Loving My Best Friend

by Reid, Roxy

  She looks up at me, and I swear I can see the whole world in her luminous brown eyes. She is my whole world.

  And she’s not saying anything.

  I swallow. “It’s okay. Take your time. It’s not like I’m dying over here—”

  She cuts me off with a kiss. I’ve never had a kiss like this. It’s the stuff of ecstasy and hope. Her hands are in my hair, and I’m sliding my hands up her back, so damn glad to have her in my arms again. Touching her feels like I’m coming back to life. I’m so glad she said yes.

  Shit. She didn’t say yes.

  I break the kiss. “Evvie, not that I’m not dying to kiss you—and to do a hell of a lot more—but you haven’t actually said what you want yet. I want to give you all the time you need, but hoping for you hurts so damn much. I’ll wait as long as you need, but if you know what you want, please just tell me now.”

  For a second, Eva just looks at me, and then a brilliant smile steals over her face. “You, Jack. I want you.”

  “Oh, thank God.” I crush my lips to hers, kissing her so hard and fiercely that it’s hard for either of us to breathe. “You’re my everything, Eva. You know that, right?”

  “Yeah, I know that, Jack.” She lifts her hand to my cheek and stares up at me in wonder like I’m the one who’s perfect. “You’re my everything, too. I love you. Don’t ever believe me if I say I don’t want you, okay? I’ve always wanted you. I always will. Even when I thought I shouldn’t, it was you. Always you.”

  I scoop her up, and she laughs as she wraps her legs around my hips.

  “Jack, what are you doing? Where are you taking me? We can’t just leave the candles burning. That tree probably needs to be watered. Plus, we’re in a freezing hotel with no furniture.”

  I capture her lips with mine and kiss her until she’s soft and pliant in my arms. “Actually, the bedrooms are finished now. You’re right, there’s no heating, but I think I’ve got a way to warm you up.” I kiss her neck. “It’s not as if we have to worry about you getting pregnant.”

  “Jack.”

  “Too soon?”

  “Not soon enough.” Eva kisses me, and it’s so distracting I stumble over a candle.

  Luckily it’s one of the ones that already burned out. After she’s done laughing at me, Eva makes me set her down so she can walk around and blow all the candles out.

  I’m watching her frown as she finds the instructions for taking care of the tree and starts reading when I realize there’s one thing I still have to do.

  Eva looks up from the tree instructions. “I think we screwed up a little here. This tree needs to be somewhere warm. We’re going to have to move it to a greenhouse or heat the whole …”

  She trails off as I go down on one knee.

  “Eva Price. Will you do me the honor of not eloping with me next month? I want a real wedding with you. With our families there. To celebrate the start of our real marriage.”

  She drops the tree care instructions. Her hands fly to her mouth in surprise.

  “That’s what I want,” I say. “What about you?”

  Eva laughs with joy, then pulls me to my feet and throws her arms around me. “Yes, Jack. Yes. I want to not elope with you, too.”

  “And the rest of it?” I ask.

  “And the rest of it,” Eva agrees.

  When she kisses me, it feels like a fresh start and a perfect ending, all at once.

  Epilogue

  Eva

  Happy anniversary, darling. Off to meet a client so you and I can have the whole weekend off together. Marie’s sleeping soundly, just like you. As if we needed any more proof she takes after her dad. See you at the grand opening!

  —Eva Price-McBride, sticky note left on Jack’s bedside stand, morning of their first wedding anniversary

  It’s finally the grand opening of Jack’s upstate hotel. The whole lobby is lit and buzzing. It’s a typical Rose Hotel opening in many ways. Beautiful people. Delicious food. An air of genuine excitement. Like this is more than a hotel opening. Like it’s the start of an adventure. But you can’t show off a family restaurant without families, which means there’s one thing that makes this opening different.

  There are families everywhere. Makeda’s got her baby on her hip as she catches up with Jack’s mom. I can hear shouts coming from the restaurant as the new chef’s twin boys, age eight, test out the castle. Jack won’t let anyone else hold our Marie. The last time I saw him, he was leading his grandpa into the restaurant to show off what he turned the former ballroom into.

  “Yes. I think that could work well for us,” the woman next to me says. She owns an artisanal cooking store near the hotel. We invited all the local business owners to the opening, but it turns out, she’s interested in doing a marketing push now that she’s selling online, too, but doesn’t know where to start.

  I hand her my business card. “Give me a call. I’d love to discuss it more. Either way, I am absolutely buying some of that seasoning you mentioned.”

  She laughs and heads off to greet some of her friends.

  I wrap my arms around myself and take in the room, feeling like the luckiest woman in the world. I married my best friend. My new business, doing small, tailored marketing and PR campaigns for nonprofits and small businesses, is taking off. Who knows, maybe I’ll go back to crisis PR someday, but right now, I like working with people who are optimistic about the future. I like having a manageable, predictable schedule that lets me come home to my baby and my husband every night.

  Speaking of which.

  I look across the room and see Jack. Marie is chewing on his expensive designer tie, but Jack doesn’t notice. He’s patting her on the back absently and watching me. There’s so much love in his eyes—okay, lust, too—that my stomach flips.

  We’ve been married for a year. Lovers for longer. Friends for a lifetime. Yet, he can still make me feel all swoony just by looking at me in a crowded room.

  I reach into my pocket and turn off my phone. I’ve decided. I’m officially done working for the weekend. I cross the ballroom and greet Jack with a kiss, and I blow on Marie’s fat baby cheeks until she shrieks and giggles.

