Keep Her (12 page)

Jerking off with my cell phone in the other hand, while definitely fun, was getting a little… lonely. Riley was working late tonight so she could have the rest of the long weekend off for the Fourth, but I wanted to actually
see
her instead of texting or talking over the phone.

I thought long and hard about the message it would give to Riley and her co-workers—especially that Fallon dude who was always all up in my grill—if I showed up unexpectedly at her job to take her out for lunch. It seemed like a boyfriend thing to do, and I definitely wasn’t her boyfriend, but friends could grab lunch together too. Right?

Throwing on a fitted grey V-neck and a pair of my favorite worn jeans, I plucked my keys from the hook by the door and donned my tattered Yankees cap. Casual and comfortable—nothing about my attire would make her think I was trying too hard. In fact, I hoped it made her think I was just in the neighborhood, happening to pass by her office, doing the nice thing by dropping in to say hi.

And that’s exactly what I’d tell her when I made my way across town and whisked her away for her lunch hour. I just had this need to see her again. Alone. Only the two of us. I’d see her again this weekend at the lake house, but there’d be too many eyes watching us. We wouldn’t be able to be our normal selves—well, our
new
normal selves.

As I rang the intercom to be buzzed into her building, I gulped down the nerves that stood as a warning.
Play it cool and let it be.
It’s just two friends enjoying each other’s company.

The door swung open and Fallon’s eyes roamed my body from top to bottom, making me squirm uncomfortably. “Well, hello there, handsome! Oh, Riles, look what the cat dragged in,” he called over his shoulder. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“Nice to see you too, Fallon. Can I come in?” As if it weren’t weird enough being scrutinized like some piece of fucking meat, he blocked my entrance into the office like a drooling guard dog.

“Depends. Are you here for business or pleasure?” He brushed his palm over the top of his spiky Mohawk, grinning.

“I’m here to take Riley to lunch,” I said, exasperated. What was taking Riley so long anyway?

He slapped his tongue against the roof of his mouth and threw his hand on his hip. “Bitch didn’t tell me she had a lunch date with a hot fireman. She’s holding out on me.”

That made me laugh. He was good people, even if he was a bit eccentric at times. “No she’s not. She didn’t know. I thought I’d surprise her.”

Fallon’s cat-like green eyes popped open to triple the size. “Oh mister, you just scored mucho points with the BFF,” he sang, as he patted me on the shoulder. “Come on in. She’s on the phone with a client.” Fallon hooked a plaid-covered arm in mine and escorted me into the bright, spacious office.

The place screamed Riley. It was eye-catching and contemporary. Classy. Bright yellows and turquoises accentuated the white washed furniture. A few of the pieces were paneled in mirrors and elaborate crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Her office made
me
want to redecorate my drab apartment. I could see why RG Interior Design was becoming the name on everyone’s lips. It made me proud for her. She deserved this kind of success.

“Nice right?” Fallon asked, nudging me with his elbow.

“Really nice. She’s made quite a name for herself.” I smiled, and Fallon clapped his hands in front of his mouth, clearly proud of his friend. “Her desk is over there to the right. This client is making her skin crawl, so when you sneak up on her I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.”

I nodded as I started walking in her direction. “Thanks, Fallon. Wanna join us for lunch?” I hoped he’d say no, but I thought it was the right thing to do. He and Riley were inseparable at work and I didn’t want to infringe on their afternoon plans.

“Awww, sweetie. More points, but no thank you. You two need your alone time. Her fingers are starting to blister from all that texting.” He winked, making me think he knew more than he should about those private conversations. Damn girls and their gossip.

When I reached her desk, I crept up slowly, listening to her conversation.

“Ginny, the shipments are off because of the holiday. I know we promised it would be done this week, but they’ll be in first thing Monday. I’ll even hand deliver them to you myself.” She sounded stressed and I could hear the voice on the other end growing louder and louder.

“I’m sorry you feel what way, but—” She spun around in her chair, fisting a chunk of her short hair and the look in her eyes when she spotted me brought a huge smile to my face. “Ginny, I have to go. You can yell at me later.”

She hung up and jumped out of her white leather chair. “Oh my god. What are you doing here?”

For a quick second I felt awkward, not knowing how to greet her. This was the first time we’d seen each other since I left her house Saturday morning. Did I kiss her on the cheek? On the lips? I wanted to do what came naturally, but I didn’t want to make it weirder than it had to be.

Thankfully, she made the decision for me and wrapped her arms around me, landing a sweet peck on my clean shaven face. “This is a nice surprise. What are you doing here?” She backed up from our embrace, grasping my hands in hers and looked into my eyes.

“I was in the neighborhood and I thought we could grab some lunch.”

“You buying?” she asked, tilting her head.

“Well, from the looks of things around here I might make you my sugar mama, but lunch is definitely my treat.”

She giggled, brushing a strand of dark hair out of her eyes. “Sometimes these pains in the ass aren’t worth the money they pay me. They’re all pretentious and impatient and driving me insane. Wherever you take me must have cocktails. I need a drink.”

“You’re on,” I laughed, taking in how put together she looked in her long summer dress. “You ready to go now or do you need a few minutes?”

She grabbed her cell phone and plopped it into an oversized purse, swinging it over her bare shoulder. “I was ready for a drink at nine a.m. Let’s go.”

I turned to Fallon and asked if he wanted us to bring anything back for him, but he simply shook his head and winked at me. I’d have to ask Riley exactly how much she’d told him about us.

