Free All Night Woman: A Contemporary Romance by Abbie Zanders Page A

thing – to find that soft, love-struck look she wore when talking about his brother had changed.  Her brows were furrowed, her green eyes concerned.  If there was ever a time to practice his poker face, it was now.
    “Such as?” 
    “I don’t know.  Liz hasn’t been answering her phone today.”
    “Maybe she is still recovering.”
    “How was she when you left her?”
    Boneless.  Sated.  Ashamed.  No way was he getting into that.  “She seemed fine.”
    “What does that mean, she seemed fine?” she asked suspiciously.
    Miles exhaled.  “It means that I walked her to her door, she thanked me, and said she was going to bed.”
    That was all true.  He had just omitted some details in between the walk to her door and her profession of gratitude.
    “Oh.  That’s all?”
    “What else would there be?” he challenged.
    “Nothing.  I just thought...”  As if on cue, her phone chimed softly.  She took it out and checked the screen, then typed back a quick message before shoving the small device back in her pocket.
    “That was Liz.  I’m sorry, I just worry about her, you know?”
    Given the look of relief that softened Holly’s expression, Liz’s text hadn’t included or alluded to any of the prior night’s events.  Thank God.  The last thing he needed was Adam getting pissed off now when they were just starting to connect again.
    “She is a grown woman, Holly.”
    “Liz is my best friend.  I don’t want to see her get hurt.”
    “And how does me giving her a ride home fit into that?”
    Holly stared at him for several long moments, assessing him, before shaking her head.  “I guess it doesn’t.  My spidey senses must be off.  I’m sorry, Miles.”
    And with that, Holly slipped back into the house, leaving Miles alone with his thoughts once again.

Chapter 9
 
    “O h, come on, Holly,” Liz said, eyeing the dark circles under her best friend’s eyes across the chipped, faux-marble laminated tabletop several weeks later.  “It can’t be that bad.”
    Holly grunted.  “You have no idea.  I’m telling you, Liz, money is not the source of all evil.  Planning a wedding is.  It makes people crazy.”
    Liz ran her thumb up and down the outside of the dimpled red translucent drinking glass, catching the condensation.  Holly was definitely looking strained, and the fact that she’d asked Liz to meet her in this out-of-the-way roadside diner on a Sunday afternoon was telling. 
    As if on cue, the server slid two oblong white ceramic plates the size of platters in front of them.  “Youz good?” she asked, cracking her gum.  The bright fluorescent lights glinted off piercings in her eyebrows, nose, and lips; the heavy liner surrounding her eyes made her look almost raccoon-like.
    “Yeah, thanks,” Holly said.
    “Was she even sixteen?” Liz asked, doubtfully eyeing the seven-inch high club sandwich and mound of batter-dipped fries spilling over the massive plate. 
    Holly shrugged.  “They all look young at our age.  I saw a kid driving into the CVS lot yesterday, I swear he wasn’t a day over twelve.” 
    “Buying a pregnancy test?” Liz fished.
    Holly choked on her French fry.  “I am not pregnant, Liz.”
    Liz raised a skeptical eyebrow and stared her down.  Holly had been acting strangely ever since Adam spirited her away for a long weekend at one of the Poconos lover’s resorts over Valentine’s Day. 
    “Oh, alright!” Holly said breaking under Liz’s glare.  “I thought I might be, so I bought one of those pee-on-a-stick kits, but it came out negative.  Happy?”
    “I thought you were on the pill.”
    “I was, but I was on antibiotics for ten days at the end of January, remember?”
    “So?”
    “So, antibiotics can lessen the effectiveness of birth control.  And things have been kind of off , if you know what I mean.”
    “But you’re not pregnant.”
    “Apparently not,” Holly exhaled.  “It’s probably just stress.  My mother is driving