“Stop it, I’m only paying him back for the sushi.”
“Mmmhmm.”
“Am I not a thoughtful friend?”
She sobers immediately, “Of course you are.”
“Right, so that’s what this is, I’m being a good friend.”
Her shoulders slump in disappointment, “Fine. It’s just he’s just sooo dreamy and you are so gorgeous and the two of you together are so adorable. Texting everyday? Sushi? Cupcakes? Are you suuure there’s not more there?”
“Positive. No feels, just friends”
“What about the other feels…” She lowers her gentle voice even more. “Have you kissed yet?”
“You saw the photos,” I shrug. Everyone with a social media account saw the scene by the willow tree. In print it looked almost as hot as it was in real life.
I fight off goosebumps just thinking about it. His body looming over mine. His strong arms. His words. His grip moving me where he wanted me like I was his plaything…
Harper dips her chin at me. “You know what I mean, I mean really kissed.”
“No, we haven’t had to, thankfully.”
“You don’twantto kiss that man?”
I grab extra napkins to avoid her big, curious eyes and start to stutter, “N-not if I can h-helps it.”
“I’m glad to see you’re still a terrible liar.”
“It’s messy, you know? Of course I’m attracted to him, he’s…attractive,” I fumble, trying not to picture him in the secret agent costume again, try not to picture his eyes when he’s mad, or hear his voice in my ear when he suddenly takes charge. “And yeah, I think he’s attracted to me too but that will just make this knotharder to untie in the end. Physical chemistry messes with my head.”
“That makes a lot of sense but I wish it didn’t. If you’re so sure you won’t fall in love then I wish you could just have a little fun with him. You deserve it and based on what I’ve read online, I bet he could deliver, if you know what I mean.” She blushes as she says it. My sweet, shy friend. Who apparently reads tabloid reports about my billionaire husband.
“Thank you, but I don’t need fun. I need money.”
“Still getting the texts?”
“Yes, but much less now that I set a final date and time to meet.”
Harper gasps, “Meet?”
“Yes, January second.”
“Have you told Benedict about—”
“No, and I won’t. You haven’t told anyone, right?”
She grabs my hand across the counter. “No, but it’s nothing to be embar—”
“I have to go, a Clark driver is waiting outside. Thanks for the free coffee.”
“See you next week?”
“Yup.”
I hurry out of The Roasted Chestnut like all my failures were seated around the cafe and staring at me and judging.Fancypants Janie, back in Juniper Falls. Genius Janie, homeless, broke, dumped by her fiancé and all her New York friends.Friends who all moved on to better jobs, better boyfriends, weddings, babies.
And I moved back home.
