Page 17 of Booked on a Feeling

“What was? Your near collapse after ten minutes of jogging?” he deadpanned.

“Har har.” She stuck out her tongue at him. It wasn’t cute at all. “The lunch invitation from your mom, dingus.”

“When I told her you were here yesterday, she wanted to have you over right away.” He smiled wryly. “If she wasn’t in total denial about her daughter moving in with her fiancé, she probably would’ve asked you to come stay in Tara’s room.”

“Tara moved in with her fiancé?” Lizzy casually eased their brisk walk into a leisurely stroll.

He arched an eyebrow at her so she knew he was onto her. “Technically, no. She didn’t have the heart to tell our parents that she was moving out before the wedding, so she comes home a couple of times a week to putter around and eat my mom’s cooking. But every time she leaves, she takes more and more of her stuff to Seth’s place.”

“I can’t believe Tara’s getting married. She always seemed so much younger than us when we were growing up. What was she? Three grades behind us?”

“Yeah. She’s only two years younger than us, but she has a late birthday.”

“Two years is nothing now, but back then, she seemed like a baby.”

“She’ll always be my baby sister.” He might have sniffed.

“Are you a little sad about her getting married?” Lizzy asked quietly.

“Not exactly sad. Just… wistful, I guess. She’ll have a family of her own now.” He cleared his throat. “I’m going to miss teasing her.”

“You mean you’ll missherteasingyou.” Her eyes twinkled knowingly.

Jack grinned at her. She was right, of course. He was a sucker for his little sister. He didn’t have the heart to mess around with her, but Tara had no problem teasing him mercilessly. Even so, he was going to miss that.

“Well, when you put it that way, I wouldn’t mind getting the brat out of my hair,” he said.

Lizzy laughed. “Yeah, right, you softy.”

Did she see him as a soft, sentimental chump? Was that why she never saw him as anything more than a friend? Even if that were the case, it couldn’t be helped. She had a way of chopping down his defenses and making him reveal his innermost thoughts and vulnerabilities. In some ways, he showed her more of himself than he did with anyone else—except his true feelings for her. He kept that buried deep inside him where even she couldn’t unearth it.

But in three weeks, he wouldn’t have anything to hide from her. He wouldn’t have this dull ache in his heart anymore. Their friendship would become simple and uncomplicated. He swallowed. That was what he wanted.

“I’m the softy, eh?” He grabbed her hand and picked uphis pace. “Let’s get this run back on track. We’ll see who’s soft then.”

Lizzy groaned and dragged her feet for a moment or two before allowing him to tug her into a nice jog. She kept up with him admirably for a good ten minutes.

“I… I’m… soft. Okay? You… win. Go on… without… me.” She stopped with her hands on her knees, her ponytail drooping toward the ground.

“Come on. You can do it. Just hang on for one more block, then I’llwalkyou back to your car.” He planted his hands on her back and gently propelled her forward, ignoring the heat of her skin seeping through her T-shirt.

“Oh, my God. You’re worse… than that spin… instructor I… had once,” she panted as she shuffled forward. Apparently, she decided it was easier to keep moving than to stand her ground. Most likely because he was still pushing her from behind.

When she’d gathered enough momentum, he came to jog alongside her. “You never told me you took spin classes.”

“I tookone…class. Well, maybe… half a class… is more… accurate.” She tripped over her own foot but recovered her balance before he needed to catch her. “Fine… A quarter.”

He chuckled. She was being a trooper and kept jogging even though her legs had obviously turned into gelatin. She was adorable. He’d be happier if she took better care of herself and made time to exercise, but she was still cute as hell. Yes, he was mooning over her again.What of it?he thought petulantly. He couldn’t expect his feelings for her to disappear on command. If it were that easy, he would’ve done it years ago.

They slowed to a stop at the end of the block, and he waited for her to catch her breath. She was pink all over and panting, her chest rising and falling rapidly under her T-shirt. And heimagined her like that, lying naked in bed after they’d made love. He blinked rapidly. He had a strict rule about imagining his best friend naked.Don’t.He wasn’t a glutton for punishment. It was bad enough he couldn’t have her without torturing himself even more.

He coughed and used the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat off his brows. But an odd, strangled sound came from Lizzy’s direction, and he looked up in time to see her gaze flit away from his exposed stomach. He let his shirt drop back into place, heat building low in his gut. Having her eyes on him like that made his skin catch fire.

“Let’s walk back,” she said with an easy smile and headed down the quiet residential street toward his house.

Had he imagined that look? He caught up with her in two long strides. He did imagine it. That was the only logical explanation. But if shehadlooked at him with… awareness, would he dare switch to Option Three: Make her fall in love with him? Would he dare risk losing Lizzy? He didn’t realize he hadn’t said a single word on their way back until they reached her car. And neither had she.

“I’ll see you at lunch, then.” She put her hand on the door handle. “What time?”

---