8 Brand-New Romance Authors

“Now get out of here, you two. I have some food to prepare.” She balled up her tingling fingertips before trying to shake the feeling from them. Snap out of it!

Hanna arrived a few minutes later and together they were able to get lunch and snacks going quickly. The game had started already and the boys were watching while the girls remained in the kitchen.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! What was that? Come on, ref!”

“Unbelievable!”

The guys were shouting and yelling at the television as if the referees could hear them. The same thing happened every week. It was typical guy behavior during a football game. Josh was on his feet, one arm raised in the air as he accentuated his words to the referees, while the other arm had a giggling Lily in a football hold.

Micah smiled to herself.

“You would think with three of us against the two of them, we wouldn’t have to watch football every Sunday,” Sabina complained as she gnawed on a carrot stick.

“Oh, come on. It’s a tradition we’ve had every season for as long as I can remember,” Hanna defended.

“Yeah, and baseball, basketball and hockey, too.”

“Well, it comes with living in Boston. We love our sports.”

“While we are on the subject of traditions, I think we have too many. We need to reconsider some of them.”

“What’s wrong with traditions?” Micah felt a little offended by Sabina’s comments. They always had fun no matter what they did together. Although, she was sure there would be complaints if they started attending fashion shows and operas.

“No need to get defensive. Jeez! I was only stating my opinion. Don’t worry. I don’t think any of your precious traditions will be messed with.”

“Hey, is the buffalo-chicken dip finished?” Hanna had her arms full of chips to take out to the guys.

“Just about. You can take the veggies and dip, if Sabina would stop eating all of them. Oh, and the pizza bites are ready, too.”

“No wonder I can’t stick to my diet.” Hanna rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, you and me both.”

“Oh, I love when you girls are in charge! We get the best football food.”

“How about you guys pick something different than pizza next week?”

“Like what? Calzones? Hey, Josh, we can go to that place around the corner. That chick was really diggin’ me last time.” Jamie stuffed his face with a chip overloaded with buffalo-chicken dip.

“Yeah, right. She was so into me. Even gave me her number.”

“Seriously?” Jamie’s brow furrowed as he sat forward and looked at Josh.

Josh nodded, showing he was participating in the conversation, but the whole time he was playing a staring game with Lily. She sat on his lap, her little hands framing his face, her forehead resting on his. It was the cutest scene, but nothing new to Micah. Josh had always been like this with his nephews and nieces. Unca Joshie was the best.

“Can’t believe it. I thought she was hitting on me! Man, I was really into her, too.”

“You want her number?” Josh ended the staring game, kissing Lily on the nose. She let out another string of giggles.

“No. Not now. I’m no one’s second choice.”

The girls could not help it; they were dying laughing listening to the conversation between the two guys.

“I’m at the top of your list, right, Mike?” Jamie grabbed her hand as she tried to pass him en route to the chair on his left. Instead he pulled her down to sit on the couch between him and Josh. As her thigh brushed up against Josh’s, an electric current sizzled through her.

She held her breath and looked up to see Josh’s eyes upon her. There was nothing in his gaze that said he had felt it, too. This was ludicrous. She felt like such a fool. Of course he didn’t feel the same electricity. She was his best friend. That was all.

She turned her attention back to Jamie. “Yes. You’ve always been my number one.”

Micah leaned forward to grab her drink at the same time that Josh moved, causing them to bump arms.

“Sorry.”

“Go ahead.”

Micah wanted to go and hide somewhere. It was all so weird between them. Why couldn’t she act normal around him? Why was she suddenly bumbling and clumsy in his presence? And she followed each with a round of awkward apologies. Surely everyone noticed the tension and weirdness happening so blatantly in front of them.

“Josh, what kind do you want?” Sabina held up two different types of beer for him to see.

“That one.” He pointed to the one on the right. “And can you slice up one of those green lemons and stick it in the top?”

