Liz
I looked up to see my friend Andy waving her half-drunk matcha at me.
She wore her long black hair up in a ponytail and had thin oval sunglasses covering her sapphire eyes so I could see the way her brows pushed up behind them.
I jumped back to myself, looking around. Andy had graciously agreed to be my date today as we looked at a few empty houses.
I was getting desperate, and even with a couple million in my bank account now, what I could find in the suburbs of New York wasn't what I wanted. There weren’t many houses on the market that suited my needs, and I wasn’t willing to pay a big price tag for something that was… so mediocre.
“Sorry,” I said, and took a sip of my own matcha. “There's just been a lot on my mind recently.”
I walked around the kitchen island and leaned against it as I looked out into the… backyard? I wasn't sure if I could call it that. It was more like a small box with a fence around it.
Maybe I could use it for vegetables or something?
Right, as if I ever wanted to grow anything.
She came up beside me and nudged me with her elbow.
“Got some dirty gossip for me? Let me guess, you met someone and now you can't get your mind off them and all you can think about is moving here and having babies and—”
I pushed her away with an eye roll.
Andy was younger than me and still at that stage of wanting to build a family when she found the right person. We had met a few years back when I went back to school for a business certificate, and she was just starting, which created a very unlikely, but if I was being honest, fun friendship.
Despite our whopping almost sixteen-year age gap, which was almost the same as between my daughter and me, Andy had been the only one who didn't give me a weird look when she found out how old I was.
If anything, she used it to her advantage and always came to me for advice, especially in the first few years.
As she started living her life, she came to me much less for that and more to just hang out.
She was always down for a little errand or, as she called them, side quests.
When she graduated, she started working as an investigative journalist, which surprised the hell out of me since she’d told me she would for sure go into business planning. But, to be fair, with her weird research rabbit holes, I shouldn’t have been that surprised.
I still remembered the day she told me she thought she’d found a new serial killer in New York. I really quickly changed the subject, but every time we saw each other, she would just come back with more.
Do you know who the biggest purchaser of glitter in the United States is?
Did you know about the family that couldn’t sleep?
She was fun. She’d always been fun.
Now we were here. Looking at disappointing houses over the weekend.
“I'm not having any more babies,” I whispered to her.
The admission sent a pang through my chest. Some nights, I lay in bed and thought about what it would have been like to marry someone I truly loved. I got Claire out of that relationship, but what if I had married someone else?
Would I have more kids?
Would I have gotten to where I needed to be faster?
“I'm old.”
Andy let out a scoff.
“You're not. Besides, science has come a long way. However, you didn't deny the rest, so… Who did you meet?”
My mind went to Jax. How she crowded my space outside my old house, her face darkened by the helmet.
How I threw her desire for me in her face.
That was back in the club. This is real life.
That had been a low blow, and I knew it.
She hadn't shown up at my apartment that night, and that was two nights ago. I saw the crew in the morning on my way to work, but that was it.
There was still a group working outside my gallery that would be on their way soon, but all the security cameras had been updated. Jax even sent me an email with a link to all the security portals I needed.
But she hadn't talked to me since.
I felt… awful. She’d been trying to help when I was being reckless. And to make matters worse, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Almost as if I… wanted to see her again.
Maybe even… missed her.
Even though I barely know her. And she’s Claire’s best friend.
My stomach twisted.
“No one,” I said quickly, realizing I'd been silent for a while.
She made a noise of disbelief, and I pushed off the island before she could see my embarrassment.
“Oh my God, there is someone. Who is it? Does Claire know?”
I tried to hide my face, but it was no use because she maneuvered around me and forced me to look at her.
“You're blushing! Wait!” She lowered her voice. “Was it that good of a lay?”
I peeked up at her through my fingers.
“It was really fucking good.”
She squealed and jumped up and down. “That’s my Liz—”
I quickly covered her mouth with my hand, looking over her shoulder, just as the real estate agent glanced into the kitchen with a look of obvious disappointment at how loud we were.
“Sorry,” I whispered and shot Andy a look. “Keep your voice down, okay?”
“Nope, girl, this is bullshit.” She pulled me out of that house as fast as she could walk in her little flip-flops. “You get in your car and drive me straight to that apartment of yours. Then we’re going to open a bottle of wine, and you're gonna tell me all about your perfect night.”
I couldn't fight her, so I decided to listen for once.
Best laid plans…
“This is so fucked! I’m so sorry.”
