“I’ve thought about you, too,” she answered softly.
“Probably none of those thoughts were pleasant,” I said dryly.
She sniffled a little louder. “Not all of them were bad,” she argued. “And I’m so glad you were there for Andie. I wish she would have told me. It must have been difficult to be her main emotional support when you were in school and working, too.”
I shrugged. I’d managed, even though it hadn’t been easy. “The hardest part was watching her suffer. She went through hell, and I think it would have been hard on you to watch that, too.”
“But I would have done anything I could to help her.”
I nodded. “If it helps, I did encourage her to call you so she had your support, too, but she refused. She said she thought you were going through some stuff yourself.”
“She’s so stubborn,” Layla said, not sounding the least bit disgruntled. “I know how she can be. She never wants to bring anybody down. I’m so glad she’s happy with Noah now.”
“More like deliriously happy, and it’s weird having one of my best friends married to my brother, but I’m glad, too. He needed her as much as she needed him.”
“I don’t know Noah all that well, but I think you’re right. Andie said he was a serious workaholic.”
“He was,” I agreed. “But he’s lightened up significantly.”
There was a pause before Layla asked, “So what can I do to make all this up to you, Owen? I feel horrible about what happened. I mean, I’m not asking to be your friend again or anything, but I don’t want hard feelings between the two of us anymore.”
I held up a hand with my palm facing her. “Please don’t say you’re sorry one more time. And for fuck’s sake, don’t start crying again. It’s over, Layla. All I really wanted was to put things right between us. Yeah, it hurt that you’d think I was capable of being such a dick, but we were teenagers. Except for that mistake, you were always a good friend to me.”
Layla had always encouraged me to reach for my dreams, and she’d been there during some rough times. I could easily give her a break. “Maybe the next time I ask you to go get some dinner, you could say yes,” I suggested.
She smiled. “Maybe I will, since you haven’t been to Russo’s yet.”
It wasn’t that I didn’t want her to trust me again like a best friend, but I couldn’t exactly see her as a buddy when all I wanted to do was get her naked.
One step at a time.
At the moment, I could enjoy the fact that she didn’t hate me anymore.
“I think you should probably be mad at me, but I’m glad you aren’t,” Layla said in a hushed voice. “And I still want to make all this up to you somehow.”
The sound of regret in her tone was more than I could handle. I walked around the island and held out my arms. “Come here.”
I’d wanted to be closer to her for so long that I was willing to play the “friend” card to get her into my arms.
She jumped up from her stool and ran toward me, throwing herself into my arms as I wrapped her into a bear hug.
I knew I’d fucked up almost immediately.
But I didn’t give a damn.
I buried my face into her hair and inhaled her seductive scent.
I savored the way she wrapped her arms around my neck without hesitation and plastered her body against mine.
She let out a contented sigh. “I should have known that you’d never do something horrible like that to me. I wish I would have just talked to you.”
Really, I didn’t give a damn about what had happened in high school anymore. All I cared about was now. I stroked a hand over her hair. “Forget about it, Layla.”
I didn’t want her to keep torturing herself over a stupid mistake.
She’d drive herself crazy if her conscience was as powerful as it used to be. Layla had always owned the things she did wrong, and then she’d beat herself up over those errors endlessly.
“It’s really hard to forgive myself for just tossing our friendship aside like that,” she murmured.
I tightened my arms around her, trying to tell her without words that I fucking forgave her for that.
Stroking a hand down her back, I said, “If you say one more word about what happened in high school, I will get angry.”
She pulled back from me and tilted her head a little to meet my gaze. “No you won’t. You’ve always been quick to forgive other people, but you’re hard on yourself.”
“You only see that because you’re the same way,” I informed her as I pushed a strand of her glorious blonde hair out of her face.
Having Layla this close to me was torture because my dick was so damn hard, but I must love torment, because I couldn’t let go of her, either.
That’s why I knew I was fucked.
Her scent, the feel of her soft curves, and her warm, silky skin—all of them were addicting.
“Layla,” I said hoarsely, not even knowing what I wanted to say.
My eyes were focused on her plump lips, and the fond look in her eyes that made me suppress a groan of frustration.
I wanted to see the same hungry expression on her face that I already knew was evident on mine.
I wanted her as a man, not a teenage boy.
But she obviously didn’t see me any differently than she had a decade ago.
Somehow, I needed to figure out a way to make her want me as much as I wanted her.
I lowered my head slowly, knowing I had to kiss those succulent lips of hers before I lost my mind.
I’d only moved a fraction when the doorbell rang.
Fuck!
“It must be Andie,” Layla said, her voice breathless as she slowly backed away.
Maybe later, I’d be thankful that I was saved by the goddamn doorbell.
But right now, I was wishing that Andie had gotten stuck in traffic for just a few more minutes.
The only positive thing at the moment was the slightly dazed look in Layla’s eyes, because it told me she wasn’t completely immune to the chemistry between the two of us.
As I made my way to the door to let Andie in, all I could think about was how I’d missed the opportunity to kiss Layla.
Again.
It had happened once before, the last time I’d had a friendly conversation with her in high school. We’d gone to the park, and when I’d seen her home safely, it had taken everything I had to let her go. I’d wanted to kiss her then, but I’d managed to back off right before I made a total fool of myself.
This time, I hadn’t planned to stop, but maybe it was a good thing that Andie had arrived before I could screw things up by moving way too fast.
There wouldn’t be a third attempt.
I’d waited over a decade for another opportunity to kiss the only woman I’d ever really cared about.
The whole damn world could go to hell until I got exactly what I wanted next time.
CHAPTER 6
LAYLA
“I want to come and see you in the clinic when I get back from my extended honeymoon,” Andie said to me casually as we sat in side-by-side loungers on the beach.
The party was winding down, so we’d stepped away from the crowd for a few minutes to relax and chat.
We hadn’t gone far. We were still just outside the makeshift dance floor in the sand, but far enough away so we could hear each other speak.