Winter Jacket: New Beginnings Read Online Free PDF Page B

dare feel guilty about money,” I asserted before she could mount a protest. “I know you don’t w ant me to be your Sugar Mama. But this isn’t about me wanting to take care of you. This is about me wanting to see you in a bikini,” I said with a cheeky smile.
    An elegant eyebrow lifted on her forehead. “I wasn’t going to decline because of the money,” she admitted. “I just don’t know if I can go anywhere because of my internship. The hospital will probably want me there, even over break. If I want to set myself up to get hired when I graduate, I should probably make myself available.”
    “Oh.” I hadn’t thought about her internship , but I supposed she was right. Even though she was doing the smart thing, the responsible thing, I couldn’t hide my disappointment. We’d had so much fun in Malibu, I wanted another adventure with her.
    She stood in front of me and swung a leg over my thighs so she was straddling me like a chair. Her arms draped around my neck and my hands instinctively went to her waist to hold her steady. “Just because I can’t go doesn’t mean you shouldn’t,” she said. “You work so hard during the semester; you deserve a piña colada on a beach.”
    “I wou ldn’t have any fun without you,” I insisted with a hard shake of my head.
    “Is that so? ” she said in a near-mocking tone. She wiggled a little on my lap, getting comfortable or reminding me of where she sat – probably the former because there was no way I could overlook something like that. My hands went to the tops of her thighs, taunt and hard beneath the material of her jeans. “You would have absolutely no fun sitting poolside somewhere, drinking alcohol, and looking at girls in their bathing suits?”
    My wand ering eyes were infamous; I didn’t think I could ever be like Troian who seemed to have blinders on when it came to attractive women who weren’t Nikole. “It would be a little fun,” I admitted with a playful grin. “But the entire time I’d be wishing you were there because I know how much more fun I’d have with you.”
    She swung her long legs off of me and stood up from my lap. I wanted to grab onto her hips and pull her back for more.
    “You don’t need a foreign country to get me into a bikini, you know.”
    I leered at her as she poured herself a cup of coffee. “I’m filing that away on my list of Things To Do.”
    She smiled and returned to her bowl of cereal. “What’s your plan this morning?”
    “I’m supposed to meet Troi for a coffee date,” I said, tapping a pen on the countertop. “Nikole might join us since it’s her off-season. I don’t think she’s planting seedlings in her greenhouse yet. Are you free to come with?”
    Hunter made a face. “I don’t have classes today, but I should probably get back to my apartment and help Sara pack boxes or something. She’s moving in a few days, so naturally she’s a complete disaster.”
    “You’re a better person than me, ” I remarked. No amount of karma points or the promise of free pizza and beer could convince me to help someone move on my day off.
    She leaned across the counter and kissed me on the tip of my nose. “I know.”
    +++++
    Troian hustled through the front doors of my favorite coffee shop, Del Sol. She looked disheveled from a fierce late winter wind. Her jacket, scarf, and hair were dusted with powdered snow. It was the kind of overcast, stormy winter day where you’d rather be snuggled up at home than be out in it.
    She spotted me across the roo m at our usual bank of chairs. “I’m going to strangle that groundhog,” she openly complained. She tossed off her wool overcoat with her usual dramatic flair.
    “As if a rodent seeing its shadow or not even matters,” I chuckled. “It’s not even February, Troi. We’re not gonna see green grass until April.”
    Troian plopped down in her leather easy chair. Usually I sat by myself at a table for two, but when Troian and I hung out at Del Sol we