Page 31 of Actually Yours

Andrea’s brightly painted mouth drops open, and she immediately gets a faraway look expression on her face. She’d only met Jake on one occasion, when he’d visited the salon during the time I was dating Robby, to drop off my phone that I’d left at their place the night before. My boss had taken that opportunity to fall head over heels in love with him.

“Jake is back in our lives?” she asks, her tone reverent. Like she’s praying for it to be true.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I hedge. “I happened upon him—twice—and then he texted me last night out of the blue.”

Her dark brown eyes bore into mine and I wonder if my hair will ever get done at this rate.Maybe I should have saved this information for after my blow dry?

“Tell me everything.” She sits in the chair next to me, pulling me close to her, so that we are only inches apart. “How did he look? Is he as yummy as ever?”

Was he ever!

Wait—where did that thought come from?

“He looked the same,” I tell her, my cheeks flaming from my errant thoughts.

“So, still like Clark Kent?”

My mind flashes to his face, which had been so close to mine as he carried me to his car. His stubbled jaw, his dimpled cheek, his arresting green eyes.He’s even better than Clark Kent.

“He’s the same!”

“Methinks you protest too much,” she sing-songs at me, standing up to get to work on my dripping hair.Finally.

“Anyway, how did we get here?” I’m confused as to why we’re talking about Jake when it’s the accountant I should be focussed on.

“Because you started talking about your date and your mind magically ended up on Jake. I always knew there was something between the two of you.”

It’s true. From the brief five minutes she’d observed of me and Jake together, she’d sworn that he was the man I should be dating. Completely ignoring the fact that his brother was my boyfriend.

“You know, it was never like that. I’d never cheat on a boyfriend. Not even Robby.”

She bobs her head at me, knowing that after what my dad put me and my mum through, I’d never, ever do that to another human being. Even someone as douchey as Robby.

“That doesn’t mean there wasn’t a little spark there. A baby ember perhaps?” she says, her voice loud over the hair dryer as she works on twisting my hair into natural-looking beach waves down my back. “Instead of dating the accountant, you should date him.”

My long-ago eaten lunch takes a dive in my stomach at this thought and I promptly banish her words into the deep recesses of my mind. I can’t acknowledge the attraction I felt for Jake that first night and then again, a week ago, because that would make me the worst type of person. A person just like my dad.

“Drea.” I use my sternest voice. “I can’t go after my ex-boyfriend’s brother. It’s not right.”

I watch her shake her head in the mirror. “Honey,” she uses her motherly voice, and I want to sink into it.

Andrea has been more of a mother figure to me than my own mum for the past half a decade I’ve worked for her, and I value her dearly. Except when it comes to men; that’s when she’s usually steering me in the wrong direction.

“If you were to give in to the feelings I know you have for that young man,” Andrea continues, “you’d be doing nothing wrong. You were a loyal girlfriend to that no-hoper Robby. You stood by him and never once looked in another man’s direction. Just remember, he dumped you.” I wince at this harsh reminder. “And it’s been six months, and he has a new girlfriend. What you decide to do next has nothing to do with him. Even if who you decide to do is his brother.”

She laughs loudly at her little pun and after a minute, I join her. Even if I have no intention of following her advice and, um—doing—Jake, it’s nice to know I have her blessing. Because in my mind, it still feels like a betrayal. It still feels wrong to have any of these thoughts about this particular man.

“Enough about Jake.” I jostle in my seat to dislodge all thoughts of him. “What should I wear on my date tonight?”

Andrea purses her lips, deep in thought. “Something that will knock his socks off. Something that shows off all of your skin!”

And just like that, we’re focussed on pulling together an outfit that is sexy but not overly slutty, an outfit that could be the one to bowl over contestant number one in the dating plan. Causing me to have a small sprinkle of excitement about what’s coming.

Bring on the night ahead!

*****

Or maybe not.

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