The Best Man Problem

by Mariah Ankenman

  But he would never push her into anything she might regret later, so he motioned to the machine behind her.

  “Or we could play this?”

  At that, her eyes widened in surprise. “You play pinball?”

  He snorted. “No. Other people play pinball. I dominate pinball.”

  A disbelieving laugh escaped her lips. “Really? Wanna bet?”

  “Depends on what we’re betting for.” He bobbed his eyebrows in an overly comical manner.

  Lilly laughed, shaking her head. “How about bragging rights?”

  Not what his first choice would be, but he got her to laugh again, so he’d call it a win and agreed, motioning to the pinball machine with a wave of his hand. “Ladies first.”

  Lilly grabbed another quarter from her pocket and put it in the machine, starting a new game.

  Lincoln watched, enthralled with the skill she used to coax the ball exactly where she wanted it to go. Her fingers deftly worked the flipper buttons to send the ball flying up the ramps to fall back down and hit every single sensor on the game, sending her score sailing into the high hundreds of thousands.

  He whistled. “Not bad. You’re good.”

  “Thanks,” she said, focus never leaving the game. “And don’t try to distract me with any of your corny pirate jokes.”

  He grinned, unable to resist the gauntlet she’d just thrown down. “Don’t worry about that. I’ve traded in my pirate jokes for more meaningful pursuits. As a matter of fact, right now I’m reading a fascinating book about gravity.” He paused for dramatic effect before leaning in close and saying, “It’s impossible to put down.”

  Lilly bent over the machine, laughter bursting out of her, the last silver ball rolling down the ramp past her flippers, ending her turn. Turning to face him, she took a moment to control herself, but her lips were curved in a wide, beautiful smile as she pointed a finger at him accusingly.

  “You cheated.”

  “Hey.” He held up his hands in surrender. “Technically it wasn’t a pirate joke.”

  Rolling her eyes, she gave him a tiny shove. “Your turn, funny man.”

  Lincoln stepped up to the game, fishing a quarter out of his pocket and sliding it into the coin slot. He worked the machine, following the ball with a keen eye, fingers light and ready on the flapper buttons. It took him his first two balls and a couple thousand in score to get the feel of the game, but once he did, Lincoln was in the zone.

  “Impressive, Mr. Reid.”

  Lilly’s softly whispered words in his ear sent a shiver up his spine, hardening a part of his anatomy thankfully hidden by the large metal gaming equipment in front of him.

  “Now who’s cheating?” he tossed over his shoulder. Honestly, he didn’t mind her method of distraction. If he thought for one minute her little breathy come-on was real, he’d tank this game so fast—but as much as he wished, he knew Lilly still had an issue with picking up where they left off. So he kept his attention on the game, 100 percent.

  The warm feel of her arm pressed against him as she leaned over his shoulder to watch him play…

  Okay, 75 percent.

  After ten excruciating minutes trying to concentrate on the game while the woman he wanted more than his next breath did her best to distract him simply by existing, he glanced up at his score. Not his highest by any means, but a solid ten thousand over Lilly’s. He figured that was good enough and let his final ball sink.

  “Dang,” Lilly muttered as he turned to face her. “You are good.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t have a lot of friends in middle school, but we did have a pinball machine in the basement of our house. Spent a lot of time with that thing.” It was his safe place, that pinball machine.

  A sad light entered her eyes as she stared at him. “You didn’t have friends?”

  He shrugged, uncomfortable with the sympathy in her gaze. He didn’t need it. Yeah, maybe he’d been a lonely kid growing up, but he had Kenneth and Marie now. “I was an übernerd. Really into computers and gaming. All the other kids were into sports and stuff. Not really my scene. How about you?”

  She scrunched her nose, pushing her glasses up with a finger when they slipped down. “I was my high school’s varsity volleyball captain two years in a row. I can’t say I’m into gaming other than pinball.”

  He chuckled, in no way surprised that the slightly uptight Lilly wasn’t a gamer. “Are you telling me you don’t play D&D? Pathfinder? The Settlers of Catan? Small World? Smash Up? You never had LAN parties with computer geeks as a kid?”

  Her head tilted as she gave him a droll stare. “I have no idea what any of those things are, but no, none of them really sound up my alley.”

  “At least we have pinball.” He gave her a wink. “Wanna play again?” He motioned to the game.

  She shook her head. “No way can I beat that score.”

  He smiled. “I told you it was my game.”

  “True, but aren’t you supposed to let your date win?”

  His eyes widened, hopeful warmth radiating through his chest. “Is this a date?”

  “What? No!” Panic erased all the joy from her face as she glanced over at Mo, who stood laughing with Kenneth and Marie as the giant wooden blocks wobbled in the wonky tower on the table between them. Damn, he hadn’t meant to make her feel uncomfortable.

  “I was kidding, Lilly.” Kind of. Sort of. Not really, but if it made her feel better, he could pretend.

  A sad, wistful glint entered her eyes. “I didn’t mean… We can’t… I don’t date clients. I told you that.”

