“Hey,” she laughed. “Fancy running into you here.”
“Fancy indeed.”
“Did you enjoy that?”
“That was incredible…” I rested my forehead against hers. “You spoil me, actually.”
“That feeling is very mutual.” She kissed me, short and sweet, and she softened into the bed beside me. “We should probably figure out dinner before too long, because I didn’t realize how hungry I was, but first just… just… this, please,” she said, pulling me a little closer, and I nestled into her.
“As much as you like,” I whispered. “You’re perfect, Jade.”
It was dangerous saying things like that. But I guess I lived life dangerously.
Chapter 26
Jade
Alyssa knocked on the doorway behind me, and I looked back at where she was a hell of a sight in my shirt again, her hair messy over her shoulders, her face bare. She smiled at me, a flash of vulnerability on her features.
“Hey,” she said, coming into the kitchen. “Sorry it’s like a million o’clock.”
“Heard you talking,” I said, leaning against the stove where the omelet was cooking. I was no Daniela, but I could try to cook for her. “You really are popular.”
She scratched her head, laughing nervously. “I’m sorry about that. The call woke me up, and I thought it was an emergency. It’s, uh, an opening for a nice job.”
“Oh, yeah?” I tried to sound bright and cheerful, and—I mean, Iwas. I knew what this meant to her. But something clamped down in my chest, this anxious sensation knowing what a job meant. A reminder of the real world outside our pretty little fictional one. “Something good?”
“It’s still tentative.” She stole over to me, and she hesitated shyly before she went up on her tiptoes, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “Are you making breakfast?”
“Not only that, but I made you coffee. I know. I’m a saint.”
“You really are,” she laughed, eyes sparkling. I could tell she wasn’t keen on talking too much about the job, so I let it rest until after breakfast, making small talk, prolonging the moment—these blissfully happy little things with Alyssa in the morning, rumpled and sleepy and perfectly beautiful in my kitchen.
I poured her coffee, served an omelet with thick slices of toast smeared with blueberry jam courtesy of Daniela’s kitchen, and we chatted and laughed over little nothings before we settled down to a soft quiet over platefuls of crumbs and slow, pensive sips of coffee. I was on the verge of asking her about it when she beat me to it, speaking quietly.
“Can I ask,” she said softly, “what happened between you and Linda and Charlie?”
Christ, what a way to sweep the ground out from under me. I crumpled back into the seat with a heavy sigh. “You can ask whatever you want,” I said.
“So…”
“Charlie pissed me off, siding with Drew in everything. If anything, she was more aggressive against Cat than he was. And… I’m guessing you’re asking because you heard some unsavory things about me.”
She hesitated, looking down at her folded hands. I sighed.
“You can say whatever you want to. I’m not going to be mad.”
“I’ve had a lot of conversations with Linda,” she said. “She says she felt infantilized by the way you talked about their relationship.”
It was less painful than I’d have expected it to be. Maybe because I knew it was coming and I’d been preparing for it for some time. Or maybe just because Alyssa could hold a knife to my throat and she’d still seem soft and sweet and harmless. I was probably just a sucker. “I get that,” I said. “I should have minded my own business. I was just touchy about everythingwith Charlie and Cat. But taking shots at their relationship was a low blow.”
“I also think they have some problems,” Alyssa said softly. “For what it’s worth. I mean, I think Linda feels… controlled.”
“Yeah?” I raised my eyebrows, and she nodded.
“But it wasn’t really what Linda needed to hear.” She sat up taller. “If she is being controlled in a relationship like that, I think what she needs is a friend.”
I snorted, looking away. “She’s got plenty of people to turn to for a friend, and I’m probably at the bottom of her list.”
