Dear Heart, I Hate You

He glared at me. “You know I don’t spit!”

“I didn’t, but now I do.” I rubbed my temples, wishing Lucas would just say what was on his damn mind. He might come across as macho as any other guy, but sometimes he was such a damn girl.

“I’m just saying this isn’t like you. What about your rule?”

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but then closed it again. Why was I getting defensive when Lucas was right?

“What about it?” I finally said. “She’ll be gone and then everything will go back to normal. My rule’s still in place. The world continues spinning.”

But Lucas’s concern bugged me; after all, he had been my best friend since college. When we graduated, we were hired on at the same large investment firm in Boston. I hated it. Not the job—I absolutely loved the job—but I hated the company. It was too big, and it seemed like their sole focus was only on getting bigger. I always had this feeling that no matter what anyone did there, it would never be enough.

Within a year, I found myself longing for something smaller, where I didn’t feel like a replaceable cog on the proverbial wheel. Before then, I would have bet money that it was exactly what I’d always wanted. But it wasn’t.

Lucas had been just as frustrated as I was, which helped me feel a little less crazy. So when he got an offer at a smaller firm and accepted it, he put in a good word for me and I was brought on. That was where we still worked, the company I was busting my ass to make partner for, but Lucas didn’t have the same drive that I did. He enjoyed being an employee without the extra pressure. He always claimed to enjoy his free time too much, something he said I didn’t know the meaning of.

He stood up and clapped me on the shoulder. “I think it’s cute that you’re going to spend time with some smoking-hot girl from California for the next two days,” he said with a laugh.

“Cute? What are you getting at?”

“Look, Cal, I saw your body language downstairs. I should have taken a damn picture so you could see what everyone else around you saw. I’m afraid of what two more days with her might do to you.”

“It’s two days, Lucas. And she lives across the damn country. What could possibly happen in two days?”

“I guess we’ll see,” he said, grinning at me as he brushed past me to leave the bathroom. And it only pissed me off more.

“I guess we will,” I called after him.

I shrugged off his concerns, fully convinced that spending two days with Jules would do me absolutely no harm. Hell, I didn’t get what Lucas was even worried about in the first place. I’d get to enjoy the company of a smart, beautiful woman, and then we’d both go on with our lives.

It would be easy.

Dream Lips

Jules

I’d tossed and turned during the few hours of sleep I got, my mind constantly replaying snippets of the night I’d just had with Cal. I felt him touching my body, heard him tell me I was beautiful, and saw the way he looked at me with those beautiful hazel eyes. My brain was on a loop of moments with Cal that I couldn’t stop. Not that I wanted to.

When my alarm buzzed and I opened my eyes, my first thoughts were of him, and my body hummed with the knowledge that I’d get to see him again later today. If I was being honest with myself, which I always tried to be, getting through this day was going to be pure torture. I couldn’t wait to see him and spend more time with him. It was all I could think about.

As I walked into the last presentation of the day, I noticed Robin flagging me down, so I sat next to her.

“What happened with you and Mr. Hot Stuff last night?” She leaned over to elbow me in the ribs, making her coppery ponytail sway.

“Nothing.” I bit back a smile.

“Nothing, my ass. Where’d you guys disappear to?”

“His room,” I whispered as my cheeks burned, and added quickly, “But nothing happened.” The last thing I wanted was for her to get the wrong impression.

“Why the hell not?” she said, and I almost laughed.

“Because I just met him, that’s why.”

Oh my God. Why was I always the only one who seemed to think that having sex with strangers wasn’t a good idea?

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Please tell me you’re seeing him again to remedy that.”

“He’s taking me to a hockey game tonight,” I confessed as a thrill of excitement shot through me.