Page 15 of Forever Fascinating

“Positive…” Jana breathed, crossing her heart. “I swear.”

Emily sighed, closing her eyes in almost defeat, and Jana let out a small shriek of happiness, immediately hugging the other woman and jumping up and down.

“I promise you that I’ll owe you one…”

“You owe me big!”

“And I’ll pay up, I promise.”

“I can’t believe I’m about to go pimp myself to your date and hope he’s okay with it just so I can see what color his eyes are… dang, I must be desperate,” Emily muttered, shaking her head, laughing softly, and covering her face with her hands.

“Thank you, so much…” Jana hissed, hugging her again.

“Go,” Emily ordered nervously, dropping her hands and taking a deep breath again. “Before I change my mind…”

“I’msooooogone,” Jana whispered, yanking open the janitor’s door and darting into the hallway where she’d seen the pilot disappear near the front doors of the church.

Jana could hear the sound of music, laughter, and people talking in the distance as she ran to the front door, glancing outside at the parking lot and seeing it empty… only to see the smallest glimpse of him walking down the sidewalk to the right.

She shot down the corridor, smiling and saying hello to people, making her excuses and claiming she was running to get something out of her purse. As she walked down the hallway, she saw a door to the outside of the building and immediately headed that way.

Opening it, she prayed an alarm didn’t go off in that moment, and stepped outside, to see him standing there, his back towards the building about fifteen feet away.

Her breath caught in her chest as she stared at him, realizing this was completely insane to be chasing after one of her brother’s coworkers. He could be married, he could be already in a serious relationship with someone, or…

She watched as he dropped a cigarette to the ground, crushing it under his shoe and giving it a slight wiggle to put it out.No one should ever look that good twisting their leg,she thought numbly, staring at his back.

He tensed and slowly turned towards her.

Silent.

There were mirrored aviator sunglasses on his face, showing her reflection, and she froze, feeling a pang of longing so intense it was almost comical. Jace was just going to have to get over his issues because she wanted,needed, to say hello and make an introduction to this beautiful man before her.

He was standing there, waiting, and she felt almost brazen as her eyes roved over him, taking in everything. The bow of his upper lip as his lips separated in what she hoped was surprise, and was simply breathtaking.

She could not stop looking at him.

“Hello…” she uttered, her voice soft and trembling.

“Hi…” he breathed, his voice husky and deep, giving her goosebumps immediately as she drew in her breath. She was going to have to come up with much more than ‘Hello’or this conversation was going to be over before it ever started.

“I’m Jana,” she began, hating how excited and nervous she sounded. “Jana Sorensen and…”

“I know,” he interrupted quietly, studying her behind those glasses.

“You do?” she whispered, taking a step towards him, unconsciously.

“I was told to stay away from you,” he uttered, and then grimaced. “Sorry. I probably shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, it’s fine,” she stammered. “I figured Jace would say something or do something, because he can be very protective. He’s a great guy but…”

“It would be something I would do if I knew it would keep my kid sister from getting in trouble,” he replied, looking away.

“And is it?” she asked softly, taking another step towards the man before her. “Is it going to keep me out of trouble?”

“We shouldn’t be talking.”

“No,” she smiled shyly, seeing him look up at her. “We probably shouldn’t, but we are… so perhaps we should make the best of it?”

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