His Best Friend's sister: The Cohan Billionaire Brothers Book Six

by Layla Holt

  “Yes, we are. Call me if you need me,” Max said, concern forming wrinkles across his forehead.

  “You don’t need to do this. I’ll be fine from now going forward, I promise,” she said.

  “I don’t doubt that,” Max said, holding her gaze. “But you can text or call me anytime. Just so you know. I’ll see you at five?”

  She was about to protest and then thought otherwise. She had a feeling that nothing she said was going to make Max change his mind.

  “I’ll see you later. Thanks for the ride.” She slipped out of the car and with a wave, strolled through the double glass doors into the building.

  It was only the second day but she already felt a sense of being home as she waved at Lillian at the reception. She headed straight to the production area and entered the women’s changing room. She found an empty locker and after changing, she stored her stuff in it.

  Leaving the locker room, she did not resemble the person who had gone in. Her hair was tucked into a blue net and she wore the white top and pants that everyone working in the production area wore. On her feet, she wore white rubber shoes and a blue net over them.

  At the entrance, she paused to take a deep inhale. There was nothing to be afraid of she told herself but she had never worked on the floor in a factory and her nerves were all over the place.

  “Are you a temp?” a man in glasses and holding a file asked her as soon as she walked in.

  “Yes,” Megan said.

  “Great. Welcome to Candin Inc. Come with me,” he said. “You’ll be working with Darlene. She’ll show you everything you need to know.”

  She followed him deeper inside the production room, to one of three rooms on the side. They were coffee break rooms and as soon as the door shut behind her, the whirr of the machines faded.

  “Darlene,” the man who was clearly a supervisor said to a woman seated at one of the circular tables. “This is—”

  “Megan,” she inserted quickly.

  “Yes, Megan. She’s a temp and she’ll be working with you. Is that okay?” he said. He waited a beat and then left.

  Darlene smiled at her. “Perfect. Welcome. Have a seat before the shift starts, I’ll grab you a coffee. And don’t worry, it’s free. So are the snacks.”

  Megan felt like a real new employee. She sat down at the table and waited while Darlene fetched her a coffee from the machine.

  “I took a guess that you like yours black no cream,” she said. “If you want a snack, you can grab one as well from the table over there.”

  “You guessed correctly, thanks,” Megan said, taking the coffee gratefully. “I’m fine for now. Maybe I’ll have the snack later.”

  “I bet you’re surprised by the freebies,” Darlene continued. “I was too when I first started working here a couple of years ago. This is the only company I know that gives free meals.”

  “That’s great.” Megan hadn’t known about that and she was pleasantly surprised. “So you’ve worked here for a fair bit of time?”

  “Ever since my divorce four years ago. This job has been a godsend. It meant that I was not reliant on my jerk of an ex-husband to feed and clothe my children. What about you, have you worked in a factory before?”

  Megan was glad that she could answer the question honestly. She had visited the factory ever since she was a little girl but she had never worked a shift. “No I haven’t. I’m a little nervous to be honest.”

  Darlene waved a hand in the air. “Don’t be. It’ll take a couple of hours to get the hang of it but by evening, you’ll be an old hand.”

  Her confidence was contagious.

  “On that note, we’d better get going. Adam’s great but he doesn’t tolerate lateness in starting the shift. We’re packing today.”

  They threw their plastic cups into a waste basket and then Megan followed the other woman out of the break room. Her heart pounded hard as they walked through the long production lines of the various chocolates that Candin Inc was famous for.

  She felt dwarfed by the equipment in the room, a feeling she’d never had before. They walked for several minutes until they came to the end of one line. There were two bar stools opposite each other and between them the end of a belt and a space that held flattened boxes.

  Megan slid into one stool and Darlene sat on the opposite one. She glanced at her watch.

  “Four minutes to go. Here, I’ll teach you how to fold the box and then slide the bars of chocolate inside, and then shut it.”

  Megan’s eyes widened as she watched the other woman work as if she had magical hands. After folding the box, she seamlessly slid the six bars of chocolate in as if she had a secret helper.

  She looked up at Megan’s expression and laughed. “Believe me it’s not as difficult as it looks.”

  Megan couldn’t wait for evening to tell Max about it.

  Chapter 6

  Something light bumped into Max’s shoulder and when he looked, he met the angry stare of a blond woman.

  “Watch where you’re going mister,” she said. “You almost threw me off the sidewalk.”

  “I’m really sorry,” Max said, contrite. He knew that his size intimidated a lot of people but the petite woman glaring at him was not in the least bit intimidated.

  Her look softened and he slowed down to allow her to walk ahead. His mind was on what he was going to tell Nancy because no way was he going to go ahead with their crazy deal.

  Megan’s return had changed everything. She needed him and he wanted to be sure that he was always available to her. Which meant that Nancy just had to find another less juvenile way of getting her boyfriend’s attention. What had he been thinking when he had agreed to it in the first place?

  He entered The Aroma and the first face he saw was Nancy’s. Her face lit up as she met him at his usual table. Guilt gnawed at him, knowing that he was about to wipe that smile off her face.

