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Jack didn’t think Andrew would mind if he told Kelly, but he wanted to give Andrew a heads up first.
“Oh, there’s Jill,” Kelly said as she looked over Jack’s shoulder to the door of the bar. “It can’t be as bad as you say. You’ll see. He’ll like Jill.”
Kelly looked so hopeful, Jack just let it go.
Kelly raised her hand to wave her friend over. Jack turned to see a good-looking blond woman headed their way. She was older than Kelly. Jack estimated the woman to be closer to Jack’s and Andrew’s ages of thirty-three and she was, without a doubt, Andrew’s type. Blond and petite with an open smile.
Even so, Jack worried that Jill and Kelly might have higher expectations for a relationship than Andrew would be able to give. He also knew there wasn’t going to be any way to stop Kelly once she set her mind on something, and apparently, right now, she wanted to set up these two.
Jill smiled and shook hands with Jack when Kelly introduced him as her husband.
“Jack’s best friend, Andrew, will be back in a minute. Did I mention him to you earlier?” Kelly asked Jill.
Kelly’s effort at nonchalance was clear, but the setup was obvious and Jill had to fight not to cringe. She didn’t know if she was ready for this.
“Andrew is the Chief Financial Officer of Jack’s company and he’s ridiculously smart and good looking.Reallygood looking.” Kelly ignored Jack’s ‘hey!’ at her description of Andrew.
Jill’s mind flashed to Andrew Weston in his faded jeans and old sweatshirt. A far cry from the guy Kelly was describing, but he’d been on Jill’s mind since the morning he’d come over to say hello.
“He’s a really fun guy, too. I think you’ll like him.” Kelly smiled.
“Uh,” Jill hesitated. “I don’t really think I’m looking for a relationship right now, Kelly. I was thinking I’d just take a break, you know?”Except for fantasizing about my hot-as-hell neighbor.Jill pictured Andrew’s lazy sex-charged smile and shivered with pleasure.
But then, there he was. Andrew Weston was right in front of her, in the flesh, coming up beside Kelly with that wide, sexy smile on his face.
“Jill! What are you doing here?” He asked before she could close her mouth.
She probably looked like an idiot, drooling over him.
Kelly and Jack turned to Andrew as one. “You guys know each other?”
Jill blushed but Andrew explained, “Jill lives next door to my grandmother. She used to visit her grandparents when they lived there years ago and now she’s back. I was crazy in love with her when I was fifteen and used to watch her out by her grandparents’ pool,” Andrew said as he winked at Jill.
She felt her face turn five shades redder than it already was as she tried to laugh with everyone else at Andrew’s comment. Hopefully he couldn’t tell the tables were turned and she was the one with the ridiculously hopeless crush on him this time.
“What do you want to drink?” Andrew asked her. He moved around Jack and Kelly to stand next to Jill and she had to force herself not to read anything into his move.
Andrew Weston is off limits. Andrew Weston is off limits.
Maybe if Jill repeated the mantra enough, her body would catch onto what her brain knew. Yes, she’d thought briefly about a fling with him, but he was too close to home to do that. His grandmother was good friends with her grandparents. Not to mention he was apparently good friends with the husband of the only friend she had in town.
She focused instead on the shock of finding out that Andrew wasn’t the lazy bum she thought he was. Apparently he didn’t just live off his grandmother’s wealth and sleep the day away. How was it possible that he was the CFO of Jack’s company and, according to Kelly, incredibly smart and successful? Jill had him pegged as some playboy socialite.
Andrew ran his hand down the small of Jill’s back sending a deliciously wicked thrill through her and leaned in close to her ear. “Do you want something to drink, Jill?”
She realized she hadn’t answered Andrew when he asked her the first time. His hand on her back was probably completely innocent and meant to be friendly, but the heat that radiated through her at his touch was anything but innocent – and was very distracting. She looked up at him and swallowed. Trying to get the gears in her mind to kick in and function.
“A margarita?” Jill suggested but in her head she was doing all she could to try to shut down the effect of Andrew’s touch.It’s gonna be a loooong night.
Chapter Six
Andrew couldn’t believe Kelly had been trying to set him up with Jill. Unfortunately, that connection was all the more reason for him to stay away from his sexy neighbor, romantically. Her family was not only literally and figuratively close to his, she was also friends with his friends now. Way too close to home for Andrew’s comfort. Too bad she was so damned tempting.
He walked back over to the group with Jill’s drink in his hand and listened as Kelly explained that she and Jill met recently at a gallery in town. Jill had been there overseeing the installation of her photographs when Kelly went in to shop.
“Her work is amazing. I went in to look for something to put in the living room over the fireplace and couldn’t believe her photographs. I bought one of her pieces for that spot and another smaller piece for your study, Jack,” Kelly was saying.
“I didn’t realize one of the galleries you show in is here in New Haven,” Andrew said. He handed Jill her margarita and watched her take a sip.
