Angst squeezed my heart. Falling for Cole would be a colossally stupid mistake, even by my standards. One, we were still opposites. Two, I still had to live with him. Three, my brother would kill him, even if the eventual break up was my fault.
But what if you didn’t break up?
Yeah, right. Because my track record had been so stellar.
I touched my tingly lips. Might as well savor that kiss since it was two-in-one: first and last.
10
Cole
“Ithink I need a drink.” And possibly a cigarette after that kiss.
I should be kicking myself for such a public display of affection at a work function, but I couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off my face.
Aubrey had kissed me.
Even better, she’d kissed me in front of Deidre, who was now frowning in my direction as if she were reconsidering out relationship.
Too late, Deidre.
“Did you know?” I asked Aubrey as we strolled over to the open bar.
“Did I know what?”
“That that woman was Deidre.”
“Oh, yeah. She introduced herself while we were fixing our makeup and told me she was glad you’d found someone new.”
My heart lurched a little. It might’ve been a pity kiss.
No, there was no faking how it had felt, and she was the one who’d instigated the kiss.
“And you didn’t tell her you were only here as a favor to me?”
Aubrey chuckled. “Oh, no. Something about her rubbed me the wrong way. I decided to let her think whatever she was going to think. That’s what she gets for upending your plans.”
Those old plans were happily upended. My brain was hastily making new plans, better plans.
I took Aubrey’s hand in mine. “Well, I appreciate that. Being dumped by a woman you proposed to is quite the blow to a man’s ego.”
She squeezed my hand, and we took one step closer to the front of the line. “Mama told me when I first started dating that the only relationship that would work would be the last one. Any broken relationship before that was just a learning experience.”
“Or a dodged bullet.”
“That too. I should’ve paid more attention to her last time. I wish I’d dodged that bullet, and I think I’ve hit my lifetime quota on learning experiences,” she said with a shudder.
“Oh, no. You’re not going to beat yourself up over that,” I said as we finally approached the bartender and placed our orders. I got a bourbon, neat. Aubrey squealed with delight at the sight of sparkling, so I got her a flute full of bubbles.
My heart started making plans for New Year’s Eve. I told it to chill.
“Thank you again for coming tonight on such short notice,” I said as we stood at one of the tall tables on the periphery of the room. The band was taking a break, so we could hear each other talk for the moment.
“Are you kidding? An excuse to dress up and get fancy food and,” she lifted her champagne flute, “Free bubbles? It has been no hardship, let me assure you.”
But was the kiss a hardship?
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask, but I didn’t. In fact, now I didn’t know what to say.
