Page 100 of If Tomorrow Never Comes

“Romance.”

She sucked in a breath. “Oh. Um ...”

He cupped the back of her head and covered her mouth with his.

She pulled back a moment later, breathless. “Fine. You convinced me.”

Voices suddenly sounded to their left, and two people appeared at the end of the row. Jamie stepped back, but not quickly enough to hide what they’d been doing.

“Oops, sor—Jamie?Elliott?”

It took Elliott a long second to process the familiarity of the face who looked back at her in surprise.

The ground seemed to drop from beneath her. Her first instinct was to grab for Jamie’s hand, but she quickly pulled back when Stephen’s eyes followed her movement.

“Hey, Stephen,” Jamie said smoothly. “Tara.”

Stephen just looked at them, impassive. “Are you two ...?”

She and Jamie hadn’t talked about how they might handle someone they knew finding out about their relationship. It was bound to happen, but she’d figured the more time that passed, the less of an ordeal it might be. Fewer side-eyes, less questions, minimal judgment.

Content in their bubble of romantic bliss, she’d pretended this exact scenario was unlikely and not something she needed to worry about. She and Jamie mostly kept to themselves, partly because they were both introverts who preferred staying in, but also because no matter how much they told themselves what they were doing was completely appropriate and consensual, it would raise eyebrows in front of a certain crowd.

This one, in particular.

Jamie’s voice startled her. “Yeah.” He sounded so calm, so sure. “We are.”

Elliott had seen Stephen only once at Starbucks since she’d told him she just wanted to be friends. He’d seemed completely fine—not bothered at all—but she’d also used the excuse that she was too busy with her business to date. Now here she was, obviously doing exactly that. She didn’t want to hurt Stephen, of course, but that was actually low on the list of concerns rapidly building in her mind. At the top of the list was—

“Does Carly know?” Tara asked.

No one spoke for a beat.

“It’s ... new,” Elliott managed. Her feelings for Jamie were anything but, but they didn’t know that. She and Jamie hadn’t acted on anything until after Carly moved, and she’d cling to that for all it was worth.

It also didn’t answer the question, but it seemed to be enough.

Stephen shrugged as if the shock had already worn off and he was totally fine with it. “Well. Cool.”

Tara was harder to read. She’d never seemed to like Elliott much, and a glint of disapproval shone in the gaze she swung back and forth between Elliott and Jamie, almost as if gauging the distance between them.

“Well, we’ll see you around,” Stephen continued, nudging Tara’s shoulder with his.

Jamie stepped forward. “Hey, wait.” Tara and Stephen paused. He glanced back at Elliott before turning to them again, a flash of guilt in those hazel depths. “I, um, haven’t talked to Carly since she left town, and like Elliott said, we just started seeing each other recently.” That part was true, at least. “I assume she’ll hear about it now, though, and I think it’s best if it comes from me. So please don’t say anything to her. Let me be the one to do it.”

Stephen lifted a shoulder again, as if he hadn’t planned to get up in anyone’s business in the first place. Definitely ayou do youkind of guy.

Tara, on the other hand, pursed her lips together. She’d probably planned to have her phone in hand, dialing Carly’s number as soon as they hit the Travel and Leisure aisle.

“Please,” Jamie said again.

Thankfully, Tara finally nodded, and Stephen stepped in to usher Tara back the way they came.

Alone again, Elliott faced Jamie, whose usually confident stature now slumped in defeat. He just looked at her, a heavy sigh escaping his chest.

“Guess I have a phone call to make.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

---