“He’s a friend. We have two other female friends and we all agreed not to hook up with Connor,” Christina answered.
“Not that Connor has ever shown interest in any of us. He goes for tall blondes.” Susan grinned. “Female tall blondes.”
“Why did you make an agreement like that?” Dimples asked.
Christina fiddled with her bracelets. “Because he offers a male opinion and is always truthful. We didn’t want to spoil that. Besides, we love Connor. The last thing we want is jealousy between us.”
Dimples and Blondie finished their drinks and left to visit Blondie’s brother before visiting hours finished.
“We might as well go home,” Susan said. “There’s no point visiting Julia again if she’s asleep.”
Susan fell into step beside Christina as they walked down the corridor to the elevators. “I keep thinking about what you said about jealousy and Connor. Were we acting like jealous bitches before with Maggie?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Secrecy and cloak and dagger stuff always irks me—an offshoot from Married Man. None of us are talking to each other anymore. It’s felt weird lately, like there are undercurrents.”
“I want to know one way or the other,” Susan said.
“And how are we going to do that if everyone keeps denying it?”
“I think we should follow either Maggie or Connor and see where they go, who they meet. That will tell us what we need to know.”
“And Julia and the baby?” Christina unlocked the car doors and climbed behind the wheel. “Don’t you think that would be underhanded?”
“Let’s eliminate one thing at a time and go from there.”
“Okay,” Christina said, merging with the traffic. “We might be making a big mistake, but at least we’ll learn why everyone is behaving so strangely.”
“Hey, babe. I missed you last night.” Maggie wiped the sleep from her eyes and smiled, his husky words coming from her phone working better magic than a morning cup of coffee.
“I missed you too.” It hadn’t taken long to become used to Connor sleeping with his arms wrapped around her. “It was cold last night.”
Connor laughed. “I didn’t wake up with cold feet on me. I’ll be busy today and won’t leave my office, but do you want to meet after work tonight? I have a project in mind. Can you meet me at Botany Town Center? I figure no one we know will see us there, and the pub does good meals.”
“It’s a date.” Maggie cringed the minute the words left her mouth. Friends with Benefits didn’t date. They had sex. “I’ll meet you at Whitcoulls,” she suggested, naming her favorite bookstore and stationer.
“Make it six to be on the safe side,” Connor said. “And make sure you take your cell so I can ring if I’m running late.”
“See you then,” Maggie said, hanging up with a smile. At least she had something to look forward to today.
The morning dragged at a pace slower than a snail’s. Things were uncomfortable in the lunch room with Christina and Susan, although, to their credit, they tried to act normal.
Susan pulled a magazine from her handbag, and Maggie glanced at it with disinterest until she noticed the cover—the issue with her mother and the rugby player.
“It isn’t fair. Look at Elle Walker. She clicks her fingers and men swarm around her,” Susan said, glaring at the cover.
Maggie winced, thankful her mother had reverted to her maiden name after the divorce.
“Who’s the rugby player?” Christina asked.
Susan flicked the pages of the magazine until she came to the story and color photos. They stared at them, Maggie unwillingly.
Christina glanced up at Maggie. “You know, you look like her.”
“Me?” Horror laced the word. “I’m nothing like her.”
Susan and Christina looked surprised at her vehemence.
“It’s your features. Your eyes are the same color, and you have similar shaped noses and faces.”
