Under My Skin by M. L. Rhodes

waved him to the table at the front window where they usually sat. It gave him a direct view of his store's doorway so he'd know if he had a customer.
    She plunked a cup and a paper plate with a Danish on it down in front of him, then slid into the chair across from him. “I just made them,” she said, indicating the pastry. “Cherry, your favorite.”
    He gave her a grateful nod, picked up the plastic fork, and sliced off a bite.
    As he chewed, Joanie frowned at him. “Are you okay? You look a little pale and under the weather.” She reached across the table and felt his forehead.
    “For God's sake, I'm not five,” he grumbled. “I don't need you to see if I'm feverish.”
    “Oooh, grouchy today. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”
    No, someone woke up in the wrong bed period. He winced at the memory, wishing the torturous thoughts of what he and Dylan had done last night would go away.
    “So, I guess your friend's not here today.”
    “Friend?”
    “Dylan. I wonder where he is.”
    Oh, God. He'd come over here to escape Dylan. He did not need this from Joanie. “Don't know. Don't care.”
    “Ander came in for a latte this morning and said Dylan was taking a few personal days, that something had come up.”
    “Yeah, I'll just bet. Coward.” He muttered the last word under his breath.
    Joanie stared at him, her dark brows drawn together.
    “Whatever it is, it must be kind of serious because Ander said a contractor was supposed to come into the shop today to discuss some renovation work, but Dylan had Ander reschedule it for next week.”
    “Renova— Oh, shit.” Sebastian's heart pounded so hard and heavily it was like a death knell.
    “Boy, you're really in a mood. I'm serious, hon, are you okay? Did something happen between you and Dylan yesterday? Did you have another fight or something?”
    His stomach suddenly so queasy he thought he might be sick, Sebastian laid down the fork. “I'd better get back to work,” he mumbled. “Sorry, I'm not really hungry, but thanks anyway.” He rose.
    Joanie stood, too, but put a hand on his arm. “Sebastian, this isn't like you. I haven't seen you this upset since Beck— ” Her eyes widened. “Oh, God, Beck didn't come back to town, did he?”
    Sebastian's heart pumped a double beat at the horrifying thought. “No. No!”
    “Then what is it? It's got something to do with Dylan, doesn't it? Him not showing up today, you calling him a coward. You two— ” Another round of wide eyes, but this time shock filled her brown orbs rather than fear. “Holy crap. You two did the dirty, didn't you?”
    “Joanie!” He couldn't believe his best friend would be asking him that here in public with the older couple sitting only a few yards away. Although her description of it wasn't far off. He did feel dirty.
    “Oh, my God... you did. But what happened? You two should be so perfect for each other. I've been hoping for a while.”
    He almost choked. “You what?”
    “Well, it was kind of obvious how you felt about him. I told you, every time you'd go into his shop you'd come out all agitated. And while I know the music thing probably has been obnoxious, and I know Ander can be a snit sometimes, you just seemed more worked up than... well, than necessary. And don't even give me that look. I'm not ragging on you, just stating the facts. And then there was Dylan always out on the sidewalk, talking to his clients, except every two seconds he'd be looking in your windows watching you. Which made it pretty obvious he was interested in you, too.”
    Not interested in me. Interested in my space. “I can't talk about this, Joanie. I can't.”
    He couldn't bring himself to fill her in on Dylan's expansion plans either. He was still too raw. He'd wait until next week, when he'd had the weekend to be away from here and cool off some— if that were possible— then he'd talk to Joanie, Dr. Dean, and Heather and Kylie who ran Oh, Baby Baby. Maybe between them they