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Prologue
GRACE
“This is some party,” Alex said with a chuckle. He ran a hand through his shaggy, dark brown hair. We were standing at the edge of the party now, having spent the evening with our friend already.
“Yeah, Duncan has a lot of people who are really proud of him,” I replied, looking over the crowd of people hugging and congratulating him on his graduation.
Alex finished the last of his beer then tossed the empty bottle into a nearby recycling bin.
“It’s getting late,” he said. “I’m thinking of calling an Uber and heading back to my hotel. I have an early flight tomorrow.”
“Don’t call an Uber, you’ll be waiting forever at this time of night,” I said. “I can drive you.”
“You just can’t get enough of me, can you, Grace?” Alex offered me a cocky grin. There was a sparkle in his chocolate brown eyes.
I felt the tug of a smile pull at my lips. Truth be told, he was right. It had been a few years since the three of us had gotten together like this. Duncan, Alex, and I had been close all through high school, but as usually happens when you grow up, college and careers often pull you apart. I saw Duncan more than I did Alex since both of us relocated back to Denver, but Alex was still on the move, and it had been way too long since we’d spent any one-on-one time together.
Also, the teenage crush I had for him was back in full swing. The moment I laid eyes on him for the first time that day, I knew I was in trouble. He had always been good looking, but as he grew into a man, he became absolutely gorgeous. Standing at over six feet tall with broad shoulders and a football player’s build, he clearly kept up his workout routine - and likely pushed himself even further by the looks of his tree trunk sized arms. His shaggy brown hair added a touch of youthfulness to his chiseled face. Dark brows and lashes surrounded even darker brown eyes.
My cheeks were burning, and I knew I was blushing, unable to come up with a witty comeback to Alex’s question. So, I didn’t lie.
“Yeah, what can I say? I’m not ready to say goodbye yet.”
His eyes held a heat to them that I knew was dangerous.
I knew that Alex had feelings for me back in high school. We’d talked about it once. We cared about each other, but we didn’t want to ruin the friendship we had or make things awkward with Duncan, make him feel like a third wheel. More than that, we knew that we had different goals in life and would head off in opposite directions at graduation so any relationship we might have started would be short-lived and likely lead to heartbreak.
Considering Alex now lived in California, and I was firmly planted in Denver, not a lot had changed. We were still living vastly different lives, and a relationship wasn’t in our best interests.
That didn’t mean it was easy to resist that delicious body and seductive smile.
“I’m not ready to say goodbye either, Grace,” he said. His voice came out deep and low, and it sent shivers down my spine. “So, why don’t we get out of here?”
I glanced over at Duncan and waved at him from across the room. He held up a hand as if to tell the others around him to wait and strolled across the room toward us.
“Leaving already?” he teased, even though it was well after midnight.
“Yeah, I have an early flight out tomorrow,” Alex said, patting Duncan on the back. “But it’s been great seeing you again, man.”
“Great seeing you too. Hey, don’t be a stranger, come back and see us more often.”
“I promise I’ll try, just working on getting my business off the ground,” Alex said with a wink. “Not all of us can be rich doctors.”
“Well, we miss you, man. Hopefully one day you can return to Denver for good and we can get the gang back together once and for all.”
Alex’s smile grew wider. “I’d really like that, Duncan. We’ll just have to see where life takes us.”
Duncan hugged us both.
“Congratulations again, Doctor Pitts.”
“Grace, you know I meant it earlier - one of these days, when I own my own practice, I'm going to hire you as a nurse.”
“And I’m going to take you up on that, doc.”
“Goodnight, you two. Don’t get into any trouble.” Duncan flashed a knowing smile. I had a feeling that he knew about Alex and me, that we’d had feelings for each other in the past. We probably weren’t very good at hiding it.
Alex and I left Duncan’s house and walked mostly in silence down the street to where I had parked my car. It was late spring, so the cold of the winter was gone, but there was still a crispness to the air. Alex wrapped his jacket over my shoulders on instinct.
