• • •
Zoe had just arrived home when her phone began ringing. She pulled it from her purse and saw Dana’s name on the screen. No doubt her friend had been going crazy wondering how dinner had gone with Dylan. Zoe clicked Answer, and with no preamble said, “Thanks to you, I’m home alone now when I could have spent a few hours with Dylan.” Dana had insisted that Zoe say she had a date later on. According to the other woman, she was “too available” to her friend and needed to at least pretend to have a life outside of work and him. “Does ‘all dressed up with nowhere to go’ mean anything to you?”
Dana laughed for what seemed like five minutes. “Oh, come on, what did you really miss out on? Watching Game of Thrones while you lusted after him and he sat there, clueless as usual? Now stop whining and tell me what his reaction was at dinner. Please, God, he did actually notice you were dressed up, right? If he didn’t, we need to investigate his sexual preferences further, because he’d have to be batting for the other team not to appreciate how hot you look tonight.”
Zoe flopped down on her sofa and cradled the phone between her shoulder and ear as she reflected back on the evening. Finally, she admitted, “He was rattled and it might have been because of me. He wanted to know why I was wearing a dress. He asked if someone had died.” When Dana’s laughter quieted, Zoe added uncertainly, “But I don’t think he was feeling well. His face was red and he was sweating—a lot. So I’m not sure how much credit I can take for his unusual behavior. He’d chewed almost a whole pack of antacid tablets by the time dinner was finished.”
“I’m betting he was feeling just dandy before the new and improved Zoe blew his little world apart,” she giggled.
Frowning, Zoe asked, “So we’re happy that I might have driven him to sickness tonight?”
“Hell yeah,” Dana crowed. “That’s called pushing Dylan right out of the shallow end and into shark-infested waters. You’re his safety net and you have been for years. He knows he can always count on good ole dependable Zoe when he wants to chill with a buddy. He never even considers the fact for one moment that you might have a life or, God forbid, plans of your own. No, he figures he can drop in on you without a moment’s notice and you’ll be there in your flannel pants and sloppy T-shirt to entertain him. That shit needs to stop now. If he wants your time, then he has to make plans with you in advance, because your social calendar is booking up fast.”
“It is?” Zoe asked uncertainly. “Oh, wait . . . You mean my imaginary one. I’m not sure how long I can pull that off. Won’t he actually need to see me with someone a few times to make it look convincing? Maybe I can ask my cousin from Georgia to play along.”
“You’re going out with Mike’s friend tomorrow night. I’ve already made all the arrangements. Now we just need to figure out a way for Dylan to see you with him.”
Cringing, Zoe asked, “M-Mike as in the guy you’ve been dating, like, a week? Do you really think that’s a good idea? You couldn’t possibly know anything about him.”
“You remember Paul, right? We went out for a few months. He owns the gym in town.”
Having no idea where this was going, Zoe said, “Sure, the one with the big . . . biceps.” He’d come in the coffee shop a few times to pick Dana up. Zoe had never heard him say anything other than “S’up,” but she tried not to judge.
“Yep, that’s him. Anyway, that’s Mike’s friend. I dated Paul first, but we broke up when I met Mike. You don’t need to worry, though, there were no hard feelings and we’re all still friends.”
“But . . . he’s your ex-boyfriend,” Zoe sputtered. “I can’t go out with him! That’s breaking all kinds of sister codes.”
“Zoe, we weren’t married or anything. And I have no plans to hook up with him again.” Dana’s voice lowered to not much above a whisper as she added, “To be such a big guy everywhere else, his dick was a tad on the petite side. Plus, with all the steroids he was doing, it took far too much effort on my part to get that little thing to a full salute, if you know what I mean.”
Zoe shook her head before dropping it back onto the sofa. “So let me get this straight. You’re setting me up with a man with a small pecker who can’t get it up? Geez, I’d hate to think what you’d do to someone you didn’t like.”
Dana giggled before saying, “It’s brilliant. We both know you’re not going to sleep with him, and he’s not likely to put as much pressure on you to hook up since there’s nothing much going on under his hood. I figure you two can do something safe like go to a movie. That way the conversation will be limited. And we’ll somehow arrange for an accidental sighting by Dylan. Perfect, right?”
“I guess,” Zoe grudgingly admitted. “Are you sure he’s not going to expect that from me?”
“Oh, no way,” Dana assured her. “For a little added insurance, I told him you were gay and had just recently been dumped by your girlfriend. He was sympathetic when I mentioned what a hard time you were having with the breakup.”
“Wait—what?” Zoe screeched out as she sat up abruptly. “He thinks I’m gay?”
“Did you want him hitting on your virgin ass?” Dana countered.
“Good point,” Zoe sighed. “God, I can’t believe I’m going along with this. And I have no idea how we’ll accidentally run into Dylan. Without that happening, this whole date is kind of pointless, isn’t it?”
Zoe could practically hear Dana rubbing her hands together when she said, “Leave that part to me. We’ll work out all the details tomorrow and plan your outfit. I’m thinking you need to go with another dress since Dylan responded so well to the one you wore tonight.”