They all broke out in laughter, but Sabina rolled her eyes. It was a long-running joke with them. Seemed like forever ago, Sabina had made one of her silly comments about green lemons and no one had let her live it down since. You mean limes, Sabina? Josh couldn’t help but be the one to point it out while the rest of them were snickering, leaving her clueless.

“Will you guys ever let that one go?”

“No.” Josh came to get his own beer, because after that Sabina’s generosity had run out. “You know I can’t help teasing you about that one.”

“Josh, one day you are going to say something stupid and I am going to have so much fun making fun of you.”

“I seriously doubt that.”

“No. I will.”

“Oh, I’m sure you would, but I’m saying that I seriously doubt I will say anything that stupid.”

“Oh, leave her be.”

“What the—!” Josh bolted upright, causing the other four to turn their attention back to the television, and Lily giggled as he held her sideways under his arm like a football. Their team intercepted the ball and headed toward the red zone. All of them were on their feet, cheering the player on.

“Go! Go! Go!”

Then suddenly, ten yards from the end zone, the screen went black.

SIX

“I can’t believe your television broke!”

“Let’s not talk about it.” Josh massaged his temples, hoping to alleviate some of the building pressure.

He couldn’t believe it. His freaking television had gone out right in the middle of the game. He’d missed the biggest play of the game because of that. He was still worked up over it.

He took his sports seriously. Most people from Boston did. You were asking for trouble if you came between a man and his sports, and that’s exactly what his beloved big screen had done. What was he going to do about it?

Josh nursed his Red Brick brew, trying to not let it get to him. He would worry about it later. Micah, however, was a whole different situation. What was with the looks? It had taken everything in him to stay seated when she first walked in. The look she’d given him set him on fire, pushing every one of his self-imposed limitations to the brink.

“What’s the score? I can’t see it from here.”

“I can’t see, either, but I think we are winning still.”

All five of them had ditched the apartment and sought out the nearest sports bar after Lily’s mother came and picked her up. Loud, raucous patrons filled the space, but somehow they’d been lucky enough to find a table still within view of the television screens.

“You would know if we were losing. The whole bar would be yelling at the TVs.”

“You’re so right.”

The waitress walked over to their table and set a fresh one down in front of him. He hadn’t ordered it, nor was he finished with his first one.

“Thought you might want a refill,” she said in a breathy voice.

Seriously? “Uh...thanks.”

The waitress placed her hand on his shoulder. “No problem.” She finally looked at the other occupants of the table. “Can I get anyone else anything?”

“I’d like a refill on my drink, please.” Micah’s snappy tone caused him to turn in her direction. She sat diagonally from him in the booth, for which he was grateful. If she were any closer, he would be coming up with lame excuses to touch her.

Micah gave the blonde waitress a once-over, clearly not liking what she saw. He had to stifle a laugh. The waitress returned with her refill and sent a big pageant grin his way before walking away again.

“Don’t. Even. Think. About. It.” Hanna poked him in the arm, accentuating each word. His four friends exchanged looks with each other.

“What?” He knew all about the impending lecture that he was about to endure, but feigned innocence, anyway.

“You know exactly what we are talking about.” Jamie leaned back in the booth, both arms up and clasped behind his head. “You do it every time.”

“Do what?” He couldn’t stop the smile that broke out on his face.

“Lose the innocent act.” Hanna jabbed an accusing finger in his direction.

“You know full well what you are guilty of, Joshua Taylor. We like this place and we won’t let you ruin another one for us.” They easily saw through Sabina. She didn’t care about the place. She just hated when the attention wasn’t focused on her. She preferred being the center of attention, and he loved messing with that. It had always been a source of contention between them, but neither of them would ever fess up to it.

“I do not ruin it for you.” He took another long draw from his beer.

“Yes, you do!” Sabina sat forward in her seat.

“We like this place,” Hanna pointed out.

“Well, other than that waitress.” Josh’s attention was immediately focused on Micah the moment the words slipped from her mouth. She’s jealous. He could sense her irritation and had to bite back the grin that revealed way too much concerning just how that made him feel.

“You know...” Hanna said, bringing Josh back into the conversation. “If you go out with that waitress, it won’t last. But her job here will and then we’ll be forced to cross this place off our list, too.”

