Christmas and Forever by Delilah Hunt Read Free Book Online

damnable virtue called pride, she would have run to him, taken a hold of his hands and forced him to bare his soul.
    “Who was that?” Shawn’s voice knocked the sanity back into her.
    “Aidan.”
    Shawn leered at her. “Uh-uh. Is he one of the doctors who’s going to the orgy?”
    She no longer found the joke amusing. “No. He’s the head of the clinic I work at. My boss, and the chief of the cardiology department at Mansfield. He definitely won’t be there.”
    Shawn eyed her quizzically. “But you want him to be there, don’t you?”
    “Is it weird? I mean, he’s a lot older than me and he was even married before. His wife and baby died six years ago. And well, there’s the obvious. He’s white.”
    “Yeah, there’s that. Which one of those things you want my opinion on?”
    Liya pursed her lips and raised her brows. “All three?”
    Shawn smiled at her. “You don’t want or need my opinion, Liya. I saw the way you were looking at him, like you wanted to run after the guy.”
    “It’s that bad?” Oh, God. Had she been that obvious about it?
    Shawn must have noticed the panic on her face. “Yeah, it was that bad, but don’t sweat it. Your doctor friend didn’t notice. Dude looked like he was a million miles away. He’s clueless about your feelings, or the extent of it, I should say.”
    There was some relief to be had, she thought. If Aidan was in the dark then she could continue to work alongside him. Sure he might simply view her as the nice chubby girl fussing over him, but her concern was genuine and that was all that mattered. Yet Shawn’s assessment unnerved her. Until five minutes ago, Shawn had never seen or spoken to Aidan, and somehow he could tell right off the bat that Aidan was oblivious. The realization caused a sinking feeling to settle in the pit of her stomach. Was it because he had a hard time seeing her as a potential lover… girlfriend?
    She tried to blow it off. “Well, it’s not like I ever intended for him to know of my feelings.”
    “Then what was the plan? Give ol’ dude puppy eyes for the rest of your life?”
    Ignore them . Pretend her body didn’t react every time he was nearby. That she didn’t want to feel his arms around her, know what his laughter sounded like, or what he would say if she got him to open up to her.
    “Keep them to myself,” she answered carefully, “like any sane person would do in this situation. I don’t see anything good that can come out of me revealing my feelings.” She laughed quietly, trying to lighten the mood. “Anyways, it’s not like I’m in love with him. I never said that.” In desperation, she glanced up at the stars. Where was a meteor when you needed one falling out of the sky to halt even the worst and most depressing conversations? No meteor, but Liya found herself breathing a sigh of relief to see her other friend Tasha bounding toward them. She moved aside, allowing the pixie-haired woman to slip in between her and Shawn. Slightly uncomfortable, she watched as the couple locked arms and kissed.
    Jealousy reared its head and for good reason. She had never held hands with anyone, at least not in intimacy. Being her brother’s main caregiver had left little time to concentrate on finding love. After his death, all she had wanted was to grieve and focus on getting her life in order. Developing an attraction to Aidan was the last thing she had expected or seen coming.
    “What did I miss?” Tasha asked.
    Shawn leaned forward, glancing at Liya. She returned his unvoiced question with a shrug. She didn’t expect him to keep secrets from his girlfriend. Instead, she waited for him to spill everything she had confided. Shawn held up his hands, palms outward. “Not my story to tell, T. You’ll have to drag it out of Liya.”
    Not wishing to remain the ever-constant third wheel, Liya excused herself and settled behind the steering wheel of her car. The drive though the city was as much peaceful as it was somber.