Abby glared at her roommate, before smoothing her damp palms over the tops of her jeans.
She turned around.
Mentally she’d been preparing herself for this moment ever since she’d uttered those stupid words the night before—when are you leaving—but just the sight of him was like a punch to the gut.
Lisa was right. Holy hell was she right.
Tucker Simon looked so achingly good that her girlie parts were already buzzing. This physical thing she felt for Tucker was going to be a huge inconvenience this weekend.
Huge.
Inconvenience.
Mouth dry, she attempted a smile.
His thick, dark hair curled up from underneath a worn, Yankee ball cap, and damn, but the blue plaid over the plain white T-shirt made him look a little rougher. A little more real, somehow.
She was used to seeing Tucker in suits and ties, but this side of him—this casual, laid-back, yummy side—was easy on the eyes. The shadowing of stubble on his chin and those dimples when he smiled were sexy enough to melt a nun’s panties.
“Are you all right, Abby?” he asked, his warm chocolate eyes intent as he stared up at her.
Jesus, if she wasn’t careful, she was going to fall headlong down the stairs and right into them.
“What?” She took a step. Okay. This was good. “I’m fine. I was just…”
She took another step and exhaled. One more to go.
“Lisa is just you know…”
And she was there, right in front of him. “Annoying.”
Tucker’s eyes moved behind her briefly before landing on Abby again. “Okay,” he said. “You’re sure you still want to do this? My family is kind of insane.”
Warmth seeped into every pore of her body and for a second, Abby just took the time to drink him in. She was sure that the world continued spinning, just as she was sure that Lisa was wringing her hands together like a dishrag—the way she did when she didn’t know what else to do with them.
And she was sure that she was still breathing—mainly because she wasn’t choking…
But most of all, Abigail Mathews was pretty damn sure that even though this weekend was going to tax the ever-loving-daylights out of her….there was nowhere else she’d rather be than with Tucker Simon.
She knew she couldn’t have him in a forever
kind of way, and she knew that she couldn’t have him on a casual level either—she wouldn’t survive that.
But she could be there for him. She could enjoy being there for him. Seeing him relaxed and maybe happy. And for now that had to be enough. That’s what friends did for each other.
Okay, she thought, time to pull up the bootstraps.
“I’m sure,” she said tugging on her carry-on.
Tucker reached for her suitcase, his fingers grazing hers as he closed them around the handle. But she was good. She hid her reaction with the ease and maturity of a girl who’d been fighting these feelings for months.
She could do this.
Abby glanced back at her roommate and winked. “See you on Monday.” She quickly sidestepped past Tucker and headed out the front door. “But just so you know, Tucker. I’m clear on that one thing.”
“Yeah? What one thing was that?” he asked, handing her luggage over to the taxi driver.
He opened the door and stood back. Okay, did he have to smell as good as he looked?