Page 19 of Just A Kiss
I refrain from rolling my eyes at the jackass. The only reason she is so willing to go is because she’ll be getting paid. And he only wants her to go to piss me off.
It’s working.
I lift my hand as a waiter walks by and order another glass of wine. Nate leans into me. “Are you sure you want another one? You drank that one pretty fast.”
“Yes,” I snap. He sits back in his seat and takes a sip of his water, wounded from my tone.
The rest of dinner goes by pretty slowly, considering I stopped counting my drinks after the fifth. Nate keeps giving me weird looks, but I ignore him. He’s just a fake fiancé and has no say over what I can and can’t do.
When it’s time to wrap up dinner, Aiden and Asher fight over the check. Nate tried to offer, but the look Aiden gave him had him shutting his mouth immediately.
“I’m going to go get the car,” Nate informs me and then walks off toward the front door.
“I’m gonna use the powder room. I’ll be right back,” Candy tells Asher before walking off.
I stand and almost trip when the wine gets to me. “Whoa.” Two hands grab my hips and pull me into a hard body. “Need me to help you to the car?”
I look up into a set of blue eyes. They look at me the same way they did while he held me on the beach in Tahiti when I almost tripped due to too much alcohol—lustful. And I wish we could go back to that time. When I didn’t have to think about the bills I’m behind on or the fact that my brother still has yet to message me back. They search my face slowly, then when they reach mine, he pulls me closer to him. As though he’s remembering the same thing I am. He releases me with one hand and cups my face. My heart rate picks up at his soft touch. “I …”
“I’ll help her.” Hadley grabs my arm and yanks me free of his hold. I almost trip over my own heels from her force. She then places her arm in the crook of mine and begins to walk me toward the entrance.
I can’t help but giggle on the way.
“What’s so funny?” she asks.
She’s right. I’m in way over my head. How am I ever gonna stay on this side of the line? How do I turn him down and keep it strictly friends? I hold up my left hand for us to look at my ring. “Do you think we’ll have to have a fake wedding?”
She laughs along with me. “I’ve already picked out my matron of honor dress.”
* * *
I wakewith a pounding headache and a slew of messages, including a few missed calls, from Hadley. I send her a quick text to let her know I’m alive but hungover. I take a hot shower and that helps me a little bit. A cup of coffee makes it even better. I’m walking out of my front door when I catch sight of the letter from my mother’s nursing home. With a sigh, I turn around and look at the wall where we marked my height every year. My mother bought this house when I was ten. I remember she was so proud of it. After my father left her, we lived in run-down apartments, and she worked two jobs to support me. It was hard, and I didn’t get to see her as much as I wanted to, but when she had a day off, she spent it with me. This neighborhood was never a good one, but she was proud to accomplish having something that was all hers. Something that she did on her own. I’m still proud of her for that. I couldn’t imagine going through what she did and to have a child to take care of on top of everything else.
I run my hands over the lines that show years and years of growth. My brother is on here but not as often as I am. He only visited once a year during the summer. My mother knew he didn’t wanna be here, so she never forced him, but my father would send him every summer. He needed alone time with whichever secretary he was sleeping with at the time.
And as much as it pains me to even think of this, maybe I need to sell the house. I can use the cash to help her out. She needs it. As much as I want to live in this house, I don’t need it.
Deciding what I need to do, I grab my keys and walk out the door to my day job at the department store.
My day was like any other Saturday on the week of Christmas. People lined up all day to exchange or return the gifts they hated or that didn’t fit. Even though I was exhausted from standing on my feet all day with just a short lunch break, the day was far from over. I had plans that I wasn’t going to miss.
Later that evening, I rush to Hadley’s to get ready with her for the art gallery opening.
“Hello, Andrea,” Aiden calls out as he opens their front door for me.
“Hey,” I say, running past him toward their bedroom.
“You’re late,” Hadley informs me when I enter their master bedroom.
“Not like you have never been late.”
She smiles at me. “How do you feel?”
“Like shit,” I answer, tossing my garment bag onto their bed. I unzip it and pull the dress out. “Hey, I need to ask you a question.”
“Anything.” She turns to give me her full attention.
“Have you sold your house yet?” She had a house when she met Aiden. It didn’t take long for her to move in with him, but she kept her house. Not sure why. She never said, and I never asked, but I know that Aiden paid it off for her.