AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sonia was sure anyone who’d passed by Brendan’s room had heard them having sex.
She wasn’t concerned about that. What mattered was that a bubble surrounded the two of them, shimmery and fragile, and she wasn’t ready to break it yet.
Silence hung as she cleaned herself up the best she could, then pulled on her red dress and laced up her boots. Something flickered in Brendan’s eyes, but he didn’t speak. He simply got dressed himself — in a T-shirt and jeans, instead of business clothes — and escorted her past the dying embers of the party in the living room.
A few people stared; others tried to talk to them. Brendan nodded in their direction, putting a protective arm around Sonia. His body shielded her, which felt good. Too good.
By the door, he took a black jacket from a coat closet and draped it around her shoulders. It wasn’t really necessary — night temperatures wouldn’t drop past the high sixties. But it covered the skimpy red dress, and right now, Sonia was in the mood to be covered.
Brendan held the door for her as they exited his apartment building. Outside, a bus stopped to let off a woman having an urgent phone conversation, then rumbled on. Brendan and Sonia sidestepped her as she waved her free hand, her voice rising.
Brendan turned toward the building’s parking lot. “I’ll drive you home.”
Sonia shook her head. “I’ll take the Metro.”
“It’s nothing,” he insisted. “Let me help you. It’s late at night, and it’s only a ride.”
“To you, maybe.” Sonia’s shoulders tensed inside the circle of Brendan’s arm, and she forced herself to roll them back and stand up straight.
His eyelids flickered. “You shouldn’t be alone. I don’t want you walking home from the Metro stop by yourself.”
Sonia let out an incredulous laugh. “Are you kidding? I’ve been walking alone in the middle of the night since long before I met you. I’m not stopping now. And I meant what I said on Monday. I don’t want to owe you anything.”
Brendan sighed. “There’s no chance of me changing your mind, is there?”
“None whatsoever.”
“I’ll walk you to the Metro, then.”
Sonia felt him waiting for her to say no, but she held her tongue. Only because he was warm, and his arm around her shoulders felt really good, and it was relaxing to walk together.
Silence fell. They passed bikes locked to racks, cars slumbering at the curb, neon signs blinking on and off. The rows of colorful shops were dark and shuttered. Somewhere, a dog barked. A window opened over their heads, letting out a curl of lazy guitar chords.
To Sonia’s surprise, her mind started buzzing with ideas to keep the conversation going.
“Were you sorry to miss the party?”
Brendan looked at her incredulously. “You’re kidding, right?”
Sonia grinned up at him. “Even though you’ve fucked the birthday girl?”
Brendan spit out a laugh. “So you picked up on that. We sort of dated when we were interns. It didn’t mean anything.”
“‘Sort of dated?’ Jesus, Brendan. I don’t date, but if I did, it wouldn’t be ‘sort of.’ And it wouldn’t mean nothing.”
“Oh, really? What would it mean?” His eyes suddenly focused on her, the bursts of green and brown glowing under the streetlamps.
Sonia’s skin prickled. “I just—” God, she was stammering. Flustered, all of a sudden. “If I liked someone enough to spend that much time with them, I’d be all in. Not that it’s ever happened. Dance is the only thing that gets that kind of attention from me.”
“Uh-huh.”
Sonia scrabbled around for a change of subject. “What happened this afternoon? When you called me from your office, you sounded upset.”
It was Brendan’s turn to look unsettled. His eyes darted to the restaurant on the corner where they’d met, closed and quiet for the night. He pushed the button for the crosswalk and didn’t answer until they’d crossed the street.
“Senator Wilson asked me to cover his policy meetings on Friday afternoon. He said I’m the only person he trusts to do it. If I say yes, I’ll miss Ian and Di’s rehearsal dinner. If I say no…” He sighed. “I could lose his approval. I’ll need his support down the line, and I don’t want to risk it.”
“Well, shit.” Sonia impulsively squeezed his hand, which still rested on her shoulder.