He shook his head at the nonsense his four friends were spouting. They were too much.

“First of all, I’m not going to ask her out. And secondly, you guys act like this is a common occurrence. It’s only happened a couple of times.”

“A couple of times? Why are you suddenly being so modest?”

No one had ever accused him of being modest.

His friends all laughed in unison. So there was some truth to it. So what? He couldn’t help the fact that wherever they went, bartenders, waitresses, hostesses would hit on him. On occasion he asked them out. What was the harm in that? He couldn’t be blamed if they all turned out a little crazy.

“She’s not even that cute.” Jamie leaned back in his seat.

“Yeah, she’s not worth it, Josh.” Sabina said. “Fight the temptation and just say no.”

“C’mon. Drop it already. I’m trying to watch a game here. I won’t be asking her out. Rest assured. Your pub is safe.”

“Yay! Thanks, Josh!”

They all laughed again.

* * *

After the game, Micah mentally kicked herself for leaving her stuff at Josh’s apartment, including her car. When everyone else left from the pub, she was forced to head back to Josh’s place. Alone. With him.

The tension in the air was palpable.

Well, to her it was. He was acting completely normal as he threw his keys on the counter and went in search of a trash bag from the kitchen.

Chips dropped by a three-year-old—and Jamie—still littered the floor near the couches. Half-empty drinks covered the coffee table. They had left in a hurry and hadn’t bothered to clean any of it up.

She might as well help while she was here. It wouldn’t be nice to just leave it for him to do alone. She sat her bag back down and grabbed a couple of empty cups and reached for the trash bag.

“You don’t have to do this, Mike.”

Why didn’t it ever bother her when he called her that? She had snapped at Jamie for it earlier, and was constantly on Sabina’s case about it, but every time the name slipped from his lips it sounded more like an endearment than a tease.

“I know, but let me.”

“Fine. I’m not about to argue with you.” In one swipe of his arm, he cleared everything off the coffee table and into the trash bag. “So we didn’t get much of a chance to talk today.”

That’s because I’ve been avoiding you.

“How have you been? Has it been getting any easier?”

He meant the Drew issue, but she was more concerned with the issue at hand. Which had more to do with her fingers dying to trace the lines of the tattoo on his forearm. Focus.

“Yeah. It’s been getting better. I have a plan in place and should have this whole thing settled in no time.”

He stopped what he was doing, rising to his full six feet. His broad shoulders dominated the space, making him impossible to ignore. His dark eyebrow arched and the side of his mouth lifted in a half smile, the very same smile that left a good third of the women in Boston weak in the knees. Man, she was going to have to add her name to that list! “A plan?”

“Yes. I have it all worked out.”

“Do you really think that’s the best way to approach this?”

“Why not?” She shrugged her shoulders and got back to work.

“How does a plan help you control the dreams?”

She snapped to attention. “How do you know about the dreams?” She hadn’t told him anything about them.

“Sabina.”

A noise closely resembling a growl escaped from her before she could stop it. Sabina needed to mind her own business. Thank God she hadn’t spilled everything about the dreams. How mortifying would that have been?

“She’s worried about you, Mike.”

“I really wish everyone would stop worrying about me. And talking about me. Mind your own business.”

She carried the empty trays to the kitchen, and as she passed Josh, he jumped out of the way. Normally she wouldn’t have thought anything of it. But since the other night, she’d found herself analyzing every move, every look, everything. And that quick leap to avoid touching her as she passed didn’t need much dissecting. It wasn’t a good sign. Not a good sign at all.

The slight drop in her shoulders couldn’t be helped. Giving herself a mental shake, she made quick work of cleaning the serving trays.

* * *

He was scared to death. Like sweaty-palms, ragged-breaths and pounding-heart scared. Being alone with Micah left him terrified that he would once again do something to royally screw up their friendship. Things had taken a nosedive since the night he’d lost control and had her pinned underneath him on his bed.