Shaking her head, Zoe said sarcastically, “Really? He almost broke out into hives and he had huge armpit stains from all the sweating. I’m not certain we can consider that a positive reaction. Wouldn’t something like a heart attack have been better?”
Sounding absolutely serious, Dana said, “Of course it would have, but we’ve got to work up to that. Now go get your beauty sleep, and whatever you do, don’t answer any calls or texts from Dylan tonight. He might decide to check up on you to see if you’re already home or so bored on your date that you’d use your phone.”
Those words had barely left Dana’s lips when Zoe’s phone chimed with an incoming text.
Dylan: So, how’s the date going so far?
“Who’s texting you?” Dana demanded, apparently having heard.
“Er . . . it’s Dylan wanting to know how my date is going. I could just send a quick one back saying fine. I don’t want him to be worried about me when I don’t respond.”
“No!” Dana snapped. “Don’t you dare reply to that until the morning. That way he’ll spend the rest of the night wondering if you’re doing the nasty with some other guy while he’s sitting home alone.”
“But—” Zoe started to protest before Dana cut her off.
“How many nights have you sat home while he’s been out with some other woman? Aren’t you finally ready to be the one with the power here? He’s had the best of both worlds for far too long and that shit stops tonight. You’re the new and improved Zoe now. You’re a social butterfly and he’s damn well going to need to know that your world no longer revolves around him. Can I get an amen?”
“Amen?” Zoe muttered, knowing it sounded more like a question than a shout of girl power.
“Leave your phone in the kitchen and go to bed . . . now,” Dana instructed. “Because if you stay up any later, you’ll be tempted to text him back. And if you do . . . I’ll know,” the other woman threatened.
Zoe thought longingly of the text awaiting a response and gulped. “All right, I promise I won’t text him back. I’ll see you at the shop tomorrow. You’re working the evening shift, right?”
“Yep, I’ll see you around four. That should give us plenty of time to get you squared away for your date.”
After they ended
the call, she stood, and holding her phone as if it were a snake, she ran to the kitchen and set it on the counter before heading to her bedroom. For good measure, she closed and locked her door as if the damn phone had legs and would break in somehow. She’d never ignored Dylan before and she knew that it was going to be a long night. Somehow doing what was necessary to get his attention seemed a heck of a lot harder than spending the evening with her best friend. She had to believe it would all be worth it in the end, though, when he finally saw her as a woman and not just as one of the guys.
• • •
Dylan looked down at his phone once again, thinking that possibly he hadn’t heard the text chime when he was in the kitchen. But no, there was still nothing. If it had been a regular landline, he would have already resorted to checking the damn thing for a dial tone. Since when had Zoe ever ignored a text from him? It had been a fucking hour. More than enough time to reply. Oh shit, did she even know the guy she was going out with tonight? Maybe he should call her, just to make sure everything was okay.
Don’t do it, man, his subconscious screamed. She had the right to a social life. How many times had he gotten some form of communication from her while he was with a woman? Did he drop everything and respond right away? No, more often than not, he silenced his phone and got back to the business at hand. Then he called Zoe on the way home, or if it was too late, he’d check in the next morning unless it had been something that needed to be addressed that evening. So going by his own behavior, wasn’t it reasonable for her to also follow that same protocol when out with another man? But my Zoe doesn’t date. And that’s what was bugging him more than he cared to admit. She’d blown him off after dinner and that shit just didn’t happen. Since they were kids, he’d always come first with her. She was the one he could count on to catch a last-minute movie or have a lazy night at home with. They’d stuff themselves with pizza and watch whatever television show they were obsessed with at the moment. She’d come over in her ratty pajamas with her hair in a sloppy ponytail and they’d each take over a corner of his couch until one or both of them fell asleep. He’d woken countless times to find that it was already morning and Zoe was snoring away with her mouth hanging open.
He’d fully expected for that to happen tonight as well, but then, he’d been seriously freaked out at dinner when he met the Zoe2017. That’s what he’d come to think of her transformation as. For some reason she’d picked this year to change almost overnight, and dammit, he didn’t like it. All right, possibly he was intrigued by this new . . . chesty version, but it felt so wrong. He didn’t stare at his best friend’s tits, even if they were so perky that he’d practically had to sit on his hands to keep from reaching out to touch them. And that ass . . . Mother of God! When she’d bent to get her napkin, which had fallen to the floor, he’d literally drooled right there.
Then, as they were leaving the restaurant, he’d discovered something even more horrifying—those high-heeled shoes she was wearing made those perfect tits bounce in an alarming way. Was she even wearing a bra? He’d been so rattled by then that he’d had a hard time walking. He was equal parts appalled and intrigued. Of course, he was also a guy and couldn’t figure out what he wanted to stare at more, her tits, ass, or legs. Then there was the internal conflict as he tried to remind himself that she was just like a sister to him. It had been a hell of a lot easier to accept that when she hadn’t been so freaking hot. Where were her damn khakis and polo?
When his phone rang, he nearly jumped out of his skin. He fumbled trying to answer the call. “Zoe,” he said without bothering to look at the ID.
“Not the last time I checked,” replied an amused voice that was definitely not Zoe’s.
