Leaving at Noon (24 page)

Authors: Jess Dee

Tags: #romance, #romantic comedy, #womens fiction, #erotic romance, #friends and lovers, #romance adult fiction, #international setting, #friends and sex, #beach and vacation

“
As if you don’t
know.”

“
Know what?”

“
The reason I shoved the
girls in your line of sight every day that year.”

He pointed to himself. “Clueless. Why don’t
you fill me in?”

“
Oh, for God’s sake. I was
only, like, head-over-heels in love with you.”

Jared ground to an unexpected halt, jerking
Ava to a stop in the process. “You were in love with me?”

“
Don’t play the innocent
card. Of course I was. Greg knew all about it. The whole school
knew. Even Arlene.” The slutty bitch.

He gaped at her. “You never told me.”

“
You never picked up on my
not-so-subtle hints. Seriously, Jar, how many times does a girl
have to press her boobs into your chest before you realize she’s
into you? Jeez, I might as well have held up a banner declaring my
feelings.
Ava loves Jared
.”

His answering smile was unacceptably smug.
“I have a brilliant idea. Try again. Go ahead and press your boobs
into my chest now. Who knows? Maybe this time will be the lucky
charm.”

“
Pffft.” She started
walking, pulling him along with her. “A girl can embarrass herself
just so much before she moves on.”

“
You must have moved on
fast. As I recall, your last year of high school was monopolized by
Ryan Caswell.”

“
Ryan Casting,” she
corrected. “And at least you noticed something about me that
year.”

“
I noticed you hanging out
with him
all
the time.”

She shot him a lofty, sidelong glance. “You
weren’t interested. I moved on.”

“
You sure di— Hang on.” He
ground to a halt again. “Greg knew? My brother?”

“
That I was into you? Of
course. Who’d you think was telling me to show you the girls? He
convinced me it would work.”

“
Son of a bitch.” Jared
tugged his phone out of his pocket and tapped on the
screen.

“
Oi, I’m telling you all
about my teenage heartache—of which you were a key player—and
you’re playing on the phone?”

“
Shhh.” Jared put the phone
to his ear. “It’s ringing.”

She propped a fist on her hip and glared at
him. “That’s the last time I tell you anything private.”

“
Apparently not so private
if everyone at school knew. Well, everyone but me.” He tilted his
head, listening to the phone. “Yeah, it’s me. Just checking in to
see if there’s anything you wanted to tell me about
Ava.”

Jared quirked an eyebrow as the person on
the other end of the line responded. “No, Greg. I mean anything
about Ava and school. Our HSC year, to be specific. Something you
knew that maybe I didn’t?” His gaze found hers, his eyes
dancing.

“
Yeah,
that
,” he
said and then listened. “Now? You’re telling me this
now
?”

“
You’re discussing this
with him
now
?” Ava asked. “You can’t wait ’til you get
home?”

“
When I was seventeen.
That’s when,” Jared told Greg.

Silence.

“
Of course it was
my
business. She had the hots for
me
.”

Ava sighed out loud. “I should never have
told you. Now you’re just getting all bigheaded about it.”

He winked at her. “Is there anything else
you never told me?” he asked his brother.

Thirty seconds later, Jared winced. “I meant
about me, not you. Christ, I didn’t need to hear that.”

He shook his head. “Yeah, you’re right. I
asked. My bad. Next time I’ll be more specific. Later, bro.” Jared
placed his phone back in his pocket.

“
Are we all done with our
phone calls now?” Ava asked patiently.

“
He really did
know.”

“
Of course he did. Everyone
knew.”

“
Except me.”

“
Except you.”

Jared held up his arm in invitation, and Ava
tucked herself under it. In perfect unison they began walking
again.

“
I’m blown
away.”

“
Don’t be. It was a long
time ago.”

“
You know…” He drummed his
fingers against her upper arm. “It almost makes sense, in a cosmic
kind of a way.”

“
What does?” The gentle
tap-tap-tap of his fingers distracted her. It felt good. So did his
arm, all solid, warm and secure around her shoulders.

“
My not knowing you were in
love with me.”

“
And how does that makes
sense cosmically?”

“
I think it’s called fair
play. Or tit for tat. I’ve been in love with you for years, and
you’ve never noticed.”

Find out more about
Jess Dee
,
The Sunday Night Dinner Club
and
Dinner at
Eight
here:

Jess Dee’s Books
Page

Table for Two

Sunday Night Dinner Club, Book 3

James Elliot never meant to barge into his friend’s
bedroom, but now that he’s caught an eyeful of Olivia Taylor,
butt-naked, he can’t seem to imagine her any other way.

Liv’s world is falling apart. The goals she’s worked
so hard to achieve are crumbling. The only thing she can rely on
now is the constant stability her friends provide.

But one of those friends is changing the dynamics of
their relationship. James is whipping away everything that’s
familiar between them and replacing it with a sensuality and a
passion Liv can’t ignore.

With so much at stake, Liv has no time to fall in
love—even if it’s with her best friend. It’s up to James to guide
her through the toughest challenge of her life and show her that
the light on the other side of the tunnel just might burn between
them forever.

Warning: Contains all the red-hot
loving you’d expect from a Jess Dee romance, and a sexy,
sports-mad, muscle-bound alpha hero with a penchant for tossing his
heroine over his shoulder.

Find out more about
Jess Dee
,
The Sunday Night Dinner Club
and
Table for
Two
here:

Jess Dee’s Books
Page

About the Author

Once Jess discovered it was okay to leave
the bedroom door open in her romance novels, she decided to leave
everything open. Buttons, zips, pants, number of lovers... Which is
why her books are all steamy erotic romances.

While Jess lived most of her life in South
Africa, the last twelve years have been spent in Australia. From
the fast paced Sydney lifestyle to the laid back islands and
beaches, there's always another gorgeous Aussie setting for a
contemporary romance.

Jess loves hearing from readers. You can email her at
[email protected]
or find her
at:

Her website – http://
www.JessDee.com
.

Her blog –
http://JessDee.wordpress.com

Twitter -
@jessdeewriter

Facebook –
https://www.facebook.com/jess.dee.921

Like Jess on Facebook -
https://www.facebook.com/Jessdeewriter

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