by Amanda Ashby
“Will, I had no idea.” Riley’s hand crept into his and warmth spread down his fingers and up his arm. “I knew she died when you were a teenager, but I never wanted to pry about how.”
“That’s one of the things that always made it so easy to be around you. Everyone I’ve dated before has always wanted a full rundown of events, but you never have.”
“Tom and Jude might have many faults, but they always taught me that if someone wanted to tell you something, they’d do so in their own time.”
Will tightened his grip on her hand and small tendrils of fire raced up his arm. “When they’re not running off to India or dating people half their age, your folks are pretty wise. But here’s the thing about my mom. She didn’t always drink. I remember when she was younger she spent all her time working for an AIDS foundation. She used to take me and Tucker to rallies and when she wasn’t doing that, she was out in the garden trying to explain to Charles, our gardener, why he shouldn’t use chemicals on the vegetables.”
“Apart from the fact that you grew up in a mansion and I moved around from one crappy rental to another, you’re almost describing my mother. And it explains so much sense about why you are the amazing guy that you are today, and not spoiled or out of touch.”
For a moment Will paused, his mother’s face floating into his mind.
It was before the drinking and late-night arguments with his father. It was before the unhappiness and empty vodka bottles that he’d find hidden around the house. Instead he could see her smiling as she picked early daffodils and insisted on arranging them in a crystal vase despite the housekeeper’s outraged look. And she’d been laughing.
“I guess that’s why I’ve always had a soft spot for Jude.” He shrugged, still not daring to look at Riley. Though he didn’t have to see her to know that her dark eyes would be wide and her mouth would be clamped together to stop herself from saying the first thing that came into her head. “The thing is, my mom didn’t start her life planning to be married to a rich, ambitious man and spend her days on committees and her nights on cocktails. She just found herself trapped in a life that she didn’t understand. I’m not even sure it was a life she wanted. But once she got there, it was like she didn’t know how to get out of it. It’s like she was contaminated by it.”
“Were they ever in love?”
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Will admitted. It was something he’d often wondered, but his mother had refused to talk about it and since Will had problems believing his father could really love anyone, he doubted that there had ever been more than a passing attraction.
“That’s why you’ve always turned your back on your father’s money. Because you didn’t want the same thing to happen to you.”
“Something like that.” It wasn’t exactly right, but it was close enough to the truth, so Will nodded his head, finally daring to look up at her. Her red hair was bright against the dull light, and despite the circumstances, a tremor of desire raced through him.
“I’m pleased you told me.” Riley gave him another small nudge with her shoulder, her voice husky.
“If I can’t tell my fake girlfriend about it, who can I tell?” He said it more as a joke than anything, but was surprised by the lightness around his shoulders. Will’s heart pounded. When he’d found himself at the library, at the most he’d hoped Riley would give him the time of day. But she’d done more than that. She’d given him the space to speak about things he didn’t even know needed to be spoken about.
Because she understood him.
It was a heady sensation that caused the blood to pound in his temples.
The urge to get closer to her was overwhelming as he remembered the last time they’d kissed.
Riley had insisted that it had just been okay, but Tucker had seemed to think she’d felt more than she was letting on. He clamped down on his mouth as she tilted her head.
“Is something wrong?”
“I—” The words choked in his throat. He had no idea if he was okay or not. All he knew was that the only thing he wanted to do was to stop thinking about the past, and he could do that if he leaned forward. He licked his lips. “What would you say if I asked you permission to kiss you?”
“A-as in a sympathetic, I-need-a-friendly-kiss kind of kiss?” she stammered, her full lips parting. Will stifled another groan. How had he failed to notice how sexy she was before?
“Not so much. I was thinking more along the lines of an I-can’t-stop-thinking-about-the-last-time-we-kissed kind of kiss. Which I know is wrong and against everything we agreed about.”
“I see.” She sucked in a lungful of air, which had the delightful effect of causing her breasts to strain against the fabric of her shirt. There was a strong possibility that Will was going to die on the spot. “Since it’s all I can think of right now too, then I guess the answer is yes.”
Yes.
She said yes. But this kiss wasn’t as a distraction, or a diversion. This would be for them. Which meant that if he leaned forward, the boundaries of their friendship would be forever blurred.
I know. Her eyes, which had turned to liquid, seemed to answer in reply. But if you’re in, then I am too.
Oh, he was in, all right. Without wasting another second, he brought his mouth crashing down on hers. His mind exploded into a million pieces and his arms snaked their way around her waist. Shockwaves pulsing through his body when she nipped at his lower lip. He groaned as the kiss deepened and Riley melted into him.
Her hair was like silk when his fingers tangled in it, and his whole body throbbed. It took all of his energy to pull away before they went too far. After all, his behavior at the wedding had been unacceptable. Seducing her at the place where she worked would be even worse.
“Okay, so that happened.” Riley gulped, her cheeks flushed and her mouth soft from where they’d so recently been connected.
