Page 8 of Kiss Me Softly

I heard a throat clearing behind me and remembered my own girlfriend. At least for now. I really needed to break up with her…

“Aurora, Chris, this is Barbie. Barbie, Aurora is an old friend of mine.”

I saw the corner of Aurora’s mouth quirk when she heard Barbie’s name and knew instinctively that she found it amusing. I didn’t blame her.

“Pleased to meet you,” Barbie said, her voice indicating it wasn’t true.

She hated to have my attention on anything else but her, even for a minute.

“Would you like to join us for dinner?” I asked, gesturing at our four-person table. “We haven’t ordered yet.”

Aurora and Chris exchanged a look that I couldn’t interpret, then Chris subtly shook her head.

“We appreciate the offer,” Aurora said, turning back to me with a gentle smile. “But we’re here to celebrate Chris’s new job.”

“Of course you want to be alone for that,” Barbie piped up a little too eagerly. “Well, it was nice to meet you both, enjoy your dinner.”

Aurora and I locked eyes for a long moment. I could sense her hesitation to walk away. I felt the same.

“Since you’re living in Chicago now, maybe we can grab a drink sometime,” I suggested. “It would be good to catch up.”

It would be better to recreate that night we had in her hotel room a couple of years ago, but I kept that part to myself. We’d had sex that night so many times that I’d lost count. When I’d slipped out of her room in the morning so I could head home and get ready for work, it had just about killed me.

Then again, I knew it was better to make a clean break. If I’d spent too much more time with Aurora, I would have fallen for her again, even if she did live three hours away.

“That sounds good,” Aurora said as she dug her phone out of the pocket of her pants. “Give me your number and I’ll text you tomorrow.”

I rattled off my digits and a few seconds later I heard my own phone beep on the table.

“Now you have my number too,” she said, giving me another big smile.

She reached out and squeezed my forearm. I could feel the heat of her hand through the thin fabric of the shirt I was wearing.

“I can’t wait to catch up.”

I could tell by her face that she meant it as much as I did.

“Me too.”

Aurora

“Is that an old girlfriend?”

My head popped up from looking at the menu, frowning at the sharp jealousy in Chris’s voice. Lately they had been acting a little too possessive for my liking, making me wonder for the thousandth time if I’d made a mistake moving here with them.

I’d been desperate to get out of St. Louis, and ever since that education conference where I’d run into Frankie, Chicago had been calling to me. I’d been watching job boards and dreaming of moving up north.

I tried to tell myself it was because I really loved the city, but the truth was, part of me was hoping to see Frankie again. A big part of me. I’d been obsessing about running into her ever since we decided to move here. I just couldn’t believe it happened the very first time we ventured out to a restaurant. It was like fate.

Maybe Chris was right to be suspicious.

“Frankie and I were casual friends during our senior year of college,” I said. “We lost touch after graduation, but then I ran into her here in Chicago a few years ago and we hooked up. It was one night. I haven’t seen her since.”

I chanced a glance over to the other side of the restaurant. Frankie had her back to me but the girl she was with seemed perturbed. I wondered what had Barbie’s panties in a bunch, resisting the urge to roll my eyes at her name. She was clearly a princess, and completely wrong for Frankie. I glared in their direction.

“I can’t believe she’s dating that human doll.”

The words were out of my mouth before I realized what was happening.

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