Blush by Nicola Marsh Page A

with being hidden away like some dirty secret?
    “So what do you expect Jess to do?” Jack asked. “Put in a good word for you? Because from where I’m sitting, mate, it’s way too late for that. You’re screwed.”
    “Tell me about it,” Reid muttered, as a knock sounded at the door. “Give me a sec, I’ll let Jess in.”
    Increasingly out of his depth and not knowing what the hell he was doing, Reid opened the door to find his sister smirking at him.
    “Hey, big bro. Disappointed?”
    Confused, he gestured her in. “Why?”
    “Because I didn’t bring Adele with me?” She elbowed him in the ribs on the way through, her eyes lighting up when she spied Jack on the screen. “Oh my God, Jack!”
    “A little thanks might be in order,” Reid said, his grumble earning another elbow, with a pat on the cheek chaser.
    Jess almost tripped in her haste to get across the room to the screen and a shard of sadness pierced Reid. What he wouldn’t give to have a woman that eager to see him, even on a laptop screen? Though it couldn’t be any woman. Adele. Only Adele.
    “Hey babe, what’s cooking?” Jess sat in front of the screen and blew Jack a kiss.
    “At one in the morning and with you here now, do you really want me to answer that?” Jack winked and Reid groaned.
    “Cut it out, you two. Save that innuendo crap for when I’m not around.” Reid sat next to Jess and bumped her with his shoulder. “Besides, you’ll be seeing his ugly head in person next week, can’t you save it ’til then?”
    Jess crooked her finger at Jack. “Someone’s a bit grumpy because he hasn’t been getting any.”
    “Ha, frigging, ha,” Reid said, his lack of sex the least of his problems. Though it had been pretty phenomenal with Adele, he just wanted to see her again.
    Jack sniggered. “Apparently, your brother wanted to spend some time with you before you headed over here, but why don’t you ask him why you’re really there?”
    “Adele.” Jess rolled her eyes. “Like I can’t read him after all these years.”
    Reid leaned into the screen and waved his hands. “Hello? I’m still here.”
    Jess half turned toward him. “So what do you want to know? Is Adele still single? Yeah. Does she like you? Yeah. Should you not give up on her? Hell yeah.”
    Jess’s honesty made Reid’s heart leap, but there was something lurking in her eyes he couldn’t fathom, like she knew something he didn’t.
    Probably secret women’s business and he’d be well advised to leave that alone.
    Feeling like an insecure teenager, he said, “Did she say anything about me?”
    “Yeah, that you were a terrible lay and had a wiener this big.” Jack held up his pinkie and made it droop. “What are you, thirteen?”
    Reid swiped a hand across his face. It probably did little to erase his dufus expression. “Come on, guys, give me a break. I’m floundering here.”
    He dragged in a deep breath and blew it out. “I really like her. I want to make it work. But I don’t know how.”
    Jess glanced away, her gaze determinedly fixed on the screen. “Honestly? As long as you’re a politician, I can’t see this working between you two.”
    Jess was merely stating a fact he’d contemplated too many times, but hearing his sister articulate the truth rammed it home harder to Reid.
    “I know, but I can’t give up who I am…” Reid said, wondering when the unthinkable became less unpalatable.
    In the past, he would never, ever, have considered giving up his work. But lately? Even without Adele in the picture, he’d been dissatisfied.
    “Politics isn’t who you are, it’s what you do,” Jess said, so quietly he had to lean closer to hear it. “Maybe you need to prioritize what’s important in your life these days?”
    Surprised by his sister’s pensive declarations—he’d expected blunt teasing—Reid jerked a thumb in her direction while looking at Jack. “You sure you want to take her on? Not only is she a handful, she’s a