“It definitely did.” He nodded, trying desperately not to succumb to the urge to do it all over again. Except he wanted to, more than anything. Then he remembered the restaurant voucher that Tucker had given him the other day and his mouth twisted into a small smile. “Riley, this is going to sound crazy, but would you go on a date with me tonight?”
“We’re co-parenting a guinea pig, have been in a fake relationship for the last week and have just made out in the stacks of my library. I think going on a date is the least crazy thing that we’ve done,” she said before giving him a shy smile. “I’d love to.”
“Good.” He nodded, trying to remember the last time he’d felt so happy. “That’s really good.”
Looked like they were going on a date.
Chapter Ten
So this was what it felt like to really date Will Henderson.
Riley smiled as she dipped her feet into the water at the end of the old pier. Despite the warm night, the water was cool against her skin. She shivered, and Will immediately draped the picnic blanket that he’d brought around her shoulders.
“Thanks,” she murmured. Her heart pounded. She had stared at him the entire time they ate their meal in the gorgeous restaurant Tucker had arranged for them, but this was when he looked his best—his slacks rolled up to his knees and his one good button-up shirt tugged out from the constraints of his waistband, the pale moonlight flickering around his tousled hair. It also went a long way in helping her forget the brittle mask he’d worn for most of the wedding, which had left her feeling isolated and alone.
It had been as if the walls that he’d put up to escape from the hurt his father caused him were too high for her climb. It was also the first time she realized just how vital a part of her life he really was when he had suddenly closed himself off.
How had she not fully understood it before?
Which was why she’d almost wept with relief when he’d wandered into her book club meeting earlier in the day. It was like losing a favorite swe
ater and then finding it again.
Then when he’d kissed her, the small niggle of doubt about what had happened at the wedding had dissolved under his touch.
“So, I’d like to formally apologize for the fact that the violin player was named Albert,” he said, leaning close so the smell of his aftershave wafted toward her, sending her senses onto red alert.
“I think the person you should be apologizing to is poor Albert,” Riley pointed out. The image of the musician’s confused expression when Will refused to call him by his real name was still vivid in her mind.
“Don’t worry about Albert, while you were in the restroom he said that my brother had insisted on paying him a ridiculous amount of money to serenade us and that we were welcome to call him whatever we wanted.” Will made circles in the water with his foot. “Not that I’m condoning bribery of course.”
“Of course not.” Riley nodded, careful to keep her focus straight ahead, as if hoping the gentle ebb and flow of the inky black water might give her answers. She licked her lips and tried to ignore the way her heart was pounding. The problem was that it was hard to get answers when she didn’t know the questions. Was she trying to decide if she should ignore the fact that she was falling for her best friend, or should she embrace it?
“It’s okay,” he said, his voice suddenly serious.
“What’s okay?”
“That you’re freaking out. I mean, we don’t do this. With all the dressing up and the fancy cutlery.”
“It’s not that exactly.” She groaned. Damn him for knowing her so well. “Okay, so it is that, but it’s more. I just don’t know if it feels right or wrong. It’s confusing. All of this is confusing. It’s like we’re crossing a line.”
Will was silent as he stared out into the night. Riley didn’t know whether to be happy or sad that she’d managed to break what could have been a magical moment. No wonder she read books instead of going out on dates. It turned out she was incredibly bad at them. Maybe that was the problem with her and Calvin, not his monotony. She tightened the blanket around her shoulders and tried not to look at how close Will’s leg was to hers.
“What if we did cross the line?” He turned to her. She could feel his breath warm on her skin.
“Then we’d have to deal with all the stuff we already know about each other. Remember that you want a girlfriend like a hole in the head and I’ve got my promotion to concentrate on. My independence to think about. I don’t want to end up like my parents, running around in crazy relationships doing crazy things.”
“So let’s take the crazy out of it, then.” The heat from his body met hers and the space between them filled with static energy as he reached out and took her hand. “Let’s just be how we always are, except for one small change.”
“And what’s that? That we get naked?” Riley croaked, half as joke, but as Will tightened his grip around her fingers, her entire body started to shake.
“I was going to suggest kissing, but if naked helps . . .” he said.
“Start with kissing,” she agreed, then shyly tilted her face and inched toward him, so slowly that her entire body was on fire by the time his lips softly brushed hers. Her head spun as he deepened the kiss, his tongue exploring her mouth until it was finally too much and she broke away panting.
“Okay, so for the record, kissing is working for me.”
“And me,” he said, his voice hoarse as he softly cupped her face with his hands. “Now I think it’s time we went home and tried the naked side. Unless you want to change your mind?”
“I definitely don’t want to change my mind,” she managed to say, her body still on fire as he helped her to her feet. The sooner they got home, the better.
***
Riley woke up with a start and blinked. The sun was pouring into the room, and somewhere in the distance she could hear whistling. For as long as she’d known Will, he’d liked to whistle while he worked. Once she’d even tried to call him by the names of the dwarves, but he’d shut that down pretty quickly. Still, the idea that he was in her kitchen, whistling, made her happy. She fumbled around for the first piece of clothing she could find so she could join him. It was his shirt from last night. She pressed it to her nose to breathe in his scent.
