Modern Girl's Guide to Friends With Benefits (19 page)

Sarah held up her phone and took a step back. "I just wanted them for my scrapbook. You don't have to worry. I won't tell anyone about them."

"I don't care if it's for an aunt with cancer. You need to delete those photos or I'll do it for you."

Sarah tucked the phone into her purse. "I promise not to post them on the internet or anything. Meeting you has been exciting and I just want something to remember it by. I've never had a friend who was famous."

Megan took a few steps in Sarah's direction, fully prepared to snatch the phone out of her purse and delete the photos herself, but Connor caught her arm, stopping her advance.

"We should go," Connor said.

Megan was seeing red as Connor pulled her to the exit door.
How dare that woman?
"Listen, just because you've read a few of my books doesn't mean you know me," she yelled at her, directing all her pent-up frustration her direction. "You have no right to insert yourself in my life. To take pictures of me. Back the fuck off. I am not my books. And we are not friends."

"Come on, Megan," he urged.

The door closed behind them, the stupid bell's jingling drowning out Patrick's excuses. As if she wanted him to make excuses for her. That woman had some nerve. Megan bent down and picked up Benny, snuggling her nose in his soft fur. Everything in her life was turning to shit. Not even her personal sanctuary was safe anymore.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Connor asked, real concern lining his face. "If there's something you need, you know I'll do whatever I can to help."

Megan held Benny tighter and tried to hold back the tears that were stinging the back of her throat. She wasn't going to cry. It would just give that pushy woman another compromising photo to put in her fucking scrapbook. She could almost imagine the caption.
This is the day I made that bitchy author cry.

"I'm fine," Megan sniffed. "I just want to get home."

It had been a long, strange day. Peter never thought he'd be taking instruction from his bratty little sister, but after only a few minutes, he realized she'd changed a lot of things over the past six months. Their father had started Hacienda Lawn and Garden service twenty-five years ago with two employees and ten clients. And while the business had grown to over sixty employees and hundreds of clients spread across the city, he had run the company pretty much the same since they'd opened.

In less than a year, Jesse had managed to pull the company into the twenty-first century. Peter had been helping her with the accounts from New York, but now that she was training him on the scheduling system and GPS-enabled dispatch program, he could see the impact her changes were making within the company.

"There's not much else we can do today. You have the on-call list. Anything under three inches, go by the list. If it's over three, call in more guys, because you'll have to do multiple passes. We'll go over this later. There's a system developing out west," she pointed to a group of monitors hanging on the wall that were displaying various weather maps. "I have a feeling that the jet stream is going to shift and it's going to hit our area. School doesn't start for another two weeks, so I'd like it if you came in and shadowed me when it counts."

"I think that would be for the best." Peter looked around at all the new equipment and down at his notepad. There was no way he'd remember everything she told him. "When you said you were making some improvements, I had no idea."

"Dad built this business from the ground up. I just want to make sure it's around for another thirty years." Jesse looked around the room and smiled. "I knew this was what I wanted to do the first time he took me to a job site and let me plant hostas."

"Well, you're doing a damn fine job. I'm glad I'm able to help."

"Sorry I came off like such a bitch the other night," she said. "I was a little worried you might say no. I know you've been so busy with your own company. And then there's whatever is going on between you and Megan."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he hedged, hoping she hadn't figured out what he and Meg had been up to.

"Don't give me that. I saw the way you were watching her at Christmas. And the way she was trying to avoid you. At first I thought you two were fighting again, but then I caught her looking at you. If I didn't know her, I'd swear it looked like she was pining after you. There's something new going on. I can tell."

"It's complicated."

"Oh, my God! You slept with her." Peter tried to deny it, but Jesse bulldozed over his dismissal. "After all these years, I can't believe it. So, what? Are you guys dating now? Is it serious? It has to be serious. You guys have been friends so long. You know Mom is going to start planning a wedding the second she finds out. And what does Simon think about it?"

Peter looked down at his feet, unable to meet her eyes. Jesse loved Meg and what he was about to say sounded bad. "Simon doesn't know. No one knows. Please don't tell anyone else."

"What do you mean, no one knows? Why would you keep it a secret?"

"Like I said, it's complicated." He looked up, meeting her eyes for the first time. Jesse's arms were crossed and her lips were pulled down in a frown. "She and I agreed it would be better this way."

"Peter, please tell me that you two are dating."

"I'd be open to that, but it's not what she wants."

"Megan isn't just one of your easy hookups. She's Megan. Your best friend. Your business partner's little sister. She's like part of our family. I'm pretty sure Mamá loves her more than she loves me. If you screw this up—"

"I know!" he shouted. Peter closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fuck! This was never supposed to happen."

