AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He found himself staring at her lips as they caressed the rim of the glass then swallowed a groan when her tongue came out to lick the salt off her full lips.
When he reluctantly tore his eyes away and brought them back up to Jill’s, she answered his question. Damn, she was going to be hard to ignore.
“One is here in New Haven and the other’s in Hartford. I’ll be meeting with a third gallery in New York next week and I’m hoping they’ll offer me a temporary installation on a trial basis,” Jill said.
“Well, you’ll need to show me your work soon,” Andrew heard himself say, and he resisted the urge to smack himself in the head.
Bad idea, Andrew. A private showing of Jill’s art sure as hell wasn’t going to cool things off.
The group talked and laughed. Jack told stories about Andrew from business school and Kelly told Jill about her first year in law school.
Andrew noticed that Jill seemed to be sucking down quite a few margaritas. He wondered if she was in a bit of a wild phase after her divorce or if she was always like this.
As he watched her, Andrew found himself wondering a lot of things about Jill. What happened with Jill and her husband? Did he cheat on her? Hurt her? Obviously, he was a fucking moron for letting her slip away. Complete fucking moron.
There were other things going through his head, too. Things that sure as hell shouldn’t be there. He wondered what Jill looked like under the green sweater she wore. The green sweater that made her hazel eyes look a bit deeper than they usually did. What would it feel like to kiss those full, rose-colored lips? How would she respond during sex? With little moans and pants or would she scream out his name?
Oh shit. I’m a dead man.
“Andrew? Andrew?” Kelly asked.
“Hmm? Oh! Sorry. What was that, Kelly?”
Nice recovery, asshole.
“We were just saying that it’s probably time for us to call it a night. You okay?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, I was just thinking about some work things. I should head home, too,” Andrew said. They stood and prepared to leave.
He noticed Jill didn’t seem all that steady on her feet when she slid off the barstool and picked up her purse.
“Why don’t I drive you home, Jill?” Andrew took hold of Jill’s arm to steady her and she smiled up at him.
“I think I had too many margaritas,” she whispered at a volume that let the whole group hear her confession.
Andrew laughed. “I think you might be right.” He turned to Jack and Kelly. “I’ll get her home, guys. I’ll be back in the office next week, Jack.”
“You sure you’re ready?” Jack asked Andrew.
“Yeah. I’ve got Nora settled in at home and the nurses seem to have things under control. I’m going to stay in the carriage house a while longer in case she needs me around, but I’m ready to get back to work. Being a bum for a couple of weeks was fun, but I’m bored.”
“What happened to Nora?” Jill frowned.
“Oh, uh. She fell on some ice and broke her hip. That’s why I’m staying there for a while. I wanted to get Nora and Lydia more help at the house and set up nurses for her so she can recover at home instead of in a rehab center,” he explained.
“Ha! I thought you were a bum who partied all day and lived off your grandmother,” Jill said.
Jack and Kelly started to laugh while Andrew looked down at Jill and scowled.
“Why would you think that?”
“You came wandering over at 10:30 in the morning and it was obvious you had just woken up, hadn’t shaved in days... You said you were ‘taking a leave of absence’ and you were sleeping in Nora’s carriage house. I thought ‘leave of absence’ meant you were living off her. What else would I think?” Jill asked.
Jack and Kelly continued to laugh at Andrew, who was anything but a lazy bum. Even Andrew cracked a smile as he steered Jill outside to his Aston Martin and settled her safely into the front seat.
As they drove home, Andrew realized just how drunk Jill was when she started to slur and babble. She talked about the snow and the trees covered in ice as they drove on the small New England highway that took them from New Haven to Westbrook.
He had a feeling she didn’t get this drunk very often. When they were close to home, she turned in her seat and studied him through sleepy eyes.
