Page 35 of The Perfect Heart

“Who’s there?” Halle called.

“It’s me.”

The door didn’t open immediately. Instead, I heard a heavy scrape, like she was moving furniture. Had Halle been moving stuff around this late at night? Maybe she couldn’t sleep. Except when she let me in, each piece of furniture was where it was supposed to be.

Before I could puzzle anything else out, Halle was in front of me, face creased with worry. “Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah, it’s fine.” I waved away her concern and my guilt at the lie. She was already on edge enough. I didn’t want to freak her out more than I had to, not until I knew what this was all about. “I just came to check on you since I didn’t get to take you home tonight.”

The concerned expression melted to one of surprise. “You came to check on me?”

“Of course. I wanted to make sure you’re good with my own eyes.”

That, at least, was true, and a warm smile on her face rewarded me. Then we stood in front of each other for the first time since our kiss.

Since I had kissed her.

I still had no idea what had come over me. One second, I had been questioning Halle about her uncashed checks, and the next, my lips had been on hers, every thought melting from my head save for my thoughts about her, about the way she felt in my arms, the way my mouth felt on hers, the way she tasted.

The confusion had been clear on her face when she had joined me at the receipt machine, and we hadn’t talked about it since. We had, in fact, acted as though it had never happened. But the truth was, I had no idea what to say. I was still half-convinced it was some odd dream I’d had, except that I knew it wasn’t.

Work had been too busy between then and now to do anything about it, anyway. But here we were, alone in her apartment, nothing between us but air and questions.

And man, but Halle was beautiful. She looked sleepy, like she had been contemplating going to sleep. She had taken her makeup off and was in an old sweatshirt and pajama pants, her hair out of the bun she had worn it in today to fall around her shoulders and down her back.

I had always known Halle was attractive, but it was like I was seeing her in a new light. What had happened over the past five years that the woman who had been my best friend and nothing more was suddenly stealing my breath and making it difficult to think just by her mere presence? Creating warmth and urges I had only experienced with other women, but never her?

An image slipped into my head that this was what she must look like first thing in the morning when she woke up, again, something I had seen when we were camping and on overnight high school trips. But this time, the perspective was from my bed—the one we had slept in.

I swallowed and hoped she didn’t notice.

“You want something to drink?” she asked, gesturing to her cabinets. “I mean, I only have water, but I can offer it to you.”

My laugh sounded weak to my ears, my mouth gone dry. “Sure, I could use some.”

Watching her move around the kitchen, I couldn’t take my eyes from the way she moved, from her shiny fall of dark hair, from the way her hips swayed, the slip of skin as she reached for a cup on a high shelf and her sweatshirt rode up.

As much as I had tried to deny it, I felt drawn to Halle, like a string was pulling us closer and closer. I had never felt that way in high school when we were best friends, but I was seeing her in a new light. And I couldn’t deny, either, that I hoped she felt the same way, just as I couldn’t deny my insane attraction to her that only seemed to grow with each passing day.

Halle was all I could think about lately. What had started as a few moments of distraction had become a full-blown craving until I couldn’t stop thinking about her, even at the most inappropriate times. I’d had the most challenging time doing the payroll yesterday because all I could think about was Halle.

“Hey, you didn’t see anyone weird hanging around the bar today, did you?”

The glass fell from Halle’s hand into the sink, splashing the yellowed tiled backsplash.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, picking it back up and filling it again before handing it to me. “Did I see what?”

“Anyone weird hanging around the bar today?” I asked after a long drink. “Angie thought she saw someone. I just want to make sure no one is trying to break in, you know?”

Halle swallowed but shook her head. “No, I haven’t seen anyone.”

Something tugged at me as she answered, and I watched her expression for a moment, wondering if she was telling the truth. But before I could say anything, I heard tires crunching over the snow and a truck engine.

“Who’s that?” Halle asked, moving over to the window.

“Jonas.” I put the glass on the counter and wiped my mouth on my sleeve. “He’s here to tow my car.”

Halle looked back over her shoulder at me. “Tow your car?”