Waiting For It - Allyson Lindt Page 0,27

summoned by his fingers dancing along my waist were anything but.

“That was why you forgot to tell us you landed?” Was Sadie’s tone flatter, or was I just expecting it to be?

The tiny image of me in the bottom right corner of my screen showed Chase, waving. “That was our fault.” His tone was light and casual. “We distracted her by telling her how desperately we want her.”

Really?

“God, could you not?” Sadie’s retort reminded me this was normal for us. Chase had been doing this to me for years. He’d make a flirty comment, she’d tell him to stop, and I’d write it all off as Chase being Chase.

Except I knew better now. They hadn’t been throwaway comments on his part.

“Wait. We?” Lyn said.

I glanced at Luke, who was sitting in bed, watching the whole exchange silently.

“Do you... Should I...?” I didn’t know how to phrase my question.

Luke nodded. “I trust them to be discreet.” Rinslet had a barely-existent fraternization policy, but a manager fucking a direct report was still frowned upon.

I turned my camera toward him, and he wiggled his fingers.

“Is that... Score.” Lyn’s enthusiasm sent pleased embarrassment rushing through me. “Is this a dating thing?”

This was awkward from both directions. My friends had metaphorically walked into the bedroom the morning after, before the guys left, and plopped down on the bed to ask for details. And the guys stuck around to listen. “Kind of. Yes. I mean, not like Sadie’s thing.”

“A test drive. I get that.” Lyn sounded completely unfazed.

“Sadie?” I asked. Her silence and flat expression had me worried.

She shrugged. “You grew up together. Isn’t that weird?”

Even though her question mimicked my earlier thoughts, defensiveness filled me. “So did you and Jax.”

“True.” Sadie’s tone wasn’t as convincing as I’d hoped. “I get it. I mean not really, because eww... but I guess if I weren’t related, I could see the attraction to Chase. And your boss? Score.” Her smile was a relief.

“That’s what I said,” Luke called.

This wasn’t bad. Much closer to best-case scenario than worst. “So we’re good?” I asked.

“As long as no one hurts anyone’s feelings, we’re fine.” Sadie winked.

“And also, as long as you make time for us still between work and your fuck boys,” Lyn added.

I grinned. “Deal. Talk to you soon.” I disconnected and dropped my phone back in my purse.

Pleasant shivers raced over me when Chase nuzzled my ear. “Feel better, now that you have Moms’ permission?”

“Could you not?” I mimicked Sadie’s words from earlier, my tone as light as my mood.

Luke climbed from the bed to join us, and stood in front of me. “I like the idea of being a fuck boy. It’s got a ring to it.” He lifted my chin, and I met his gaze. “You were right yesterday.”

“About what?”

“It’s going to be hard to get any work done today.”

My smile grew. The silly one that had flitted in and out since last night. “We’ll manage. You have faith in me.”

“Smart man.” Chase settled his hands on my hips.

This was perfectly delicious. I could handle being sandwiched between the two of them over and over and over. “We don’t have to go into the office, do we?” I let disappointment mingle with teasing.

“You probably should.” Chase planted a row of kisses up the side of my neck.

I tilted my head, to give him better access, careful not to break away from Luke’s touch. “Easy for you to say. You’re not going with us.”

“This went so much better than we planned.” Luke murmured against my lips.

My laugh faded as his words sank in, dragging ice through my veins. “Planned?”

Chapter Fourteen

Behind me, Chase stopped moving. He felt frozen in place.

Luke pulled back to study me with concern.

“What do you mean, we planned?” Nagging whispers about potential definitions chewed at my thoughts, but I wasn’t going to make any assumptions. I wanted to hear the truth. It would be fun. Funny, even. And then we’d go back to playful kisses and taking too long to get ready for work.

Chase moved into view, a reassuring smile on his face. He couldn’t hide the hesitation underneath. “Nothing. We’ve talked before about how we’re both attracted to you. Planned isn’t really the right word for that.”

“No, it’s not.” My concerns were growing, rather than rushing away. Shawn lied to me so many times when we dated. Cast so much doubt back on me. Made me question myself—my feelings. I never saw it until we broke up.

Was I missing it again?

Chase was a friend.