“We should celebrate our reunion.” Leo gets up from his seat. “Let me buy a round.” He heads to the bar and returns several minutes later with a round of drinks.
“So…” Lux points at Dax and me. “How did the two of you meet?”
My stomach clenches in panic because the absolute last thing I want tonight is to relive our disastrous first meeting. But before I can form a nice way of explaining that I had a meltdown in Dax’s store, he presses his knee to mine, a silent exchange that says, I got you, don’t worry, as he smiles back at Lux. “Our stores are down the street from each other. We kept running into each other.”
Lux nods and moves on to another topic. I’m only half listening, too focused on the heat from Dax’s leg pressed to mine and the familiar feeling in my chest of knowing, no matter what, that this man will always have my back.
“Tell me…” The sudden heightened pitch of Lux’s voice draws me back into the conversation. “How long have the two of you been dating?”
My cheeks flare. “We’re just friends,” I answer automatically.
“Oh, I didn’t realize.” Lux’s cheeks flush a pretty shade of red. “You guys seem so…I just assumed—Leo is always telling me I love to jump to conclusions.”
Her eyes shift to my shoulder. It’s only then that I realize Dax’s arm is resting lightly on the back of my chair. Sometime between our leaving my store and now, he’s rolled up his sleeves, exposing a few inches of his muscular forearms. He lets go of my seat, dropping his hand to his side as if the back of my chair has suddenly turned hot. I immediately notice it’s missing.
The moment of awkwardness dissipates as, once again, the conversation shifts to James Street and reviewing all of the new restaurants that have popped up over the last year.
The next hour is filled with more talking. More laughter. More memories of this life I don’t remember living.
I can see how Other Gemma instantly bonded with both Lux and Leo. I completely understand why she—I—thought they made the perfect match.
Lux launches into another sailing story about a time we almost capsized our boat on the lake.
Dax tilts his head close to mine. “Are you having a good time?” His low whisper is only loud enough for me to hear.
“I really am,” I whisper back.
He smiles. “I can tell. You look happy. And very beautiful.”
The last part seems to startle him as much as it does me. As if he didn’t mean to say it out loud. But now that he has, it hangs there between us. A declaration. An offer of what if?
And I’m tempted.
Tempted to scooch my hand two inches to the left and rest it on his thigh. To feel the hard muscle underneath with the possibility that if I play things right later tonight, I could touch a whole lot more. I won’t deny that the idea feels right. That even though we’re a perfect fit as friends, we could be as good as something more if only I’d let myself try.
But then my brain takes charge.
It reminds me of my friendship with Dax and everything I’d risk losing. Relationships go wrong far more often than they go right. People change. Grow apart. There are a million ways for a relationship to die. Dax and I work as friends. Satisfaction guaranteed. You don’t screw around with perfection. Unless you’re willing to risk damaging something that can never be put back together, and frankly, I’m not willing.
“Hey, guys. What’s up. Fuck, it’s packed in here.”
A new body intrudes on our conversation. He’s tall, handsome, and wearing a suit. He oozes that Brooks Brothers vibe that tends to surpass my head but appease my panties.
“Elliott, hey.” Lux hugs the stranger and then motions for him to take a seat.
Another round of drinks is ordered. Introductions occur.
Newcomer Elliott manages a hedge fund. He’s a friend of Lux’s older brother, here in Hamilton to visit a friend.
Lux notes me as “her old sailing friend Gemma” and Dax as “Gemma’s good friend Dax.” At the F word, Elliott slips a noticeable glance at the lace trim of my camisole. Whether Dax notices or it’s mere coincidence, he stiffens beside me.
Our conversation slips easily back into that familiar friendly rhythm, although this time, I find myself distracted and staring at our new friend. Not because Elliott is so conventionally attractive （you could chisel David with that jawline）， but because I swear I know him but can’t place how. That is, until he catches me staring and winks, and it clicks.