Longing for You (Touched by Magic Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

arrival. People continued to disappear through the doors, most likely to find their seats and order a drink. She wanted to do the same, wanted to get off her feet and throw back a couple of cocktails.
    Instead, she glanced at her phone to see if Cori had replied to her last text. Her sister hadn’t responded, but she noticed the time. 8:00 pm. The doors would be closing any minute, and if she and Ally weren’t inside, they’d miss the show.
    It wasn’t like Ally to put herself on such a tight schedule. Normally, she was ten minutes early for everything. Yet the one night she needed to be punctual, she wasn’t. What was with the Jacobs women today? There was no word from Paula either. In fact, if Cassie hadn’t texted Ally to confirm their plans, she still wouldn’t know if Paula was okay. God knows she’d left her hanging at the antique shop.
    At least Paula kept her date with Ally.
    Cassie wondered how the mother-daughter dinner had fared. If Ally’s mom was hitting the bottle again, not only would it explain why she left Cassie hanging, it would explain Ally’s delay. Hopefully nothing bad had happened.  
    As a few more patrons filtered into the theater, Cassie swiped her thumb over her phone’s screen and exited the conversation with her sister. She scrolled through the list of recent texts and found the one from Ally.  
    I’ll be there before 8:00. At dinner with Mom. Can’t wait to see you too.
    Repeating the last phrase to herself, she dissected each word, searching for a hidden clue to her friend’s state of mind. Was Ally honestly looking forward to seeing her? Was she repeating Cassie’s words to be polite? Worse, was it code for ‘my mother is driving me nuts’?
    Before she could give it any more thought, her phone vibrated. Another text populated her screen, but it didn’t come from Ally. Cori had finally replied.
    Going out with a friend. Can’t be your DD tonight. Chat tomorrow?
    She laughed to herself as she punched in a reply. It was hard to believe her little sister was twenty-one. The three-year age difference didn’t seem so big anymore. It did when they were younger and Cori had wanted to follow her around everywhere. Now she was in college, living her own life, and having fun with her friends. The sweet, freckle-faced girl had grown into a woman, one that loved to party just as much as her big sister.  
    Good thing their parents weren’t ready for grandkids. They’d be waiting a while, if so, because neither she nor Cori were interested in a relationship. Not a serious one. Why invest all her time in one person? She’d tried that with Aaron, and it got her nothing but eight months of boredom and one orgasm.
    Thank God for vibrators…and sexy ass bartenders .
    Once she noticed that Cori read her message, she tucked her phone inside her clutch and turned toward the doors. A twinge of disappointment filled her when she noticed they were closed. What a shame to know she’d wasted the tickets she’d won. Oh well. If she didn’t hear from Ally by eight-thirty, she’d head over to Midnight Blues and see if Mike was working. He’d provide enough distraction to help her forget her shitty day.
    As she slipped her fingers inside her belt loops, she gazed at the sky. The pink and gold tinted clouds began to shift to hues of blue and gray. At least the weather was nice. It would be a perfect night to sneak up to the terrace of Mike’s apartment and have a few drinks. Doing so would guarantee two things—hot sex and one hell of an orgasm. Mike was definitely Aaron’s opposite in that department.
    What they shared wasn’t love, which was the best thing about it. She didn’t have to worry about losing her heart. After seeing Ally’s break the night before she went to New York, Cassie swore she wanted nothing to do with love. Sex, hell yeah, but not love. She could do without that emotion for many more years.
    Time ticked aimlessly away. She paced in front of the steps, worrying again