Just Good Friends (15 page)

“
Alright.”

She hung up the phone and released her
breath. At least she didn’t have to come up with a way to convince
her parents to stay in a hotel. Things could be worse.

While she waited for Tyler to arrive,
she cleaned up the place. Yes, he’d seen her apartment many times.
He knew she wasn’t the cleanest person on the planet, but she still
wanted the place to be presentable. The bed, for example, should be
made, her makeup should be put away, and the stack of magazines and
books on her coffee table should be organized.

These little things ended up occupying
enough of her time so she didn’t grow restless while waiting for
him. And when he arrived, she gestured to his two suitcases and
backpack.

“
You brought more than I
expected,” she said.

“
I figured your parents
would want a tour of the place.”

She hadn’t thought of that, but he was
right.

“
It doesn’t hurt to be
prepared.” He came in. “Can I put these in your
bedroom?”

“
Of course.” She led him to
the room. “It’s a good thing I splurged on a queen-size bed when I
moved in.”

“
Yeah, I remember what a
pain the mattress and box springs were to bring in
here.”

“
I appreciate the fact that
you saved me on the delivery costs.”

He set the suitcases on the bed and
lowered his backpack to the floor. “What are friends for?” he asked
with a smile.

As she watched him open his suitcase,
she couldn’t help but think he was currently going above and beyond
the call of duty. She really shouldn’t have dragged him up to
Montana. He didn’t deserve to be subjected to a weekend of her
parents and sister. But that was in the past, and she was tired of
rehashing all the things she should have done differently. It was
time to move forward.

She saw him pull out a couple suits,
and as he hung them up in her closet, she decided to help him hang
up his slacks and nice shirts. She never thought about it, but he
didn’t make it a habit of wearing jeans and a T-shirt.

“
Are these clothes
comfortable?” she asked.

He grinned at her question. “They are
to me.”

“
What’s so funny?” She
didn’t think she’d asked a funny question, but maybe there was
something in it she missed.

“
A lot of people have a hard
time believing I don’t want to wear jeans and T-shirts. I’m
surprised you haven’t asked me about it sooner.”

“
I guess I never realized
how nicely you dress before.”

“
I only dress up at the
office or for special occasions. I don’t like wearing jeans because
they’re too tight. Slacks are a much better fit.”

That made sense. And honestly, she
wouldn’t have him any other way. “Well, I can’t picture you in
jeans anyway.”

“
Probably because you’ve
never seen me in them.”

Probably.

“
I did wear them when I was
a teenager and a little bit in college. I wasn’t always a
nerd.”

She went back to his suitcase and saw
he’d even packed underwear and socks. “Wow, Tyler. You’re
surprisingly thorough. I don’t think my parents will be looking in
my underwear drawers.”

“
You never know. If your mom
was willing to decorate your room in a wedding theme, I can only
imagine what else she’d do.”

She considered his words and realized
he had a point, and there was that time she found her mother
snooping in her diary when she was a junior in high school.
Fortunately for her, the most exciting thing she had going on in
her life at the time was watching a new episode of her favorite TV
show.

“
You’re right,” she told
him. “And the only bathroom is through the bedroom. I hate to think
what she might look for while she’s in there.”

“
That’s why I’m trying to
make it look like I actually live here.”

She nodded and helped him put the rest
of his things away, including his toiletry items in the bathroom.
It felt weird to have his intimate things with hers, but it wasn’t
an uncomfortable weird. It was more of a weird as in ‘this was
really happening’ kind of way.

“
You ready to get something
to eat?” he asked, popping his head in the bathroom.

She closed the cabinet door above the
sink. “Yes, I’m ready.”

“
I was thinking we might
want to compare notes about the elopement,” he said as they headed
out of the apartment. “I’m sure your parents want to know more
about the wedding and hotel we stayed at. Lucky for us,” he pulled
out some Las Vegas brochures from his coat pocket, “we work at a
travel agency, so coming up with things won’t be hard.”

She blinked in surprise. He not only
thought to bring his personal items, but he’d thought to bring
brochures as well. “In college, you were the one people borrowed
pens and notes from, weren’t you?”

“
How’d you
guess?”

“
Because even today, you’re
super organized and prepared for anything. Sometimes I wonder how
we became such good friends. I do good to get ready for the
day.”

Laughing, he slipped his arm around her
shoulders and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “That’s because
opposites attract.”

Her steps slowed as the silliest notion
came to her. It was, of course, completely ridiculous.

He stopped and squeezed her again. “Did
you forget something?”

She looked at him and saw the same
person she always saw when she looked at him. He was Tyler. Her
best friend. The person she’d known for years. He was palling
around. He wasn’t implying that what they had was more than
friendship. They were just friends, and that was all they’d ever
be. Right?

“
No, I didn’t forget
anything,” she finally said. “Let’s get something to eat. I’m
famished.”

Chapter
Thirteen

“
Tiffy, it’s so good to see
you again,” her mother said as she gave Tiffany a long
hug.

Tiffany patted her mom’s back while
people passed them in the airport. Next to her, her dad and Tyler
were shaking hands. For all appearances, this really looked like a
happy family reunion. Except, it was all a fraud.

When her mom didn’t let go of her,
Tiffany said, “It hasn’t been years since we’ve seen each other,
you know. It’s only been a couple days.”

“
Oh, I know, but we were so
focused on Zoe and her special day that we didn’t spend enough
attention on you.” Her mother finally released her and cupped her
face in her hands. “I hope you didn’t think your dad and I were
rude.”