  She had, but he did feel the need to remind her, “You did, and I told you I’m not your client.”

  “But I also said I don’t date members of the wedding party. It’s just…it’s not good for business.”

  Hmm, the way she said that… He wondered if there was a story behind her decision. No. He didn’t wonder that. He shouldn’t, because the more he learned about Lilly Walsh, the more he liked her. And lusting after her was fine, but liking her? That could fall into dangerous relationship territory, and Lincoln did not want to risk that heartache. Not again.

  Having fun was one thing. Caring was quite another.

  Lilly turned her head back to their friends. “Maybe we should go check in with the others?”

  Yeah, that might be for the best. He liked hanging out with Lilly, and that could turn into a problem. If they weren’t on the same page about what they wanted? Well, that was a recipe for disaster, and no way would he do anything to negatively impact Kenneth and Marie’s special day.

  He smiled, stepping back to give her and himself plenty of room. Touching her again was a bad idea right now. So instead he grabbed his drink from the side table where he set it before his game and motioned for her to lead the way. “Sure. Let’s go.”

  As they turned, someone jostled her from behind. She stumbled, and Lincoln reached out, catching her arm before she fell but not before she spilled half her drink all over her shirt.

  “Dammit!” She pulled the wet, sticky material away from her chest.

  “You okay?” Anger burned in his gut as he glanced over the crowd for whoever bumped her. He knew the place was crowded and a lot of people were a few drinks in, but damn, people needed to be more careful.

  “I’m fine. It was an accident.”

  “Do you want another drink?”

  She shook her head, a sigh falling from her lips. “No. But I wish I had a dry shirt.”

  Without saying a word, he set down his beer and peeled his long-sleeved sweater up and over his head, handing her the dark blue garment.

  “Do you have to be chivalrous and sexy?” she groused, snatching up the offered sweater.

  He let out a soft, confused laugh. “Sorry?”

  “I don’t believe that for a second. Go.” She motioned to where the othe
rs stood playing giant Jenga. “I’m going to change, and then I’ll meet you.”

  He nodded, making his way over to the table but keeping an eye on her as she entered the bathroom. Lilly Walsh was a conundrum he couldn’t figure out. Probably best for him if he didn’t, but damned if he wanted to anyway.

  Chapter Eight

  “Shit, shit, shit!” Lilly pounded the keys on the office computer, yielding zero results.

  “What is it?” Pru asked.

  The third member of Mile High Happiness had come back from her time off for her honeymoon just this morning, all glowing and happy and sexually satisfied and adding to the mounting frustration threatening to make Lilly explode. Not fair. It wasn’t her friend’s fault she found the best guy in the world and was now living happily ever after in wedded and parental bliss. Just because Lilly was currently suffering a case of horny-for-a-man-she-couldn’t-have didn’t mean she got to be all surly about her friend’s happiness.

  That wasn’t what good friends did.

  “This stupid computer froze again,” she complained, smacking her hand against the side of the flat screen.

  “Did you try control-alt-delete?” Mo asked from her desk along the far wall.

  “Yes, Moira. It didn’t do anything.”

  “Turning it off and turning it back on again?” her roommate suggested.

  A low, frustrated growl escaped her lips. “I tried, but it won’t turn off. The damn thing is frozen, and nothing I do is helping.”

  Mo shrugged. “Well, that’s all I got, sorry.”

  Lilly hit the escape button. Nothing. She moved the mouse around on the thick pad with their logo on it. Still nothing. The damn thing didn’t even move on the screen. It stood still. Frozen. Not responding no matter what she did.

  “Ahhhh!” She let out an irritated scream. “I hate computers!”

  She and technology did not get along. A discredit to her generation, she’d never understood much more than basic programs like Word and Excel. Give her a good old-fashioned pen and paper and she could run the world. Or her world, at the very least. But tell her to put all her carefully laid plans into an operating system, and Lilly was a goner.

  “Why does the world have to run on computers?”

  “Because it’s the twenty-first century.” Mo chuckled. “Luddite.”

  True. And she did love the convenience of certain technologies: her cell phone, streaming services, the internet. But for some reason, computers—this one in particular—had a grudge against her. It taunted her daily. Freezing on her, locking up, losing important documents she knew she saved. One of the reasons she insisted they keep paper files and receipts in addition to having an online system. She didn’t trust this damn computer one bit. It was out to get her.

  “Want me to call our tech guy?” Pru asked, reaching for her phone.

  Lilly shook her head. “No. He’s out of town this week. Some conference or something.” Figures her computer would break down the exact moment their IT connection was out of reach.

  “Oh, dang. Should we call a service or take it to a shop or something?”

  “Let me make some calls.” Lilly sighed, but after half an hour on the phone to every computer repair service/shop/tech geek listed online, Lilly’s mood had gone from frustration to despair.

  “Crap!” She slammed down the office phone.

  “What?” Pru asked.

  Adjusting her glasses on her nose, Lilly glared at the stupid, broken hunk of technology in front of her. “I’ve called every place I can find, and no one has any availability until the end of the week.”

