Loving the Best Man (Friends & Lovers Book 2) (2 page)

“Lighten up. It’s going to be fine.”

“Emerald, I don’t
do
stuff like this. I’ve only been with two people in my whole life. And they were very serious boyfriends.”

“Two people?” Emerald did her best to hide her surprise. She’d teased Robyn for only being with four people. Now she’d met someone who was even more vanilla than Robyn.

“Yes!” Grace snapped.

“Well, now it’s three.” Emerald bit her lips, pressing them together so she wouldn’t laugh again. But her body shook slightly with laughter anyway.

“At least you and Linc have known each other for years.”

“And you and Ryan have known each other for years too.” Emerald pointed out.

“It’s not the same,” Grace said in exasperation.  “Robyn and I were friends with Ryan in high school. I don’t even have him as a friend on Facebook!”

Emerald vaguely remembered Ryan Flores from high school. He’d been chubby back then but really sweet. Grace and Robyn had been close friends with him. Like them, he was biracial, and had his share of bullies. Except for Robyn, Emerald had pretty much kept to herself, so she hadn’t gotten to know him very well.

His family owned the hotel that all the wedding guests had stayed in. Grace had nearly fallen out of her chair when she’d seen him during the rehearsal dinner. She’d tried to point him out to Emerald but he’d already disappeared when Emerald had turned to look.

“Stop panicking,” Emerald said once she got control of herself. “You’re twenty-five years old. It’s not like your parents are going to ground you.”

Grace was pouting and tapping her foot on the floor repeatedly. She was clearly agitated.

“If it bothers you that much, just make sure you don’t ever do it again.” That was advice that she, herself, needed to follow.

“Believe me, I won’t.”

“I can’t believe you’ve only been with three guys,” Emerald said, staring at Grace with new eyes. “You’ve been to London, Paris, Amsterdam… I always thought you were hooking up with hot foreign guys.”

Grace, a freelance photographer, often left the state but sometimes went out of the country as well.

“No.” Grace shook her head. “You know how old-fashioned my parents are. I didn’t even lose my virginity until the summer
after
graduation.”

“No one will judge you. But let’s keep all of this to ourselves. Let’s call it wedding madness.”

“It must have been!” Grace said enthusiastically.

“I think it was,” Emerald said, looking to get rid of some of the blame for her own indiscretions.

The wedding had been so beautiful and romantic. Lincoln had been so attentive, staying by her side for most of the day. They weren’t each other’s dates but he sure had acted like it. She’d chosen to go solo but he’d had a date who had cancelled at the last minute.

With all the crystal chandeliers, flickering candles, slow music and flowing champagne, the atmosphere had become magical and she’d fallen under some crazy spell. By the end of the night it had been
she
who invited Lincoln back to her room. He hadn’t hesitated to take her up on the offer and she hadn’t questioned why she’d invited him in the first place.

After Grace had gone home, calmer but sullen, Emerald kept busy by cleaning her messy apartment. She would love to call Robyn and talk about the night she’d spent with Lincoln. But Robyn was on her honeymoon and wouldn’t be back for about a week. And Devin had made everyone promise not to call unless it was an emergency.

He’d had to talk Robyn into leaving for so long. She was very attached to Olivia, their baby, who would be five months old in just a few days.

Emerald smiled when she thought of her sweet goddaughter. She’d never seen such a sweet, cute baby. Christmas was about two weeks away and Emerald had already gotten Olivia a ton of presents.

After she picked up all the clothes that were tossed around the small living room, she went about cleaning her bedroom area, which was cordoned off, surrounded by curtains. Her stomach growled and she realized she hadn’t eaten much breakfast, had totally skipped lunch, and was now due for some dinner.

She turned her cell phone on so that she could order a pizza. It had been off all day, since the idiotic message that Marley had sent her. It immediately rang and buzzed with several messages. She had a voicemail from Robyn and quickly tried to call Robyn back but the call went straight to voicemail. There was a text message from her father, just saying hi, and a couple of insulting messages from Marley.

She saved all of his messages. She wanted proof just in case she ever decided to go to the police. She didn’t understand why he insisted on harassing her. Yes, she’d refused his sexual advances and even kneed him in the groin during their last confrontation. But he was the one that had fired her. And she hadn’t done anything other than say thank you before departing the gym where she’d worked. That had been almost a year ago.

A few weeks after the New Year, the messages had begun. In the beginning, she’d just deleted them without reading them. But since she’d begun to get messages more often, she’d been saving them.

There were no messages from Lincoln and she felt disappointed, which in turn made her feel stupid. She was the one who had walked away from whatever kind of relationship he’d been offering. She didn’t have a right to feel let down that he was giving her exactly what she’d requested.

After ordering the pizza, she went back to cleaning. She swept the small studio and was just about to mop when there was a knock on her door. It was the delivery guy. After paying him, she planted herself on the couch in front of the TV with the pizza. She normally liked to be alone. But for some reason, that had changed. She now felt so lonely.

She didn’t know if it was all the time she’d spent with the Phillips family or all the attention that Lincoln had been giving her. In these last few months, with all the wedding prep, she hadn’t had much time alone at home. At one point she’d actually missed being home. Now she wished she had some place to go.

She thought of going to see her father but she’d just have to pretend she was fine for his sake and for the sake of his wife. Her father didn’t do well with emotions, no matter how insignificant they were. At least at home, she could pout in the open. 

With a sigh she turned up the volume on the TV and leaned back with a slice of pizza.

*

Emerald Felton. The woman he’d wanted from the moment they met. The woman he’d been after for years. To finally touch her the way he’d always imagined, to have her melt against him, had been better than he’d ever dreamed. And now she wanted nothing to do with him.