“
No, we didn’t think that at
all.” And honestly, she would have preferred it if they’d focused
even more on Zoe instead of being so curious about her love
life.

“
I couldn’t help but notice
you two slept in separate rooms after Tyler made the announcement,”
her dad spoke up. “You could have been in the same room after we
found out. There was no need to keep up the pretense.”

On impulse, she reached out and wrapped
her arm around Tyler’s waist, hoping he was fine with it. “We did
sleep in the same room. We just didn’t move our things to the other
room, that’s all.”

“
Right,” Tyler agreed,
bringing his arm around her shoulders. “We were leaving the next
day anyway.”

Since her parents seemed satisfied with
the answer, Tiffany and Tyler led them to the baggage section. The
trip to the airport had seemed much too short as Tiffany braced
herself for this ordeal. And now that her parents were here, she
wasn’t sure if things would get any easier. Thank goodness she’d
made the lie with Tyler. She didn’t think she could pretend to be
someone else’s wife.

“
I hear my boss selected the
best hotel in Omaha for you to stay at,” Tyler said as he retrieved
her mom’s suitcase while her dad grabbed his.

“
Your boss is a nice man,”
her mother replied and glanced at her. “I could tell he was smiling
when I talked to him on the phone.”

“
Oh, he was definitely
smiling,” Tyler said.

Catching the subtle sarcasm in Tyler’s
tone, Tiffany guessed Nathan had been smiling because he got a sick
and twisted pleasure out of tormenting people. And lucky for them,
they happened to be his current targets.

“
Did we get a good deal
because you were really having all those special discounts at your
company or was it because we’re family?” her dad asked, turning to
Tyler.

“
It was a mixture of both,”
Tyler slowly replied then shrugged when her parents turned away
from them.

It sounded good to her. She didn’t know
how Nathan was able to get such good deals. He might have
connections with people who owed him a favor, or he might have paid
some of the cost out of his own pocket. Either way, it wasn’t her
problem. Her problem was that she and Tyler had to live with the
consequences of his generosity for two weeks. As long as they were
careful and no one else found out, they should be okay.

“
By the way,” her dad
glanced over at them as they headed for the surface parking area,
“he said he’d be showing us around his company tomorrow. Is that
something all family members get?”

“
No,” Tyler began, “but he
does do it for his friends’ families. It’s a perk.”

“
Well, that’s very nice,”
her mom added. “And so exciting. I’ve never checked out a travel
agency before.”

“
It’s just like any other
business,” Tiffany said.

“
Maybe, but this is where my
daughter and son-in-law work. That makes it special.”

Tiffany supposed so.

“
At Zoe’s work, co-workers
are discouraged from dating, let alone marrying,” her dad said when
they reached the parking lot. “Zoe didn’t believe us when we told
her your boss doesn’t have a similar policy.”

“
Nathan changed the policy
when he got married,” Tyler said then chuckled. “He had to. His
wife insisted that she keep working there.”

“
He married someone who
worked for him?” her mom asked, her expression indicating that she
was enjoying this little piece of gossip.

“
It’s a long story,” Tyler
replied as they got to his car. He unlocked the doors and opened
the trunk so he could put their suitcases in. “But yes, he married
someone who works in the company. In fact, her name is Amy, and she
works in the same building with Tiffany. I’m sure you’ll get to
meet her during the tour.”

“
Don’t you all work in the
same building?” her dad asked.

“
No. Tiffany works where
people come in to make their reservations,” Tyler replied. “I work
at the main headquarters.”

“
Just how big is the
company?”

“
Nathan just opened an
office along the Florida panhandle, but he wants to expand more in
the future.”

“
We all got to start
somewhere. No doubt, he’ll succeed.”

“
I’m sure he will. If anyone
is motivated to make things happen, it’s him.”

Tiffany bit back the urge to laugh. She
knew Tyler had meant it in a business sense, but there was no
denying Nathan made things happen on a personal level,
too.

Once they were in the car, Tiffany
relaxed a little. Her parents had never been to Omaha before, so
they were full of questions on what there was to do and where
things were. This saved her from having to talk since Tyler took
over answering all their questions, something she was grateful for.
It was hard for her to concentrate with so much going
on.

But at least the nauseous feeling in
her stomach finally eased. Maybe, just maybe, she’d get through the
next two weeks without feeling as if something horrible was going
to happen at any moment. It’d been hard to sleep the night before.
She kept having nightmares where Zoe came to Omaha and exposed her
for being a fraud, and her parents got so upset they disowned her.
She’d never been so glad for the alarm clock in her entire
life.

“
We’re staying here?” her
dad asked, bringing her attention to the hotel as Tyler pulled up
to the front doors.

Tiffany’s eyes grew wide. Yes, Tiffany
had heard it was nicer than most, but this place was like a
mini-paradise. Just from sitting in the car, she could see the
plush furnishings and the sparkling waterfall in the middle of the
lobby. The place had to cost a fortune. And her parents got it for
thirty dollars a night? Nathan had to be drowning in money to give
them that steep of a discount.

“
Nathan doesn’t do anything
halfway, does he?” Tiffany finally managed to ask once she found
her voice.

“
I feel underdressed,” her
dad said. “And I wore my good clothes.”

Tiffany glanced at the back seat and
blinked. Why didn’t she realize her dad was actually wearing a tie?
Because she was distracted with pretending to be Tyler’s wife and
praying they wouldn’t figure out the truth, that was why. Taking a
deep breath, she got out of the car and waited for the others to
join her.