Best Man With Benefits

by Samanthe Beck

  “Hey Sophie.” Colt strolled over, took the stool from her hands, and set it on its feet. “What’s up?” He leaned over and picked up the next fallen soldier.

  “Oh, you know, nothing much.” I’m sleeping with your best friend. She grabbed her bags. “I was just heading upstairs to—”

  “Don’t rush off.” He righted the last stool. “Stay and keep us company.”

  “I don’t want to intrude…” She looked past Colt to Kady, who smiled wide and patted the seat next to her.

  “Come on.” Colt took her shopping bags and led her over to to Kady. “Day after tomorrow we’ll fly off to Hawaii, you’ll fly back to California, and I won’t get to see my little sister again until Thanksgiving.”

  “Good point. You’re sure you don’t mind?” she asked Kady.

  “Mind? Are you joking? I’m dying to talk to you. I’m bursting with curiosity.” Kady rubbed her palms together. “Sit your butt down and tell me where you were this morning.”

  She nearly toppled her barstool for the second time in five minutes. “This morning?”

  “Yes, this morning. I knocked on your door to see if you wanted to join us for breakfast with my parents, but you didn’t answer. I have to assume you hadn’t made it back to your room from whatever shenanigans you got up to last night—after you escorted Bridezilla to her room so she could have her nervous breakdown in private. And thank you for that, by the way.”

  “You’re welcome, but you’re not Bridezilla. Have Tyler and Christine kissed and made up?”

  “They will,” Kady replied confidently. “I’m not worried anymore. Nice try with the deflection, but you didn’t answer my original question. Are you being evasive, Sophie?”

  “No.” Stop fidgeting. Play it cool. And for God’s sake, don’t blush. But even as she coached herself, she felt heat sting her cheeks. “I must have been at the gym.”

  Kady stared pointedly at Sophie’s workout clothes. “You’re working out twice a day now?”

  “Um…I did a circuit of weights this morning. Just now I went for a walk and sneaked in some cardio.” Was it hot in here? It felt like she was sweating buckets.

  “Hard-core. I love it. It’s totally paying off, too, because you looked amazing last night in your red dress.” She winked and nudged Sophie with her shoulder. “I thought maybe you’d gotten lucky.”

  Colt choked on his beer. “What?”

  “Nope. Not me. No luck here.” The words came out way too fast, and way too loud, and although she told herself not to look, her eyes darted guiltily to Colt. She was a lousy liar. Desperate for a distraction, she blurted, “Well, that’s not entirely true. I had some luck…at work.” No, came out wrong. “I got a promotion.”

  “Oh my God, honey, that’s awesome,” Kady cried.

  “Congratulations,” Colt added. “I’m proud of you, Soph.”

  “It’s just to lead web designer, but I get a raise and more responsibility. Direct interaction with clients.”

  “You’ll do amazing,” Kady assured her, “because you are amazing. You’ve really come into your own in the last few months. You’re more outgoing and confident, and…I don’t know…you’ve bloomed. Your mom and dad aren’t going to recognize you when they see you at dinner tonight.”

  She felt her smile slip a bit. She hadn’t seen her mom since Christmas, and yes, she’d undergone a few internal and external transformations since then, but the thought of receiving her mother’s assessment of those changes set off a small earthquake of nerves in her stomach. “I’m sure Mom will find something to fix.”

  Colt laughed. “Don’t take it to heart. Constant criticism is part of her charm. If I had a dollar for every time she told me to stand up straight, or comb my hair, or change clothes because I looked like I got dressed in the dark, I’d have been a millionaire before I graduated from high school.”

  “I know.” Sophie sighed and traced a dark grain in the wood of the bar with her finger. “She always wants us to show the world our best, but sometimes her comments are hard to take.”

  Her brother wrapped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her. “Tell you what. You handle Dad, and I’ll keep Mom off your back.”

  Tempting as the offer sounded, she shook her head. “No. This is your wedding. The least I can do is be the buffer, and let you and Kady relax and enjoy yourselves.”

