Miles Apart (The Not So Bad Boys of Rock Book 2) by Rhonda James Page A

pastry, pulling it apart to
reveal the gooey chocolate center. Max reached over and grabbed a half out of
my hand. “Hey, there’s a whole box of these on your desk.” I balked, guarding
the other half.
    “I
know, but you’d already done all the hard work, and it looked too good to pass
up. Yum.” He rolled his eyes, licking chocolate from the corners of his mouth.
    “Boys
will be boys,” I mumbled, making him throw back his head and laugh heartily,
showing his newly chocolate covered teeth.
    “Don’t
you forget it, kiddo.”

 
    It was pouring rain by the time I reached
the door to my apartment building. I made a left turn to stop at the row of
mailboxes and ran into Reid as he was leaving the laundry room.
    “Brooke.”
His eyes warmed, and he shifted the basket of clean laundry to one arm in order
to hug me with the other. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you all week.”
    “I
know, I’ve been away in Berlin visiting Sebastian. How have things been around
here?” I turned to unlock my mailbox, sensing a shift in his mood at the
mention of Sebastian’s name.
    “Oh,
you know, same as always. Hey, you missed a great party last Friday. We all got
together in 4D.”
    “4D?
Isn’t that Vincent’s apartment? I thought he was out of town.”
    “No,
he’s back, and we’re all meeting there again this Friday for drinks if you
don’t have plans.” He leaned against the wall, basket braced on one hip. He
really was an attractive man, and I definitely felt that he harbored an
attraction to me, but I needed to set him up with one of the girls at the
restaurant. I needed to help him realize that we would never be more than just
friends.
    “Maybe,
I know I have to work that night. Hey, I have an idea. Would it be okay if I
brought a friend?” I asked, sweetly.
    “What,
is Sebastian coming to town?” He asked sarcastically, making what I was about
to say that much more important.
    “No,
and try not to say that with such contempt next time.” I rolled my eyes at him.
“I was thinking I could bring a friend, you know, introduce her to you, maybe
you two would hit it off.”
    “Suit
yourself, but I won’t make any promises.”
    “Okay,
well maybe I’ll see you there.” I started up the stairs, with him following closely
behind, and suddenly I was painfully aware of each swish of my hips as I
ascended the steps. We reached the top and started to part ways before he spoke
again.
    “Listen,
Brooke, there’s something I think I should tell you.” I felt a tightening in my
stomach as I feared he would start sharing about his feelings for me. I wasn’t
in the mood to hear this, not now, not ever.
    “Reid,
I’m kind of beat, can we talk about it some other time?” I deflected.
    “I’d
rather say it now, while I have the courage. I really…” The ringing of my phone
cut him short. I held up a finger, cutting him off, and pulled the phone from
my pocket.
    “Oh,
listen, this is Sebastian and I really have to take it He doesn’t have a lot of
time to talk before going on stage. I’m sorry. Can we do this another time?”
The phone rang two more times before I picked up.
    “Sure,
another time.” He muttered.
    “Hi
baby, it’s so good to hear your voice.” I gushed, making my way through the
door, leaving him in the hall, still holding the basket on his hip and staring
after me. A stab of guilt shot through me as I closed the door, his gaze never
leaving mine.
    “Are
you home from work?” He asked. I could hear rustling in the background, and
deep breathing on the other end of the phone.
    “Yeah,
I just walked in. What’s going on over there? I hear a lot of crinkling.” I
tried to imagine what he may be up to.
    “Oh,
nothing much, just working on a little project. So, how was it going back to
the restaurant, did the place fall apart without you?”
    “No,”
I whined. “Quite the opposite, they managed just fine without me.”
    “You
sound disappointed. Isn’t the goal to get them