. But she’s a really nice lady. She can also wear you out on a mountain trail and will never get lost.”

“As opposed to you,” she shot. A second later her hand clamped over her mouth.

Before she could apologize for giving me a hard time about not being able to keep up on a hiking trail, I said, “I could have let you get lost, you know.”

She smiled gratefully. “I appreciate that you didn’t.”

“You might find you have a lot in common with her.”

“Not sure if dating in this town is a good idea. Joanna warned me against it. Kirsten, too.” Her eyebrows rose in question as if I might give her insight.

“It is hard not to run into them at the supermarket.”

Standing, she patted her leg to get the dogs moving. She nodded at me and stepped off the porch. “Guess it would be.”

Something So Grand

“Think Natalie will start her own business?” Molly asked seemingly as interested in having Natalie get her own construction crew as I was.

“I don’t know.”

“What’s she like?”

“Kind and considerate. She hasn’t talked a lot, but she seems great.” Amazing, actually. Far better than any contractor I’d ever worked with in addition to being a nice person.

Molly inclined her head. Light danced in her brown eyes. “Could she be family?”

“Anyone could be family, Mol. You know that.”

“For you, anyone would be, yeah,” Molly joked. “Realistically though, think she might be? She works construction.”

“Molly!” I admonished.

“What?”