  “Lil,” Mo said from her desk across the room. “I know you have paper files of everything and all, but we can’t go the rest of the week without a computer. It’ll create some serious issues. We should just replace the thing.”

  They should, but even a new computer wouldn’t help their current situation.

  “We need a plan C.” She racked her brain, poring through all the possibilities to try and find a solution to the problem. That was her thing. Solutions. A point of pride in herself had always been her ability to find another answer, so why was her brain failing her at the moment?

  “I have an idea,” Mo piped up cheerfully.

  Dang, how had her roommate, who flew through life on a spur-of-the-moment-type attitude, come up with a solution before her? Maybe she hadn’t had enough coffee this morning. Brain fog due to lack of caffeine. She had been having difficulty sleeping the past few nights. She was just stressed.

  No. You’re horny and lusting after a man you can’t have.

  Harsh but true. Her past few sleepless nights could be directly blamed on a certain sexy best man and the unexplainable pull he had on her. What was it about Lincoln Reid that made her body ache and crave? She’d already had the man. He should be out of her system. Yet every time she saw him, her desire to rip his clothes off and have her wicked way with him again ramped up even more.

  “We know a guy who works with computers who would probably help us out for next to nothing,” Mo pointed out.

  Pru tilted her head, brow wrinkling. “We do?”

  What? The only other computer guy they knew was— Oh hell no!

  “No.” She shook her head, refusing to see this as a possible solution. There had to be something else, someone else.

  Mo grinned, an evil glint filling her eyes. “Yes.”

  Pru glanced back and forth between the two of them. “I’m missing something.”

  “We’re not calling Lincoln.”

  “Why not? He’s a tech guy. I’m sure he can fix our computer in five seconds.”

  “Wait.” Pru held up a hand, a slight grimace on her face. “Lincoln as in sexy best man Lincoln who Lilly has a thing for?”

  “I do not have a thing for him!”

  “The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” Mo said in a mock hushed tone to Pru.

  “We don’t even have his number.” See? Lincoln couldn’t be the solution to their problem if they had no way to contact him.

  “Yes we do.” Mo flipped through the mess on her desk until she came up with a small slip of paper. “Marie gave it to me in case of emergency.”

  Well crap.

  “What’s wrong?” Her roommate waved the tiny paper in the air. “Chicken?”

  Reluctant to admit it but knowing there was no other solution, Lilly rose from her desk and marched over to Mo. Snatching the paper from her friend’s hand, she pointed.

  “I’m only using this to get him to fix our computer.”

  Mo held up her hands. “Whatever you say. But you better put the number in your contacts just in case. Ya know, for any emergency that might come up.”

  Only Mo could make an innocuous word like “emergency” sound like sex. Her friend had a talent—an evil talent, but a talent nonetheless.

  “Mo.” Pru shook her head slightly. “Lil is using her brain about this whole…situation. Give her a break, will ya?”

  At least one of her friends was on her side.

  Heading back over to her desk, she pulled out her cell phone, staring at the ten tiny numbers in stark black ink on the bright white piece of paper in her fingers. She really had no choice. It wasn’t about her needing him; this was about the business needing his specialized set of skills.

  And boy does the man have skills.

  She told her horny self to shut up. This was about computers, not bedrooms.

  Taking a deep breath, she dialed the number and reminded herself she was a professional with strict rules set in place for a reason. This was a business call, not a booty call.

  …

  Lincoln stared at his phone, debating whether or not to answer. Usually he ignored numbers he wasn’t familiar with. If it was important, the person would leave a message and he’d get back to them, but it was usually just
a telemarketer.

  The phone rang for a third time, and he almost let it go to voicemail, but something in him kicked. He had no idea why, but he had the strongest urge to pick up the phone and answer. So he did.

  “Hello?”

  “Lincoln?”

  He paused, sure his ears were deceiving him. “Lilly?”

  “Yes, um, hi.”

  Must be his lucky day. Lilly Walsh was calling him. How did she get his number? Probably from Marie. She’d asked him if she could give it to the wedding planners in case of emergency, and he’d agreed. But what the hell kind of emergency could Lilly have that needed his assistance?

  Oh, please let it be the naked kind.

  Wishful thinking.

  “So, um, I understand you do computer stuff.”

  If she meant applying mathematical analysis and computer science principles in order to develop software for companies to use, then yeah. He did computer stuff.

  “Need a company computer guy?”

  His new job didn’t start until after the wedding. He’d decided to take a few weeks off in between to help Kenneth and Marie and also get a feel for his new city, but honestly, he had been getting bored. His friends didn’t need as much help as they thought, and Lincoln didn’t do great with idle time. He had his entire apartment unpacked within the first few days, and there was only so much exploring he could do before he got antsy. He needed to code, tinker, fix something, or have wild hot sex with a beautiful, poised wedding planner. Since that last one was off the table—for now—he’d go with the first option.

  “That’s the thing.” Lilly’s voice carried over the phone. “My computer froze, and nothing I do is working to fix it. The person who normally fixes our computer problems is out of town, and—”

  “Say no more. I’ll be over in ten.”