Page 1 of Stolen Kisses
Chapter 1
Krista Nelson wanted to pop the Barbie’s head right off her shoulders. She was blond, unlike Krista. Tall, unlike Krista. And she was Noah Sawyer’s date.
Unlike Krista.
Krista swallowed and waved a hand at the two sitting across from her. “Of course it’s okay that you brought a friend.” Her smile was so large and fake that she felt like her face might crumble onto the table where they were seated. It was fine. She and Noah had dinner every Wednesday night, just the two of them. Until tonight. But it was fine.
Krista narrowed her eyes on the Barbie. Amber was her real name, she thought she remembered Noah saying. And she was probably a nice person under her thick shell of perfection.
“So how long have you two known each other?” Barbie asked.
Noah answered the question. “Kris lived in the house across from me and my brothers growing up.”
“That’s cool,” his date said.
“My parents moved a few miles away during my senior year of high school,” Krista said, “but we never lost touch.”
Noah grinned, those boyish dimples of his poking deep craters in his tanned cheeks. “She just can’t stay away from me.”
Krista shook her head on a smile. “Because you’resoirresistible.”
Noah glanced over at his date. “Don’t worry. It’s not like that between us,” he told her. “Kris has always been just one of the guys.”
Pain seared through Krista’s heart. “You know I hate when you use that expression. I’m a woman.”In case he hadn’t noticed.
“What I meant to say,” he amended, “is that we’ve always been best friends. Nothing more.” He swung an easy arm around Barbie, hooking her opposite shoulder and pulling her closer.
“Wow, that’s really great,” Barbie said, turning and meeting his eyes. She and Noah were so close their lips were practically touching.
And Krista suddenly felt a little nauseous. There was no way she could endure seeing Noah with his date for another hour. Her heart might fracture into a million little pieces. Seeing no other choice, she grabbed her phone as if it had alerted her. Noah and his date were so absorbed in each other, they wouldn’t know that it hadn’t. “Oh,” Krista said, glancing at the screensaver of a beach somewhere. A place that she’d definitely rather be right now instead of here, playing third wheel to her lifelong best friend and his date. “I’m getting a phone call, you two. Please excuse me.” She had to admit, this was pretty lame.
“Sure,” Barbie said.
Shooting up from the table, Krista turned her back and let her smile drop. Once she was beyond the normal Wednesday Wings crowd, she veered into the bathroom and whipped out her cellphone to text her brother, Joey. He’d once worked on the fishing boat with her father, but after her dad had retired, Joey decided to take a break from the family tradition. Right now he was a cab driver in Blushing Bay and her personal chauffeur when she came to Castaways, the local bar that sat on the waterfront.
SOS!she typed. She needed rescuing almost as badly as she needed another stiff drink. And another man to occupy her thoughts and the space in her heart that Noah kept. The space he’d always kept since they were little kids running along the riverbanks.
You okay?
Yes,she typed back. Even if that was only partially true.
On my way.
Krista blew out a breath and walked over to the mirror. She wasn’t half bad in the looks department, in her humble opinion. She had black shoulder-length hair that carried a natural wave that gave it a little body. People always said she had her mother’s eyes, with varying shades of pale to dark blue. She certainly wasn’t a Barbie, though, which seemed to be all that Noah ever dated. Every few weeks, a new Barbie with a different hair color or shade of skin. They all had curves, were all beautiful, and none of them were her.
The bathroom door opened and Noah’s date breezed in. Krista’s smile snapped back into place, like a brand-new rubber band. “Hi!” she said, a little too peppy.
Barbie smiled back with her perfect pearly whites.
Krista couldn’t help it. She hated her.
“Your friend is so cute, isn’t he?” Barbie said, pulling a lipstick from her purse and standing in front of the mirror beside Krista. She ran it over full, kissable lips. Noah would probably be all over that later tonight.
“Um, yeah. I guess. I don’t really pay attention,” Krista said. Which was a flat-out lie.
Barbie laughed as she tossed her lipstick back in her purse and fluffed her platinum hair in the mirror. “Right. One of the guys. A woman would have to be dead not to notice, though. And he’s so sweet. And funny, too.”
Krista swallowed painfully. Then,hallelujah,her phone vibrated in her hand.
