Free Secret Kiss by Melanie Shawn Page B

down at Jane. “Well, at least promise you’ll save me a dance.”
    “Oh…oh…okay… Yeah, sure.”
    “See you tomorrow.” Eli winked at Jane before heading across the street to the fire station, nodding to Adam when he noticed him standing there.
    That feeling that had welled up in him just moments ago when he’d first seen Eli and Jane talking flooded through him now, and he was able to identify it.
    It was jealousy.
    Which was absolutely ridiculous. He had no rights to her. She could flirt or be flirted with by anyone.
    Since she had her back to him still, he couldn’t see her face. One of the things about Jane that was quickly growing on him was that everything she felt was written all over her face. He might not always know why she was feeling the things she was feeling, but he knew what she was feeling.
    With Alexis, he’d always had to guess what was really going on behind her icy-blue eyes. All the years he’d been with her, he’d chalked it up to her job. You can’t choose a mate whose entire career is based on scheming and deceit and then be shocked to find out they’re a liar and a manipulator.
    “Hey,” he spoke when he got within a foot of Jane.
    Gasping audibly, she jumped and spun around. Placing one hand over her heart and the other over her stomach, she looked up at him with wide eyes. “I didn’t hear you.”
    “Sorry.” He’d attempted not to scare her by alerting her to his presence, but that had backfired.
    “Oh, it’s fine.” She blushed as she pulled a large ring of keys from her purse and unlocked the door, her hand shaking.
    “Are you okay?” he asked.
    “Yep,” Jane answered, nodding without looking at him.
    She could have been trembling from the adrenaline from having been surprised by him, but he’d noticed how flustered she had been when she was talking to Eli, and he had a feeling that it had more to do with that.
    They made their way inside, and as much as he wanted to push to find out what she and Eli had been talking about, he didn’t ask. It truly was none of his business. Still, it was driving him crazy.
    Luckily, just as they were settling back into work, the door flew open and Vivien from the coffee shop rushed in right past his desk that sat just to the side of the door. Without sparing a glance in his direction, she stalked directly to Jane’s desk, speaking so fast that Adam thought she’d give John “Motormouth” Moschitta, Jr. a run for his money.
    “Audrey said that she saw Eli talking to you. Did he ask you out? Are you going to the benefit with him?”
    Shit. Eli had been asking her out. Of course he had. Jane was gorgeous, smart, sweet, and, from what he learned, available. Why wouldn’t Eli ask her out? Why wouldn’t every single guy in Hope Falls ask her out? If his circumstances were different, he’d do the same thing.
    His shoulders tensed as he waited for Jane’s response.
    She stared up at the redheaded speed-talker like she was in shock. Shaking her head and blinking twice, she said, “No.” His shoulders relaxed—until she continued clarifying. “I mean…yes, he did. But, no…I’m not.”
    “Why not?” Vivien asked. “He is a fireman and he is haaawwwt .”
    A blush crept up Jane’s cheeks, and her eyes quickly sliced to Adam for the first time since Vivien had barged in. “I’m just… We already have a table…”
    “Table, shmable! When a man like Eli asks you out, it’s buy-new-panties time, chickadee.”
    Jane’s eyes widened.
    That was it. Hearing Vivien encourage Jane to “buy new panties” caused something to snap in Adam, and he heard himself saying, “Jane and I are going to the fundraiser together.”
    It was the truth. On Monday, Nikki had basically engineered their agreement to attend the benefit together. Neither of them had brought it up since then though, and Adam had been trying to figure out what to do about it. Spending more time with Jane wasn’t a good idea for more reasons than he could count.