“Why didn’t you wait for me to go cycling?” Jane says.
He moves away and puts his helmet on the table by the door. “I’m sorry, Jane. I’ve got a call with Des in about fifteen minutes. I had to go out pretty early this morning.”
She pouts, then looks outside the windows at the sunshine. “You’ve got a work call? At 9 a.m. on a Sunday? I thought we could go and ride and have lunch today.”
He frowns. “Where’s Kevin?”
She wrinkles her nose. “Oh, he’s playing in some soccer game. He came up this weekend for a match.”
He shakes his head. “I’m sorry. Things are manic. I’m working every weekend at the moment. It’s 10 p.m. in Korea right now. We’ve got other people on the team on this call.”
She huffs and blinks away, eyes glassy. I’m impressed with how much he’s shutting her down. She’s clearly someone who doesn’t like to be thwarted. I don’t think she’s used to hearing no from James. I’m half expecting her to turn on the waterworks. I stare at James’s face over her shoulder. How far does her manipulation of him go? How long has he been trapped by her? I’ve heard so much about Jane, but meeting her today has been a real eye-opener. I’m beginning to question whether being childhood sweethearts is even a good thing. I can’t see how she wouldeverhave been right for him. Their relationship was clearly all about her, and James is such a nice guy, he let her have that.
Chapter 26
Sadie
After Jane leaves and James goes on his call, I pick up my Brandon Sanderson book, but it takes me a long time to be drawn into another world. His parents return, and James surfaces briefly to say goodbye before they head back to Philly. Jane’s sudden appearance and all her strange comments abouta breakkeep hovering in the back of my mind, like a ghost.
Later, when James appears beside the couch, it’s that time of evening when you can’t quite be bothered to turn on any lights. I blink up at him in the half-dark. His lips curl up as he nods down at my book.
“Have you been reading all day?”
I glance out the window at the gathering gloom. “I think I lost track of time. Have you been on calls all day?”
He sinks down on the cushion next to me, breath whooshing out of his body as he removes his glasses and places them on the coffee table, rubbing his eyes, long eyelashes sweeping his pale cheeks.
“Pretty much.” His hand comes down on top of where mine is resting on my thigh. “I like stepping out here after doing calls and finding you sitting here reading.”
I laugh. “Why’s that?”
He traces the outline of my hand on my leg with his index finger. “You’re a great person to live with. You’re always easy and happy to do your own thing.”
Is this a reference to Jane? “Not so easygoing when I’m cycling, though, right? I turn my book over on my lap and look up at him. “Jane said something about you saving to buy a place together. She said the two of you were on a break.” It slips out of me like I’ve been waiting all day to tell him.
He frowns. “A break?”
“That’s what she said.”
“A break,” he snorts and then chuckles. “When we were at the meal, my dad referred to you as my new girlfriend.” He grins as he winks at me, and my heart feels like it’s going to burst out of my chest. “It did cross my mind as we were talking that she might have turned up here to size you up.”
I gape at him. God knows what she thought of me if that was her intention. I was a fumbling idiot. “Maybe she wanted to apologize for last night.”
He grimaces. “Yeah, but she’s got a lot more to apologize for than one meal with Kevin. Did she only come to apologize because my parents were there witnessing it all? She’s never apologized for how she’s treated me.” He shakes his head. “I’m sorry if she hassled you. I have no idea why she’d call what happened ‘a break.’ She’s got all these plans with Kevin ... I’ve decided the best approach is to ignore whatever her agenda is. Talking to her is like being caught in a revolving door: You never know where you’ll be spat out, dizzy and confused.”
I laugh, and he turns toward me. “I’ll have to sort out that savings account at some point, but with everything that’s going on ...” He squeezes my hand. “Don’t worry about her, Sadie. I want to concentrate on you and me.”
You and me?He’s so close to me now, just like last night on the bridge. The hum still lingers in my veins—the warmth of his body, the way his kiss turned every part of me into liquid heat. His gaze drifts over my face as a small smile curls over his mouth, and he leans forward and presses his lips to mine, his smile curling wider. I’m just about to pull back to ask him what the hell he’s grinning about, when his long fingers slide into my hair, holding me. His tongue traces my lower lip before nudging inside, and a warm buzz spreads through me. My hands seem to have a mind of theirown, sliding up his chest to his broad shoulders, solid muscle under my palms as his grip tightens on my back and he tugs me closer. He tips backward onto the couch, taking me with him, the hard shape of him pressing into me.
I brace myself on either side of his head, fingers tangled in his soft, dark curls, as my tongue touches his. He groans and shifts beneath me, hands trailing down my spine and coming to a stop against my tailbone.
“Sadie.”
I blink out of the haze that’s settled over me and lift my head.
He licks his lips, eyes searching mine. “I don’t want to do anything you don’t want to do,” he whispers.
“Oh!” The heat in my face is a furnace. I start to move off him, but his hands tighten on my hips.
