Free In Love with My Brother's Best Friend: Complete Box Set by Sharon Cummin Page B

could she still read my mind after so much time away from each
other, I wondered?
    I
felt him before I saw him. There was a breeze, and I felt a warmth
move up my arms. I shook slightly at the strange feeling I felt.
Jackson walked around the table and took the only open seat. It just
happened to be across from me and next to Bridget. I kept my eyes
glued to the menu. There was no way I was going to let him see how my
body reacted to him being near. His eyes were on me. I knew they
were. I could feel them. He could see straight through me, at least
that was what it felt like.
    I
heard my mom talking to him, so I let my eyes move up just over my
menu. My breath caught in my throat. His hair was still damp from the
shower he must have taken after the rehearsal. It hung in front of
his eyes just enough to make want to move my fingers through it to
move it back. His eyes shifted slowly from my mom and moved around
the table, stopping on me. I moved mine quickly back down to my menu.
    “ Is
everything okay, Tiny?” he asked.
    I
looked up at him and pulled my bottom lip between my teeth.
    “ What?”
I asked quietly.
    “ You
made a noise just now. I just wanted to make sure you were okay,”
he said.
    “ Fine,”
I answered. “Just peachy.”
    I
felt Chris push his leg against mine and looked up at him. He leaned
down next to my ear.
    “ You
totally made a sex noise,” he whispered. “It's me you
should be directing those noises at.”
    I
let out a tiny giggle and could feel Jackson's eyes harden on me. No
joke. I wasn't even looking at him, and I felt it.
    A
few seconds later, I caught myself wondering what his wet hair would
feel like in my fingers with his body on top of mine and my mouth
claiming his. I wiggled a bit in my seat to try and get rid of the
feelings I was feeling everywhere.
    I
was so glad the waiter asked what I wanted to drink. My mind needed
to stay in the present, the time that Jackson wanted nothing to do
with me. I would not normally even think about having a drink in
front of my parents, but I had to do it. There was no way I was going
to make it through dinner without something to calm my nerves. I
ordered a glass of wine and knew my mom was watching me, so I looked
over at her with a huge smile on my face. She cracked a smile and
shook her head. Chris ordered a beer, and the waiter moved on.
    Before
long, we had all ordered and gotten our dinners. Conversation
traveled smoothly around the table. I couldn't help but watch my dad
joking with Jackson and the way my mom adored him. What a piece of
work, I thought. He could get anyone to fall in love with him in
seconds. That hadn't changed since high school. There was always a
girl falling at his feet. In the case of the rehearsal dinner, it was
Bridget. I could tell the way Renee and my brother kept looking
between Jackson and Bridget with smiles on their faces. They had it
all planned out. Somehow they thought she was going to bring Jackson
to his knees as he fell deeply in love with her. It made me want to
puke. I was so glad that nobody could read my thoughts at that
moment. I was being a child, and I knew it.
    Over
the course of dinner Bridget moved closer and closer to Jackson. She
was playing with her hair and smiling over at him. When she rubbed
her elbow against his, I caught myself cracking my knuckles. Of
course his ass had to look across the table at me. He looked over at
her and smiled. If either of their hands moved beneath that table, I
knew I would have lost it. She asked him if he could reach the pepper
for her in the sweetest whisper, with her face close to his. To close
for me. He handed it to her with a huge smile.
    “ Anything
for a beautiful woman,” he said.
    Without
thinking, my foot moved under the table right in his direction. I
felt the heel of my shoe connect.
    “ Ouch,”
he snapped.
    “ Oh,”
I giggled. “Sorry about that. I didn't realize your leg was so
long, Jackie. Did I get you with my heel?”
    He
let out a