Friends Without Benefits

by Marci Bolden

  Dianna stared at her blankly. “I’m not an agent.”

  “No, but you could be. And a good one. You’re smart, people like you, they trust you. You’d make a hell of a lot more money selling houses than managing the office.”

  “But…don’t I have to go to school for that?”

  “There are some classes available on the weekends. It only takes a few weeks. You have to take a licensing exam, but it’s nothing you can’t handle.”

  She laughed softly. “Um, this is kind of a surprise. I’m not sure.”

  Annie reached into her desk and pulled out a stack of papers. “Read this. Let me know what you think. You’re an employee here already, so I’ll split the cost with you. I can help you study. You’ve been around here enough to know the basics. All you have to do now is get the finer legal points of closing the deal and the license to back it up.”

  Dianna took the papers and looked at them for a moment before meeting Annie’s gaze again. “You really think I could do this?”

  “I wouldn’t waste my time asking if I didn’t. Think about it and let me know. And do it quick. If you aren’t interested, I need to find some other sucker to work here.”

  Dianna took the papers with her and sank back behind her desk. She spent a good part of the morning looking them over, reading them, and researching classes online. She found a class that was available for the next three weekends that still had openings. If she enrolled and passed the exam, she could be an agent in a month.

  She gnawed at her lip. She wasn’t certain she wanted to make another change in her life. Then again, this was a change for the positive, a move in the right direction, and it was something she thought she’d enjoy. She glanced at the time on her computer. It was nearly noon. She pulled her phone from her purse and considered for only a moment before dialing.

  “Hey, you,” Paul answered. “What’s up?”

  “Do you have lunch plans?”

  “No.”

  “Do you want some?”

  Paul had tossed the food he had been eating into the trash as soon as Dianna had suggested they meet. He’d only taken three bites from the sandwich, but that didn’t matter. When he got to the café, she was sitting at their table looking at a menu. His heart lifted. He hadn’t stopped thinking of her since he’d seen her a few days before. No… He hadn’t stopped thinking of her since he’d met her. “Hey.”

  She turned and smiled brightly. “Hey. They have a turkey and feta panini that sounds great.”

  He looked over the menu for a moment before deciding she was right, the sandwich sounded delicious. They both ordered the turkey, glasses of water, and coffee.

  “How are you?” he asked.

  “I’m okay.”

  “Has, um…” He shifted. “Have you heard from Mitch?”

  She shook her head. “No. I don’t expect to, either. I think he finally heard me.”

  “Good.”

  “It is good. The rest of my weekend was amazingly quiet. It was just what I needed.” She took a breath, but the waitress appeared with their drinks. She smiled and waited for the girl to disappear before saying, “Annie asked me to become an agent.”

  He leaned back, surprised. In all the years that Annie had been operating her business, she’d never asked anyone to become licensed. She wanted experienced salespeople, and that’s who she hired. “Really?”

  “I’m thinking about it.” She bit her lip and took a breath. “I’m a little nervous about the living-on-commission thing. It seems so risky. What do you think?”

  He smiled. “What do mean? It’s great. Annie has had a few bad stretches now and then, but she’s always managed to get by. You just have to remember to budget and keep track of what you’re spending. You’ve already been doing that, so you’re ahead of the game.”

  She pulled out the papers and handed them to him. “There’s a class that starts this weekend. They still have openings. I could finish the requirements in three weekends. I could be done in a month or so. Annie said she’d help with the cost. I think I could actually do it.”

  He took her hands in his. “You have to. You have to try it. If you don’t like it, then you do something else. Simple as that.”

  “That’s the thing.” Her smile fell a bit. “I like the job I have.”

  “Honey, you have Annie wrapped around your finger. If you wanted your job back, she’d give you your job back.”

  She laughed. “Annie is not wrapped around my finger, and I couldn’t just take my job back if she’s already given it to someone new.”

  “She’s never done this for anyone else, Di. Ever. She doesn’t invest in people unless she really believes in them. If she thinks you have what it takes to be a good agent, then you do. You have to do this. You have to. This is a great opportunity. And like I said, if you don’t like the job, walk away. Do something else.”

  The smile that spread across her lips was slow, but it was wide. “I think…I think I want this.”

  “Then do it.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  She squeezed his hands tightly. “Okay. I’m going to do it.”

  “Call her.”

  “What?”

  “Call Annie right now. Tell her you’re going to sign up for classes starting this weekend.” When she simply stared at him, her eyes wide and mouth open, he tugged at her hands. “Come on. Call her before you get scared and back out.”

  She glared at him playfully. “I’m not going to get scared.”

  “Then call her.”

  She looked at him with defiance as she reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. “Annie,” she said after dialing. “I found some classes that start this weekend. If all goes well, you’ll have a new agent this time next month.”

  She nodded and said goodbye and then dropped her phone back into her purse.

  “What’d she say?”

  “She said she knew I’d do it.”

  “Well, she does know everything.”

