Frenemies With Benefits (Geek To Chic Book 2) (23 page)

“You think I don’t want
those things in life? Why?” Alex asked complete stunned.
 

“Last night, Caroline
said that your mom had all her hopes for more grandkids on Derek because you
were never going to settle down.”
 
Izzy
was now tearing her napkin apart.
 

Ah
so that’s what happened!
It all clicked now.
 
Izzy wanted to run
before he hurt her, again.
 
Caroline’s
comment set of her insecurities about his intentions.
 
If Alex was being honest with himself, he
would admit that convincing her to be with him for a short period of time was a
mistake.
 
He should have tried harder to
get her to date him not sleep with him.
 

“Izzy, honey, I do want those things. But you're right
neither of us are going to get that if we stay in this agreement.”
 
He held up his hand to keep her from
talking.
 
“We need to date.
 
I like being with you.
 
I would like to see where this goes.
 
Can I please take you on a date?” Alex knew
he was begging and he didn't care in the least.
 

"Don't you think a date would complicate things between
us? I still see us ending badly.
 
Remember the conversation were we joked about our friends having to wear
team Izzy or team Alex shirts?
 
That
would become a reality."
 
She sadly
reasoned.
 

"You're right.
 
But I'm not ready to let you go.
 
Let's just keep this between us, like we have been.
 
If one of us meets someone else then we end
this. How about that?" It nearly killed Alex to think about her meeting
someone else.
 
If she did and brought her
new boyfriend around him, he was certain he would punch the guy before even
getting his name.
 

With a small smile, she finally took a bite of her
food.
 
Several bites actually.
 
"Fine, But once we meet someone else.
It's over."
 

They seemed to be making a lot of excuses to stay together
beyond the month.
 
Alex was not about to
complain though.
 
As long as they were
together, he didn't care what title or lack of title they had.
  

Izzy was on her way to
pick up Derek and Roni, to take them to the airport.
 
The rich geek boy had insisted they could
hire a car to take them.
 
However, Izzy
was more insistent that a friend should take them and pick them up not some
stranger.
 
After all they would be gone
for weeks and Izzy wanted to see her best friend off again.
 

They would be gone for
a month, which meant Izzy had a month to get over Alex and break things
off.
 
When the happy couple came back the
two of them would never be the wiser to what Alex and she had been up to all
these months.
 
Keeping this from her
friend was more stressful then she had believed it would be.
 
She was nauseous as she drove to pick them
up.
 
This is why she had wanted to end it
with Alex.
 

Instead once again he
had talked her into staying together.
 
He
even went as far as bringing up again telling everyone.
 
She could not even fathom why the man kept
insisting they tell their friends they were sleeping together.
 
It’s not like they were trying for a
permanent relationship after all, they were just getting each other out of
their systems so that they could finally move on.
 
Or are
we trying for something long term?
She had to roll her eyes at her own self
destructive internal dialogue.
 

Thankfully her inner
thoughts of forever were cut off by pulling into the driveway of Derek’s
home.
 
She looked at the amount of
luggage the couple had stacked on the doorstep, and then back at her car.
 
Is all
of that crap going to fit?
 
Before
she could attempt to do the math in her mind, Alex’s black Range Rover pulled
in behind them.
 

She jumped out of her
car and pulled his car door open before he even had the keys out of the
ignition.
 
“What are you doing
here?”
 
She hissed at him.
 

“Taking the happy
couple to the airport, what are you doing here?”
 
He asked in a playful tone.
 

“No, I’m taking them to
the airport!”
 

“In that tiny little
car of yours?
 
You may be able to take
the two of them but there is no way all that luggage is fitting in your soda
can size car.
 
I am here to help fix that
problem.
 
I’ll drive, you and Roni can
talk in the back and then you and I can grab a bite to eat or
something
after we send them on their
way.”
 
Logically it all made sense however,
the way he said or something, made he hesitate.
 

Caught between a rock and a hard place, she knew she had to
agree to let him drive.
 
