Modern Girl's Guide to Friends With Benefits (8 page)

What a difference a day made.

Chapter Five

Modern Girl Tip #10 Stay In Touch (But Not Too Often):
This isn't your typical dating relationship. A FWB relationship needs an open line of communication because of its fluid nature. Touching base once a week or every couple of weeks is a good plan. That way you'll know if things in your relationship have changed. But don't go overboard—you want to keep it casual, not clingy.

Megan took her time getting ready the next morning. She packed her things, double-checked her flight itinerary, and even spent some time responding to fan emails. It wasn't exactly stalling. She wasn't avoiding Peter. But based on how things ended last night, Megan wasn't looking forward to their talk this morning.

The sex had been everything she'd hoped it would be. Hell, better than she could have imagined. She kicked herself for not trying harder years ago. And after everything was said and done, she didn't feel any differently about Peter. He was still the same guy, her best friend. The guy she loved hanging out with. Only now, instead of just randomly crashing at his place and hanging out after work, she hoped they could be doing a whole lot more. Megan wanted to continue this friends with benefits thing because the benefits were worth it.

But she knew that probably wasn't going to happen. When she finally left the room, pulling her bags behind her, Peter was waiting with tea and bagels set out like a sad last meal. He wore a stricken look that told her whatever plans she had for a continued physical relationship were off the table. No matter how great the sex had been, he wouldn't let it happen again.

"Let me save you the big awkward talk," Megan said, jumping straight on the defensive. "I'm fine. Nothing has changed in the way I feel about you, except, well, I now know why you get all the ladies." He opened his mouth to say something, but Megan stopped him. "Don't sweat it, Peter. We're good. I'm game to do it again anytime you want, but if not, I'm fine with that too. So, nice talk."

Megan picked up a bagel and took a big bite, hoping that would be the end of that. But of course, Peter wasn't going to let her off that easy.

"That's not good enough, Meg. We need to talk about this. What happened—"

"What happened was just a physical release shared between two friends. It's like when we go dancing or do laps together at the pool. The big difference being, sex is a sport I'm actually good at."

"Really, Megan? It was like going to the gym with me? You really don't think this changes a thing?"

Peter leaned against the counter, letting his jacket fall open. He was dressed impeccably, like he always was, even though they were both headed to the airport. It irked her. She loved Peter, really she did, but sometimes she wanted him to show some cracks.

"No. It doesn't change a thing. Not if we don't let it." Megan laid a hand on his, a little surprised the physical contact felt different now, but she forged ahead, ignoring her own trepidation. "I know your M.O. better than you do. You don't do relationships. You don't have time and you don't do messy. That's fine. I'm not looking for a relationship. You're my friend, Peter. That's all I want from you. What happened last night was amazing. We can leave it at that."

"What happened last night can't happen again," he said, pushing back from the counter. "This changes things and you damn well know it."

"What I do know is you're blowing this out of proportion. If I was anyone else, would it be this complicated?" Megan pushed her breakfast away and grabbed her bags. "I didn't think so. Things don't have to change unless you make a big deal about it. Now, I've got a plane to catch. See you when you're back for Christmas."

Megan went up on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek, their customary goodbye, but this time Peter pulled away. Frowning, she stepped back and took a good look at him. Yes, he was the same polished man she'd known for years, but his stance was closed off, and it broke a little bit of her heart. "You're my best friend, Peter. Please don't push me away," Megan said as she headed to the door. "I heard what you said. I'll respect your wishes and keep it strictly platonic." She took a long look at him and almost felt him pulling away. It was killing her. "Don't ruin us, please."

The ride to the airport was one of the longest she'd ever taken. The relative quiet gave Megan too much time to think. She'd completely misread him. With all of those random hookups he'd had over the years, she thought for sure he'd be fine with no-strings sex with her. Maybe the problem wasn't him. It had occurred to Megan over the years that he might not be attracted to her. Sure they'd had sex, but that didn't mean he really wanted to. After all, she'd practically assaulted him and he was only human.

While waiting for her plane, she got on her phone and arranged for a bottle of Peter's favorite scotch to be waiting for him at his apartment in New York. The clerk laughed a little too hard when she told him what to put on the card. Her "Sorry, I had sex with you. Can we still be friends?" note wasn't something he'd ever added to a delivery. At least, not from a woman.

She expected to hear from Peter when he got home—a text at the very least—but the next week passed without a single word. Megan resigned herself to the fact that she'd screwed up their friendship. She'd just have to wait until he was back from New York to fix things.

To keep her mind off things, Megan threw herself into her writing. She still couldn't figure out her plot, but the night with Peter had sparked her creativity when it came to the spicy parts. By Friday, she had a good thirty thousand words…of mostly sex scenes.

She was just in the middle of a particularly spicy oral scene when Connor knocked on the door.

"Sorry to interrupt, Megan," he said sheepishly from the door. "But since you'll be leaving early, I wanted to talk to you before I left on holiday."

