Thomas & January (Sleepless 2)

That’s when she noticed me and she checked her glassy eyes. She stood taller, her back erect, and followed me with cold, hard eyes.

“Tom,” she gritted, the word polluted with hate. I involuntarily cringed.

“January,” I said politely, trying desperately not to rock the boat.

We stood in line to retrieve our tickets.

“Are you two together?” The attendant at the end of the line asked us.

“No,” January said with conviction just as I said, “Yes.” I eyed her harshly. This would go a lot easier if she chilled.

“Just step up to one of the unmanned kiosks,” the guy said.

I did and to my absolute shock, January followed. I ran my driver’s license through the machine, answered a few stupid questions, and retrieved my boarding pass. I checked my bag and stood aside for January to do the same. She did but with absolutely no word spoken to me.

We walked in silence through security and all the way to the plane and sat on opposite sides of our gate’s seating area. I watched as she worried her lip, flipped through a magazine, and returned a few texts. No doubt to that asshole I saw outside.

Watching her full mouth brought me back to that night at Stubb’s, the feel of her hands threading through my hair, the taste of her lips against my tongue. I cautiously licked my lips as if I could still taste her. She drove me crazy in so many freaking ways.

I’d kissed a lot of girls in my life. Hundreds probably. It was the perk of being in a band. It wasn’t until Kelly that I realized I didn’t want that life anymore. At twenty-two, I’d admittedly grown old, a lifetime of experiences fulfilled by a sensory overloaded New York City. I was looking for something substantial by then, until she killed that dream for me by agreeing to marry someone else. Sure, I was over her and that still shocked me, but I realized something after Kelly, no one was worth feeling like shit for...not like that, ever. I’d resigned myself to loner-hood long before I’d met the kitten fiddling with the necklaces choking her throat. Damn January MacLochlainn and her intriguing face.

ed to admit it, but I knew I couldn’t lie anymore. She’d know. “Yes, January. I kissed you back.”

“I knew it,” she said, a gleam in her eye. She abruptly turned from me and walked back to the club, abandoning me to the newly discovered harsh light of the street lamp.

“She played me,” I said under my breath, shaking my head at the ground. I smiled the widest, shit-eating grin. “She played me.” Probably wrong about that innocent part.

Chapter Three

Betrayed by Bones

Thomas

A week later and I had yet remove extra space to see January since the party, which was just fine with me because the little wench had played me like a fiddle. As I was packing for Europe the next day, I heard my cell vibrate on top of my dresser. I scanned the caller ID and saw it was Jason.

“Yo,” I said, tucking the phone between my chin and shoulder and continued to pack.

“Need you to come down to the label right now.”

“Dude, are you kidding me?” I asked, grabbing the phone again. “I’m not exactly prepared for this trip.”

“Just get down here,” he said succinctly before hanging up.

I pressed end and leaned against the heavy wooden dresser, studying the phone, not sure why Jason needed me but feeling on edge at how short he’d been.

I threw on my hoodie and jacket, tucked my keys in my pocket and headed for the door. Downstairs, I hailed a taxi, worrying my lip the entire ride there. Jason was waiting on the street, smoking a cigarette when I pulled up next to him. I paid the fare and got out.

“What’s up, man?” I asked him.

“Nothing, what’s up with you?” he said, taking a last drag before putting it out with the toe of his shoe.

I nearly punched him. “Jason, you sounded like something was up. What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing,” he laughed. “I’m just about to head out for the night, but I wanted to hear them deliver this news to you first. I was in a hurry.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Thank you. Coming from you, that’s a slight compliment.”