  “Kind of like her brother?” Dianna asked softly.

  “Just like her brother.”

  Her smile softened, and she held his gaze for a long moment. His heart started thumping at the look on her face. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but the affection in her eyes went straight to his heart.

  “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you,” she finally said.

  “In a rundown café getting ready to make another life-altering change?”

  She creased her brow for a moment. “Exactly.”

  “This will be good for you. I think it will help you stop feeling like things are spiraling out of control.”

  She rested her chin in her palm as she planted her elbow on the table. “What about you? Have things settled for you?

  “I took your advice and reached out to my boys.”

  “How did it go?”

  “They asked about you, about why all of a sudden they weren’t seeing pictures and updates about you.”

  “What’d you tell them?”

  His smile faltered. “That I blew it.”

  Dianna’s lips fell as well. “No, you didn’t,” she said quietly. “You were right. We were in over our heads. I just chose to ignore that because it didn’t hurt when I was with you, and that’s all I cared about. We went from being emotionally dependent on them to being emotionally dependent on each other. We never resolved anything. I know that now.”

  “Do you regret us?”

  She shook her head. “Not at all. Like you said, it was just the wrong time.”

  “Maybe the right time will come along.”

  “I hope so,” she whispered. “I think it says a lot about where we are when the first person I want to talk to about a life-altering decision is you. You’re the first person I want to run to. It wouldn’t be that way if any part of me felt like Mitch and I could work this out.”

  Paul let out the breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. “I’m glad. That you want to ca
ll me first.” He gave her a slight smile.

  She smiled, too, but it didn’t last. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For being so patient.”

  He didn’t look away until the waitress returned to dole out their sandwiches.

  Dianna accepted the plate and sat quietly while Paul assured their server they didn’t need anything else.

  “I hope I’ve helped you half as much as you’ve helped me,” she said when they were alone.

  “You have. You really have.”

  “Good.”

  “So, we’ve covered all the really heavy topics, but there’s one more thing I need to ask you.”

  Dianna stopped lifting her sandwich halfway to her mouth. “What?”

  “Exactly what do I have to do to get you to play that piano for me?”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  By the end of the following month, there was a Sold notice adorning the For Sale sign in Dianna’s yard, and she’d contracted the one-and-a-half story that she’d fallen in love with when she first started looking for a new home.

  The past weeks had been a whirlwind. She’d barely had time to breathe with her class and work schedules. It had been good, though. It made it impossible for her and Paul to jump back into that co-dependent cycle they tended to get into. While she was busy selling her house, getting her real estate license, and getting her life back on track, Paul had been focusing on rebuilding his relationships with his kids. She and Paul had seen each other for an occasional lunch, but for the most part, they’d been too busy to spend much time together.

  That was changing tonight. She’d finished her classes, and Paul wanted to take her out to celebrate. Not just dinner, but they were finally going to use the season passes to the theater he’d bought them for Christmas to attend the opening night of The Odd Couple. Dianna had barely made it through the last class, her excitement was so overwhelming.

  After rushing through the shower, she rubbed herself down with her favorite scented lotion and slipped into a new black lace bra and panty set. She wasn’t exactly planning to seduce Paul, but she wasn’t opposed to seeing where the night led them either. She added nude thigh highs and a light application of makeup before she slipped on the red dress she’d bought for Valentine’s Day and added a pair of black high heels. She’d just pulled her hair back in a loose bun when the doorbell rang.

  “Wow,” Paul said when she opened the door. “You look amazing.”

  She could have said the same about him. She loved seeing him in a suit. His hair was brushed to the side, begging her to run her fingers through it, and he had a slight blush on his cheeks that made him look a bit shy as he held a bouquet of flowers out to her. Her heart sped up as she prepared to go out on her first “official” first date in over twenty-four years.

  Exhaling slowly, she took his hand when he held it out to her. He pulled her to him and kissed the corner of her mouth. She slid her arm around him and hugged him closer to her as his breath whispered over her cheek.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  She sighed. Yes. She was most definitely ready. They talked about their week—her classes, and he skimmed over a case he’d just settled—as they drove to the restaurant. Over dinner, conversation turned to his kids and the sale of her house. Their chatter didn’t end until they were sitting in the dark theater. She desperately tried to focus on the play, but Paul rested his hand on her knee, touching just below the hem of her skirt, and the heat from his palm consumed her. Soon after, her hand was on his thigh. Not just resting but gently massaging. She’d never been so bold, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

  Within moments, his hand moved a bit higher, and she was finding it hard to breathe. His touch was far from inappropriate, but he was stirring something inside her that made her heart race with a strange mixture of fear and excitement. Everything in her life was so new right now, everything was so different, and what she was feeling for Paul was no exception.

  As she looked at the man next to her, a sense of belonging washed through her. She was supposed to be here, with him. She didn’t want to be anywhere else, and for the first time, she realized that she no longer regretted the end of her marriage. She had loved Mitch, and in their time they had been in love, but that had faded long ago. She would always love him, but it wasn’t the kind of love she wanted. It was friendly and kind, but it was miles from what she was feeling for Paul. And she wanted what she felt for Paul.

