1. Tommy
1
TOMMY
Three Months Later
I follow the hostess as she leads me past the murmur of quiet conversations and clinking silverware. Excitement runs through me at the thought of seeing my old friend after too many years. The high-end restaurant is all gleaming surfaces and low lighting, but it’s Geoff Roush’s face that lights up when he spots me striding closer to his table.
“Tommy!” His voice booms through the hushed dining room, turning a few well-coiffed heads at the commotion. I can’t hide my smile as I approach.
“Geoff.” I greet him with a firm handshake accompanied by a hearty pat to the back of the shoulder. It’s the kind of familiarity that comes with twenty-plus years of friendship.
“Been way too long, man.” He pulls away, his eyes crinkling with sincerity. He gestures to the seat across from him, and I take my place in the leather-bound club chair.
“Hasn’t been easy catching you in town,” I say, easing into the comfort of old jokes and shared history.
“You’re one to talk. You keep a busier schedule than I do.” He chuckles, pushing a glass of amber liquid toward me. “Your usual.”
“You remembered,” I joke and lift my Scotch with a subtle nod.
“Hope you don’t mind,” Geoff starts, a twinkle in his eye that piques my curiosity, “I invited someone else tonight. Katie Jane’s in town. Figured it was about time you met her.”
“Katie Jane?” Her name rolls off my tongue, foreign yet intriguing. “That’d be great. I’ve heard so much about her over the years.” I manage to keep my tone even, my expression open as I’m interested in meeting this elusive daughter of his. She’d always been away at school the few times I’d come into town.
“She just graduated from NYU. Damned proud of her.” His chest visibly swells, a father’s love etched into every line on his face. “She’s got her mother’s brains and looks… but my stubbornness, God help us.”
The thought of meeting Katie Jane stirs something in me—a mix of curiosity and an unexpected jolt of eagerness. Geoff has always spoken about her with such reverence. I picture a young woman with his cool blue eyes and his late wife’s gentle smile, but my imagination falls short. There’s a mystery to her, a piece of my friend’s life I’m about to uncover.
“Looking forward to it,” I say, and I mean it. His world has always been a fortress, his business acumen as sharp as the Chicago skyline. But Katie Jane? She’s the heartbeat he’s fought to protect, the soft echo in his steel-hard life.
“Ah, there she is,” Geoff announces, his gaze fixed on something beyond my shoulder.
I twist around, expecting to lay eyes on a young woman who’s somehow both a stranger yet not after years of her father’s stories that he’s shared with me. I stop midway, my drink pausing inches from my lips before almost dropping to the floor. No longer a hypothetical image, Katie Jane is about to become a reality. One that, unbeknownst to Geoff, might just change everything. Then, memories come flooding back—salty Miami air, the heat of her skin, the taste of her lips.
“Isn’t she something?” My friend’s voice pulls me back into the present, but my pulse hammers against my temples.
“Incredible,” I manage, the word a tightrope I walk between truth and catastrophe. My heart lurches as my gaze clings to the woman approaching our table.
Kate. Not Katie Jane. Kate.
The woman whose laughter still echoes in my dreams, whose body I’ve worshipped under a veil of stars in a bed of sin.
“Tommy, you alright?” Geoff’s brow furrows, a crack in his ever-confident facade.
“Fine, just... tired from my flight…” I trail off, failing to find a lie that doesn’t sound like betrayal.
Time slows and my breath catches. Kate is here, wrapped in the same elegance that spelled my complete undoing three months ago.
“Dad!” Her bubbly voice is a melody that tugs at memories best left buried. My friend and his daughter embrace in a picture-perfect moment that should warm me but instead sends ice down my spine.
“Katie Jane, meet Tommy Sinclair. Tommy, this is my favorite daughter, Katie Jane.” He wraps a protective arm around her shoulders and pulls her in for a tight hug.
“I’m your only daughter,” she deadpans, still with her back to me, and I brace myself for the moment recognition sets in.
Then she turns, and our eyes lock. A collision course set by fate or damnation, I can’t tell which. Realization flashes in her brilliant blues, mirrored by the storm in my own eyes.
“Tommy,” she breathes, her surprise masterfully masked by a polite smile.
“ Katie Jane ,” I respond in a steady tone, despite the chaos churning inside me. A handshake would be appropriate, safe. Instead, we’re both frozen, clinging to discretion as our only lifeline in the most awkward moment of my life.
“N-nice to meet you.” She stumbles over her words as our shared secret coils around us. The weight of what happened in Miami is as heavy as lead in my stomach, threatening to pull me under.
“Excuse me for a moment. You two get to know each other. I’ll be right back.” Geoff steps away, drawn by an acquaintance across the room. Our eyes dart to his retreating figure, then back to one another while sharing a silent scream.
“Small world,” she murmurs, a masterclass in keeping cool.
“Tiny,” I reply as my mind races through scenarios where this ends well, only to come up empty. “Please, have a seat.” I pull out the chair next to mine, a gallant invitation loaded with peril.
As she sits, poise personified, I know I’m playing with fire. But oh, how the flames beckon, and I can’t resist trailing my fingertips along the smooth, bare skin of her upper arm.
“Sorry about that.” Geoff returns to the table and takes his seat. “Gotta play nice with the city inspectors.” He laughs, oblivious to the tension between me and his daughter.
