He replied with a sexy smirk, “Later, babes.”
She began to quietly giggle. When they got outside Linnea was giggling with her and by the time they got to the corner they were cracking up. It was so damn good to see Linnea laugh like that—it didn’t happen often enough. Thankfully, Linnea didn’t think to ask her what was so funny.
They walked the eight blocks to Linnea’s place as the kaleidoscope of colors in the sky changed from blue to shades of pink and orange and red. While Linnea unlocked her front door, Chloe bent over the flowerpots to look for any signs of the return of fuckboy. Nothing. Good! They didn’t need that distraction.
Chloe dropped her bags by the stairs and checked the time. They had about two hours before her surprise guests arrived and she had a lot to accomplish before then. She turned to Linnea. “Why don’t you go change while I wait on the groceries? Then I can freshen up while you start dinner.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“I have them sometimes, you know.” She walked across the living room and opened the French doors to Linnea’s brick-paved courtyard patio. Sweet summer air spilled into the room. Chloe hoped she could get everything done in the time it would take her friend to shower.
“Okay, I won’t be long.”
Please, take your time.
“Help yourself to some white sangria. I mixed up a batch of it this morning.”
With that, Linnea bounded up the stairs and Chloe got right to it. She poured herself a glass of the fruit-infused wine just as the doorbell rang. Like a whirlwind she brought in the groceries, prepped the food for the grill, arranged candles all around the patio, and turned the music up on the outdoor speakers. By the time Linnea came back downstairs Chloe was straining chickpeas to make hummus.
Whew!
“Don’t you look adorable?”
Linnea appeared in a cute and casual tank-style dress that hugged her body just right. Chloe couldn’t have picked out a better outfit for Kyan to see her in. She smiled, satisfied, because her plan was coming together even better than she had hoped—so far anyway.
“This? Um, thanks.” Linnea glanced down and shrugged as if the dress were nothing special—as if she were nothing special. She was gorgeous, and everyone saw it except her.
Chloe couldn’t understand why Linnea didn’t see herself for the beautiful person she was—inside and out. And she was determined to make her see it. She looked at the time. The guys would be here soon.
Shit!
“My turn to change. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Chloe drained the sangria from her glass and raced up the stairs.
Whatever happened tonight was going to be the start of something or the end of something that never really started—for her and for Linnea. Chloe hoped it was the start of something wonderful, that Jesse meant what he’d said. She stepped beneath the spray of hot water.
I know exactly what I want. You.
She had never gotten ready so fast in her life. Chloe showered, primped, fluffed and buffed so quickly she should be recognized for it in the Guinness Book of World Records or something. She checked out her short denim skirt in the full-length mirror in Linnea’s bedroom and rearranged her tousled messy bun as she heard the telltale ping coming from her cell.
Jesse: Dillon is locking up and Ky is loading up the Rover with ice, drinks and dessert—be there soon. Need anything else, Riosin?
Riosin? Raisin? Auto correct is sure fucked up sometimes.
Chloe: Are you calling me a shriveled grape?
Jesse: Huh?
Chloe: A raisin!
Jesse: LOL!!!! Riosin
Chloe: What the hell is a riosin?
Jesse: I’ll tell you if you’re a good girl. Need anything, babe?
You.
Chloe: Nope
Jesse: See you soon then xo
Invigorated with anticipation, Chloe bounced back down the stairs and skipped into Linnea’s kitchen to find her friend scoffing to herself. “How’re things coming?” she asked as she poured herself a fresh glass of sangria.
“As soon as I finish with the béarnaise we can fire up the grill.”
Thank fuck! Because I really need you to be busy on the patio when the doorbell rings.
“Thank God, I’m starving,” she said instead and slipped into a seat at the island.
For someone who had received an impromptu visit from the hot-as-fuck Kyan Byrne and had a secret admirer, Linnea looked like Chloe felt when she found out The Vampire Diaries got canceled. Not happy. She looked downright glum and that just wouldn’t do.
“So?” Chloe raised her brows and did a little shimmy in her seat. “You and Ky. All the deets.”
“There is no me and Ky.”
Here we go again.
“Seriously, Linnea, stop doing this to yourself.”
Linnea was such a fantastic friend that Chloe thought of her more like the sister she never had. She deserved the world, but rarely ventured into it. Linnea made little mention of her life before—that’s how she always phrased it. Before she moved to the city. Before school. Before Charley’s. She’d only told her that she grew up in a shithole town and she had no family. Her mother died when she was just a baby and her grandmother right after she finished high school. Linnea was on guard, even with her, but Chloe knew something or someone had fucked with her head. It was time for a little bit of tough love, the kind only a best friend could give.
And she gave it.
“Let life happen, Linnie.”
Linnea and Kyan. Jesse. Just a little push.
Because the way Chloe saw it, sometimes you had to make life happen too.
Bolts of lightning ripped through the inky sky overhead. It smelled like rain. It was just as well. His riosin emptied the last of drops of champagne from the bottle into her glass. Chloe was past the point of being tipsy, in fact, Jesse was certain she was more than slightly drunk. He’d spent enough time behind a bar to know.
She leaned into his side and his arm instinctively wrapped around her, pulling her tighter against him. Chloe drained her glass and her head fell back onto his shoulder. Her hair smelled like coconuts. Jesse nuzzled into it, closed his eyes, and breathed in the scent of her. He was intoxicated by her, and for a moment he forgot about everything he needed to tell her. Everything he had to tell her if they were to have a chance to have anything real at all.
Not tonight.
They should have done this sooner. He’d really enjoyed himself on Linnea’s patio. The laughter. Good conversation. Great food. Even better company. Chloe. All of them together. Why hadn’t he thought of it?
Jesse’s fingers softly massaged her scalp through her silky hair. A soft contented sigh escaped her mouth and he imagined what other sounds he might elicit from her. He gazed at Chloe’s face and smiled. Her eyes were closed and her lips were slightly parted as she dozed against him. It was time to take his girl home.
His girl.
That’s how he thought of her. His.
The wind picked up as the storm got closer. The candle flames flickered in a wild dance then blew out. With the rain imminent, Linnea and his cousins gathered everything to take their little get-together inside. Jesse gathered Chloe in his arms and carried her into the house.
Linnea brushed tendrils of hair from her sleeping friend’s face, and smiling, she glanced up at him. She spoke softly, “You can take her up to the guest room. At the top of the stairs to the right.”