Page 21 of Something Like That

Janelle shook her head, her spiral curls swinging. “You’ll just have to talk to her about it.”

“About what?”

“You seeing Nick. And before you even say it, I mean outside the clinic.”

“Janelle…”

“Nope, you’re not talking yourself out of this. I know you like him. There’s no way you would have gone to lunch with him if you weren’t interested.”

Alex opened her mouth to deny it, but the words stuck on the back of her tongue. She snapped her mouth closed. There was no point in lying, to either Janelle or herself. She did like him. A lot. Way more than she probably should.

“Besides,” Janelle said. “There’s only so much a vibrator and your fingers can do, love. Sometimes you need the real thing.”

Alex made a choking, gasping noise. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire, the tips of her ears burning. “You did not just say that?”

Janelle shrugged and then laughed. That caused Alex to laugh, and soon the two of them were hysterical. Alex hadn’t laughed so hard in ages. Her sides actually ached.

But maybe Janelle was right. Maybe she could let Nick know she was interested and see what happened. And even if he was interested in seeing her outside of the clinic, that didn’t mean it had to be serious. He was only here temporarily, so was probably not looking for anything heavy or deep. They could do what they wanted and then, when it was over, they could say goodbye and move on. It was a great, very mature, sort of plan.

Except now, she had to have a very serious, and rather embarrassing conversation with Em. While she and her daughter had a good relationship, she was not looking forward to this one. How did you tell your daughter you wanted to date her biggest crush?

Chapter Five

Alex closed the front door and hung her keys on the rack on the wall. She had cut out of work early today—Friday was usually a lax day anyway—because she really needed to talk to Emily.

She’d been trying all week to find the right time to talk to her about Nick, but the timing never seemed right. Which she knew was an excuse, but she didn’t want to hurt Em, and this was pretty much guaranteed to do just that.

But she needed to get her crap together. One, because it was never going to be an easy conversation, and the longer she waited, the harder it was going to get. And two, because she really, really, really liked Nick. Working with him this week had been both rewarding and torture.

He was a great client. Focused and dedicated. And he was so bloody hot, he practically made her teeth sweat. It was all she could do not to stare—and possibly drool—while he went through the reps of the various combinations she’d created for him. The way he moved with grace and power, the way his muscles bulged and rippled, it was enough to make her swoon.

It was also completely unprofessional.

Everything was so bloody confusing she was lucky her brain hadn’t turned to mush.

A song she didn’t recognize blared from upstairs. It was so loud the bass line rattled the windows. Em was lucky their neighbor was currently out of town. The bonus of their townhouse being on the end of the grouping meant there was only one possible neighbor to suffer through the angsty teenage phase.

Man, was she going to be happy when the angsty teenage phase was over.

Although, if she was honest, Em was actually a pretty good kid. She knew there were teens out there who were way worse—doing terrible and dangerous things, making terrible choices, being forced to live with the serious consequences.

And this line of thinking was getting way too close for comfort for her liking. Sometimes she forgot she’d only been a couple of years older than Em when she’d gotten pregnant. She hadn’t even graduated from high school when Em was born.

She hung up her coat and dropped her bag next to the sofa on her way through the living room. The closer she got to the stairs, the louder the music got. She hadn’t thought that was possible. Everyone in a four block radius was going to have hearing loss.

She took the stairs two at a time and stopped outside Em’s bedroom door. The bass thumped in her chest. She knocked, but wasn’t shocked when Em didn’t answer. The music was way too loud. She gave the door a pound, but still got nothing. She tried the knob. The door opened, but only a couple of inches. Em’s desk chair blocked it.

“Em, move the chair, please.” Alex tried to raise her voice over the music.

She strained to hear anything. There was a thud and maybe some rustling, followed by what sounded like voices. Plural. But Em didn’t move the chair, or turn down the music.

“I’m coming in.” Alex pushed on the door, putting her shoulder into it. The chair held for a second, before sliding across the carpet. She stumbled into the room, catching herself on the edge of the desk next to the door.

She straightened and then froze.

Em and her friend Hannah, the one who’d stayed with her the night she broke her wrist, sat on the bed. Em was leaning against the headboard, Hannah sitting cross legged, facing her. They were both staring at Alex.

Hannah’s green eyes were wide, uncertainty etched on her cute face. Her brown curls were a little wild. She glanced from Alex to Em and then back again, before dropping her gaze to her lap. She fiddled with the hem of her t-shirt. Her t-shirt that was on inside out.