BEST FRIEND’S BROTHER

Sasha looked surprised to see him behind her. “what… What are you doing?” she asked, genuinely surprised.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Walking you to your door and inside your house” Kaleb replied simply.

Sasha rolled her eyes and inserted her key into the lock. Her hands were shaking a little and she hoped that he wouldn’t notice because it would be so embarrassing for him to know how much he affected her just by being around. To mask her feelings, she said, as she finally unlocked the door and pushed it open. “Oh, did you just suddenly become a gentleman? Why didn’t you think of walking me to my door when I got out of your car”

Kaleb smirked, and walked in after her without waiting for an invitation, pushing the door shut with his foot. “Because I was trying to stop myself from doing this….”

With his finger under her chin, no other parts of their bodies touching, he bent his head to hers. Past, present and future collided in the moment that her eyelids fluttered closed, and she felt his mouth touch hers. It was a brief press of his lips to hers, a testing, tasting. But it ignited a flame of raw desire along every one of Sasha’s veins. When he drew back slightly, she made a treacherous sound in her throat.

“Good night, Sasha” said Kaleb, trying to get some of the much needed control back, then he turned towards the door.

Sasha had no idea why, but found herself calling his name. He half-turned.

“I just…I just wanted to say thank you for dinner.” she whispered.

The sound of her voice… That did it for him. He walked back up towards her with an intensity of movement that belied his easy departure just now. For a second she thought he was going to come right up to her and kiss her again. She took a step back, feeling a mixture of panic and anticipation, with her heart thumping, but he stopped just short of her. He reached out a hand to stroke her cheek and she found herself wanting to turn her cheek into his palm. But then his hand was gone. And his eyes were glittering in the dark.

“You’re welcome, Sasha. But don’t get too complacent. We will be meeting again, I can promise you that.”

He turned again and strode back. Out the door and back to his car. He got in, shut the door and the car pulled away.

Sasha just stood where he’d left her, her mouth open. Heat flooded her body and something much worse-relief. She knew now that she had called his name and said thanks, because something about watching him walk away had affected her profoundly. She had an uncontrollable urge to stop him.

She had to face it-even though she’d been telling herself she had to find a way not to be interested in him. He was smashing through the veritable wall she’d built around herself and it was frightening how, in the space of weeks, she found herself in a situation where she was actually feeling disappointed that he hadn’t kissed her. Her cool poise was suddenly very shaky.

By the time she was standing in her tiny galley-kitchen the next morning drinking her wake-up cup of tea, she felt much more in control. She swallowed the last of her tea and grimaced as she washed out the cup and reminded herself that she had to get her damn act together.

———

“What took you so damn long?” Tilly asked as she opened the front door to Sasha’s house so Sasha could come in, “I’ve been sitting here for an hour waiting for you. You know the movie starts in two hours, right?”

Sasha hurried past her into the living room, “I’m so sorry, Tilly” she said, “There were lots of customers at the food truck. You know I only have one assistant at the moment, and Miriam wasn’t even around for long today.” she looked at the plate on the table and smiled, turning to look at Tilly, “I see you found the chicken in the fridge” she added.

Tilly grinned and went back to sit on the couch, “You should be glad I left some for you. Thirty minutes more and I would have eaten all of it.”

Sasha grinned back at her. “Well, thank you very much,” she said sarcastically. “But enjoy, I’m going to take a shower before I get ready for the movie”

“Oh wait,” Tilly said as Sasha began to move towards her bedroom, “Something was delivered for you. Flowers…I didn’t know you had an admirer… Ora potential boyfriend”

Sasha’s heart began to beat a little faster, “Flowers?” she repeated.

“Yeah, it’s on the table over there,” Tilly replied.

Sasha wasn’t sure who had sent them, but she had a wild idea who it could be. This was exactly the kind of crazy thing Kaleb was capable of, and she didn’t know if Tilly knew who it had come from. She hurried to the table Tilly spoke of, and of course there on top of it, was the biggest bunch of flowers she’d ever seen in her life. Her bag and phone slid from her fingers onto the table. How the hell had she not seen it when she came in? With a trembling hand, she plucked the card free from amongst the ridiculously extravagant blooms.

She cast a quick look backwards, and of course Tilly was still sitting, but she was staring at her with a mischievous look in her eyes. Sasha ripped the envelope open and took out the card, which was of such luxurious quality that it felt about an inch thick between her fingers. All that was written on the card in beautiful calligraphy was one mystifying letter: ‘I…’

She was completely and utterly bemused. Her dread was that they would be from Kaleb. But the card was enigmatic. They could actually be from anyone.

“So…. Who are the flowers from?” asked Tilly, the silly look still on her face. “I can’t believe you have a boyfriend and you didn’t tell me about it.”

Sasha turned to face her immediately, “No. No… I definitely do not have a boyfriend” she said, thinking hard.

Tilly did not look convinced at all. “Really? Then who sent the flowers? A genie?”