  “That’s the sound I love!” Jack’s mom says as she swans through the crowd to us and plucks Marie from Jack’s arms. “Music to Grandma’s ears. That’s what that sound is. Are we going to have so much fun this weekend? Yes, we are! Yes, we are!”

  It’s hard to tell if grandma or granddaughter is having more fun.

  “You know, I was thinking, it doesn’t need to be the whole weekend,” Jack says. “Maybe just one night. It’s really important not to mess up her schedule. And when you heat up the bottle, you need to—”

  “Jack.” I bite back a smile and place a hand on his arm. “Your parents have raised kids before. Marie will be okay without us for one weekend.”

  His mom holds up Marie’s hand to wave it at us, then heads off to find her husband, who already has the all-important diaper bag.

  “What if …” He closes his eyes briefly and gives his head a shake. “Sorry. I’m a clingy first-time parent, aren’t I?”

  “Yeah, but I think it’s cute.” I laugh up at him. Marie is absolutely daddy’s little girl. I hate to think of the trauma Jack will go through when she starts pre-school.

  “I just don’t want to miss anything,” he says as I tug him away from the party and around the corner towards the hotel elevators. “She’s growing so fast.”

  “And you love her so much. I know. One of the many reasons I love you so much.” I rise up on my tiptoes and kiss him. I slip in enough tongue to remind him that before he was a doting dad, he was the hot guy I had a one-night-stand with. “We don’t have to pick, remember? We get it all. Tonight, we get hot anniversary sex on those beds we never actually tested out.”

  “Hot sex, you say? I thought we were just ditching our daughter so we could get a full night’s sleep for once.”

  “That, too,” I say, laughing as Jack tugs me into the elevato
r.

  He kisses me soundly. As much as I loved being downstairs, surrounded by our family and friends and colleagues, I like this, too. Just Eva and Jack. Like always.

  “I do have one surprise,” Jack says, his voice low and husky enough that I know our kissing is getting to him. “It’s waiting for you in our hotel room.”

  “Mmm, whatever could it be? Lingerie? Sex toys? A list of potential clients I can network with?”

  “Better,” Jack says smugly. “Ice cream.”

  “I knew it. I’ve married the perfect man,” I say as he scoops me up and carries me to our room.

  “I love you, too, Evvie,” Jack says.

  Then we start our perfect anniversary weekend.

  It doesn’t go exactly as planned, but it’s perfect, all the same.

  Get more books by Roxy Reid

  GET YOUR COPY

  Famously Mine: A Billionaire Boss Romance

  Read on to find out more…

  Also by Roxy Reid

  Famously Mine: A Contemporary Romance Box Set by Roxy Reid

  Looking for romance with your famous billionaire boss?

  Lose yourself in this steamy 4-book boxset for readers who love stories packed with romance and a heap of delicious bosses, fake fiancés, second chances, fake marriages, secret pregnancies, sizzling single dads and more!

  Each book in the collection is a full-length stand alone novel guaranteed to turn up the heat and melt your heart.

  Famously Fake

  I’m fake engaged to my movie star boss.

  He’s a billionaire single dad with a secret.

  Now we’re play acting the Perfect Hollywood Couple.

  Everywhere we turn there’s damn paparazzi

  If the truth comes out we’re both ruined.

  But what happens once the faking stops?

  Am I gonna regret letting the hottest guy in Hollywood be my first?

  Famously First

  Go undercover as his tour photographer.

  Dish the dirt on my now famous ex.

  Cash that big fat check.

  Fall in love again…

  Wait what!? - That IS NOT part of the plan.

  Ten years ago he was my first boyfriend.

  Now he’s my ultra rich rockstar boss.

  Can I forgive him for wrecking my heart?

  Famously Wed

  I just woke up with Mr Gorgeous One Night Stand.

  He just happened to ‘forget’ to mention he’s my neighbor.

  Turns out he’s my billionaire boss too…

  My first day at work is turning into a right shambles.

  Somehow I’ve ended up agreeing to marry him!

  How are we going to get though a whole year of marriage

  Without tearing each other’s hair out,

  Or worse still, falling in love for real?

  Famously His Baby

  He came over to fix a lightbulb.

  We ended up breaking the bed.

  Don’t tell anyone, but I’m knocked-up.

  By my uber rich boss,

  Who also happens to be my brother’s best friend.

  My brother would wring his neck if he found out.

  Maybe keeping me a secret is all he wants.

  Well I’ve got my own little secret,

  That’s growing day by day.

  And he’s the one person I can’t tell.

  Every book in the Famously Mine series is a full length stand-alone novel with no cheating, no cliff hangers and a gorgeous happily ever after.

  GET IT NOW - FREE with Kindle Unlimited

  * * *

  Want more books by Roxy Reid?

  GET YOUR FREE COPY

  Fake Fiancé Agreement

  Keep reading to find out more…

  FAKE FIANCÉ AGREEMENT

  I’m Bethany’s boss.

  I should have known better…

  But she’s the sharpest, hottest woman I’ve ever known.

  My jealous ex-wife is threatening to take my kid away.

  I’ll do anything to keep my daughter.

  Even pretend to be engaged.

  I accidentally blurt out that Bethany is my fiancée.

  Not my smartest move I’ll admit.

  But she’s agreed to go along with it.

  Can a fake engagement lead to real love?

  The clock is ticking…

  Soon we’ll be forced to choose - marry or part forever.

  GET IT NOW FOR FREE

  More from Roxy Reid

  Keep in touch

  Follow me on Facebook or send me an email.

  Follow Roxy on Facebook

  facebook.com/RoxyReidAuthor

  Send an email

  Roxy@RoxyReidAuthor.com