But before she could move her lips, Taylor was kissing her. She felt his hands tighten around her back, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss.
Jaz went with the flow as her mind ran with a hundred thoughts and none that she could catch long enough to understand. She pulled back for air and searched his eyes for an explanation. Taylor’s eyes darted to the left and back again. Jaz followed the path of his gaze and two things occurred to her in that moment. One, that kissing Taylor wasn’t what she thought it’d be. She’d been dreaming of this moment for years and now that it had happened it wasn’t as earth-shattering as she had expected. Not saying the kiss wasn’t great, it was perfectly fine. But Jaz was waiting for the tingle and it didn’t come. If anything, if she asked herself truthfully, it felt all wrong. Kissing Ryan had been right.
The second thing was Anna. Why had Taylor glanced at Anna? Jaz felt tiny jigsaw pieces fitting themselves into place. Taylor joining them for lunch, being around more often, the photo by his bed, and asking Anna back for a movie. Taylor liked Anna? She questioned herself and then decided her gut instinct was right.
‘Why did you kiss me?’ she asked Taylor as she fiddled with his lapel.
He shrugged and smiled sheepishly. ‘It’s our ball, I just thought…?’
‘Yeah, no.’ Then she found herself saying words she never thought would come out of her mouth. ‘You’re my best friend Tay and…I’d like it to stay like that.’ She watched him sigh with relief. ‘Besides, that just wasn’t quite right, hey,’ she laughed.
Taylor smiled and Jaz couldn’t understand why she didn’t want Taylor anymore, he was so cute.
‘Hmm, it so wasn’t right,’ he laughed as the tension eased out of his shoulders.
Jaz was relieved. She was going to need Anna and Taylor, her best friends. Her life as an operative would be complicated but she was sure she could handle it with her friends by her side, even if they didn’t know what was going on. Maybe one day she could share it with them but for now, she wanted to follow the rules and not disappoint Ryan.
Jaz took Taylor’s arm and checked his watch. Five minutes to ten, nearly time to meet Ryan.
She saw Anna standing on her own. Ricky must have gone for drinks so she grabbed Taylor’s hand, dragging him towards her.
‘Hey, Anna. Can you dance with Tay? I’m gonna go wait for Ryan.’ She watched a flush appear on Taylor’s cheeks. Yeah, she was sure he had it bad for Anna.
‘Cool, no worries. Say goodbye for me,’ Anna said before grabbing Taylor’s arm. ‘Come on cowboy, show me your moves,’ she laughed.
Jaz headed to the foyer and out the doors. City lights reflected off the smooth water from the river no more than twenty metres away. In her line of sight was a silhouette against the silvery water, an outline she knew so well. From the short cropped hair, the strong determined shoulders, and imposing height. Ryan was here early. Jaz began to walk towards Ryan. Her chest constricted, causing her breaths to shorten as the cool air touched her lungs.
Reaching out she touched his elbow. ‘Ryan?’
He turned, the path lights illuminating his face enough for her to see those wonderful gold flecks in his eyes.
‘Jaz, you look…’ He held up his hand and touched a strand of her hair tenderly. ‘…amazing.’
Had someone cut off the air? Jaz was struggling to breathe and felt very light-headed.
Ryan’s eyes drank her in from top to bottom. ‘Are you wearing your boots too?’ he asked curiously.
Jaz did what her mum had specifically asked her not to, and hoicked her dress up and showed off her shoes.
Ryan cleared his throat. ‘Very sexy.’ He gave her a wink. ‘Don’t be afraid to use them if you’re ever attacked. They’re quite dangerous.’
‘Hey, you don’t have to tell me that. I nearly broke my ankle earlier. Boots are much safer,’ she laughed as a wave of chills shook her body.
Without a word, Ryan shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, the warmth spreading through her quickly. Jaz breathed in the leather and heady scent of Ryan, and that feeling of safety washed over her.
‘Thanks. I do like this jacket.’
Her shoes made her taller, but not enough to see eye-to-eye with Ryan, but still she caught his raised eyebrow and glare.
‘Yeah, well I like it too,’ he said nudging her shoulder.
‘So how long will you be gone for?’ she asked. Her shoulder rested against his arm as they looked out over the water.
His voice was deep and caused little tremors through her body. ‘It could be a week, it could be a month.’