“Fine, but you
behave!”
 
Izzy wagged her finger in front
of his face.
 
His only response was to
wink and head to the porch to start loading the massive amount of luggage.
 

As he strolled back to his SUV the front door flew open and
a clearly exasperated Roni came barreling out, tripping over the carry-on bag,
and about half the luggage that was left. Izzy ran to her friend’s side. “Shit,
Roni, are you ok?”
 

Roni jumped to
feet.
 
“Shoes, the man is arguing with me
over the amount of shoes I am taking before we board a twelve hour flight.”

Izzy wanted to laugh
but she didn’t want Roni to turn her wrath on her.
 
“Well he has to realize that with you guys
being gone for a month that you needed options.
 
How many pairs of shoes did you pack?”
 
She asked as she helped Roni brush off the grass from her fall.
 

“That one bag is all I
packed.
 
I still left most of them in the
closet.”
 
Izzy looked to where Roni was
pointing, and her jaw dropped.
 
The shoe
bag was by far the largest bag.
 

“Are you sure you need
all of those pairs of shoes?”
 
Izzy
blurted out.

“Not you too?
 
I don’t know our entire itinerary so as I explained
earlier I need options!”
 
Roni was
clearly nervous about more than her choice of shoes on the trip.
 
That’s when is dawned on Izzy what was going
on.

“You don’t like flying
over water do you?”
 

“No! What if something
happens while we are in the air?
 
We have
no place to do an emergency landing!”
 
Roni barked.
 
Her eyes went wide
as though it finally clicked what she was doing.
 
“Oh God, I have been snapping at poor Derek
all morning and now you. If I had time I probably would repack my shoes.”
 

“No need babe, take what all you want and what you lack we
can buy there. And please don’t worry about the flight, everything will be
fine.
 
By the time we are over the ocean
you will have passed out asleep and won’t even know.”
 
Derek smiled and kissed her on the cheek.
 
“Hey Izzy, thanks for driving, or should I
thank Alex?”
 

“I didn’t even notice
Alex was here.”
 
Roni said
sheepishly.
 

“Gee thanks Roni.”
 
Alex chastised as he grab another bag.
 
“I figured my SUV would hold more luggage
than that toy Izzy calls a car.”

“You know the two of
you have to drive back from the airport alone right?
 
As in no babysitters to make sure you two
don’t kill each other?”
 
Roni said
looking back and forth between Alex and Izzy.

“That’s right we will
basically be in the middle of nowhere and I won’t have a witness when I finally
carry out my murder plot.”
 
Izzy joked.

“Sorry sweetheart, you just admitted your intention to
murder me to the two people the cops are going to speak to first after they
find my body.”
 

“You think they would
actually find your body?
 
That’s
cute.”
 
Izzy grabbed two small bags by
her feet and headed off to the SUV with a smirk on her face.
 

Once all of the bags were loaded, and Derek had check the
lock on the front door at least forty times, to ensure he did in fact lock that
door, they were off to the airport.
 
As
they drove through the streets, Izzy took a good look at the neighborhood that
Derek and Roni lived in.
 
All the houses
had beautiful landscaping, and each house had a different design, as though
they had all been custom built.
 
“Oh look
at that white house with the wrap around porch.
 
That house is beautiful.”
 
The
southern style house was the type Izzy had always envisioned raising her family
in.
 

Alex slowed a little
passed the house.
 
“It’s nice.”
 
His voice held a strange hint of emotion she
could not name as he spoke.
 

After that the girls went about talking about the meetings
Roni would have to attend and her plan for keeping Derek from yelling at the
clients.
 
Derek huffed and they all laughed.
 
All too soon they were at the airport.
 

~*~*~*~

Dropping Roni and Derek
off at the airport took longer than Alex had expected.
 
The girls hugged and cried in the drop off
area as though they were never going to see each other again.
 
Thankfully an officer came and instructed
them to move along or they may never have left the airport.

Izzy sat slouched in
the seat next to him.
 
