More Than Friends (6 page)

“Where are we
going?”

“To my
place.”

“I don’t
think that’s a good idea, Justin.”

“That’s where
we disagree. I think it’s a great idea. Especially since I want to talk to
you.”

“Talk about
what?”

“Us.”

“There is no
us. I think we said it all this morning. There’s nothing else to say.”

“Let’s agree
to disagree.”

“You don’t
understand. Mel has reacted so badly, there never,
ever
can be an us.”

“Can we
forget Mel for a minute?” He glanced at her, his eyes icy blue with undisguised
annoyance. “
Please?
” He turned back to the road. “I don’t know why
you’re being so hard-headed about this. There’s something between us. Something
I’m sure neither of us has experienced before. We owe it to ourselves to see
where it will lead.” Justin pulled off the road, turning the SUV into an
underground car park.

When he
opened the door and got out, Lily followed. “You don’t get it, do you? Mel and
I have been friends forever. I can’t disregard her feelings and get into a
relationship with you.”

He rounded on
her. “Why the hell not, Lily? Huh?” He dragged his hand through his hair. “Why
can’t we be two people who find each other attractive and go with it?”

“It isn’t as simple
as that.”

“Why. Not?”
He slammed the door shut and stalked around the big SUV toward her. “Are you
telling me we have to ignore our feelings while Mel gets to see whomever the
hell she wants?”

“We can be
friends.” It broke her heart to utter the paltry offer.

His hands
shot out, grasped her around the waist, and he tugged her to him. “I don’t want
to be your damn friend.” His mouth landed on her an instant later. He kissed
her hard, and she melted against him. Lord, why couldn’t she have this? Have
Justin?

He tore his
mouth from hers. “I want to be more than friends, Lily. I want forever after,
don’t you understand?”

Anguish cut
through Lily. She wanted Justin, and she wanted Mel to be okay with it. But she
couldn’t see that happening.

“I—I want
that too.”

“So why are
you fighting it?”

“Mel is—”

“If you say
‘Mel is my friend’ one more time, I’m liable to go nuts.”

“Would you be
prepared to wait? Give me time to work on Mel, see if she’ll come around?”

“No. This has
nothing to do with her. It’s between you and me—nobody else. She doesn’t get to
dictate who I see, and she shouldn’t get to choose who you date either.”

“I’m not
letting her choose.”

“Prove it.
Phone her now.” He snatched his mobile from his pocket, held it out to her.
“Tell her you won’t be home tonight. Tell her you’re staying with me.”

She shook her
head. Mel had been a major hypocrite but Lily’s code of honour wouldn’t let her
do that to her friend. Especially when Mel had said she lied about not being in
love with Justin. Lily was yet to discover whether Mel had said so out of spite
or truth.

“Thought
not.” His facial muscles tensed into a rigid expression as he stepped back. He
blew out a breath. “Okay, you win.”

Why didn’t he
understand she couldn’t do this to Mel? “You didn’t see how hurt she was when I
told her about last night.”

“I said, you
win, Lily.” He yanked open the passenger door. “Get in, I’ll take you home.”
Their gazes met, held. “Or you could tell me to close this door, and come up to
my apartment with me.”

It should
have been an easy choice, but it wasn’t. Whatever she did, someone was going to
get hurt—she most of all. If things didn’t work out between her and Justin, she
would have lost her best friend for nothing.

Lily dropped
her gaze and climbed into the front seat.

*
* * *

By the
following Saturday morning Mel was speaking to her again, a conversation which
began when Mel spied Lily’s circled rental ads in the local paper.  

“Are you
planning to leave?” She held up the newspaper as she barged into Lily’s room.
“And when were you going to tell me?”

Lily pulled
her fingers from between her heel and the back of her running shoe. “Does this
mean you’re speaking to me again?”

“Don’t get
cute with me, I asked you a question.” Mel’s cheeks had taken on a hue of
exertion and her sharp breaths puffed at the disarrayed rich chocolate strands
of bed hair in front of her face. She jammed one hand on her Winnie the Pooh
pyjama-clad hip and glared at Lily, in no mood to be messed with.

That suited Lily
just fine because she wasn’t feeling all warm and fuzzy toward her friend,
either. “What does it look like?”