  “Hey boyfriend, where’ve you been? I’ve been trying to call and text you but your phone has been turned off,” she said and then kissed his cheek.

  “I’ve been around,” Max said vaguely. “Exactly how many times did you call or text?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Wasn’t counting. But I was worried.”

  “Don’t do that. One call is enough and so is one text. More than that is obsessive. Which number were you using?” Max said.

  “It ends with seven three,” Nancy said.

  “That’s an old one. Speaking of which, we need to talk,” Max said.

  Before he could continue, Ella, the owner walked up to them. “Hey Max. Congrats, I heard the news. I never knew you two had something going on.”

  Max shot a glare at Nancy. She grinned at him.

  “We’re not really dating,” Max said.

  “Max!” Nancy cried and then turned to Ella. “He’s in a lousy mood today.”

  Ella laughed as though that was sufficient explanation for Max’s statement and then left them alone.

  “You can’t go telling people that we are not dating Max. We’ve made a lot of progress. Michael texted me last night wanting to know if it was true. Of course I said yes.” Nancy’s face was flushed and she was speaking a mile a minute.

  It was too late to change his mind. The realization hit him like a punch to the belly. He should have known that Nancy would tell everyone she knew.

  “I’ll get your coffee big guy,” she said happily.

  Max sat miserably and waited for her to bring his coffee. His thoughts meandered to Megan. What were the chances that she would find out about Nancy? Almost none, Max decided. They were not friends and did not move around in the same circles.

  Why should it matter?

  The voice was as loud as if someone was in his brain. Megan was his friend and he didn’t want to have to lie to her that he was dating Nancy, when he wasn’t. He had no romantic interest in her. Not now anyway. Not for a long time. She had a long way to go before she was ready to be in another relationship.

  He curle
d his fists as he thought of what that jerk had put Megan through.

  “Here you go,” Nancy said happily, setting his coffee on the table in front of him.

  “Thanks,” Max said.

  “So there’s this place I want us to go tonight. Michael and his friends like to hang out there,” Nancy.

  Max groaned out loudly. “Where? What happened to giving someone a bit of a warning. I might have plans for tonight.”

  “Do you?” she said.

  “Well, no.” His only solid plan was to pick Megan up from work and drop her home. But he had secretly hoped that she would invite him for coffee or water, or anything really, just to hang out.

  “In that case, pick me up at seven please. That’s one of the reasons I was calling you,” she said.

  “I don’t even know where you live,” Max said.

  She beamed. “Oh that one’s easy. I’m living at home now. My roommate was getting married and I couldn’t afford the whole apartment.”

  It was going from bad to worse. Nancy’s mother lived next door to his mother and the chances of his mother not seeing him were next to nil. She loved spending time on her garden or on the porch, watching the sun set, as she said. What he suspected though was that she enjoyed people watching and having a chat with anyone passing by who wanted to talk.

  “Can we meet there?” he said to Nancy.

  A look of horror came over her features as if he had suggested they meet in an execution room. “No, we can’t Max. We have to make an entrance.”

  She wasn’t going to budge on that one. He would just have to hope that tonight would be one of the nights when his mother stayed indoors.

  “Fine,” Max said.

  He drained his coffee and paid for it. Nancy wanted to pay for his coffee but he wouldn’t have that. He wasn’t going to take advantage of her goodness. Knowing Nancy, she would pay for his coffee every time he came in to The Aroma.

  Back at the office, Max spent the afternoon in a conference call with a potential client, discussing their expectations and requirements. They ended the call with an onsite meeting to carry out their security assessments and cabling required.

  He also followed up on some more potential clients with emails and before he knew it, it was time to go and pick Megan up. Max’s heartbeat raced as he drove into Candin Inc. He parked near the entrance where she would see him easily when she left the building. He hoped she had had a wonderful day but he wasn’t too worried about it. She had been in good spirits the previous evening and that morning.

  Five minutes later, he saw her striding towards the SUV and his breath hitched. She was wearing a short black skirt that showed off her shapely legs and emphasized her curves. He hissed out a breath and tore his gaze away. Megan was his friend, not the object of his fantasies.

  He jumped out of the car and went around to open the door for her.

  She stopped before she reached the car and frowned at him. Megan was one of the few women whose face did not turn ugly even when she frowned.

  “You have to stop treating me like a VIP,” she said.

  “But that’s how I treat all our clients,” Max said.

  “I’m not your client Max. We’re friends first,” Megan said.

  He didn’t know what to do. He shut the door and then immediately realized how stupid that was. He grabbed the handle and opened it again, feeling ruffled.

  Megan giggled and he grinned sheepishly. She turned him into a mess. “You’re impossible.” She slipped in, leaving a trail of her scent behind.

  He shut the door and hurried around to the driver’s side.

  “How was your day?” she said to him when he’s settled in. “Anything interesting happen?”

  He thought about Nancy but pushed it to the back of his mind. “In my industry, we prefer it if nothing interesting happens.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

  “What about you?” It made him smile to see her looking settled and at ease with herself.

  “I spent the day boxing up chocolates,” Megan said. “Funny enough, it wasn’t bad at all. I was working with this lady named Darlene. I’ve learned a lot of things that I didn’t know about.”

