Rush

by Deborah Bladon

  Slow. I have to take this slow. She deserves that. Hell, I need that.

  I’m a kiss away from blowing my load.

  What the fuck is wrong with me?

  “Was that too much?” She whispers with her lips pressed to my chin.

  “Not too much,” I growl out. “I have to catch my breath. I need to think.”

  Think about what I want first. I want to taste her. I want to fuck her. I want it all.

  “Is it Drake? Do you need to think about him?” Taking a step back, she lowers her voice. “I know he’s your best friend. I know that he wouldn’t…”

  I stop her with a deep kiss. I linger there, sliding my tongue over her bottom lip, breathing her in.

  “Don’t talk about him,” I whisper, not finding the will to say his name. “Don’t.”

  “Case! Are you here?”

  The sound of Maya’s voice approaching the open office door sets Emma back two steps. Her hand jumps to her swollen lips.

  Panic sets over her expression.

  I step toward her, but that only moves her back another three steps with her hand waving in the air between us. “We can’t.”

  Fuck. Just fuck this.

  “Oh, hey.” Maya appears at the office door. “We need to talk.”

  Emma half-turns until her blushing face is out of Maya’s view. “I should go.”

  “I’m sorry.” Maya’s gaze darts from me to the back of Emma’s head. “Did I interrupt something?”

  “No.” Emma lets out an exaggerated laugh. “I came to tell Case about a boy I met today. He loves one of Cabbott’s games. I wanted Case to know because they work hard on every single game and app they develop. But I told him, so there’s no reason for me to hang around here anymore. I’ll go now.”

  Maya looks to me for guidance, but I stand in silence, staring at Emma as she gathers up the purse she dropped into one of the chairs in front of my desk.

  Stress taints her every move. Her hands are shaking. Her smile is pinned on to hide what’s really going on inside of her.

  Regret. I sense it. She’s regretting the kiss already.

  “Emma,” I call out her name. “I’ll see you at home later.”

  When she turns to look at me, my suspicion is confirmed. Regret swims in her eyes behind the tears that are welling there.

  Nodding, she hurries past Maya. “It was nice to see you again,” she mumbles before she’s out of the door.

  Chapter 33

  Emma

  I ran out of Case’s office like a fool.

  That’s because I am a fool. I’m an infatuated fool.

  I kissed Case knowing that I’d feel things. I couldn’t have known that those things would be amplified a million times over.

  I wanted him in a way I have never wanted a man before, but there’s more to it.

  My heart felt something when his lips touched mine. It broke open.

  I can’t fall for him. He lives in California. I have to go back to Seattle soon, and on top of that, he’s my brother’s best friend.

  Drake’s words about Case’s dating history bounce around in my head as I trudge through the late afternoon crowds in Lower Manhattan.

  Jealousy has always been a part of the dynamic of Drake’s friendship with Case. Drake complained when Case didn’t make him a partner in Cabbott even though it was Case’s money that founded the business.

  In college, Drake was head over heels for a woman named Annabeth, yet she ended up in Case’s bed.

  She was the first of a long line of women my brother pined for but never got a chance with because Case made the first move.

  It wasn’t as though Drake made it known that he was interested in those women. He kept those feelings quiet. When I told him that it wasn’t Case’s fault that he acted on his attraction first, Drake laughed it off, telling me that there were more than enough women for both of them.

  I cringed at that.

  Case has a lot more experience than me. If he’s still the same guy my brother went to college with, sex is all he’s interested in.

  After my disaster of a relationship with Beauregard, I want intimacy, but not at the cost of my heart.

  I’ve never had sex without some degree of emotional attachment to the guy.

  I don’t know if I can do it.

  I jar to a halt when I hear my phone ringing in my purse. I want it to be Case as much as I don’t want it to be. He seemed concerned with my reaction when Maya showed up out of nowhere, but maybe that was because he didn’t want his old friend knowing that he was kissing the sister of another of his old friends.

  Am I reading way too much into all of this?

  I fish for my phone in my purse and glance at the screen.

  I answer it immediately. “Drake?”

  “Em.” His voice cuts through the traffic noise around me. “I’m hitched!”

  A single tear falls from the corner of my eye. My brother is officially a married man. “I’m so happy for you.”

  “I’m so happy for me too,” he says. “I wanted you to be the first to know.”

  I edge past a group of four people to rest my hip against the side of a brick building. “I’m the first?”

  “On our side.” He chuckles. “Jane’s on the phone to her folks.”

  Our parents have no idea that their only son just got married. I’ve honored the promise I made to Drake not to say a word to our family, but I don’t know how long I can hold out. “Will you call mom and dad and tell them?”

  His laughter edges up a notch. “No damn way. I want to see the looks on their faces. Jane and I are going to fly back to Seattle with you once we land in New York. We’ll spend a night in Manhattan before the three of us head home to tell the family. The flight is my treat. Does that sound good to you?”

  How can I possibly say no to any of that? Drake knows I live on a budget, so the offer to pay for my flight home is appreciated. “That sounds great.”

  “I’m texting you a picture of us.” He blows out a breath. “Promise me you won’t send it to mom, dad, or Whitney.”