  Kady wrapped her arm around Sophie too, and gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek. “Have I mentioned you’re the best sister-in-law ever?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Pick out a nice souvenir for me in Hawaii.” The bartender headed over just then with a smile and a menu. A three-note tone sounded from Colt’s pocket. He pulled out his phone, glanced at the screen, and announced, “Speaking of Mom, she’s arrived, and she wants lunch.” He tapped out a text message. “We’ve already eaten, but I’ll tell her to come down and join you.”

  Sophie contemplated ordering a large, stiff drink, but Colt closed out his tab and they moved to a table. A minute later her mother swept into the bar, looking slim and effortlessly beautiful, as always. She’d styled her dark hair in a sophisticated twist, and wore a shoulder-baring black-and-white striped top over slim-fitting white pants. A large black designer handbag and matching heels completed the ensemble. Not every fifty-five-year-old woman could pull off the outfit, but their mom could.

  “Darlings,” she called when she spotted them, and glided over to the table. Colt stood as she approached. “Glad you made it, Mom,” he said, and they embraced. She kissed his cheek. “I wouldn’t miss your big day.” When she drew back, her perfectly groomed brows knitted. “Honey, you’re going to get your hair trimmed before the wedding, right?”

  Colt, to his credit, didn’t allow a ripple of annoyance to disrupt his relaxed expression. “Yes, Mother.”

  She patted his cheek. “Good.” Then she turned to exchange cheek kisses with her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. “You look beautiful, as always, Susan,” Kady said.

  “You’re too kind, sweetheart.” She eyed Kady’s dark-blue tank dress and canvas sandals. “I wish I was still at the age where I could throw on any old thing and not worry about how I looked, but alas, those days are gone.”

  Kady gave her a thanks…I think smile and linked arms with Colt. “We need to go meet with the wedding planner. See you both at the rehearsal?”

  “Of course,” her mom said. Sophie nodded, and refrained from adding, If I don’t drink myself into a coma at lunch.

  Then they were making their escape, and her mom turned to her, smiled, and hugged her. “Sophie.”

  “Hi, Mom.”

  Her baggy, long-sleeved T-shirt hid most of her weight loss, but as soon as her mother wrapped her arms around her, she noticed the difference. She straightened and narrowed her eyes at her daughter. “My Lord, look at you! You’ve finally outgrown your baby fat.”

  She tried to take a lesson from Colt and Kady and let her mother’s condescending comment roll off, but failed. She refused to go the old Sophie route and not stick up for herself. Instead she sat, pulled her chair to the table, and said, “I didn’t ‘outgrow’ anything, Mom. I decided to lose some weight, so I changed my lifestyle and eating habits in order to accomplish the goal.”

  “Well.” Her mom settled herself in the chair on the opposite side of the table and in a move Sophie recognized as force of habit, discreetly scoped the room to collect any admiring glances. “Congratulations, honey. Whatever you did worked.” She turned back to Sophie. “I wish you wouldn’t hide all your progress under”—she wrinkled her nose and gestured to Sophie’s outfit—“sloppy, shapeless clothes. You know a shirt like that, with your chest, just makes you look like a tent.” With that, she opened her menu.

  Dismissed. Sophie picked up her menu and nearly gave voice to the “yes, Mother” hovering on the tip of her tongue, but new Sophie issued a firm no. She put the menu down. “This shirt is comfortable, and I went for some exercise before I came here. I wasn’t actually planning on competing in the
Miss America pageant this afternoon.”

  Her mom looked up from the menu, brows high. “Of course not, sweetheart. I’m just saying—”

  “Mom, I know what you’re saying, because you’ve been saying it for years. Trust me, you’re relentless on the topic of what’s wrong with me. It used to hurt my feelings. Now it just annoys me. Stop picking me apart.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t pick you apart.”

  “Come on. I’ve never measured up to your standards. What I’m suddenly realizing is I never will, because they’re impossible. Even if I were a supermodel, you’d still find fault. You’re not happy unless you’re criticizing.”

  “That’s ridiculous, Sophie.” Her mother sounded genuinely shocked by the accusation. “I do not constantly criticize you.”

  “I lost twenty pounds, and after one quick pat on the back, you immediately told me I’m dressed all wrong. There’s no satisfying you. You’ve done this my entire life.”