He took her hand
in his, kissing her knuckles, before placing their entwined hands on his lap,
to his great delight she did not pull her hand from his.
 
“Where do you want to eat?”
 

Quiet at first, he was unsure if she was going to answer
him.
 
“How about somewhere that has
steak?
 
I know that is more a meal for
dinner than lunch but I am starving and it is the only thing that sounds
good.”
 

“Steak is always good
no matter what time of day.”
 
He answered
with a smile, kissing her knuckles again he set off for the Buckhorn
Exchange.
 
They had a great lunch time
menu.
 

When they arrived they
were immediately seated by the overly friendly hostess.
 
She batted her eyelashes at him and smiled
while biting her lips a little.
 
It took
everything in Alex not to roll his eyes at her over the top come hither
look.
 
Instead he grabbed on to Izzy’s
hand pulling her close, wrapping his arm around her waist.
 
Trying to give the hostess the clear sign
that he was taken.
 

The hostess’ attitude
changed immediately after that, she quickly seated them and practically threw
their menus at them.
 
Izzy grabbed her
menu and met his eyes.
 
“Old friend of
yours?”
 

The question itself was
innocent enough, it was the underlining tone that bothered him.
 
He knew she was asking if the flirty hostess
was someone he had seen naked.
 
“Nope,
never seen her before in my life.
 
What
are you going to have?”
 
He picked up his
own menu in an attempt to avoid any further questions about the hostess.
 

“You know you didn’t
have to turn down her blatant invitation just because I’m here.”
 
She sounded so sad when she spoke what must
have been a painful sentence.
 

Taking her hand again,
he waited patiently for her to put down her menu and meet his eyes.
 
“Izzy you don’t get it do you?
 
I am with you.
 
A naughty look from anyone else in the world
isn’t going to change that.
 
We still
have an agreement.”
 
He added the last
sentence because he knew how uncomfortable she was acknowledging any type of
relationship between the two of them beyond friendship.
 

“Ok I was just making
sure that you didn’t want to sample the offerings here.”
 
She winked and to his surprise dropping the
subject.

They both ordered large
steaks, potatoes and salads.
 
As their
food arrived they ate in a companionable silence.
 
To his surprise she ate everything on her
place.
 
“I don’t think I have ever seen
you eat that much.”
 

Smiling a little, she took a sip of water before responding
to him.
 
“I usually don't eat that much,
but lately with my running schedule being so many miles I have had a huge
appetite.
 
Next week I won't be running
as much as a taper down my miles before the marathon."

"When is your marathon?"

"A week from Saturday.
 
This year I am going to do it in four hours flat.
 
I was so close last year."
 
Izzy said completely determined.

"If anyone could run a marathon in only four hours it
would be you.
 
I have never met a woman
as stubborn or goal orientated as you.
 
I'll drive you to the start line and meet you at the finish how does
that sound?"
 
He was actually
excited to see her run her marathon.
 

"You're going to wake up at four in the morning to drop
me off blocks away from our building when it would be easier for me to
walk?"
 
She smiled.
 

"Sure why not.
 
I
don't want you walking alone that early it is still dark out."
 
He was serious about that point.
 

"Trust me I won't be alone.
 
Most of the marathoners will have to walk by
our building to get to the start.
 
Once
I'm there I have to check in, stretch, warm up.
 
You would be bored.
 
I do like the
idea of you meeting me at the finish line though."
 

"Fine, but be careful walking to the starting
line.
 
After the race I we can go grab a
bite to eat and then I can give you a full body massage."
 
He wiggled his eyebrows at her making her
laugh.
 

~*~*~*~

Even though Izzy had
insisted that she didn’t need him to get up at four to take her to the starting
line of the Rock N Roll Marathon, Alex was determined to be at the finish line
to cheer her on.
 
Of course, the rest of
the gang decided to show up as well ruining the restful afternoon he had
planned for the two of them.
 
They all
chatted away about where to go eat once she finished the race.