She wasn’t the same. The phone calls and text messages were decreasing and the space between them increasing. He couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

And the way she kept looking at him—it was really throwing him for a loop. He was aware of the effect he had on women. He could see the signals long before they were even aware they were sending them. Micah had that look in her eye and he couldn’t do a thing about it.

First, she was Drew’s girl. Second, regardless of whatever plan she had in place, she was still in love with the guy and far from being over him. And third, she was his best friend, and that meant more to him than anything else in this world. Nothing was worth ruining that for.

He was a trained firefighter. He went head-to-head with death all the time. He could handle being in a room with her. It was just another fire he had to get under control. No big deal.

Just avoid touching her, brushing up against her, standing within two feet of her and looking at her.

Yeah, no big deal at all.

He had upset her when he brought up the dreams. He shouldn’t have said anything. It really wasn’t any of his business.

A week ago, they hadn’t had any secrets between them. At least none that he knew about. She told him everything. It just further proved his point—that kiss had already done damage to their friendship, and he couldn’t risk any more.

“Have you given the tattoo any more thought?” he called out as she placed the dirty dishes in the sink.

“Yes. How serious are you about that, anyway?”

“I’m always up for some new ink. What about you? Have you changed your mind?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about it...”

“And?”

“I think I know what I want to get if I decide to do it.”

Suddenly images of a tattoo on her flawless skin came to mind. Why exactly had he brought up this subject?

“Oh, okay. So if we do it, what are you going to get done?”

“Well, when I was going through those letters from Drew the other day I noticed something. He always signed his letter with a heart. Do you remember ever seeing it?”

“Me? No. He didn’t sign his letters to me with hearts. Or even write me letters. Now that I think about it, I’m kind of upset by that. I feel a little unloved.”

“Ha. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up a sore subject.” She patted him on the knee. “Anyway...it was a unique heart. He did it in one stroke and looped the bottom where it came to a point.”

“Okay, so you want to get this heart as a tattoo?”

“Yes. I want it to be something small that won’t hurt me too much.”

“Oh, don’t be a baby about it.”

She swatted at him, the palm of her hand hitting him in the middle of his chest. “I’m not. Plus, I want something that is personal to me and isn’t so obvious to other people, like having his name engraved on my body.”

Micah didn’t move her hand. He looked down first at her hand, which rested over his racing heart, then up to find her eyes on him. How had he let her get so close?

Desire swept through his veins, forcing every cell in his body to zone in on the small, delicate hand that held him spellbound. She began to move it. He inhaled sharply and held his breath. Her hand made a torturous and slow glide from his chest and over his abdominal muscles as they contracted underneath her hot touch.

Slowly, she broke the moment as she pulled her hand back, formed a fist and rested it across her waist. He could hear her inhale as she took a deep breath. “So...when are we going to do this? Obviously, I’m free since I quit my job.”

“Oh, that’s right. How about later this week?”

“It’s a date.”

* * *

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Micah was so mad at herself. For years she had lived in blissful ignorance. Denial was a wonderful thing. Or it had been.

Now it was just bothersome and made her angry.

She had this plan in place, a set of rules to follow to finally put Drew’s memory to rest. He was no longer allowed to dominate her mind. Which was all well and good, but somewhere along the way Drew went out and Josh came in.

And if she wasn’t thinking about Josh, then she was thinking about Drew.

It was infuriating.

And Josh! Seriously?

They had been friends for twelve years now, and sure, there had always been an underlying attraction, but never something as crippling and all encompassing as it was of late.

Why did this have to come about now? Years ago would have been different. But now? It was an impossibility now. You couldn’t go from being best friends for over a decade to this. It just didn’t happen.

And the fact that she was even wasting time thinking about it now angered her the most. She would never, ever be capable of being the kind of woman he was attracted to.

Frustrating. Simply frustrating. But did that stop her? Nope.

At night she was tortured by thoughts of Drew, and during the day it was thoughts of Josh that threatened her sanity. She couldn’t take any more.

For a girl who hadn’t been on a serious date in years, she sure did have a lot of guy problems.

