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Jamie smiled. “Good upbringing I guess,” he said as he spun on his heel and attended to another customer.
The room began to weave and her stomach felt funny. Must be the champagne.
She found her way to an empty table, took a seat, and watched the party goers as they interacted with each other. Her conversation with Holly, and the one with Jamie, replayed in her mind, scolding her over and over. They were both right, she knew it. But she just didn’t know how to open up her life or revise her plan to include more. Glancing across the room she caught Joe staring at her. She offered a smile. He returned her smile and began walking toward her. His dark mesmerizing gaze held hers.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes. Why?”
“Well, you have a look on your face like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders,” Joe said as he took the seat next to her.
Tears burned the back of her eyes. “Sometimes I feel like I am.”
His comforting hand covered hers. “Is there anything I can do to help? Do you want to tell me about it?”
Tears burned her vision as she looked into his concerned gaze. “I don’t know. I just don’t know anymore. It appears my plan has gone awry.”
“Excuse me? Your plan?” he questioned.
“Yeah, you know, my plan. The plan I told you about. It’s all falling apart. It’s not working the way it’s supposed to.”
He shook his head. “Maybe it’s time to revise ‘The Plan’ or chuck it out the window altogether and just take life as it comes,” he whispered softly as he held her gaze.
“It’s not that easy for me. I’ve always lived knowing exactly what my next step would be, but now the circumstances are changing,”
The intensity of his stare was such she was sure he could see right into her soul and knew exactly what she was talking about. The effect scared the hell out of her.
Him. He started it. Before I met him everything was fine.
“I think I’ve had a little too much champagne. Do you think we are going to leave soon?”
“We can. You stay here and I’ll go get our coats and Sam and Holly,” Joe said as he sprang from his chair and headed toward the coat check closet.
She watched him walk away, envious of his self-assurance. Why couldn’t she be more like him; happy with taking life as it came? But no, she always wanted more; always feeling the need to prove herself.
He returned to the table a few minutes later, with their coats in hand. She stood on wobbly legs. Joe reached out to steady her before helping her with her coat, then he took her by the hand and led her out of the supper club where Sam and Holly already waited in the car.
Her friend flashed a teasing look in her direction, and the corners of her mouth lifted upward. “Tough night there, Elizabeth?”
Elizabeth glared at her, she hated being razzed, but made no comment in hopes to not make matters worse.
Joe assisted her with her seatbelt and then focused his attention on his own. Sam was hardly out of the parking lot when her head tilted back and her eyes closed.
“Come on sleepyhead, you’re home.”
She mustered a moan.
Someone gripped her shoulder and gave it a light shake. She inhaled. Joe’s masculine scent flowed through her nostrils.
“Let’s get you inside.” His voice was soft.
The warmth of his minty fresh breath brushed her cold cheek as he spoke. She struggled to open her eyes, and after a few tries succeeded. When her vision came into focus, she found herself staring directly into his dark, sexy eyes, only inches from hers. Her heart pounded in her chest.
He took her hand and pulled her toward him, and out of the car. She heard him wish Sam and Holly a good night as he shut the car door and guided her toward the front door of her house. She fumbled to find the keys in her purse, but finally managed to scoop them up in her unsteady hand. The quick brush of his fingers against hers as he took the keys from her caused her breath to hitch. Her extremities grew numb. The weak voice in her head reminded her to breathe before she fainted from lack of oxygen.
He unlocked the door and pushed it open for her to pass through. She stepped into the house and shed her coat, letting it drop to the floor. She knew she should pick it up, but just didn’t have the energy.
With a languid glance over her shoulder, she found Joe hanging up her coat in the entryway closet. He followed her into the kitchen where she retrieved a bottle of water from the refrigerator, took a seat at the island, and guzzled the water down. Hardly able to keep her eyelids open, she propped her elbows up on the counter and rested her head in her hands.
