Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and told herself that it'd all work out. It'd be okay. It'd—
“Are you okay, Sabrina?”
She nodded. Why on earth did she feel nervous? As if the rest of her life, her happiness hinged on the rest of the evening?
Good gracious, girl. Get a grip.
The bathroom door opened. The air paused halfway up her throat. A broad, green shoulder appeared.
“Him?” Jill squeaked.
“What's wrong?”
Sabrina’s gaze swerved to her petite friend.
If he was gay or married, Sabrina might just finish off the punchbowl. Except, that wasn't really her style. She liked to be in control of her faculties too much to get plastered. And she was optimistic to a fault and therefore knew there were plenty of fish in the sea.
But I want that fish.
“Nothing,” Jill murmured, a slight smile curving her ruby red lips. “Not a thing.”
When it came to matters of the heart, Jill was overflowing with happiness. And it was easy to see why. Teo Canalas had barely taken his eyes off the buxom brunette all night.
Jill latched on to Sabrina's arm and gave a happy bounce on the balls of her feet.
“What's got her so excited?” Tracy, Jill's assistant, asked as she squeezed through the crowd, cocktail in one hand, a plate of hors d’oeuvres in the other.
“Sabrina's going to let me set her up,” Jill exclaimed. Then pivoted back to Sabrina. “Aren't you?”
“What about me?” Tracy asked good naturedly. Ever since Sabrina had first stepped foot in Jill's Java Hut, the ongoing joke had been how hard it was to find Tracy a guy. Girl had high standards, which Sabrina could appreciate.
“I gave you one and you said he was too tall,” Jill scoffed.
“I could see straight up his enormous schnoz.” Tracy sent a finger up toward her nostrils and Jilly laughed.
Sabrina watched the exchange over the rim of her glass. Despite her best efforts to not be obvious about it, couldn't keep from scanning the room. As if he was a magnet and she a piece of metal, her eyes found him easily. Almost immediately. But then he was huge and smeared from head to toe in green...was that paint? Makeup maybe.
Whatever it was, it hadn't rubbed off on her when she'd collided with him. Gracious. She closed her eyes as she relived that spectacular moment. It'd been so nice to feel attraction again. And to experience the possibility of something new. To have a man's undivided attention.
But it was more than that.
She'd never felt such a fast, explosive connection with anyone.
Flutters took up residence in her stomach and when her glass turned up empty, she redirected her attention back to the two women in her circle. It was so nice to have a circle again. Wonderful to have friends of her own, not divided among a couple. Picking sides after things went bad.
She wanted a group. Friends. Friendship.
“You love playing matchmaker more than anyone I know,” Sabrina said. Which was saying something because she, herself, loved fixing up her friends. She loved love.
Hearts and marriage were her business.
“Can I help it if I want everyone to be as happy as I am?”
“No. And you shouldn't try to stifle that either.” Once upon a time Sabrina had been that happy, or so she'd thought. The world had been at her feet and she'd had the hottest script writer in Hollywood dragging her into his bed. But that had all been a carefully crafted illusion. Sabrina knew now, illusions were a dangerous thing.
Cagey. Elusive. Vapor, really. And everything you thought was real could vanish in an instant.
Without meaning to, her eyes sought him again. He was staring back.
He was real, solid, definitely not a figment of her imagination. And the way his gaze lingered on her brought a fresh round of hope to her chest. And a tingling sensation to her breasts.
What would he look like without the costume? If he looked that yummy covered in green... Mentally she pictured him in nothing but a towel.
Sabrina licked her lips.
“I think she's already got her eye on someone.” Tracy's voice cut through the mental undressing and Sabrina's cheeks heated.
Jill made a sound of approval and the two women turned toward her man in green.
“Stop staring,” Sabrina pleaded. “He'll think we're talking about him.”
Jill laughed. “We are talking about him.”
Why did it feel like she was in high school all over again? Whispers in the cafeteria, long glances in the hallway. Wait. She'd never experienced any of that. Except in her dreams…
But boy had she longed too. But at forty-five pounds overweight, mixed race, and shy, there'd been no whispers, no glances, not that many true friends.
Except for David. God, how she missed him.
3
Sabrina tugged her lower lip between her teeth. How was it that David was the only person in her high school class not on Facebook? Of course, he was the only person she wished to reconnect with.
Jill didn't give her a moment to travel the regret express. She was too busy nodding her head up and down like a bobble head doll.
“I approve,” she gushed, squeezing Sabrina's forearm. “But I have to warn you, Boomer's had a really rough past where women are concerned. And he's pretty much a nomad, but he's one of Teo's closest friends. You couldn’t pick a nicer guy—”
“Or hotter,” Tracy added, fanning herself.
“Come on.” Without giving Sabrina time to digest all that information, Jill tugged her arm.
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you,” Tracy said as Jill pulled Sabrina through the crowd.
Her eyes locked with his and the connection was so tangible she felt like she was being reeled in. As it had before, the world melted away until the only thing in her focus, in her universe, was him. In all his green glory.
She caught a flash of purple in the corner of her eye. His gaze swerved, severing the connection. Her focus widened as
