Page 2 of Hot Touch
Dressed and ready, my duffle over my shoulder, I locked the front door.Maybe it’s better this way?Being alone and on my own without anyone worrying about me every time I stepped out of the house, wondering if I would return. Maybe I didn’t need anyone in my life.
Shit, wasn’t that what dating apps were for, after all? I could download one and have some company on my next day off. Maybe I’d been on this whole no-sex thing for a little too long? A year. A fucking year.
I shrugged off the feeling of something coming.
Something that would change the course of my life. But no matter what I tried, throughout the next forty-eight hours, I couldn’t shake it. No matter what I tried, my body felt like it was on edge.
Waiting.
Ready to pounce.
And it wouldn’t be till the last call of the day that I’d be reminded there was a reason I always trusted my instincts. Always went with my gut.
One hot touch can change your life without even knowing it.
And those light brown, almost golden eyes I’d dreamt about?
They would come and make the world stop in the worst moment possible.
ONE
ALEJANDRA VERDUSCO
“Oh,come on, Ale! Come with us!” my younger sister whined with a high-pitched annoying tone only a sister could love before she plopped down onto my bed and poked my belly.
“Ouch! Stop that!” I growled, grabbing a hold of her offending digit. “And I already told you,” I groaned, “I have a meeting first thing in the morning and then––“
“Then nothing!” Jackie cut me off.The brat.“I’ll buy and deliver you Starbucks every hour on the hour if you need me to.” This made the granite-like exterior of my face crack. My lips twitched. Not because of how ridiculous my sister sounded but because I knew she would do it.
Jackie and I were not only sisters but best friends. Or I should say, Jackie, Liz, and I were sisters and besties.
We fought like cats and dogs but had each other’s backs through and through.
My baby sister’s suggestion was en example of that. Though, there was no way Liz would ever waste money that way. Not ever, not my frugal-as-hell older sister who knew the value of a dollar and how to make it stretch in a way no one else did. Nope, she needed a crowbar to pry her wallet open.
“Do you have any idea how much that would cost?” Liz shouted from my bathroom, where she was finishing getting ready. I had to cough away my laughter.
Yup, my older sister was all about saving a nickel. Especially regarding coffee. She hated spending money on that when she knew just how much better the stuff she made at home was. In her eyes, it was sacrilege to spend money on things you could make yourself. But then again, she’d taught herself how to brew some of the best coffee I’d ever had, so it wasn’t a loss when Liz made everyone coffee instead of us doing a run to Starbies or our favorite local coffee shop, Pine and Grind.
“Who cares?” Jackie rolled her soft green eyes. “That’s what I work so hard for.” Now I pressed my lips together to not literally laugh out loud like some kind of hyena.
I loved Jackie. She was the creative, free spirit of the three of us, but she hardly worked. Well, I shouldn’t say that. She worked, just not in the conventional way. Don’t get me wrong, she made money, more than I did, in fact, but her line of work wasn’t your… typical nine to five.
Liz came into view, stepping into the doorway and looking like a runway model in her black, long-sleeved sequined mini-dress that made her long legs look never ending. She looked like a super model instead of a nurse.
I glanced down at myself and fought from frowning.Comparison is the thief of joy,I reminded myself. I wouldn’t gain anything from it. As the middle Verdusco daughter, I was used to others comparing us. I’d had a lifetime of it since we were all so close in age.
Liz was the beautiful, smart one.
Jackie was the beautiful, creative one.
And me? I was… the middle sister. The plain, reliable one. The one they could always count on to do… well, their taxes, literally, or be their designated driver.
Let’s be honest, I was the boring one.
“Jack might be crazy“—she stirred her fingers sideways by her ear—“but she’s not wrong. You should come with us.” She leaned against the doorway looking like she should be posing forVogueor something. Her long sleek straight hair was up in a high ponytail, making her already incredible bone structure look even better. “Please?” she pleaded. That softpleasewormed its way under my skin. I pressed my lips together.
I was tempted to go out.
