Shane Witmer glanced up from the pepperoni and mushroom pizza he was sharing with his best friend, Alyssa Harte, as they sat in a booth in the back of his casual restaurant, The Pizza Joint. Having known Alyssa since they both were five years old, he’d learned long ago to read her moods and expressions. This afternoon, there was a determination about her he’d seen many times before, and when Alyssa put her mind to something, she usually accomplished her goal.

"New Year’s isn’t for another four days," he pointed out as he reached for a napkin. "I’ve never known you to make an early resolution. What’s up with that?"

"I thought I’d get a jump start on things." Shrugging casually, she picked off a pepperoni slice from her pizza, popped it into her mouth, then licked her fingers slowly, thoroughly, sensually. It was a habit she wasn’t even aware of doing, nor did she realize the stimulating reaction all that licking and tasting and lapping of her tongue had on his mind and body.

Swallowing hard, he forcibly pushed those too arousing thoughts from his head before they got him into trouble.

Instead, he watched as she finished off the thick, doughy crust and reached for another slice. "Considering how you’re enjoying your dinner, I’m guessing your resolution can’t be about giving up pizza and diet Coke like you’ve tried in the past," he teased.

She grinned indulgently, her blue eyes dancing with amusement. "No, we both know that’s a hopeless cause, not to mention pure misery for me," she replied, and took a big bite of her second piece of pizza.

Shane shook his head and chuckled. He loved her appetite and the way she enjoyed food, even if she did complain that everything she put into her mouth went straight to her hips, thighs, and butt. He thought her full breasts, lush hips, and shapely bottom were perfectly proportioned, not that he’d ever managed to convince her of that fact. She also had an innate sensuality about her that was subtle, but powerfully effective to his senses.

To him, Alyssa possessed the kind of real, womanly curves that drew a man’s eyes. His gaze especially, and only when he knew for certain she wouldn’t catch him admiring her voluptuous body because best friends didn’t do that sort of thing, and he’d spent years keeping his real feelings for her buried beneath a facade of brotherly affection. A feat that was becoming more and more difficult with each year that passed.

She exhaled a resigned breath, though she was still smiling. "I’ve come to accept that pizza and diet Coke are the two vices I just can’t live without."

"Then I guess that means you can’t live without me, because I supply the free pizza." She came by his pizza place at least a few times a week for lunch or dinner, and whenever the restaurant had any over-runs on pizza’s or pasta orders, he dropped them by her apartment on his way home.

"You know I wouldn’t be able to live without you, no matter what," she said, and used the back of her hand to push away the blonde, curly strands of hair fluttering against her cheek. "Free food aside, you’ll always be my best friend. You know all my secrets."

He laughed at that, but it was true for him, as well. He’d known Alyssa for over twenty years, and from the day her family had moved into the house next to his and they’d become neighbors, he and Alyssa had been constant companions. Neither of them had any siblings, and since there hadn’t been any other young children on their block, they’d bonded as playmates and close confidantes.

"So, let’s hear this resolution of yours," he said, putting their conversation back on track, and trying to ignore the way his libido stirred once again when she absently licked a smear of sauce from her bottom lip. He was also curious to know what kind of mission she’d decided upon for the coming year.

She tipped her chin up a few notches, that fortitude he’d seen moments ago flaring to life in the depths of her gaze again. "I’ve made the decision that this year is going to be about opening myself up to a real relationship with a guy, instead of breaking up with him when things start getting too intense or serious because I’m afraid of putting myself out there emotionally and possibly getting hurt in the end."

"Okay," he said slowly, more than a little surprised by her admission. And unsettled, as well.

Ever since Alyssa had started dating in high school she’d never allowed herself to get seriously involved with any man -- a defense mechanism he’d always suspected stemmed from issues surrounding her mother’s inability to get past the death of Alyssa’s father. It was a subject she didn’t like to talk about, avoided even, and therefore he knew there was much more to that emotional issue than she let on.

He leaned back in the booth and regarded her thoughtfully, wondering at the source of this very serious decision of hers. "So, what brought all this about?"

She meet his gaze steadily from across the table. "I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I’ve come to realize that while I’m finally financially stable and I love my job of being a personal shopper, my personal life sucks, which I fully admit has been my own fault up to this point since I’ve been so commitment phobic."

Grinning wryly, she dropped her napkin on her plate, pushed it aside, and went on. "I keep feeling like there’s something important missing from my life, and I think I’ve figured out what it is."

Shane didn’t care for the direction this conversation was heading, and felt his stomach churn with unease. "And what’s that?"

"Most of our friends are getting married, settling down, and having families of their own, and I realize that I want that, too. I really do. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life alone, like my mother has."

"But that means opening yourself up when it comes to an intimate relationship," he said, knowing that was one of Alyssa’s greatest weaknesses when it came to other men. She was much better about expressing her hopes, dreams, and feelings with him, but he knew that as her best friend she believed he posed no real threat to her heart or emotions. Then again, she had no idea how he truly felt about her, and if she ever discovered the truth, he knew he stood to lose that close friendship they’d shared for so many years.

Bracing his arms on the table, he tried to keep his own feelings out of the equation. "So, the big question is, are you ready to put yourself out there in an intimate and emotional way?"

"I guess I’m willing to try, and that’s what my New Year’s resolution is all about," she said quietly as her fingers wiped away the condensation on her glass of diet Coke. "It’s past time I finally get over my fears and insecurities or else I’m going to end up an old maid."

She grimaced at that notion and shook her head in dismay, which had the alluring effect of tousling those tempting spiral curls of hers over her shoulders. Her soft, lustrous hair was the object of some of his most seductive fantasies, the kind that had him imagining how those silky strands would feel clutched tightly in his fists in the throes of passion . . . or caressing his heated skin as she moved above him, over him . . .

"So, enough about me and my pathetic love life," she said, waving a hand in the air between and snapping him out of his erotic daydreams. "What do you have in mind for a New Year’s resolution?"

He couldn’t even begin to wrap his mind around that particular question, especially since he was still reeling from her announcement -- and how her decision might affect them and their relationship. His biggest fear was that he now stood to lose her to another man. For good. And that possibility settled in his belly like a cold, hard knot . . .