  Her mom opened her mouth to issue an automatic denial, but paused to replay her remarks. Then she had the good grace to blush. “All right, yes, I might be a tad quick to point out when I see room for improvement.” She dropped her palms to the table. “I don’t do it to criticize or pick you apart. Believe it or not, I’m trying to be helpful. I’d like to think I’ve taught you and Colt the importance of personal presentation. You never know who you’ll run into when you’re out and about, and you always want to make a good impression.”

  “Why, Mom?”

  “What do you mean, why? So you don’t end up alone.”

  The words hung in the air between them as the irony sank in. Her mother frowned. “You know what I’m trying to say. Of course you need to fall in love with someone—someone who truly suits you so you don’t end up middle-aged and divorced, like your parents…”

  And there it was, the exasperating, messed-up truth. She sighed and shook her head. “Mom, I’m not going to end up alone because I wore sweats to the grocery store or had a hair out of place.”

  “I know. I know you’re right.” She reached across the table, squeezed Sophie’s arm, and offered a weak smile. “And I’m sorry if I made you feel like you never measured up to my standards. I don’t feel that way. You are lovely, sweetheart, inside and out, and I am awfully proud of you. Hurtful or annoying as my efforts have been, ultimately, I just want my kids to be happy.”

  Colt was there. Crazy in love and confident enough in that love to embark on a journey he’d never anticipated taking. In two short days he’d pledge himself to Kady, for better or worse, till death did them part…and when Colt made a pledge, he honored it. She thought about all the recent changes in her life—new outlook, new job, and best of all, Logan—and couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “Don’t worry, Mom. I think you’ll get your wish.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Under the hum of conversation at the rehearsal dinner, Kady said, “I think Sophie got lucky last night.”

  Logan nearly coughed up the bite he’d just swallowed. Colt slapped him on the back and shot his bride-to-be a horrified look. “We’re back to that? Seriously?”

  “Yes, we’re back to that.” Kady aimed an exasperated look right back at Colt. “Don’t tell me you bought the I-was-at-the-gym-this-morning line she handed us earlier. That was a lie if I ever heard one. Besides, look at her.”

  Three sets of eyes shifted to the opposite end of the table. Past Reed and Julie, sitting so close they might as well have been sharing a chair. Past Christine and Tyler, equally lost in their own private world. Past the empty chair Regan had occupied until it had become obvious Brock would not be joining them for the post-rehearsal dinner. Past Tyler and Kady’s mom and dad, beaming at each other like newlyweds. At the very end, Sophie sat between her parents, smiling and nodding at something her father was saying.

  “What about her?” Colt asked. “She looks fine. Surprisingly relaxed, considering she braved the hot seat tonight, sitting between our mom and dad.”

  Kady nodded. “Exactly my point. It’s not easy playing Switzerland for those two. I’ve done it, so I know. And Sophie’s appetite for conflict is much lower than mine, but there she sits, smiling, completely at ease and, dare I say, a little dreamy-eyed. Plus she’s got that glow.”

  “Yeah,” Colt said drily, “the glow from one too many glasses of wine, which is why she’s all smiley.”

  Logan laughed, and then gulped some water to cool down. He was sweating like he’d just free-soloed Yamnuska.

  “No.” Kady whacked Colt in the arm. “She’s got the glow of a satisfied woman.”

  His throat constricted and the water went down the wrong pipe. A coughing fit ensued. Colt slapped him on the back again.

  “Okay, new topic. Neither Logan nor I are going to survive a discussion of my sister’s love life.”

  “Why not? Oh, not the salacious details.” Kady gave Colt a look that told Logan more than he needed to know about their details. “But wouldn’t you like to see Sophie as happy and in love as we are? I don’t know about you, but I want that for her.” She lifted a brow at Logan and added, “I want that for all our friends.”

  Right then he got the distinct impression she knew exactly who was responsible for Sophie’s satisfied glow. He hoped she kept her suspicions to herself, because he had every intention of speaking to Colt directly about his feelings for Sophie, man-to-man, after the wedding. Yes, he felt guilty keeping news like “I’m falling for your sister” from Colt, but he owed those words to Sophie first, and he owed Colt and Kady a happy wedding day, untarnished by whatever misplaced concerns Colt might have about his sister and his best friend being together.