He’d let her walk away. Rather, she’d run to the hotel bathroom to get away from him and he hadn’t tried to stop her. He’d considered following her. But he’d seen by the stubborn slant of her jaw that there was no point in trying to reason with her. He’d gotten dressed in his wrinkled tux and hurried to his room.

Now, sitting alone in his bland apartment, he tried to come up with a plan. He knew it was going to take time. But everything worth having was worth the time it took to get it.

They’d met at Grace’s and Robyn’s high school graduation party at the Jamison’s house. Emerald had been a part of their graduating class but from the way she’d tried to blend into the background, he wouldn’t have known it if Grace hadn’t told him. He still remembered the moment they’d been introduced.

She had skin the color of milk chocolate and almond shaped eyes. With her curves and seductive smile, she was beautiful. Having never been with an African American woman before, he’d been stunned by his reaction to her.

He’d tried to get her number but she’d just laughed him off before wandering away. That had been seven years ago. In all the years that had passed since then, she never took him seriously. He’d just about given up on her.

But being thrown together so much for the wedding had worked in his favor and he’d thought he and Emerald were actually becoming real friends. Outside of wedding errands, such as a group trip to the mall so they could all buy wedding shoes, they’d begun to text each other. He’d been thrilled.

On the night of the wedding, when she’d invited him to her room, he’d been quick to leave The Scope with her. But he’d thought they were beginning a relationship. He hadn’t considered that it was just sex for her. Or that she would regret it.

He wasn’t used to having his feelings hurt. He was usually the dumper not the not the person getting dumped. It was strange being on the other side, being the one still trying to hold on. He was always upfront with women about wanting to keep his relationships casual but once in a while, there was one who let her feelings get involved. And that’s when he’d cut her loose.

He liked having his fun. He liked his freedom. And he hadn’t met a woman who’d remotely interested him enough to settle down. The fact that Emerald was always in the back of his mind when he was with other women was not something he could ignore, either. The way his heart raced and blood heated up was something that only happened with her. No matter what he did, he couldn’t let that go.

It hurt more than his pride that she’d rejected him. But he had something working in his favor that he’d never had before. He had the knowledge that she wanted him and that they were great in bed together. It probably wasn’t enough to sustain a relationship for long but it was a start. The way she’d fallen into bed with him had been astounding. He knew how major it was. As far as he knew, Emerald didn’t sleep around.

He’d build on it that. He’d take it one day at a time. He’d use whatever advantage he could get, even if he only had a sexual advantage at that point.

A call from his sister interrupted his ruminations. He answered the phone, walking into his home office. Other than his bedroom, it was the only room in his apartment that actually looked lived in.

A computer sat on a large oak desk. The adjoining shelf held a printer and fax machine. A book shelf lined with books covered an entire wall of the room. His desk was littered with paper, various reports that he was in the process of going through.

Without realizing it he began pacing.

“Hey!” Allison said happily.

“Hey, sis. What’s up?”

“I’m putting my grocery list together for the big Christmas dinner.”

“And?”

“And I want to know if there’s anything specific you want?”

For the first time ever, his sister was hosting Christmas dinner. The year before, she and her husband plus their two kids had spent Christmas with Allison’s in-laws while Linc and their parents had gone on a cruise.

“I don’t want anything other than a regular Christmas dinner.”

“That’s what Gary said,” Allison complained, mentioning her husband.  “I need some input from someone!”

“Why don’t you ask Mom? Matter of fact, tell Mom you
want
her to tell you what to make.” He didn’t want to talk about Christmas dinner. He wanted time to think about what the hell he was going to do about Emerald. Plus he had some work to do.

“No. I told her I wanted to host dinner. I can’t go crying to her now.”

“So just make what she usually makes. No big deal.” He tried to hide the impatience that he felt but his sister, his twin, could always see through him.

“What’s wrong with you?” She asked right away. “Are you okay?”

“I’m good.”

“No, you’re not. What’s going on, Linc?”

“Nothing I’m in the mood to talk about. How about you make some apple pies for Christmas dessert?” He tried to change the subject.

Allison ignored that. “This is about Emerald, isn’t it?”

“What the-”

“I saw how you were with her at the wedding. I’ve never seen you like that.”

“We’re not talking about this, Ally.” He felt his face heat up, wondering how transparent he’d been. He’d thought he’d been discreet and that being the best man gave him the perfect excuse to stay close to the maid-of-honor. But maybe he’d made a fool out of himself. He hoped that Allison, knowing him so well, was the only one who’d noticed anything odd about his behavior.

“Fine,” Allison mumbled.

“So, apple pie please?”

“Whatever.” She huffed.

“I love you too, sis.” He said dryly.

After he hung up the phone, he went to his desk, looking at the reports that required his attention. He’d try to get some work done, the sooner the better. Then later he could focus on what had to happen next with Emerald.

“Damn it!” Emerald yelled the next morning as she stubbed her toe on the leg of the living room table. She hurriedly stepped into her heels, ignoring the throbbing that she felt in her pinky toe. She’d overslept and she didn’t have any time to waste.

As it was, she wasn’t a morning person. If it was up to her, she’d sleep until noon every day. But oversleeping was making her even grumpier than usual. She’d lain awake in bed for what felt like hours before she’d finally fallen asleep. She’d probably have to have a coffee and an energy drink to get her through the day.

She put on her thick gray coat, rapidly zipping it and pulling the hood over her head. Jersey Winters could be extreme and she hated to be cold. She grabbed her purse and looked for her car keys, trying to remember where she’d put them the day before.