Private Agenda

by Marie Nash

Chapter 1Alisa Jacobs smiled as a camera flashed in her face for the hundredth time. She was celebrating her twenty-eight birthday with a group of her closest friends. Her best friend, Angela Hunter, was the official photographer for the evening and she was performing her role with enthusiasm. “All right Angela, enough with the pictures. You must have enough photos for several albums by now. I’d better not see any of them splashed all over Facebook. You know I don’t like my life on display for the world to see.”“Spoilsport." Angela slipped her arm through Alisa’s. "Are you having a good time?""Yes I am. Thank you." Alisa looked around at the small crowd of friends. Deidre and Calvin were present and so was Shari. Shari was single like Alisa. The party was at Angie and Kevin's house. Kevin was Angie's husband of two years.Alisa glanced over at Michael with a thoughtful expression. Something was going on with him. He'd been a little pre-occupied lately and she was worried about him. Alisa and Michael Crawford have been hanging out together for a while now. They were just friends but most people saw them together and assumed they were a couple. She didn’t realize she was staring so hard at him until Angie came up behind her.Angie tapped her on the shoulder. Alisa looked around with a raised brow. "What?""When are you and Michael going to admit your feelings for each other?" Angie raised her hand before Alisa could comment. "Don't deny it. Look at you. You can’t keep your eyes off the man. Everyone knows it so you need to handle your business.”"What do you mean? Michael and I are just friends. If he wanted anything more he would tell me. We spend a lot of time together. More than some married couples we know and he has never indicated that he wanted anything to change. He’s not dating anyone and neither am I. We have the perfect setup.”Angela gave her a look that said who are you trying to kid. "I'm just telling you what I know. A gorgeous man like Michael can have his pick of women but he spends all his time with you. No man does that unless there’s something in it for him."Alisa sighed. “Let me say this again. We are just friends.” "Okay, bury your head in the sand. If I weren’t happily married I would give you a run for your money. That man is so fine! You’d better do something before some other woman comes along and snatch him right out from under you. “Michael makes a very good living and he is as handsome as sin. He would be a great catch for any woman. The thing that puts you ahead of every other woman is that he wants you.” Angie gave Alisa a pointed look. “I'm going to the kitchen to bring out some more refreshments. Think about what I said. I'll be back in a moment."“Last time I checked you were married,” Alisa said to her retreating back.Angie paused and turned around. “Married, not dead or blind.” She walked away.She looked across the room at Michael again. Could Angie be right? She was right about one thing. Michael was one fine man. Alisa took a long hard look at him and realized one thing; “tall, dark and incredibly handsome” didn’t begin to describe him. Michael was staring at her fixedly and unaware of her scrutiny. Her heart increased. In all the time they had known each other, Alisa could not recall him ever looking at her with such hunger and desire in his eyes. Oh my! Alisa’s eyes widened and she fled to the kitchen. She needed to talk to Angie.Michael couldn’t keep his eyes off Alisa. Damn. She was so beautiful and sexy.

154 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 24, 2015