Next to You by Julia Gabriel Page A

across as someone who had.
    “Your partner comes from quite the family.”
    Jared was quiet after that, helping himself to another slice of garlic toast. Should have stuck to business. The conversation had died when they left that topic.
    “More wine?” she asked.
    Jared shook his head. “Gotta work tomorrow.” He smiled at her.
    She liked his smile, even on the side of his face that had been burned. It softened his appearance.
    “Right. I should probably sneak some work in myself. Zee has restricted me to one phone call to the company per day. But we launched a new product a few months ago. I need to keep an eye on what people are saying online. One tweet goes viral and everything can go to hell in half an hour.”
    “I try to stay away from those sites. Like my privacy, you know.” He stood and carried his plate and empty wine glass into the kitchen. He rinsed both and carefully put them in the dishwasher.
    “Coffee?” Phlox suggested. Boy, the evening had gone south in a hurry. “I have decaf.”
    She saw the hesitation on his face. “That would be great. Thanks.”
    Phlox busied herself grinding beans and measuring water. Jared finished clearing the table for her. He had good manners. Not like some of the guys she had dated in the past.
    “Let’s sit in here.” She carried two mugs of coffee into the front room. “I guess historically this would have been the parlor.” She handed Jared a mug and gestured at the big overstuffed sofa. “I use it more as just a place to read.” She swept aside the stack of paperbacks on the sofa. “I’m supposed to be reading a lot of trashy books up here this month.”
    They drank the coffee silently, sitting side by side on the sofa. Jared looked around the room, taking in the furnishings, the oil paintings on the walls. The evening was ending, Phlox sensed, even as she was desperate for it not to. She was probably just lonely up here by herself. That had to be it. She wasn’t normally the sort of woman to throw herself at a man. In the past, that wouldn’t have worked anyway. Didn’t seem to be working now.
    She carried their empty mugs to the kitchen. When she returned to the parlor, Jared was perched on the edge of the sofa, clearly on the verge of making his farewell.
    “Would you like to go swimming?” she asked. “It’s supposed to be a little warmer tonight.”
    He looked at her thoughtfully, like he was searching for the right words to let her down easy. “I should go. Thanks for dinner.”
    But he didn’t stand up and a tiny ray of hope flared in her chest. He had wanted her last night out by the pool. She wasn’t just imagining that.
    “You’re welcome,” she said, then took a deep breath and plunged in. “Why no swimming tonight?”
    “I prefer to swim alone.”
    “That’s not safe, especially after a big dinner. And wine.”
    “Depends on your definition of safe.”
    “You don’t want me to see the scars on your body again. That’s it, isn’t it?”
    He didn’t answer but the look in his eyes was answer enough.
    Before she could think better of it, Phlox reached around and unzipped the back of her eyelet blouse. Jared’s eyes grew big as saucers as she pulled it over her head and tossed it onto the floor. Then she unzipped her ankle jeans and slid them down over her legs until she was left wearing just her tiny thong and bra.
    “Phlox. What the hell are you doing?”
    The low grumble in his voice sent a shiver down her spine, and a small voice of her own—somewhere deep in the recesses of her brain—warned her that she should stop. But she couldn’t stop, not now—not and retain some semblance of dignity. Onward was where she had to go.
    She traced the web of scars on her abdomen. “Here’s where they took the skin for the grafts on my shoulders and chest.” She turned around to show him the scars on her ass. He sucked in his breath loudly. “This is where they got the skin for the grafts on my face.” She traced the silvery