* * *

The night air was brisk; the sky was dark and gray. The unmistakable scent of fall surrounded her. Drew pulled her in close to his side as he whispered in her ear and charmed her with his sweet words. She turned to him, lifting her face to meet his lips in a kiss. Suddenly, he was gone and she was back in her room.

“Micah...”

She turned at the haunting sound of her mother’s shaky voice. It caused her to sit up with a start in her bed, knowing immediately something was wrong. Her father was there, too, clad in a robe and slippers. They both sat down next to her on the bed, pulling her into their embrace. Her father’s arms held her in a viselike grip, his breaths coming in quick succession. A feeling of trepidation coursed through her. Rapid thoughts of what could have happened raced through her mind.

“What? What happened? Is it Grandma?” Her mother shook her head, telling her without words that it was not her grandmother. Tears fell from her mother’s face.

“Grandpa?”

“No, honey.” Her mother could barely get the words out.

Her father was holding her so tight she could barely breathe, rocking her back and forth as her mother quietly sobbed next to her. Neither spoke for what seemed like forever. The silence was deafening.

“Baby, I’m so sorry. Drew...”

No!

“...Drew’s gone to be with Jesus.”

Micah’s world collapsed. Her father held her tight as the gut-wrenching sobs took over. She felt robbed of air, robbed of thought. Robbed. It couldn’t be real. This couldn’t be happening. He was just with her. He had just kissed her good-night a couple hours ago.

It was all a lie! This was not happening! It couldn’t be true. It was his birthday! People weren’t supposed to die on their birthdays. Eighteen-year-olds weren’t supposed to die, period.

No. No. No. No. No. This couldn’t be real.

Micah jolted awake, sweat forming on her brow. She reached for her teddy bear, drawing comfort from it as the tears began to fall. Crying was her only way to release all of the emotions she still felt so vividly. No one would ever understand it. Even she didn’t understand how after years without Drew, the pain could just return with such vengeance.

Her mother had told her that grief was a unique emotion, that everyone’s experience was different. Some lasted longer than others. It was obvious the plan wasn’t working. Josh had been right. She had no way to control the dreams, and as long as the dreams kept coming the pain would never fully go away.

“Oh, Drew. Why do you keep doing this to me?”

She couldn’t handle it anymore. She desperately wanted to move on. It was only bringing up more pain and it hurt too much. She was drowning here, drowning in painful memories.

SEVEN

Josh couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation he’d had with Jamie. Was he just coming up with excuses? He had always been aware that deep down he had feelings for her. But what was he supposed to do about that?

Nothing. That’s what. He couldn’t act on them. It wouldn’t be right. He couldn’t take advantage of their years of friendship—no matter what he felt.

He needed a distraction, something that would take his mind off of Micah for longer than an afternoon. He needed to get a date. And soon.

He walked toward the exit of the fire station, his shift over.

“Excuse me.”

“Yeah?” Josh looked up to find a cute blond-haired woman standing next to the fire truck holding a cake. Distraction found. Wow, that was quick! “How can I help you?”

“The fire you guys put out yesterday was at my parents’ house. I just wanted to thank you. Because of you guys, my parents are alive. I can’t tell you how grateful I am.” She came closer to him, batting her eyelashes. “Here. I baked a cake for the station.”

“That wasn’t necessary, but we’ll take it, anyway. I, for one, have quite a sweet tooth.” He looked down at the cake as she handed it to him. Chocolate, frosted with the worst attempt at “thank you” written across the top. The u looked strange, different from the rest of the word. He inspected it closer, trying not to appear rude, but it had him curious. She started to giggle. He looked up to find her blushing bright pink.

“I have to make a confession. I ran out of white frosting so I used toothpaste at the end.”

“Oh.” What the heck? Toothpaste? It both grossed him out and made him laugh. “And just what made you think toothpaste would be a good idea?”

“Well, I figured that way your sweet tooth would be both satisfied and cleaned. Win-win.” A big white smile crossed her face. This girl was going to be fun.