Pretend for Me Read Free Page A

making a joke.
    Sara smiled then went back to her chopping.
    She’d have more questions for him. Sara always had
plenty of questions ready to fire in his direction.
    The steak was added to the salad. He watched her hands
dive in and toss everything around. Not for the first time he wondered what it
would feel like to have those hands all over him.
    Stop, Andy, stop.
    The bane of his existence was his never ending desire
for the woman by his side. With his friends around he was struggling to put his
need to bed. Great, he was thinking about his bed and Sara together. Tonight
was not his night at all.
    “Andy, will you take this out?” She scooped out the
salad into bowls and then handed them to him.
    He took the bowls and made his way over to the other
men. They each took the food offered. She cleaned up the area before taking the
seat in front of the television.
    “Where were you when I called?” she asked.
    “Out at Cube,” he said. Cube was the name of his
latest club. There had been a live band playing on the opening night. The live
band had come through Sara. She knew the lead singer of a flourishing band and had
called in a favor for him.
    “I love the layout of Cube. I remember when it opened
six months ago. It was the best night of my life.”
    Andy had spent the entire night watching the chemistry
between the lead singer and his woman. Watching other men eye up Sara always
riled him. She was his, and he intended to keep her.
    First you’ve got to find out if she even wants you in that way.
    Sara never asked him for anything other than his
company and his opinion.
    “So, Sara, what do you do for a living?” Lenny asked.
    “I write.” She chewed on a piece of beef as she
watched the football on the screen.
    “You’re an author?” Travis asked.
    “That’s usually the acquired profession for a writer.”
    Andy laughed at her teasing tone.
    “What books do you write?” Wade asked.
    “She writes under a pen name, and I’ve still not
discovered it.”
    “I write the type of books women read.” Sara finished
off her food and then stood. “It has been a pleasure to meet you all, but I’ve
got to go.” She put her bowl in the sink before she returned to kiss Andy on
the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye, guys. Bye, Champion.”
    His pup barked in acknowledgement to her, and his
friends said their goodbyes. Andy saw her to the door. “You don’t have to go,”
he said.
    She smiled at him. “I’ve got to. I’m tired, and I’ve
not been sleeping well lately. Sleep tight, Andy.” She pressed her fingers to
her lips and then to his before she disappeared from sight.
    He closed the door and turned to his friends.
    “You’ve been seeing her and you haven’t slept with her
yet? Have you completely lost your mind?” Travis said.
    “Don’t start, guys. I’m not
in the mood.” He sat down next to them.
    “Do you have feelings for this one?” Wade asked.
    He glared at all of them. “I care about Sara. I’m not
going to ruin a perfectly good friendship for a quick fuck.”
    They fell silent around him. Andy needed to be blunt
with them. He grumbled as he ate his food. All the time his thoughts kept
returning to the red haired woman who had left his apartment. He wasn’t in love
with her. Love was not on the cards for him. But what he did want was a chance
to be with her. Sex could be fun, and there was no denying they would burn up
the sheets with the pleasure that could be had between them.
    ****
    Sara got back to her apartment, and her heart pounded
inside her chest. Her palms were sweaty as they rested against the door. She’d
just kissed her fingers then pressed them to his lips. How stupid could she
have gotten?
    He probably thought she was a fool.
    “They’re probably laughing about my silly crush.” She
moved away from the door in an attempt to put some distance between her crush
and her shame. Andy was thirty-three years old. He owned a variety of
successful clubs whereas she