  “I promise.”

  “I have to run and find my bride.” He laughs. “I have a wife, Em. I have the most incredible wife in the world.”

  “She has the most incredible husband,” I say softly. “I couldn’t be happier for you.”

  “I want this for you too, Em,” he sounds back.

  “Someday, I’ll find my love.”

  “Maybe you already have.” His voice breaks. “Jane just hung up with her folks. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  I stare at the screen of my phone when the call ends. Maybe I have found my love, but it wasn’t in Seattle. It was here in New York, but that’s a love story that will never have a happily-ever-after, so it needs to end after that first kiss.

  It’s a first kiss I will never forget. It’s the type of kiss you remember when your hair is gray, and your heart still skips a beat whenever you think of that moment from the past.

  I glance down when my phone buzzes in my hand. A text message from Drake pops onto the screen of my phone.

  I slide my finger over it, opening the attached picture.

  My hand leaps to my mouth as my breath catches in my throat.

  With the majestic view of a castle behind them, and lush green grass at their feet, my brother has his hands cupped over the cheeks of a woman with short blonde hair as he leans in to kiss her.

  Her dress is long and flowing, crafted from lace and silk.

  Drake is suited in a black tux.

  Love radiates from them, and even though I can’t see Jane’s face clearly, I can sense that no one on this earth has made my brother feel more joy than she has.

  Chapter 34

  Case

  “The lip gloss you’re wearing has a bit too much sheen in it for your skin tone.” Maya playfully circles a finger in front of my face.

  Swiping the back of my hand over my mouth, I shoot her the same look I did when we were kids and she’d te
ase me about my overbite. “Don’t go there, Maya.”

  “Go where?” She asks with a bat of her eyelashes. “From what I see, you went there.”

  “Don’t,” I warn with a raised brow.

  “You’re wearing Emma’s lip gloss.” She smacks her lips together. “She was flustered when I interrupted. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that I have horrible timing.”

  I won’t argue with that.

  Emma and I may not have been in the middle of our heated kiss when Maya barged in, but the discussion we were wading through wasn’t over.

  She’s Drake’s sister. That’s a fact that will not change.

  “Don’t have second thoughts.” Maya swats a hand over my forearm. “You’re having second thoughts already.”

  I arch my neck back. “She panicked.”

  “Because of her brother?” she questions.

  Running the pad of my thumb over my bottom lip, I nod. “I hesitated. She brought up Drake.”

  “Was your hesitation because of him?”

  I go with honesty because that’s something Maya can always count on from me. “No.”

  “No?” she parrots back. “Yesterday, you told me nothing could happen between you two because of Drake. Now you’re saying he’s a non-factor?”

  I take a deep breath. Confessing to Maya that I felt something other than a need to fuck when I kissed Emma would set me up for an hours-long conversation about my feelings, so I dance around it. “I met up with Gavin last night. He helped me see that we’re all adults here, and Drake will have to deal with it if something happens between his sister and me.”

  Hearing the words pouring out of me makes sense. Whatever reservation I had about Emma is evaporating. I can’t tell if I’m looking to Gavin for justification to act on my intense attraction to Emma or if I’m ready to toss my friendship with her brother out the window to take her to bed.

  Either way, what’s happening between Emma and me is ultimately about the two of us.

  Maya’s quiet for a moment too long. “You felt something when you kissed her, didn’t you?”

  I try to contain the conversation by downplaying. It’s what I do. It’s what I’ve done for years. “It was a good kiss.”

  A laugh escapes her. “It was a good kiss? It blew your world apart. I see it on your face. You must feel it.”

  I feel it everywhere. I finally feel alive in a way I haven’t in a very long time.

  Crossing my arms, I stare her down. “Why are you here?”

  “Why are you changing the subject?” She shakes her head. “You can pretend that you’re not falling for her, but we both know that’s a lie.”

  “Why are you here, Maya?” I repeat the question because I need to think, and I have to do that alone.

  “I’ll drop this temporarily.” She nudges her elbow against my arm. “Pam and Rod apparently have commitment issues. I thought they’d sign on the dotted line, but so far, nothing.”

  I shove a hand through my hair. I had hoped that this would be a done deal today. I anticipated an offer in hand by tonight.

  “You came here to tell me that?”

  Scratching her forehead, she lets out a heavy sigh. “No. I have a client in Boston who is looking for a place in New York. He’s very interested in your apartment. He wants to see it in person this week.”

  “When?”

  “He’ll let me know once he has a chance to look over his schedule.” She glances down at the phone in her hand. “He wants to fly in, do a tour and fly out so I’m going to need some flexibility with time. It could be a last minute thing. Do you think that will work?”

  “It’ll work,” I answer. “I’ll make it work.”

  Sliding to her tiptoes, she plants a kiss on my cheek. “You can make anything work, Case. Trust that you can.”

  I stare down at her. “Not everything is meant to work.”

  We both know we’re talking about Emma, but if that kiss today leads to more, it ends when we leave this city. A long-term relationship won’t work for me. Since Emma just broke an engagement, I don’t see her eager to start something serious again anytime soon.