Soap, citrus, wood. And Will.
It was the scent of her best friend. The guy she’d just slept with, thus potentially ruining something that could never be repaired. And yet, it was impossible to feel bad about it when it had been so amazing.
Will had been so amazing.
Not that she was surprised. After all, the line of ex-girlfriends desperate to convince him to change his mind about long-term relationships was telling in itself. But in the past she’d just thought that maybe they were like Lisa, hoping he would eventually take his father’s money. But now she wondered if it was something else. Like his mouth. Or his hands. Or the magical way he had of never breaking eye contact.
She gave herself a small shake to remind herself that she was no different from any of his other girlfriends. He didn’t do relationships. For that matter, neither did she, which meant that whatever this was, it was only short-term. The only reason they’d ended up in this position was because of their fake relationship, and that was due to end when he flew out to Indonesia in two more weeks.
So really, the only difference was that instead of being fake, they were method acting. Feeling the part. She fumbled with the shirt and hastily buttoned it up before she reached for her glasses. But it wasn’t until she stepped into the living room and saw him standing in her kitchen in a pair of low-slung jeans, sans shirt, his blond hair tousled, that the panic charged through her.
It was one thing lying in bed together naked, because that had never happened before. But Will had stood in her kitchen a thousand times. It was just that normally he didn’t have his shirt off, or scratches down his back. Scratches down his back? Heat rose to her cheeks. Had she done that? Oh God. Whose idea had this been? Because it was a bad one. A very, very—
“I know that look,” Will’s voice broke through her tangled thoughts. “You’re thinking, ‘What the hell did we do last night and how can I get this guy out of my kitchen?’”
“N-no,” Riley stammered before letting out a groan. “Yes. Sort of. And stop using your insider knowledge of me like that. It’s kind of annoying.”
“I bet you won’t say that when you see what I got us for breakfast.” He nodded to the pastry bags from her favorite bakery, along with her favorite coffee.
“I’m not sure if that makes it better or worse,” she said, trying to focus as he walked out of the kitchen and leaned against the other side of the bench so that his abs were fully on display.
“Hey, it’s okay. I was freaked out too,” he said in a soft voice.
“You were?” She gulped as she tugged at the shirt, suddenly aware just how much of her legs were exposed.
“Of course. Whenever I crash here, I’m usually on the sofa covered in those afghan rugs of yours. And the few times we’ve both shared a bed, our clothes have been on and nothing’s ever happened. This is new territory.”
“So what does it mean? Do we pretend it didn’t happen?” Riley said. Her eyes once again drifted to his flat stomach, tanned from his time overseas. Her throat went dry.
“I guess we could,” Will agreed, then one of his dimples appeared. “Though in order to give you full disclosure, it might be pretty hard for me to treat you as a friend when I think of that thing you did with your fingernails.”
“What thing?” Riley squeaked, before remembering the scratch marks. Had that really been her? But of course she knew the answer, and even if she didn’t, Will’s wolfish smile would’ve confirmed it. She rubbed her brow and gave him a hopeful look. “Okay, so what if we promise never to think about any of those things again? Then we could just go back to being friends.”
“Unfo
rtunately, I can’t promise not to think about it, which means I’d have to lie to you, which would make me a lousy friend,” Will said, still smiling.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Riley could feel her senses getting overwhelmed. The smell of his shirt, his dimples and naked chest, it was all making her head spin. She pressed her nails into her palm to stay grounded.
“A little bit,” he agreed before he straightened up and stopped smiling. “But come on. You cannot deny last night was amazing. Would it be so bad to do it again?”
“Which part?”
“All parts.” He grinned as he closed down the distance between them until he was just inches away.
“Will, is this even something that we should be doing again?” Riley croaked as he stepped forward and his hands snaked around her waist while the heat of his body spread through her skin.
“If you’d asked me yesterday I might have asked the same question, but after last night, I’m not sure I’m even capable of thinking of questions and answers. All I know is that it was a revelation.”
Riley opened her mouth and shut it again. So it wasn’t just me, then. Her pulse flickered as his hands continued to explore her body and her last shreds of reason began to unravel. “I’ve got work.”
“When do you start?” He planted a series of kisses along her neck that almost made her lose her balance.
“I-in an hour,” she stammered as her breathing sped up.
“An hour? You’ll be amazed at the things that we can do in an hour,” he said, then his mouth found hers, and once again Riley was lost.
Chapter Eleven
“Very nice, Mrs. Eden.” Will nodded as he studied the blurry photo, which was apparently of one of Jane Austen’s favorite teacups. “It certainly has a lot of flowers on it.”
“Yes, it does,” the elderly woman agreed. “I keep telling Riley she should make the trip. There’s nothing like seeing Jane country firsthand.”
“I bet,” Will agreed just as he caught sight of a flash of red hair hurrying out the door of the library and over to where they were sitting on one of the benches that flanked the small courtyard by the entrance. “And speak of the devil, here she is.”