"And now that it has?" she asked, not giving him an inch. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know," he said, honestly. "You know Meg. She's a force of nature. Every time I turn around the wind has shifted. I've just been white-knuckling it, hoping that everything turns out fine in the end."

"That has to be the most stupid thing I think I've ever heard you say. You never let anything just happen to you. So there has to be some reason why you're not making a decision."

"She said she doesn't want a relationship. Hell, this morning she was going on about a code word so we could keep our relationship secret."

"But what do you want?"

"I don't want to screw this up." Peter slumped down into the chair. He hadn't realized how true that statement was until now. He needed Megan in his life. He wanted her in his bed. And he was terrified that he was going to lose both. "About six years ago, we veered into this territory. Megan had just been dumped and came to my house. There was wine and tears and then things got physical. I stopped because knew it wasn't right. It wasn't about us. She was just trying to ease her pain. I'm worried that it still isn't about us."

"Weren't you the one who told me that if I didn't take big risks, I'd never get the big reward? If you think there's something there, take the risk." Jesse collected her things and turned back to him before she left. "I'm rooting for you, brother. I've seen you two together. And honestly, I'm surprised it took you guys this long to figure out that you're perfect for each other."

She walked out, leaving Peter feeling more certain than ever that something had to change. He knew pushing Meg was a big gamble, but she was worth the risk.

Chapter Twelve

Modern Girl Tip #12 Green Isn't An Attractive Color:
Jealousy will kill your relationship. When you see your FWB with another woman, run the other way. Remember, he's not yours to keep. You're both allowed to see other people. That's a big part of a friends with benefits agreement. Your relationship at best should be good friends with large amounts of nudity. Not jealousy or possessiveness.

Peter was two hours late, and there was still a line of limos waiting around the block. The Widows and Orphans' Fund New Year's Eve Gala was one of the biggest events of the season. Held at the Palmer House, the crème de la crème of Chicago's society shelled out big bucks to be seen.

Outside of the two-thousand-dollar-a-plate dinner, the event also held a silent auction filled with art and sports memorabilia, and attracted business owners, actors, and society movers and shakers. This wasn't Peter's normal crowd, but it was one of the few social events he always attended. Besides being good for business, the gala brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars for Chicago's finest.

When his limo finally pulled up outside the Hollywood-style entrance of the Palmer House, Peter exited the car to a flurry of flashes from the press area that nearly blinded him. But by the time he'd adjusted his tuxedo jacket, the paparazzi realized he was no one of importance and went back to watching the line of limos.

He didn't mind one bit. When traveling with Simon or Megan, Peter often found his photograph featured in the gossip columns. Even Matt, who was from old Chicago money, had attracted some attention in his day as a wealthy, eligible bachelor. But Peter was just a middle-class kid who'd met the right people and gotten lucky. And while he was occasionally featured on the arm of a Chicago darling, he liked to keep out of the spotlight.

Without a second glance at the predatory photographers waiting on the sidelines, Peter hurried into the hotel and made his way up to the fourth-floor ballroom. The dinner part of the evening was over and the gala was in full swing.

On the far side of the room, a twenties-style big band was set up, filling the room with a nostalgic blend of horns and sultry vocals. Groups of fashionably dressed people mingled, discussing, no doubt, the latest gossip. Peter skillfully avoided the various tribes of partygoers milling about as he navigated the room, searching for his people.

Near the bar, he found their table. Now he just needed to get Meg alone. They needed to talk, sooner rather than later. Jesse had been right about one thing—it was time he made a choice. Hopefully, after tonight all of the secrecy and lying could stop, and they could be together. There were four empty chairs at the table, but she wasn't there.

"We were beginning to wonder if you were going to show tonight," Matt said when he took his seat.

"Something came up at work," he said, scanning the crowd.

"Anything you need help with?"

He really didn't want to get into it. When you worked with friends, it was hard to find a balance. They'd always kept their business and personal lives separate. Sure, there were times that couldn't be done, but not tonight. Tonight, business could wait. Someone else was working on the issue and it would keep until Monday.

"It's handled," Peter said. He turned to his friend's wife and took her hand. "You're looking good, Beth." And she was. Beth was a knockout, even heading into the last month of her pregnancy. He took her hand and kissed it, then turned back to his friend. "You, on the other hand, look like shit. You look like you've just been on a five-day bender."

"I feel like I've been on a bender, only minus the fun," Matt said, stifling a yawn. "I'm not sure I've slept three hours straight in the last month. Beth is so restless and she gets up in the middle of the night and cooks. I'm actually looking forward to the baby. It has to be more restful than this."

Beth elbowed him. "If you didn't insist I start my maternity leave early, I wouldn't be so restless."

"We had an agreement," Matt said. "You'd continue working full time, including the trips out of the country, until the last trimester. It's just too risky." He rubbed her belly and leaned down to talk to it. "I don't want anything to happen to you or Izzy."