“An extra large mojito for me, please,” she ordered, still holding the menu in front of her face.

“And I’ll take a Stella,” I said to the waiter, placing my menu down on the table. I couldn’t help but admire Riley as her stunning blue eyes perused the menu, deciding on a selection. Was she a salad girl? A burger girl? It occurred to me that as well as I knew her from hanging around with Marcus all these years, there was still so much I
didn’t
know. And getting to know her was the fun part. It seemed I learned something new every day.

Sensing my eyes on her, she looked up from the food choices and smiled. “What?”

“Nothing,” I shrugged, smiling back. “You just… you look pretty today.” I didn’t know why I said it; I just felt the need to. It was like that with Riley, honesty just poured out of me without regret.

“Thank you,” she said, gazing down and biting her lip. After the initial bashfulness passed, she tapped the lid of my cap. “You look pretty adorable yourself.”

“Adorable?” I pouted.

“Yes, totes adorbs,” she giggled.

“You know what I think is pretty adorable?” I leaned closer to her, pulling one of her hands over the table in mine.

“What?” she asked, staring down at our joined hands.

The restaurant was noisy and busy with their workday lunch crowd. I leaned forward for a little privacy, looking into her blue eyes. “The way you’re all kinky and uninhibited in your texts and then shy and modest when I tell you how pretty you are.” God, I liked looking at this woman. Did she have any idea how gorgeous she was? Crazy how I was just realizing it now myself.

“B, you’re sweet. But… I’m the worst at taking compliments. Sorry. Girl thing.”

“You’ve known me forever, Riles. You don’t need to be shy with me.”

“That’s exactly
why
I feel so shy around you. This is kind of crazy, no? Us sitting here,” she looked down at our hands again, “holding hands, on a surprise lunch date. It’s almost easier to hide behind the flirty texts and the sex… the attraction is easy to explain. It’s everything else that’s so… weird.”

It was weird, but not necessarily
bad
weird. Just
different
weird. “I like our weird. It’s fun.”

She leaned closer, whispering, “Me too.” Then slanting back in her chair, she blew out a huff of air, causing her feathery bangs to fly up and out of her eyes. “Shit. This weekend is going to be hard.”

“I know. Wanna ditch it?” Now, that was actually a clever idea.

“We can’t. I promised Marcus I’d help him out. Plus a few of our mutual friends will be there—and then there’s the whole Marcus/Tessa thing.” She rolled her eyes and it was obvious to see that her brother and Tessa being together didn’t exactly make her happy.

Before I could ask her why, the waiter was there with our drinks and to take our orders. Riley ordered a soup and salad combo and I ordered a BLT with fries.

When he’d left, jotting everything down on his pad, I clinked my bottle to her glass and brought her attention back to the topic of our friends. “So, why are you so against Marcus and Tessa being together?”

“Oh, not you too?” She tilted her head and took a sip of her mojito. “First those two, then Fallon, and now
you
? Is everyone fucking blind, deaf, and dumb?” She was clearly agitated, her hand gestures becoming more and more animated as she spoke. “They’re a disaster waiting to happen, Beck. He’s a man-whore with commitment issues and she’s a single mother with more baggage than an airport conveyer belt.”

“Nice way to talk about your brother and your best friend.” I laughed, pulling back on my beer.

“Hey,” she tsked. “You know I don’t mean it like that. I love them both. I only worry because I care. I don’t want either of them to get hurt.”

“Well—” I had to think about how to say this, because here we were teetering on the same slippery slope ourselves. “What if they’re just having fun… like us? No expectations, no worries about the future. Just enjoying the way they make each other feel.” There. That summed it up.

She sighed, fluffing her hair up with her fingers. “You’re right. Everyone’s right. I shouldn’t care and I should just lighten up, but… I don’t know, B. As much as I worry about Tessa, I’m actually more concerned for Marcus. He’s never done this before. You’re different. You’ve… been in love.” She struggled getting that part out, but I admired her grace in explaining herself. “My dad is useless when it comes to advice. Mom was always the shoulder to cry on, our cheerleader. I feel like I owe it to my mother to take her place when it comes to these big, momentous things in his life. Marcus is so damn pigheaded and now he’s a grown man, for God’s sake. I don’t expect him to come to his big sister for advice about girls.”

“That’s what he has a strapping, experienced, genius of a best friend for.” I pointed my thumbs at my chest, winking.

“That’s true,” she laughed. “And thank God you’re pretty sensible and responsible, but… I can’t help worrying about him. We’re getting older and even though he’s like ten times the size of me, he’s my baby brother and I’ll always want the best for him.”

Voices and laughter from the other tables surrounded us, but looking at her, sharing this with her—it was just the two of us. I stared into her eyes, getting another look into the surprising things I was learning about this girl I’d known my whole life. “I hope he knows how lucky he is, sweet thing. You are one amazing big sister.”

“Yeah, fat chance of getting him to see it that way. He just thinks I’m a pain in the ass nag.”

“Well, yes,” I admitted; Marcus did see Riley as overbearing at times. “But he also loves you very much. On more than one occasion he’s told me how much he values the special friendship you have and how, even though you guys are five years apart, you still hang out together all the time. He appreciates how you stepped up to the plate with your dad when your mom died… and for him too, Riles.

“You’ve been more than just a sister to him for as long as I can remember. So don’t be hard on yourself, and cut him some slack too. I know he’s got a thick skull and he’s still got a hell of a long way to go, but he’s different when it comes to Tessa. I think she could be good for him. She’s a lot like you. He needs more women like that in his life.”