After ordering our meals, my friend launches into a proud monologue about Kate’s accomplishments and her future plans.
“She graduated top of her class, you know,” he boasts, his chest once again puffed out like a peacock.
“Please, Dad, Tommy doesn’t want to hear all this,” she interjects, cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Or maybe it’s pleasure as she skims her leg against mine beneath the table.
“No, I want to hear more,” I insist, forcing each word out in an attempt to remain civil. “I’m very interested in everything about such a charming, beautiful girl.”
It’s true. Damn it all. I lean back in my chair, crossing my legs in a futile attempt to ease the discomfort of my aching cock.
“Thanks, Tommy,” she says, her voice velvet and sin. And there it is again, that invisible thread, tugging us closer with every glance, every word loaded with meaning only we can understand.
“Katie Jane’s always been driven,” Geoff continues, unaware of the silent exchange happening right under his nose.
“Clearly. I can tell she’s the kind of girl who gets what she wants.” I take a sip of Scotch, the liquid fire doing nothing to quell the blaze Kate’s proximity is fueling. My grip on the glass is white-knuckled, an outlet for the tension that threatens to shatter my carefully-constructed composure. “Tell me more.” It’s both an invitation and a plea. Desperate to shift my focus from the pull of her lips, the curve of her neck, the memory of her whispered moans that echo in my mind like a siren’s call.
“You don’t have to ask me twice. I could go on about my girl all day.” So could I. Geoff chuckles as he launches into another story, and I nod along, pretending my entire world isn’t sitting inches away, dressed in a sexy black dress and breathing in rhythms that match my own. Pretending I’m not one wrong move from betraying my best friend’s trust in the most unimaginable way. “Isn’t this great?” Geoff beams, continuing to be clueless. “Finally, dinner with my best friend and my daughter. Only took twenty-three years to make it happen.”
“It’s perfect,” I lie, my tight smile a facade. Inside, I’m a tempest, havoc and desire waging war with every beat of my heart. I hold the line because I have to, because the alternative is unthinkable.
The clink of fine china and the hum of conversation are a distant murmur compared to the internal cacophony in my head. Geoff’s words become background noise as I feel Kate’s hand on my thigh, shooting a jolt of electricity that threatens to burn through every shred of self-control.
“You feeling okay, man?” Geoff’s voice cuts through my fog of desire. His brow is furrowed with genuine concern, and it’s an ice bath over my simmering thoughts.
“Of course,” I manage, plastering on a smile. Yet inside, I’m tumbling into an abyss. If he ever found out about Miami...
The thought alone is a vise around my chest, squeezing until I can’t breathe. He trusts me, and here I am, battling a lust that could shatter a lifelong friendship. What kind of man does that make me?
A man ready to go to hell for the sexy goddess sitting next to him.
“Actually, I’ve got a proposition for you.” Geoff’s tone shifts, lighter now, and I brace myself. “Why don’t you stay at our place while you’re in town? I never get to have my two favorite people together and I want to make the most of it. Hell, it could be another twenty-three years before I get you two together again.”
No, the fuck it won’t. I need her too much to wait another five minutes.
My heart stutters as I weigh the potential risks. A glance from Kate, quick and laden with silent words, makes my blood sing with the kind of danger that’s sweet and addictive.
“Geoff, I...” The hesitation is palpable, clogging my throat.
“Come on, it’ll be like old times.” The warmth in his eyes is enough to make me hate myself for even considering it.
“I wouldn’t want to impose,” I deflect, but there’s a part of me that’s already crossing lines in my head that should never be crossed.
He laughs, brushing away my concerns with a wave of his hand. “Imposing? Nonsense! Kate would love it too, wouldn’t you, sweetheart?”
“Oh, absolutely, Dad.” Her voice is a velvety whip that only I feel the sting of.
“Alright.” My stomach drops as if I’m stepping off a cliff. “I’ll stay.”
“Fantastic!” he exclaims, oblivious to the fine line I’m walking.
“Should be fun.” It’s the most dangerous truth I’ve ever spoken.
“Shall we?” Geoff stands, signaling the end of the evening. Then he escorts Kate out of the restaurant with a hand on her lower back in a fatherly manner. But an unexpected jealousy burns within me and I’m dying to get my hands on her again, best friend’s daughter or not.
The chill of the Chicago night bites at my skin, but it’s nothing compared to the fire Kate ignites within me with just a glance. I bury that flame deep, lock it away behind a door of duty and respect. It’s the only way I can walk beside her and not reach out to claim what I’ve tasted once before.
“Thank you for dinner, Tommy,” Kate tells me as we part ways, and I nod, unable to trust my voice.
“Goodnight, Kate.” It’s all I offer, a simple farewell loaded with unspoken promises and suppressed longing.
“See you back at the house, buddy.” Geoff claps me on the shoulder, and I muster a final smile, one that belies the roiling storm within me.
As I watch them walk away, the tension coils tighter, excitement whispering through me like the caress of a ghost. I’m stepping into the lion’s den, armed with nothing but the fragile shield of my flimsy convictions.
You cannot sleep with your best friend’s daughter.
At least, not again. Yet as the city lights flicker as they stream by, painting the path before me in shades of temptation and trepidation, I can’t ignore the intense pull of desire between me and Kate. I just hope Geoff can forgive me because I’m committing the ultimate sin.