Page 138 of Absolute Certainty
Oh, she was happy.Wildly so, every part of her entranced. Sahar’s gaze held his, locked in a silent conversation.
I love you. I love you. I love you.
“Has anyone ever told you that your jaw looks like it was sculpted by Michelangelo? Maybe God, himself?”
Red flared across his face. A low, closed-mouth laugh bubbled out of him. It sounded fucking delectable. Now that she allowed herself to reallylookat him—to outright check him out, she couldn’t believe that he was hers. Jay had the type of face that belongedin frontof the camera, not behind it.Heshould’ve been an actor.
But a small, possessive part of her reveled in the fact that she didn’t have to share him with the world.
Mine,her heart squealed.All mine.
Jay pressed a kiss to her forehead, another on her nose, one across both her cheeks.Minehis actions said in return.
After a few short moments, he spoke again. “Hey, so Ellie’s been asking to go to the beach on Monday. Lex and Patrick will be there, too. If you feel comfortable, bring extra stuff with you on Sunday and stay the night.”
The idea sounded nice.Reallynice.
Grabbing the remaining iced water she had, Sahar took a sip. “It wouldn’t confuse Eloise?”
Jay’s fingers still danced along her shoulder. “She keeps calling you my pretty friend, so I think we’re passed that. And I’ve also told her that you’re more than a friend.”
Something in her heart squeezed as the corners of her mouth twitched upward. “Do you not have pretty friends?”
“You’re the prettiest,” he declared, kissing the tip of her nose again.
Affectionately shaking her head, she felt her smile growing bigger. “I’m in.”
35
SAHAR
Sahar and Alex stood at the train station in Smithtown, waiting for Jay to pick them up. Since he wasn’t with him, they’d spent the entire ride over, talking about their love lives, learning that they were both hopeless romantics who kept giving the wrong people chances in hopes of finding someone who could be the right partner.
Only in the last few years, Alex was understandably more reserved with her time. And given the trauma her family had endured, she’d seldom let things go beyond a third date if she sensed that it wouldn’t last. There were occasional one-night stands here and there, and only one serious but short-lived relationship while she was in her last year of drama school.
Sahar looked over at the girl as she glanced down at her phone, grimacing. “My car chose the worst time to require servicing, and Jay’s usually never late. He has my location, so he should’ve been here by now. I wonder what happened.”
Lowering her tote from her shoulders and holding it out in front of her, Sahar leaned against a pole. “Let’s give him five minutes, then maybe we can call?” she suggested.
Alex crossed her legs and carefully lowered herself down on the pavement. “Sounds like a plan.” She looked up at Sahar then. “You nervous?”
“Not so much now,” she answered candidly.
Alex smiled. It was reassuring. “Pat’s really good about making sure the people he associates with are solid. I think you’ll get along with them all.”
It was sweet to know that Alex was not only close to her brother but his friends, too. It made her heart ache for a moment as she missed the days when she and Amina weren’t living in different countries.
“That makes me feel even better,” Sahar added. “Have you always been close to Jay’s friends?”
Shaking her head from side to side, Alex said, “No. I mean, I always knew Pat because he was our neighbor, but I started hanging out with them about two-ish years ago now. Are you and your sister close in age?”
“She’s three years older than me,” Sahar answered. She was about to ask when her contract withHatchard’s Academywas set to end when Jay’s white Honda CR-V pulled over to where they’d been waiting.
Alex hopped up and went straight for the backseat as Sahar went to the passenger’s.
“Did you lose track of time?” Alex asked.
He shook his head, and upon glancing over at him, Sahar noticed the furrow in his brows that signaled he was upset about something.
