Page 98 of The Work Wife

“Well, these two seem to have figured out how to spark the romance.”

The sound of applause made him pull away.

They stared at each other as if it was the first time they were seeing one another. Maybe it was. Things had been shifting between them, but now everything had upended and reformed. He didn’t know what to do to get them back to the safety of friendship, and for the life of him he couldn’t tell if he even wanted to try.

He was so confused. And the one person who might be able to help him figure it out looked just as thrown.

“Class dismissed,” the instructor announced, and he and Jamie stood up and woodenly left the room.

Afraid to be near her in their room, he broke away and walked off in the other direction. Until he could get a handle on things, it was best to keep a distance.

“I’ll see you at dinner.” He didn’t even look back. He just kept walking before he gave in to temptation and did something stupid like ravish his wife.

“Okay,” she called after him.

No. Nothing was okay.

* * * *

Jamie might have been a little foggy on what happened during the hike. One moment they were losing a battle with gravity, and the next they were tangled together, renting out mouth space to one another for a very reasonable rate.

But there was no doubt this time. She had kissed him. He was obviously going for her cheek, and she’d moved to capture his soft lips, and then it escalated into something passionate and frightening. She couldn’t mess this up.

She’d promised Weston they wouldn’t endanger their friendship. That meant keeping things friendly. It was apparent there was some attraction between them she hadn’t known existed before now. She’d felt his eyes on her, and his physical reaction when they were in the water. And in bed in the mornings.

She also knew how she felt when he walked around without a shirt. Giddy.

But that kiss was something else. Attraction was foremost in her thoughts, but the connection she always felt with him was there too. And it seemed to grow like a vine being touched by sunlight for the first time.

It had coiled around her heart and squeezed.

“Damn it to hell,” she cursed and went to change for dinner.

She worried Weston wouldn’t show. He wasn’t there when she arrived.

“Did you wear him out?” Curt joked, earning an elbow in the ribs from Wendy.

The waiter placed a salad at the empty space next to her and she nearly ran away. She couldn’t take back all the emotion that was unleashed in that kiss, but maybe she could downplay it and joke it off so they could go back to being friends.

The chair next to her moved and she jumped as Wes sat next to her. His blond hair still dark from his shower, the scent of his soap filled her head.

He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said to everyone else.

No doubt he’d waited for her to leave before going in to shower and change. He was avoiding her. Maybe that was for the best. She didn’t know if she was capable of keeping her hands or her lips to herself.

Other than resting his arm on the back of her chair, he didn’t touch her during the whole meal. She found she missed it.

How would they go back to being friends now that she knew what it felt like to kiss him, and the feel of his hand in hers? Wouldn’t their co-workers expect them to be affectionate? They would be in a state of constant turmoil. Playing the doting couple during the day to spend the nights alone.

“Jamie,” he whispered while everyone focused on the performers up on stage. She hadn’t even noticed them, but they were swinging around flaming sticks.

“Yeah?”

“One of us needs to hold it together,” he said.

“I vote you,” she said at the exact moment he said the same thing.