Releasing a heavy sigh, Dylan asked, “What can I do for you, Ash?” His brother Asher ran the Oceanix resort in Charleston and was a frequent visitor to Florida. Dylan was both blessed and cursed to be close to all of his brothers. Each of them ran one of the resorts. Rhett ran the Miami location, then there was Luke, who handled one of their new resorts in St. Croix. Their uncle Judson and cousins Alex, Leo, Erik, and Lila ran the remaining resorts.
“Has sweet Zoe flown the coop tonight? Not a lovers’ tiff, I hope?” His brothers had teased him for years about his friendship with Zoe. None of them could fathom how he could have a platonic relationship with a woman. He’d assured them that he’d never even come close to having sex with her, which had downright shocked them. The first time Ash had met her, he’d announced that she had potential, but needed to sex things up a bit. Dylan could only imagine what the other man would say if he’d gotten a look at her tonight. Note to self, keep them away from each other if her strange behavior continues.
Hoping to keep the explanation brief and change the subject, Dylan said vaguely, “Er . . . no, I had just texted her earlier and figured it was her. No big deal. So what’s up?” Shit, had his voice risen higher for the last part of that statement?
Asher as usual seemed to know when he was trying to avoid talking about something and kept right on going. “I thought she dropped everything for you. You seem a little jumpy. Has something happened?”
Before he knew it, Dylan was pouring out exactly what had occurred at dinner. It was the last thing he should have done but he desperately needed to vent to someone. Normally, that would be Zoe . . . but he couldn’t very well tell her how much she’d thrown him. “I mean, I didn’t know it was possible for her to look like that. There’s a woman’s body under that usual coffee shop uniform she wears.”
Asher laughed hysterically before he finally got it together enough to say, “You both work at a hotel right on the beach. Don’t tell me you’ve never seen her in a swimsuit before. This shouldn’t have been a total shock to you.”
“Well, of course I have, but it was some kind of one-piece number with a skirt on it.”
He could almost hear Ash wincing as he said, “Fuck, I hate those things. I don’t care what size a woman is, she should just own it. Don’t go out there wearing a damn sheet tied around your waist. If you have a big butt, put that sucker out there. Lots of men like some extra junk in the trunk. What they don’t like is seeing you wearing your gown on the beach. You should have staged an intervention with her long ago. Friends don’t let friends dress like that.”
Dylan shrugged his shoulders, not getting what the big deal was. “I think she looked fine. Plus, she didn’t need as much sunscreen. Some of those skimpy suits are just skin cancer waiting to happen. Zoe was very sensible to choose the suits that she did.”
“Dude, do you even hear yourself?” Ash asked incredulously. “If I hadn’t seen you pick up a lot of women in my time, I’d have to seriously question your manhood right now. ‘Sensible’? Who in the hell cares about that? One of the great things about our jobs is the endless parade of half-naked women that walk through the doors every day. Please tell me you aren’t down there handing out SPF50 and sun hats to them. I mean, I know you’re working in the retirement capital of the United States, but there are some women there under seventy, right?”
“Screw you,” Dylan snapped. “I’m talking about Zoe, not other women. She’s my best friend and I’m happy she watches after herself like that.”
“Ah, I see,” Ash said smugly. “You just want her covered up so neither you nor any other guy will look at her twice. That way she can remain at your beck and call and there’s no muddying of the waters because it keeps things nice and safe with your buddy. That about cover it?”
“Wh-what? No,” Dylan sputtered. “That’s not it at all. She’s free to have a life and dress in any way that she chooses. She’s always been more on the conservative side and I think it suits her personality.”
“Holy shit,” Ash groaned out. “Bro, if you can’t be honest with me, then at least don’t lie to yourself. That shit gets painful after a while. You’ve had Zoe in a box all these years. I’ll admit, we may not understand it, but I think all of us
have envied what you’ve got going on with her. We’ve also wondered why it’s never gone beyond friendship. Outside of whatever woman you’re casually seeing, Zoe is your significant other and always has been. You’re practically like one of the suburban couples who finish each other’s sentences. Heck, I would have figured by now you’d have married her and there’d be some baby Jacksons running around there.”
“You’ve lost your mind.” Dylan laughed. “I’ve told you time and again, there is nothing like that between me and her. Never even been tempted.”
“Sounds like you were tonight,” Ash interjected. “What are you planning to do if this wasn’t just a one-time thing? If she had you that worked up during the hour it probably took for dinner, how will you deal if this is the norm from now on?”
Dylan sat quietly for a moment pondering his brother’s words before he finally admitted, “It . . . I don’t know. I’m afraid it would be a game changer and I don’t think I want that. Zoe is my constant, the one thing in my life I can depend on that never changes. I’m not ready to let that go.”
“That’s your choice,” Ash said, “but realize that you sitting at home wondering where she is may be your new reality. Nothing stays the same forever. We either adapt and move forward or we get left behind.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Dylan said quietly, “Yeah, thanks for that. Listen, it’s been a long day and I’m going to crash. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.”
“No problem. But whatever you do, don’t call or text her again tonight. You’ve already made one attempt and that’s all any self-respecting man should do. Put your phone somewhere out of sight and go to bed.”