Page 128 of Rush of Jealousy

“And your conversation with Zander?”

I look down at my hands resting on the island. I am perched on a stool. “It was rough,” I whisper. Tears fill my eyes as I remember Zander’s words and his disappointed face. “Harder than I was expecting to break my best friend’s heart.”

Graham moves over to me and wraps his arms around my upper body. “I’m sorry you are sad over this. I wish I could take away your pain. However, Angie”—his eyes level with mine—“you are not responsible for making those around you happy.”

“I wish it wasn’t all or nothing with him. We have been friends for years. Good friends. But I never saw him the way he sees me.” I wipe the tear rolling down my cheek with the sleeve of my shirt. “I just never saw this coming. I either am that dense or I didn’t want to even consider it as an option. Regardless, it sucks.”

Graham’s hug is warm and genuine. He helps me off my stool and guides me into the living room where we flop down on the couch. He drapes a soft blanket over my shoulders and we cuddle. Cardboard boxes and my sewing desk are piled in the corner with professional labels on the outside describing the contents.

Graham brushes hair from my forehead and kisses my lips. “I’m glad you are here,” he whispers. “I want you to feel comfortable here. This is your home too. Girly the shit out of this place—I don’t care.”

I laugh through the tears. “You may regret that.”

“Doubtful.”

“We’ll see.”

He smiles and bends forward to grab a stack of magazines. “I got a bunch of home store catalogs for you to look through. Order whatever you want.”

I eye the dozen or so magazines. They range from super fancy to farmhouse casual. “Where are the tacky ones? With the roosters and birdhouse decor?”

He laughs and gets up from the sofa. He takes two books from the entertainment center and walks them back over to me. “Here.”

I look at the cover and see “Country Cottage and Style” on the one, featuring plaid and apple prints. I flip through and see the roosters and birdhouse artwork and kitchen supplies. “This is perfect!” I say, pointing to the floral wallpaper section. “We can wallpaper one of the walls as an accent wall.”

Graham shakes his head at my enthusiasm and leans over to see what has me so excited. “How about that one?” He points to the mini sunflower print. “I’m pretty sure you weren’t even born when this trend was at its peak in popularity,” he laughs.

“Like clothing, everything comes back in style eventually.”

We laugh over the other hideous pages of decor items. The oven timer goes off, and Graham excuses himself to dish us up some highly processed cheese goodness.

I place the home magazines back on the coffee table. Graham returns with two glasses of wine from our lake trip and two plates of pizza.

“Cheers to our first night together in our place,” he says, holding up his glass.

“Cheers,” I say and clink mine with his, “thank you for having me. But you know I still plan to go to my townhouse some nights, right?”

“I don’t see the point. But we can negotiate terms later.”

“Graham, our relationship is not a negotiation. This isn’t a business transaction.”

He shrugs and takes a bite of his pizza. Strings of cheese stretch from his mouth, as he tries to make a clean break.

“Good, huh?” I ask, taking a huge bite of mine.

“It is not Giovanni’s. But it is pretty decent, if you like unmolested pizza,” he admits.

I laugh. “I do.”

“The wine definitely makes it taste better.”

I sniff my glass and enjoy the aroma. It brings back all the memories of our wine tour, and how he had his way with me against a wooden barrel. “Truth. How was your day?”

He finishes chewing and then clears his throat. “It was a decent day. Nothing crazy happened. Just managing the supply chain for our new line of watches and answering to the marketing team on how to push out our release.”

I lean back into a pile of pillows and listen to him talk about his jewelry line. It is sexy listening to him go over some of the process details and how he wears a lot of different hats in his company. I can tell he really likes being involved and not just the one signing papers. It all boils down to being in control. And his need for it.

After dinner is over, we take a shower together, and I put on a set of pajamas from the closet that Graham has supplied for me. He must have known that I would end up here when he decided to proactively buy me a whole wardrobe. I would like to think it was just wishful thinking and not part of some bigger plan.

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