Free Photo Opportunity by Jess Dee Page A

eye. But Daniel gave Simon a chance for her sake. Simon, on the other hand, made no effort to get along with Daniel. There were times when he even complained that Daniel was a threat to their relationship. He couldn’t accept that she had a male friend.
    That wasn’t new to her. It was a recurring problem in all her relationships. Men were always uneasy about her friendship with Daniel. She’d thought Simon would get past his ridiculous misconception. Daniel was as much of a risk to their relationship as Maggie was.
    It was ironic really that Simon was so threatened by another man. In the end, it was he who was the unfaithful one. After two years together, the lowlife shithead cheated on her. In their bed.
    She shouldn’t have been so surprised. Men cheated all the time. Her father cheated on her mother. Repeatedly. Until he finally just upped and left. Why should Simon be any different?
    Because she desperately wanted him to be different. She so desperately wanted a healthy, long-term relationship—with a faithful man—but she learned the hard way there was no such thing.
    When she discovered his perfidy, she kicked him out immediately. However, the pain and the humiliation lasted longer than the break up. A lot longer. Thank God for Daniel during that time. He was her rock. More than once he simply held her while she cried, her tears leaving great wet blobs on his shirts.
    When the anger set in, she screamed and ranted and raved, hurling glasses and dishes at the wall, envisioning Simon’s face everywhere they hit. Even that passed, thanks to Danny. He started serving her food and drinks with plastic plates and cups, complaining good-naturedly that he was sick of replacing his glasses every time she visited.
    Slowly, the pain subsided and she started to get over the asshole. Now, nine months after she booted him out, she was upset all over again. Only now did she realize his infidelity had consequences other than the immediate hurt and loss. Because of Simon—and her father—she lost her ability to trust men. The fear of hurt and betrayal was just too strong.
    Even worse than that, because of Simon and her father, Amy found herself questioning her trust in Daniel.
     
    ***
     
    For a few moments Daniel stood unnoticed, watching her. The breeze rustled her hair and once again he felt his groin stir and harden. Shit, all he had to do was look at her and he got an erection. A kid had more control than he did. This was becoming ridiculous.
    He guessed Amy must have been home to change. She wore navy sweat pants and a matching zip-up sweater which hung open, revealing a tight white T-shirt underneath. The pants hugged her hips and showed off her endlessly long legs.
    A somber expression haunted her face. Knowing Amy as well as he did, he figured she’d done some heavy introspection, gone over every detail of the previous night in minuscule detail and come to the conclusion that what they did was wrong. She’d have found a million reasons why they shouldn’t have done it in the first place and a million more why they would never do it again.
    That was okay with him. She needed time to accept their relationship was changing. Hell, it had taken him years to act on his own feelings. The fact that he existed in a state of permanent arousal was something he was learning to live with.
    Besides, he’d only put the first half of his plan into action. The rest of it hadn’t even begun.
    Amy turned towards him as he took a step closer. Her eyes closed briefly and when they opened her face was a neutral mask, devoid of the pain he just saw. She stood up.
    “You looked so serious, I didn’t want to disturb you.”
    “Just enjoying the view.” Her words were a little stilted, an obvious lie.
    He said nothing and leaned over to kiss her cheek instead. He found it difficult to pull away. “How are you?” His need to touch her was so great he tucked a strand of her long hair behind her ear.
    Color tinged her cheeks and she