  Colt glanced down the table again. “Of course I want her to find love.” He shifted in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. “Pure, chaste love, from a gainfully employed, mentally stable guy who agrees to sign the oath of celibacy I present to him before he gets within ten feet of my sister—and understands I’m going to break him in two if he ever so much as thinks about violating it.”

  Yeah, definitely after the wedding.

  Kady giggled, then leaned over and kissed Colt. “Isn’t he cute when he goes all prickly and protective?”

  “‘Cute’ is not the word.”

  Colt cupped the back of her head before she could draw away and planted a much deeper, much longer kiss on his bride-to-be. The move caught the rest of the tables’ attention and applause broke out. Sassy Kady actually blushed, which Logan had never seen before, and the blush only deepened when Colt said, “Who’s the cute one now?”

  Logan’s phone vibrated in his pocket. The alarm he’d set as a ten-minute warning in advance of a call he’d scheduled with his board. They needed to discuss the latest round of changes to the acquisition agreement and, please God, put the damn thing to a vote. “Sorry, I’ll have to leave you to settle this important question on your own.”

  “Past your bedtime, princess?” Colt chided.

  Logan stood. “My day’s just getting started, slacker.” But he was tired, and even he could hear the lack of enthusiasm in his voice. If he could have kicked the board call until tomorrow, he would have, but tomorrow was out of the question, so he had to get board approval tonight. “I gotta talk to a guy about a thing.”

  “Get your talking done tonight,” Colt said, “because if I catch you with a phone in your ear at any point tomorrow, you’re not going to like where it goes next.”

  “Don’t worry.” Logan patted his friend’s shoulder. “My phone stays in my pocket tomorrow, right next to the rings and those little blue pills you wanted for the honeymoon.”

  “Ah ha ha. Funny guy. Go take your call.”

  “I plan to. For the record, she’s the cute one.” Logan kissed Kady’s cheek, and then waved good-bye to the rest of the table, trying his best not to let his gaze rest on Sophie any longer than what would be considered normal.

  He sent her a text on the way to his room. I’m hungry for
dessert. They’d spoken before the rehearsal—a rushed, whispered exchange in an alcove at the chapel during which he’d explained he’d have to cut out of the group dinner early to attend a call, and asked her to come to his room after dinner. She’d agreed, and promised to bring him dessert. Under a stained glass panel featuring the Virgin Mary smiling down on them, he’d whispered, “You are my dessert.”

  He held back a grin as he stepped into the elevator. Luckily, the wrath of God had not struck him down in a bolt of lightning right then and there, and Sophie had been alluringly flushed and short of breath all through the rehearsal. If he’d been a little distracted, thinking of all the ways he planned to devour her, well…nobody had complained.

  His phone vibrated in his hand, alerting him to an incoming call. His brother Trevor, according to the screen. He hit talk. “How’s my nephew?”

  “Asleep. Which is just how we like him at this time of night.” The response came not from Trevor, but from his other brother, Michael.

  “Jesus, Trev. Doesn’t Kylie have enough on her plate taking care of Max? You really want to inflict Michael on her, too?”

  “Kylie’s not here,” Trevor explained. “She, and Mom, and a passel of other women are at the cabin in Big Bear for Chloe’s baby shower. They’ll be back tomorrow morning.”

  “Holy shit, and she left you—worse, the two of you—in charge of a baby? Overnight? Was she high on some kind of judgment-impairing postpartum brain chemicals?”

  “We’re doing fine,” Michael said. “Had some beer and pizza. Played some Texas Hold’em, and the little guy drifted off to dreamland right there in his high chair, face down in his poker chips. Never even saw the full house waiting for him at the end of the river.”

  “I’m no expert, but I’m fairly certain boozing and gambling are not appropriate activities for a kid Max’s age. I’m calling social services—I think they might be interested in giving you some advice.”

  “Speaking of advice, that’s why we called you,” Trevor interjected.

  “You called me for advice?”