Free What Happens Between Friends by Beth Andrews Page B

“Doug worked on an oil rig, but that was only until he got his big break.”
    “Don’t tell me,” James said blandly. “Doug is a musician.”
    “Artist.” Though he’d had that whole rock-star vibe to him. Long hair, scruffy facial hair, a penchant for wearing ripped jeans and his battered leather jacket. And then there was his Harley. Man, don’t get her started on that—talk about sex on a stick. Doug was perfect for her.
    Until he’d found another muse.
    Oh, well. Easy come, easy go.
    “Anyway, Doug and I split a few months ago, and since the whole organic beauty products weren’t working out, I decided to come home.”
    Had wanted to come home. To be home.
    “That’s it?” he asked, studying her in that way she hated, as if seeing through all her bullshit, right to her soul. A girl had to have some secrets, didn’t she? “There aren’t any warrants out for your arrest? No ex-boyfriends you owe money to?”
    “Of course not,” she said primly. “You know I don’t borrow money.”
    It was a line, one of few that she refused to cross. Fail or succeed, she did it on her own.
    He linked his hands together behind his head, causing the muscles in his arms to bulge and flex. “What are your plans?”
    “I don’t know.” She didn’t do plans. It’d never been a problem before. If something didn’t work out, she moved on to the next venture. If she got bored, she packed up and heeded whatever new idea called to her.
    Except the idea fairy must not be able to get through because she was blank. She had no clue what she wanted, where she should go. It didn’t help that her choices were limited, thanks to her bank account being depleted, her two credit cards being maxed out and her wallet holding exactly sixty-three dollars and forty-seven cents.
    “I guess I’ll stick around here for a while,” she said. “Get a job or two, save up until I have enough to start over. Phoebe—you remember me telling you about my friend Phoebe? From Austin?” He nodded. “She and her partner moved to Napa and have a vineyard. She said I was welcome there anytime.”
    “Head West, young woman?”
    “Maybe.” Though the idea of being on the other side of the country from her family and friends gave her a twinge of panic. “Not that I know anything about working in a vineyard.”
    “When has that ever stopped you?” He took her hands in his. “So you didn’t set the world of organic beauty products on fire. You’ll find your niche.”
    She snorted. “I barely made a spark.” Hadn’t made her mark yet. Was starting to wonder if she ever would.
    “Doesn’t matter. Listen to me, you’re one of the most capable, smartest people I know. You’re able to adapt to any situation, find the good in just about everyone and you’re fearless. You took off when you were barely eighteen and you’ve made your way across the country and back again on your own. You’re not afraid to take chances.” His thumb brushed the back of her hand, shooting sparks of awareness up her arm. “I admire that.”
    She glanced down at their hands, his large and tan and work-worn, hers pale and soft in comparison. “You do?”
    His lips curved. “I do.”
    Her entire body warmed. She exhaled, felt as if it was the first time she’d been able to breathe freely in weeks. Months. Because of James. He believed in her. He saw more in her than she even saw in herself.
    And when her wings failed and she fell to the ground, he was her soft place to land.

CHAPTER FIVE
    S HE WAS HIS own personal addiction, one who tormented him, kept him awake, made him crazy. One he couldn’t overcome, no matter how hard he tried.
    And she didn’t even know it.
    James slid his hands away from Sadie’s, pretended to look at the book she’d given him as an excuse to put a few more inches of space between them.
    Space he desperately needed.
    He never should have come out of his room. He’d just dozed off when Zoe’s whining had woken him up, and he’d