Breaking All My Rules by Trice Hickman Page B

Erica’s signal for him to move along.
    â€œIt was good seeing you, too,” Claude said, this time making sure he excluded Ashley completely. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
    He hadn’t taken more than two steps away from their table before Ashley started in. “Can you believe that bastard had the nerve to come over here and try to hit on you while his date is sitting over there all by herself, looking mad as hell?”
    â€œYou think he was trying to hit on me?”
    â€œUh, yeah! Don’t you?”
    Erica bit into a scallop and tried to regain her composure as she spoke. “No, I don’t. I mean, we’ve been broken up for a while now.”
    â€œYeah, it’s been a minute.”
    â€œToday makes exactly six months.”
    Ashley stopped eating and sat her knife and fork to the side.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” Erica asked.
    â€œYou’ve been counting the days on your calendar?”
    Erica looked away, not wanting to admit that she had.
    â€œPlease tell me that you’re over him. You’re not seriously still into him, are you?”
    Erica fidgeted with her napkin, admitting a painful truth. “As crazy and as pitiful as it sounds, I still think about him from time to time, especially when I get lonely. Well, maybe not him, but the idea of having somebody special in my life. He was my last somebody.”
    â€œAnd he was a complete nobody, too!”
    â€œI don’t want him back, that’s for sure. I know that our relationship is a thing of the past.”
    Ashley was about to ask another question when her expression changed again. “What the hell?” she whispered in a low voice, narrowing her eyes as she looked across the room.
    Erica looked toward the entrance of the restaurant’s dining room to see Jason strolling in. Beside him was a striking blond-haired woman whose stylish comportment made her appear as though she’d just leapt from the pages of a magazine.
    Erica and Ashley looked on with heightened curiosity as Jason and the pretty woman walked in their direction under the guidance of a hostess. Erica glanced at her friend’s expression as she thought about their conversation earlier that day. According to what Ashley had told her, Jason was supposed to be working late tonight on an important project for a client who’d just flown into town, yet there he was, with a woman, and nothing about their appearance seemed business like.
    As Erica scrutinized the two more closely, she made a biting observation that she hoped Ashley hadn’t already drawn—that Jason and the mystery woman looked like a perfect couple, completely in sync. They were both attractive and slim, and they shared the same blond hair and green eyes. There was also a natural comfort between them that was obvious, which was affirmed by their relaxed body language and the engaging smiles they tossed back and forth between them.
    As the two approached, Erica couldn’t help but notice the mixture of excitement, surprise, and a bit of discomfort in Jason’s eyes when he spotted them.
    Lord, please don’t let this turn into a scene, Erica silently prayed to herself. Given Ashley’s temperament and history, she knew it wasn’t far from the realm of possibility that her friend might show out, not bad enough to get arrested, but just enough to warrant them having to leave, and not under their own volition.
    â€œAsh, be calm,” she whispered.
    â€œHey!” Jason smiled as he and the woman walked over to Erica’s and Ashley’s table. “I didn’t know you and Erica were having dinner here. Your text said you two were going to The Spot tonight.”
    Ashley leaned forward and flipped her long black tresses off her shoulder as she formed her lips into a smile. “And your text said you’d be working late on a project for a new client,” she said, giving her attention to the woman at her