  “Stuff you wouldn’t know if you were the head of strategic management?” he asked.

  She punched his shoulder playfully. She seemed to have really bonded with Darlene.

  “Does your new friend know who you are?” Max asked her.

  He glanced at her and caught her blush.

  “No,” Megan said shifting in her seat as if it had suddenly gotten uncomfortable. “I wanted to tell her but to be honest it was so much fun to be just Megan and make a friend who doesn’t know who I am.”

  Max often forgot that the Cohan’s were almost like royalty in Lockwood. They were treated with reverence, the same way celebrities were. It was worse at Candin Inc and so for Megan, socializing with someone who treated her like any other person had to be a nice feeling.

  “I get that,” Max said. “Didn’t you bump into the guys or Maisie?” Maisie was Megan’s sister-in-law and her brother Sean’s wife.

  “Nope. We went for lunch earlier than everyone else,” Megan said.

  They reached Glen Acres too soon. He brought the car to a stop in front of Maegan’s cottage. He killed the engine and went to open the door for her.

  “I can open my own door Max,” she said. “I told you, I’m not a client.”

  “I’m not opening the door for you now because you’re a client,” Max said. she raised an eyebrow and he continued. “I was brought up to open doors for ladies.”

  “Oh,” she said.

  He walked her to the front door.

  “Hey, do you want to come in for coffee?” she said. “Or dinner. I make a mean pasta.”

  He groaned inwardly. Just what he had hoped for, before Nancy’s request to go out for a drink. “I wish I could. I had made other arrangements for the evening.” Even the words sounded wrong. “I’m sorry.”

  He wanted to say yes to all her questions.

  “No, it’s fine. Go on and enjoy yourself,” she said. “Bye and thanks.” She entered the cottage and after another quick smile, she disappeared in and shut the door.

  He felt as if he had let her down. It was exactly the kind of situation he had wanted to avoid by breaking off the fake dating relationship with Nancy. He was an idiot for having agreed in the first place.

  He drove away from Glen Acres and headed to his old neighborhood. He saw his mother getting out of the house to sit on the rocking chair on the porch, when he was three houses away. His first instinct was to turn around and drive off but he couldn’t do that to Nancy. Not when he had already agreed to go out for a drink with her.

  He parked his car in front of his childhood home and got out.

  His mother beamed at him as he went up to the house. “What a wonderful surprise,” she said and then frowned. “I wish you’d told me you were coming though, I would have made dinner. I’m only having grilled sandwiches.”

  “It’s fine ma,” Max said, bending to kiss her cheek. “I’m not staying. I’m here to pick up Nancy. We’re going for a drink.”

  Her eyes widened. “You’re going on a date?”

  Nancy’s front door opened and she stepped out, putting an end to the conversation. Max fought a grin, knowing that his mother had a million and one questions to ask him.

  “Hi Mrs. F,” Nancy said happily.

  “Hello Nancy,” his mother said, hiding the confusion Max knew she was obviously feeling.

  He smiled fondly at her. She was a good person. No girl was good enough for Max, but more so Nancy. His mother had described her as flighty several times in the past and Max had not disagreed. She had to be wondering what had made him change his opinion of Nancy.

  “I’ll talk to you soon ma,” Max said, kissing her again on the cheek.

  Nancy giggled when they got to the car. “Your mother must be as shocked as mine was when I told her that we’re
going on a date.”

  Max couldn’t bring himself to join in on the laughter.

  Chapter 7

  Taking a shower at the end of a long day was the greatest luxury Megan could think of. She raised her face and allowed the hot, streaming jets of water to hit her face. It reminded her of the end of the day showers she took back in Italy. She couldn’t tell how much the water cascading down her face was from the shower or her tears.

  The plan had been to tire herself working in the vineyard so that when she went to her empty bed, she would fall asleep instantly. Sometimes it worked and some other times, it didn’t. In the early years, she worried over Luca’s safety and she jumped at every night sound she heard, hoping it was him.

  It was odd that looking back, she could remember how her thoughts had shifted over the years. In the third year, jealousy devoured her whole, as images of another woman wrapped in Luca’s arms, tortured her mind. He always denied it, claiming that he had been with his friends.

  He even had an explanation for the lipstick marks on the collar of his shirt and his neck. Even now remembering that period, a shadow of pain came over Megan. She was definitely done with men. She had given all of herself to Luca and he had taken her heart, smashed it to the ground and then trampled on it.

  In the last year of her marriage, Luca had stopped pretending and she had stopped asking. And every day, a part of her soul had died until she realized that she had to save herself.

  Megan turned off the shower and to her surprise, she was crying. She grabbed her towel and impatiently wiped her face. She had promised herself that she would never cry over her marriage ever again.

  She padded to her bedroom and dressed in her most comfortable yoga pants and a matching top. It had felt good to cry even though the last thing she wanted was to be drawn back into her life in Italy. She had had enough time during those many long nights when Luca was away to think about what had gone so badly wrong.

  In the kitchen, Megan turned on the coffee machine and as she waited, she opened the fridge and pulled the container that contained last night’s dinner. That would have to do.