Sip of Assistance

Chapter 19

Warning: This chapter has mature content. If you are uncomfortable about reading a sex scene... you may want to skip this ;-)

Chapter 19

“Holls, are you all right?” James asked, still waiting for an explanation.

I wanted to tell him the truth… I really did, but the words weren’t coming. I was staring intently at my hands in my lap, processing the events of the night and hoping James would let it go.

“Holly?” James’ hand came into view as he placed it over both of mine. I looked up at his soft, pale eyes, wondering what he would think if he knew what happened between Jon and me.

I realized the car was awfully quiet. Glancing over at Alessandra, I saw that she’d taken both shoes off before passing out, mouth open. It almost made me laugh to see such a graceful model looking like that, but James pulled me from my thoughts with a squeeze of my hands.

In looked into his eyes again, those ice blue orbs that glistened as they watched me, waiting for an answer. I couldn’t bear to see them look at me with disgust or pity so I did something I knew was wrong; I lied... though only partially. At the very least, I omitted important details.

“I haven’t seen Jonathon since I stopped working for him. We used to be really close… best friends, actually and well… things are different now. It’s complicated.”

James studied me closely before nodding and sending me a sympathetic smile. He glanced over at his date in her drunken slumber and then moved to sit next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. It was comforting leaning into his strong body for support.

“If you want to talk about it, I’m here Holls.”

“Thanks,” I forced a smile, feeling guilty and shut my eyes. I was drained, physically mentally and emotionally, but I couldn’t fall asleep. The feel of Jon’s hands and lips were clouding my mind until I was consumed by them. I thought back to the moment that things went too far for us to come back from. Our first kiss had changed everything, but we could have put it behind us if we chose to. The problem was we chose to keep going down that path until it was too late for our friendship to survive.

I had arrived in London after spending my entire red eye flight stressing over me and Jon’s very first kiss, wondering if it was a one-time thing or if it meant more, thinking about how sexy the whole moment was, worrying that it would change things in a bad way, and hoping it would happen again.

I’d left my phone with Trudy because she was going to fill in while I was on vacation and I was not to be bothered for anything. It was a nice idea, but it meant that I wouldn’t be talking to Jon for a whole month. After that kiss, the only person I wanted to talk to was him.

My first day there was frustrating because Jon was on my mind every minute. On the second day I left the cottage on the beach to sit and watch the waves break beneath the sunset, a blanket wrapped around me and a glass of wine in hand.

It wasn’t long before I was too cold and decided to head in. As I approached the back door, I noticed it was wide open. I knew I’d locked it so I began to panic, thinking someone broke in. I noticed a black duffle bag on the porch as a silhouette came into view just inside the door. I froze, worried I was about to be attacked by some murderer or rapist.

But then the figure stepped outside the door into the dim light of dusk. I inhaled deeply with relief as I took in Jon’s tall, lean form before a new wave of anxiety overcame me. I thought I had a month to figure out what to say to him, not two days.

A soft sprinkle began falling so I rushed up the steps of the porch for protection from what would quickly become a heavy rain. Jon walked the few steps over to me; eyes locked on mine, and pulled the wine glass from my hand, setting it on the petite mosaic table near the door. Then he pulled the blanket off my shoulders and tossed in on the wicker chair next to the table. Without a word he cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. The kiss was soft, slow, and there was no battle for dominance. He was kissing me sweetly, like we had all the time in the world. My hands found their way to his chest, sliding up the front of his hoodie until they were in his messy hair pulling him closer so that I could slide my tongue in his mouth and deepen the kiss. As I did, he slid his hands down around my waist, hugging me tightly to him.