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“We do parkour together. I did that on the way here, hence the workout clothes and the sweat.” Damn, I probably smell terrible. I step away from her. “Sorry.”
But she just smiles up at me, and the urge to place my lips on hers is almost overwhelming. “I don’t mind,” she murmurs.
My breath leaches in and out of my body like I can’t expand my lungs. The beat of a song I half recognize encourages me to move my hips more, and we drift together again. And Kate’s cutely awkward as I urge her closer, my hand hot on her back, and I move it in slight circles, pressing my fingers into her skin. Sweat trickles down my spine.
“Do you like him?” I say in a low voice. “Is it okay that I asked you to dance?”
She grins up at me. “I’m delighted that you asked me. Darren is nice, but probably not my type.”
And something warm explodes inside me, and having her so close, her undivided attention, Janus’s insistence echoing in my head, makes me feel reckless. “Whatisyour type?”
I focus on her with laser intensity: Whatever comes next out of her mouth is the most important thing in the world.
“You,” she says.
8
Fabian
“There’s no way, Janus.”
When I swing round in my seat, Janus is staring at me from where he’s hunched over in front of my bank of computer screens, eyebrows raised. We’re supposed to be having a quiet Sunday evening programming at my place, but after watching Kate and me talk at dinner and in the bar on Friday night, he’s been making comments about the two of us ever since he walked in the door.
“No way what?”
I’ve just launched into this after an hour of coding silence, but it’s bursting out of me like a wriggly fish I can’t hold firm in my hands. He’s my best friend, but he’s also Jo’s other half. Will talking to him make it better or should I keep my big mouth shut?
“No way it could work,” I mutter, turning back to my screen. The comment she made on the dance floor has been running through my mind like hot metal for days.
“Who? Kate? Why the hell not?”
“Because … man. I’m a wreck. She’s beautiful and sorted, and works hard and is organized … and did I say hardworking? Fuck!” I undo my bun and shake out my hair: My head is sweating. “I’d ruin her life.”
He pivots on his chair and fixes me with a stare. Shit. I hate it when he gets that expression on his face: A speech is coming. Janus has this uncanny ability to beat the drum and make people pull together; this is why he’s running a business and I’m not. I pick up a pencil from the desk and start tapping out a rhythm on the arm of my chair. Janus sighs.
“You’re a fucking genius, that’s what you are. Look at the way you helped Jo sort out the attack on my company—”
“A problemIcreated,” I talk over him.
“ … And she’d be damn lucky to have you.” His eyes drop to my drumming pencil, and he gives me a smile before he pivots back around to his screen, fingers flying over the keyboard. “Anyway, I don’t think you’ve got a choice. You two strike sparks off each other every time you’re together.” He grins over his shoulder at me, face full of mischief.
“Fuck off,” I say, turning back to my own computer. The liquid heat of her voice whispering “You,” lips and breath painting patterns against my ear. A flash runs right through my body like a detonated grenade. She’s everywhere, in my dreams with her golden skin and hair, slipping forward over her cheek as my fingers track across every part of her.
“She’s not interested.” Now I’m lying to him. I know she is. Why am I pushing this conversation?
“Yeah, right. Funny she spent so long talking to you the other night.”
“Perhaps she’s just curious about why I experiment with drugs.” I turn to face him, dropping any pretense of working. To his credit, he swings around again to talk to me properly.
“Yeah, I’ll bet she does that with the hundreds of other patients in the ER who’ve taken an overdose.” He smiles at me sarcastically.
“I didn’t OD; it was just a bit of a weird trip.”
“Anyway,” Janus says, leaning back, “I’ve seen you two together. Why don’t you just ask her out? The worst thing that could happen is that she says no, and then you just get more persistent. Look what happened to Jo and me.”
I sigh, because Janus was incredibly patient with Jo, becoming her mentor and her friend before they ever got together. I’m kind of pissed he thinks this can work for everyone. He has an ability to play the long game that I just don’t have.
“I don’t think Kate and I would be anything like you and Jo. We don’t have anything in common for a start. We’re complete opposites in every way.” Janus opens his mouth, and I hold my hand up to stop whatever is coming next, shaking my head. My gut is already churning. This is animpossibleidea. She’s the type of girl who would only settle for a kind, steady,sensibleguy. And she’d be right to do that.
