Page 2 of Keep On Loving You
“I know,” Craig said. “I’ll take as many vitamins as I can. I’ll do my best to be okay for tonight, I promise. But I’m sorry about today.”
She tried not to look as disappointed as she felt. After all,it wasn’t Craig’s fault they weren’t going to get to go riding after all.
“We can just reschedule our bike date for another time.” Even as she made the suggestion, she mentally scoured her calendar, and her next free day wasn’t for weeks. If then. “I’m sure we’ll find something that?—”
“Oh no.” Craig cut her off. “I know how busy you are, Kat.”
She waved away his protest. “I’ll make?—”
“No.” He stopped her again. “What I’m saying is that you’re going riding today.”
Taken aback, she gave her brother a look. “I am, am I?”
“You are.” He grinned. “Because I totally forgot to tell you. Last night, before…well, before the puking started, I heard from Andy. He’s coming to town for a bit. So I invited him to join us.”
Kat worked hard to control her reaction to the unexpected news that Craig’s best friend was on his way to town. The same guy Kat had secretly pined over for years, growing up. The first boy who she’d been totally and completely in love with, even if he had no idea. The man whom she’d fantasized about far more than was probably healthy, instead of pursuing actual relationships with men who were available and interested in her.
“Andy?”
Craig nodded.
If he’d noticed her reaction, he didn’t mention it. No doubt he was too tired to notice much of anything. Which was definitely for the best in this situation.
“He should be here any minute. He drove most of the way last night and was going to head in early this morning.”
“To bike?”
Once more, her brother nodded.
“With me?”
“No.” Craig laughed. “Well, maybe. But just to ride in general. And since it’s a ten hour drive, we can’t leave him to ride alone. So, it seems like a good chance for you to get out there and?—”
“I don’t think so.”
Kat started to back up in an effort to reach the door before Andy arrived. Not because she still had her schoolgirl crush on him. No, she’d grown past that.Waypast that. In fact, the last time she’d seen Andy on a trip to Vancouver for a hair show, Kat had been sure to pay a visit to him so she could once and for all put those feelings behind her.
“Why not?” Craig reached for her untouched coffee cup and helped himself to the extra caffeine. “You guys are friends. Didn’t you go to his place for dinner when you were in Vancouver? When was that?”
“Just before Dad died.”
“Wow. That long ago?”
Kat nodded. It had been a long time ago, but Kat remembered it as if it had been yesterday. But her brother did not need to know the details of that particular visit. “It just won’t feel the same without you,” she lied. “I promise we’ll go as soon as you’re feeling better.” Determined to get out of there before Andy arrived, Kat spun on her heel and slammed directly into a hard chest. She swallowed; hisfamiliar scent flooded her senses, threatening to overwhelm her.
The room spun around her, and if she didn’t know better, she might have thought she’d come down with whatever germs her brother had. But she did know better.
Two hands caught her by the elbows.
There was no way she could get away now. Kat took a breath and looked up. His eyes sparkled and his mouth—the same one that the last time she’d seen him had been between her legs, doing extremely wicked and wonderful things to her—was twisted up into a very sexy grin that made her stomach twist into a tight knot.
Maybe those feelings weren’t behind her after all?
As if she needed a reminder.
Andy Fisher didn’t usually need any excuse to catch up with his best friend, especially when that catch-up involved ripping down the mountain on a bike. Something there hadn’t been nearly enough time to do since he’d started school, and then grad school to earn his accreditation as a physiotherapist.
Not that his schedule had cleared much since graduating either. After all, those student loans weren’t going to pay themselves.