Andy was trying to comfort me with her arm around my shoulders as we looked at the mess of my apartment. My security team was already there and handling everything.
It was more than just a break-in.
The door had been kicked open. There was glass everywhere. They took everything from my refrigerator and threw it onto the floor. I supposed they had meant to make as much of a mess as possible, and they’d sure as hell succeeded.
As I was standing in the entryway of my ruined apartment, a very familiar voice came from behind me. My heart jumped in my chest, recognizing it before my mind caught up.
“I’m sorry, Liz. If I knew this would happen, I would have stationed them outside your apartment instead of just following you. He’s faster than I gave him credit for. This is all my fault.”
I turned to see Jax standing with a man and a woman by her side. Lucky for me, she was dressed in a more casual way in a slightly cropped shirt and jeans. I tried not to let my eyes linger on how her boxers were showing.
With so much money and such a high-valued company, can’t she wear a fucking suit?
Fuck. Never mind. I bet she looks good in one of those too.
By Andy's sharp intake of breath and the way she looked between us, I knew exactly what she was thinking.
“We know whose fault this is, and it's not yours,” I replied.
Jax’s lips pressed into a thin line as if she wanted to refute that, but instead, she chose to move on to another topic.
“Unfortunately, it looks like we're going to have to move you. We can talk about that later, maybe when your friend…”
“Andy!” she chirped, holding her hand out.
Jax gave her a pleasant smile and shook her hand, and I was hit in the gut with a sharp twinge of insecurity. She was young and attractive, and looking at her as she obviously swooned over Jax made something inside me feel a bit broken.
Their ages are definitely closer. They would make a cute couple.
“Nice to meet you, Andy,” Jax said before turning back to me. “I think we have some stuff to discuss about where you'll be staying. Maybe your friend could leave early? I mean no offense with that, but this is a security issue.”
The way she took charge in these situations made me feel like a fish out of water. I knew this was her job, but… Did I have to feel so useless?
“Oh, yeah, of course,” Andy replied. “Maybe that's best.”
“Wait! You wouldn't happen to still have that room available, would you?”
Andy shook her head with a pained expression.
“It's already rented out. My brother helped me find someone. They're moving like literally today. Sorry. If only the houses we saw today weren't such shit.”
I nodded. “No worries, I'll figure it out. You head on home. Thank you so much for coming with me today and… Well, sorry about how things turned out.”
“You never have to mention it.” She gave me a quick hug before taking off down the hallway. “Call me about that thing we discussed, girl!”
I couldn't help the embarrassment that spread to my cheeks.
With Andy gone, I turned and motioned for Jax to come inside, but she shook her head.
“Let my security team do their job. They don’t need one more person in there. How about we talk at the office?”
“Should we let the police…” I let my words linger, unsure what I was asking. I didn't know the protocol for something like this. Not when I knew this wasn’t random.
“Do you really want the police involved in this?”
I shook my head.
“I'll take you.”
My mind immediately went to me on the back of her motorcycle, arms and legs wrapped around her, and panic ran through me.
“Maybe I'll just ride by myself. I don't know—that motorcycle looks pretty dangerous.”
She gave me a smile that had my heart beating faster in my chest.
“That was just a loaner. I have an actual car, you know.”
I didn’t know if that made it better or worse. Just the idea of being alone with Jax in a car had my stomach turning.
But this time I didn't push and followed her out of my now-destroyed apartment instead.
“Did you eat?” she asked as we got into the elevator.
I tried not to make it obvious that I was putting space between us, but the elevator was so small that I was practically pushed against the metal wall.
“Um, we had breakfast, but it's been a few hours. But I'm not hungry. It's okay. We can just go to your office first.”
The elevator door closed, and she was looking at me. Heat continued to rise to my cheeks. The space felt like it was closing in. I was all too aware that with just a simple movement, we would be touching.
God, what the fuck is wrong with me? Why is she affecting me so much?
“What?” I asked as she continued to look at me.
Jax let out a chuckle and reached over me to press the button for the parking garage. I couldn't help but inhale the scent of her cologne.
“Your mind somewhere else today?” She said it in an almost flirtatious tone.
“Just tired and… overwhelmed,” I answered honestly.
Her face changed to one of understanding.
“Let's stop and get you something then. Anything you want. My treat.”
“Anything?”
“You name it. It's the least I can do.”
My stomach churned, but I couldn't ignore the fact that I was truly hungry.
And if she was offering, I might as well take her up on it.