"That's fine, Connor," Megan said and snapped her laptop lid shut, a hot flush spreading across her face.
Thank God he can't read my thoughts.
"I was finished for the day anyway. I'll be down in a few minutes."

She closed up the office, taking her time. Today was turning out to be another crappy day. Connor never had good news for her these days, she had that stupid lunch to go to with some stiff her stepmother had fixed her up with, and to top it off, Peter was due back in town. She needed a pick-me-up, something to make her smile, so she called Julia.

"I'm about to get some bad news. So give a girl a break and tell me you have some good to even it out," Megan said after Julia answered.

"As a matter of fact, I do have some news," Julia said. "I just got off the phone with Simon, and you were actually my next call. While in Vail, I was talking to one of the press coordinators for the event, and he looked up my online portfolio. They called this morning and want me to do a spread featuring the U.S. Paralympic team."

"Oh my God, hon. That's great."

"But there is a catch. The shoots can be in New York, but I have to be available from January until the games. I'll be staying in New York with Simon for the next four months."

"Oh. Well, it's still great news for you," Megan said, a little less enthusiastically. "I know you guys are leaving tomorrow, but why don't we go out and celebrate tonight after my luncheon?"

"Simon's already taking me out tonight. But you could always come along."

"Yeah, I'm sure that will go over well with Simon." And it was the last thing she wanted to do—be the third wheel on a date with her brother.

"Peter's back today. You can call him, and we could make it a party," Julia offered.

"No. You two have fun. I have a thing this afternoon anyway. We'll catch up soon."

"Count on it. I've got a ton of things to do, so I've got to go. Love you, babe."

"Love you, too," Megan said.

While not bad news, Megan wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea that Julia, one of the mainstays in her ever-shrinking circle of friends, was going to be away so long. Scrolling through her contact list was depressing. The few friends she did have were either married or headed that way. He finger fell on Peter's name, and she thought about calling him.

A few weeks ago, he would have been the first person she'd call to help cheer her up, but until she fixed what was wrong with them—or smacked some sense into him—she didn't think talking with him on the phone would help improve her mood.

So instead, she went down to what should have been her kitchen, but right now was a dusty lumber-covered mess. At least there was some progress. The rear wall was closed now with brand new two-by-fours, and the sheets of drywall were propped by the back door, ready to go up.

"I thought I'd have the wall closed before Christmas, but I found another problem. Whoever did this addition made a right bag of it. I'll have to put a junction box in and run new wiring before I can close her up. Luckily, the inspector didn't catch it, or we might've had to rewire the whole kitchen."

"So no insulation or drywall until Wednesday?" she asked, resisting the urge to bang her head against the nonexistent wall.

"I might be able to get the insulation in before I leave, but no drywall."

"Just leave the insulation. I can do that myself this weekend. But when you come back, you have to wear a kilt to make it up to me."

"I'm not Scottish," he said with a frown.

"Well, neither are most of the guys in my Hot Men In Kilts calendar, but that doesn't make it any less sexy."

"I have work to do, and you should be leaving. I thought that fella of yours was coming home today. You wouldn't want to keep him waiting," he said waving her out of the kitchen.

Megan slumped and let out a whiny groan. "Peter's not my
fella.
And I'm not going to meet him tonight. Peter just got home, and the last thing he wants is me to show up on his doorstep. Besides I still have some work to do on my book."

After over five months of working in New York, Peter was happy to be headed back to Chicago. But as the plane touched down, a sense of dread filled him. Being home meant facing Meg.

He'd been avoiding her since that night in Vail. But now that he was back, there was no way he could put off the inevitable, especially with Christmas right around the corner. Everyone knew his flight was coming in today, and knowing Meg, she'd probably be waiting at his apartment.

He needed more time. Even after a week, he wasn't ready to face her. Every night when he closed his eyes, all he could think about was her. He could still remember the taste of her lips, the feel of her body pressed against his. Even thinking about it got his heart racing.

So instead of going home, he instructed the driver to take him to the office.

"What are you doing here?" Simon asked when he walked in.

"There were a few thing I wanted to check on before the holidays," Peter said, avoiding eye contact. Simon was another person he wasn't ready to face. Peter had assumed he'd be out of the office today since he and Julia were leaving tomorrow. But no such luck.

"Well, I'm glad you're here. Do you have a second to chat?" Simon said, ushering Peter into his office and closing the door. "I'm going to be gone for almost six months and I wanted to talk to you about Megan."

Fuck.
Peter was prepared for the worst. Maybe ignoring Meg had been the wrong strategy. If she'd run to Simon and confessed what happened that night, it could ruin everything he'd built here. He took the empty chair beside Simon's desk. "You know Mamá's pissed you're skipping Christmas morning with the family." It was a cheap diversionary tactic. He knew it was only delaying the inevitable, but Peter wasn't ready to talk about Meg just yet.