Courting Innocence. Kimberly Dean
to leave, but bumped into the wall.
‘No, no.’ Jason was fast. He caught her wrist and stopped her. ‘My bad. I shouldn’t have started anything.’
‘We weren’t thinking,’ Sienna said in a rush. She straightened her clothes and ran a hand through her hair. Gathering it together, she looked around for her ponytail holder. She spotted it on the counter by her hip, but Jason got to it first. He put it in his pocket and pulled his girlfriend close again.
‘Erin doesn’t want us celibate,’ he said firmly.
‘No!’ Erin agreed.
‘But it’s –’
‘The day she was supposed to get married’ hung in the air like a sagging balloon.
Erin rolled her eyes. And there it was. She didn’t want anyone’s pity. She was over the humiliation and past the anger. She was even past the surprise. ‘I don’t want you guys to stop your lives, just because my plans were derailed.’
‘Are you sure?’ Sienna said cautiously. ‘It doesn’t bother you?’
‘She’s positive,’ Jason said.
Erin choked back a laugh. He wasn’t about to stop having sex on her account.
And they shouldn’t. It didn’t bother her…not that much. Her gaze took in how close they still stood together. There hadn’t just been sparks when she’d walked in the doorway, there had been fire. She could still feel it low in her belly.
Forcibly, she uncurled her toes.
‘It’s just this new apartment,’ she said. ‘I didn’t hear you two in here.’
Jason sent a grin in Sienna’s direction. ‘Not like your old place, huh?’
Sienna’s colouring flared. ‘Shush.’
Erin knelt down to help pick up the things that had fallen out of Sienna’s purse. Their old apartment had walls made of paper, and a former roommate hadn’t been shy about having her lover spend the night. The two hadn’t been the quiet types. Moans had echoed off the walls, one of which had been regularly beaten by a headboard.
The heat in Erin’s belly started to spread, and she was horrified when her nipples pinched. She missed sex. She missed being touched. She and Marty hadn’t been nearly as vigorous, but she missed the contentment a physical connection could bring.
Jason passed Sienna her pocketbook, and Erin snuck a look at the way he stroked his hand up and down her friend’s spine. The intimacy was almost weightier than it had been watching the two kiss.
She stood quickly. ‘I’ll just grab some cereal and head back to my bedroom.’
‘No, don’t,’ Sienna protested. She stuffed the last of her things into her purse. ‘Jason’s making waffles.’
Erin lifted an eyebrow.
‘Hey,’ the big guy said. ‘I think I’m offended.’
‘He makes killer breakfasts,’ Sienna promised. She wrapped an arm around Erin’s shoulders and directed her to the table. ‘You just sit and take it easy. I’ll get you some coffee and orange juice.’
Oh, this was exactly what she hadn’t wanted: kind words, pats on the shoulder and an endless stream of hugs. ‘You two don’t have to wait on me,’ she protested.
‘There’s not room for the three of us to be traipsing around in here,’ Jason said, ending the argument.
Their new apartment was much nicer than the old place, but it wasn’t much bigger. Real estate was hard to come by in the DC area. It also wasn’t cheap.
Defeated by the two of them, she took a seat and watched them work. They moved together fluidly, each taking on their own tasks. More and more, Jason had been convincing Sienna to stay at his place across the Potomac in Virginia. Neither of them was familiar with this kitchen, yet they smiled at each other and shared gentle touches as they tried to find the silverware and syrup.
The intimacy was no longer as blatant as when they’d thought they were alone, but it was sexual. And the presence of the feeling in the room was enough to make Erin squeeze her thighs together tightly. It wasn’t all embarrassment. She hadn’t been hurt by walking in on them.
Frankly, she was hot.
Her skin was tingly, and her ears were warm. It had been a long time since she’d felt the flare of arousal. Even longer since anyone had touched her that way.
She frowned into her coffee. It had been longer than the month of her broken engagement, to be honest. She couldn’t remember any guy kissing her like that. Like he needed her as much as he needed his next breath…Like he couldn’t get enough of her…
Certainly not Marty.
She put the coffee mug back down.
Was that what he’d meant by boring?
She was startled when Sienna slid into the seat beside her. Even at breakfast, her friend looked like the poster model for Miss Manners. Her spine was straight, her shoulders were pulled back, and her legs were crossed demurely.
‘Did you sleep OK?’ Sienna asked before taking a sip of her coffee.
Erin hadn’t missed the fact that Jason had known exactly how to prepare it.
She shrugged. ‘Not well.’
‘I’m sorry. Once you get past today, I’m sure you’ll rest better.’
‘Yeah,’ Erin agreed. Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead. She’d never wanted an autumn wedding anyway. She hadn’t wanted her new life starting when everything around her was dying or going dormant. It just wasn’t a good omen.
‘Did you have anything you wanted to do today? We’ve cleared our schedules.’
‘You two don’t have to babysit me.’
‘Did you want to talk?’ Sienna asked quietly.
Not really. Erin was so talked out. She’d already cried on her friends’ shoulders for hours. She poured some cream into her coffee and swirled it round and round. ‘I’m OK.’ With a sigh, she confessed, ‘I think Marty did the right thing.’
‘What?’ Sienna squeaked.
Jason merely stood staring at her, leaning against the counter with his arms wrapped across his muscled chest.
Erin swept back her hair. The dampness from her shower was drying, leaving the blonde strands wavy. ‘I’m not saying he did it the right way, but, more and more, I think we narrowly avoided making a mistake.’
Sienna touched her arm. ‘Why do you say that?’
‘Because I miss the wedding itself: my dress, the flower arrangements, the reception with all my family and friends. I miss it all – but I don’t miss him.’
There it was, the truth that had been bothering her so much was out. She risked a look at her best friend.
Sienna didn’t look convinced. ‘Are you sure you’re not just angry with him? You were together for so long.’
For seven years. Last year of high school, all of college and grad school.
‘I’m not angry with him. At this point, I don’t even think about him.’ Not Marty in particular, anyway. She thought about their plans together, their habits as a couple, the way they’d used to talk, sex…The question that consumed her most, though, was why.
‘Then you’re right,’ Jason said. ‘You avoided a bullet.’
She had, but who did that? Spent all that time together and walked away without looking back? Had they ever been in love?
‘I just want to understand.’ Marty was the one who walked, but