  The lights rose as the play ended, and then Dianna and Paul shuffled out with the crowd.

  “Are you okay?” he asked as they climbed into his car.

  “I was just thinking.”

  “About us?”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “I know you have a lot going on, Di. I’m not going to push you for something you aren’t ready for.”

  She grinned. “Like what?”

  He laughed quietly as he shook his head. She suspected that if the car had been better lit, she would have seen his cheeks blushing. She put her hand back to his thigh, and he put his to hers. He drove the rest of the way to her house in silence, his thumb brushing over her leg. After parking in her driveway, he held her hand as they walked to the door, but as she stepped in, he pulled her to a stop. She looked at him curiously.

  He hesitated before looking at her. “It’s getting late. Maybe I should go.”

  “Do you want to go?”

  “I want to do this right.”

  She considered his words for a moment before pulling him with her as she walked inside. She set her purse on the table by the door and led him into the living room. She sat on the edge of the sofa. He sat half a cushion length away. She turned so she could face him, her legs crossed and her elbow resting on the back of the couch as she propped her head up and stared at him. She’d never, not once in her life, felt like any kind of seductress, but as they stared at each other, her insides started to twist and she felt sexier than she ever had.

  The intense staring dragged on, not for seconds but for minutes—a long stretch of silence that said so much more than any words they could have whispered. Finally, he lightly cupped her face. His touch, as soft as it was, sent a shockwave through her that took her breath way. She gasped, causing her lips to part, and his attention instantly dropped to them. He was going to kiss her. And it was going to lead to other things. And, more than anything else at the moment, she wanted it to lead to other things.

  “Are you sure?” he whispered.

  She couldn’t remember the word she was supposed to say. Couldn’t think of how to answer his question. She parted her lips, knowing she should say something, but her phone dinged from the other room, announcing that she had a text message. The tone also let her know who it was from.

  “That’s Sam.” She hesitated before standing and stepping around Paul. She laughed quietly as she read his text. It was like the fates were telling her something. She walked back into the living room. “He’s spending the night with a friend.”

  “Didn’t you say he was out with his girlfriend?”

  Dianna nodded. “God help me if he gets that girl pregnant.”

  The intensity of the moment was broken, but her desire was still there. So was his. She could see it as she looked into his eyes. Instead of resuming her seat beside him, she eased down into his lap. His hands were instantly on her, one around her waist, the other on her thigh. She put her arm around his neck and trailed the fingertips of her other hand along his jaw before resting her palm on his chest.

  “Do you want to leave?” she whispered.

  “No. Do you want me to leave?”

  “No.”

  He captured her mouth with his. They hadn’t kissed, not like that, since the night of Sam’s accident, and it had been building within her. She clutched his hair in her fist and pushed her mouth to his. He kissed her hard and deep, and she was breathless when she finally pulled back and put her forehead to his.

  “I have to tell you something,” she
whispered.

  “What?”

  “I…I was nineteen when Mitch and I started dating, and… We were together all that time, and I…” Embarrassment choked her words. She gave up trying to sound dignified and shook her head. She started to climb off his lap, but he pulled her back to him.

  “And you never cheated on him.”

  “No. I’ve never been with anyone else, and quite frankly, I’m terrified that I’ve been doing it wrong all these years.”

  “Well, you couldn’t have been doing it all wrong. You have two children.”

  She quietly laughed at his lame joke. “You know what I mean. I want you so much, but I don’t want to disappoint you.”

  He gently touched her chin and lifted her face. He didn’t speak until she looked into his eyes. “That could never happen. Ever.” He put a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “If you aren’t ready to take this step, I’m okay with that.”

  “I know. I’m just nervous. That’s all.”

  “Well, I’m nervous, too. What if I disappoint you? Hmm? What if I’ve been doing it wrong all this time?” He laughed and then brushed her chin gently with his finger. “The only person you’ve been with is the man you committed to be with your entire life. That’s nothing to be ashamed of, Dianna. You should be proud of that.”

  “That I’m in my forties and have less bedroom experience than most twenty-year-olds?”

  “Not less experience. Fewer partners. There is a huge difference. Women like that may know how to get a man into their beds, but they don’t know a damn thing about commitment. That’s what matters. That’s what’s beautiful. You thought you would spend your life with him, and you stood by the promises you made. You should be proud of that.”

  “I am.”

  “I’m not asking for, nor expecting, you to do something you aren’t ready for.”

  She traced her fingertips along his jawline. “You wouldn’t be here if I thought you were.”

  “I’ve been wanting to tell you something for a while now, but I was afraid you weren’t ready to hear it.”

  Her heart dropped at the sudden intensity on his face. She forced a grin to lighten the blow of whatever he was about to say. “Are you about to outdo my confession by telling me you’re a virgin?”