  Maya’s gaze drops to her wedding rings. “Anything worth having is.”

  I ignore the comment. Maya’s life may have worked out just as she had planned. Mine’s never charted the course I set for it, but if I can leave Manhattan with one good memory to drown out all the bad ones, I’m on board.

  From what I experienced today, Emma is the woman to help me with that.

  Chapter 35

  Emma

  I knew it was a mistake to call Sandy and tell her about my kiss with Case. I’ve sat here for ten minutes while she’s listed every reason why she believes I should throw caution to the wind and sleep with him. Unsurprisingly, she hasn’t mentioned one reason why I shouldn’t.

  Clearing my throat, I cut her off mid-sentence. “He’s my brother’s best friend, Sandy. It was just a kiss. It doesn’t have to turn into anything more.”

  “Is this seat empty?”

  I look up to find a beautiful gray-haired woman smiling down at me. Glancing around the crowded coffee shop, I pull the phone away from my ear. “It is. Please join me.”

  As she settles, I turn my attention back to my best friend. “I need to go. Love you,” I say before I end the call.

  “Thank you, dear.” The gray-haired woman sets a small coffee in front of her on the table. “Palla on Fifth makes the best cup of coffee in the five boroughs. I stop in once a week to treat myself.”

  It’s a treat for me too. I never pay this much for a cup of coffee, but it’s worth the splurge. After I finished the cup that Lester brought me this morning, I promised myself that I’d indulge again before I left Manhattan.

  I had no idea I’d end up here hours later.

  “I’m Ruth.”

  She offers me a pat on the forearm instead of her hand, so I offer her a smile. “I’m Emma.”

  Tugging on the collar of the pink cardigan she’s wearing, she nods. “Are you visiting New York City?”

  It’s a common question in Manhattan. I’ve been asked it before when I’ve visited my brother. I don’t know if life long New Yorkers have a sixth sense that tells them when someone is a tourist, but there must be something about me that gives it away.

  “I live in Seattle.” I sigh. “I came to visit my brother, but he’s in Ireland. He got married today.”

  “Well, congratulations to your brother.” She lifts her coffee cup in the air as if she’s toasting to Drake’s marriage. “Did he neglect to include the location on the invitation? You’re here and the festivities are in Ireland.”

  I stare at her weathered hands and the three rings she’s wearing. Each is unique. One is a pearl on a band made of rose gold. Another is a small black onyx stone nestled in a circle of diamonds. The third is the most interesting. It’s misplaced considering her shoes and handbag screams of wealth.

  A tarnished silver double heart ring is on the index finger of her left hand.

  I glance up at her face. “He eloped.”

  Her blue eyes are warm in a way that reminds me of my grandma. I may have forgotten the sound of her voice or the smell of her perfume, but her eyes always stood out to me. They were a beacon of sunshine when I was a kid. I’d spend one weekend a month at her home with its breathtaking views of Puget Sound. We’d eat ice cream for breakfast and cereal for dinner and talk about anything I wanted.

  I’ve missed her every day since her death.

  “That stings, doesn’t it?” She runs a finger over the ring with the intertwined hearts. “My oldest daughter pulled that trick on me. I nursed a broken heart until she gave me a granddaughter.”

  I smile because the grin on her face tells me that she forgave everything when she looked into the face of her daughter’s newborn.

  “Are you navigating New York alone?” Her hand pats my forearm. “If you are, you’re a brave soul.”

  “I’m not brave.” I chuckle.
“I’ve made a couple of friends and I’m staying with my brother’s best friend until the honeymoon is over.”

  “Your brother’s best friend?” She leans forward on her chair. “I overheard some of what you said on the phone. That would be the young man you kissed? Is there a spark between you two?”

  I draw a finger over my bottom lip remembering how it felt when Case kissed me earlier. It was more like a blazing inferno than sparks. “There was something. I felt it.”

  She drops her gaze to the table. “I have a heck of a tale to tell about my brother’s best friend.”

  I sit silently, waiting for her to continue because I’m up for any story about a brother’s best friend. My fingers are crossed that she’ll tell me it all worked out in the end and didn’t leave her with a heart that was so broken it never recovered.

  Instead of launching into a love-filled journey about a sweet memory, she looks at me. I see tears glisten in her eyes.

  “You loved him,” I whisper.

  “I waited much too long to do that.” She swipes one fallen tear away with her fingers. “I liked that boy when we were kids. I loved that boy when I was too old to care what anyone thought.”

  I already know how this story ends. I see it in the way she touches the ring and the heaviness of her breathing.

  “He asked me to take a chance on him when I was about your age.” A small smile blooms on her lips. “I told him I couldn’t. Family loyalty and all, and it was a different time back then.”

  I nod.

  “I married someone else. Tommy married another girl. I was widowed a decade ago. His wife died two years later.” She closes her eyes for the briefest of moments. “We found each other three years ago on Facebook of all places.”

  That lures a smile to my face.

  “We had a glorious two years together before he left this earth.” She blows out a quick breath. “If given another chance at this life, I would have taken the risk back when he asked me to.”

  “Even if it meant you’d get hurt back then?” I ask.