“So you’re
leaving?”

“As soon as I
find another flat.”

“Why?”

“Why do you
think?”

“Because we
had a fight?”

“No, because
you stopped speaking to me for a whole week. I feel like I have to walk on
eggshells around you. Use to be that we could trash out whatever the problem is
and move on.” Now that Lily had started she didn’t want to stop. “You are the
biggest hypocrite I ever came across! You cheated on our friendship with my
boyfriend, then had the almighty front to get your knickers in a twist because
I slept with your ex. At least
I
had enough decency to wait until you finish
with him before I gave into my feelings. So don’t you dare stand there all
offended because I’ve decided to move out.”

Lily jumped
from her sitting position on the end of the bed and stalked toward Mel who took
a hasty step back. “I won’t continue to live with someone who takes pleasure in
punishing me for a stupid mistake. I said I forgive you for sleeping with Wayne,
and I said I won’t be pursuing a relationship with Justin, but none of that is
good enough for you.”

Frustrated
tears stabbed at the surface of her eyes, and she pressed her fingers over her
lids. “I don’t know what more you want from me.” She pushed past Mel. “I’m
going for a run.”

Mel grabbed
her arm as she headed for the door. “I don’t want to lose you as my best
friend.” Tears glossed her eyes. “I don’t want us to end up like Abby and
Kate.”

“Nor do I.”

“Do you think
you can skip your run and let’s talk over a cup of tea?”

Restless
caged animals had nothing on Lily. “Can we talk after my run?” She needed to
get out, get some fresh air, and run off the awful ache that sat in her chest ever
since Justin dropped her off at her flat and drove away with a curt goodbye
that sounded so final, it broke her heart.

The entire
week she hadn’t stopped thinking about him. A few times, she even picked up her
mobile to call him, but cut off halfway through dialling. Besides, what would
she say?
You know how I said I can’t ever sleep with you again? Well I really
really want us to be friends because at least then I can see you occasionally, and
friendship is better than nothing
.

But he
already made his position clear—lovers or nothing at all.

“Okay, then.”
Mel released her arm. “Just give me a minute and I’ll join you.”

Within ten minutes,
they were stretching outside the building where their flat was situated. The
morning wasn’t all that great—more grey skies than blue with a hint of rain in
the air, but Lily didn’t care. If the park had been under snow twenty inches
deep, she’d still be running today.

Anyone who
knew Lily knew that if she was out on a run, she was dealing with emotional
stress, and it was best to let her run until she felt better able to handle her
problems.

Somehow, Lily
didn’t think running any amount of miles would help her to deal with the sting
of losing Justin. Which was crazy, it wasn’t as if they just ended a long-term
relationship. All they shared was one night, yet it was enough to derail Lily’s
entire existence.

Was she being
melodramatic? Perhaps, yet she’d never experienced such bone-deep attraction,
and it scared her to think she might have given up something spectacular.

Lily set the
pace, and Mel trudged beside her.

“I lied.” Mel
spoke so softly, Lily only just heard her.

She glanced
at Mel, who kept her focus straight ahead, as they followed the tree lined path.
“What about?”

“Justin....” She paused, and Lily waited for her to continue speaking,
the only sound that of their running shoes against the path that hugged the
park’s perimeter. “I’m not in love with him. I said it because I was hurt and
angry.”

Mel’s confession did little to ease the ache in Lily’s heart. Nothing
really had changed. “I see.”

“Don’t leave. I’m sorry for the way I treated you and as far as I’m
concerned, we never have to speak about what happened again.”

“Good idea.”

They ran on in silence.

“So does that mean you’re going to stay?”

“Yes.” She hadn’t found any suitable flats, anyway. The few she’d circled
weren’t to her liking, but she would have settled for one of them temporarily
until she found something better.

Mel grinned. “I’m glad. You scared me half to death thinking you were
going to leave me all alone in that flat.”

“You would have found another roomie.”

“Do you know how hard it is to find a decent flatmate?”

“You’re right. No one else would put up with your mess.” Lily chuckled as
she picked up the pace, leaving Mel huffing and puffing to catch up.

* * * *

Another week crawled
by, and it was all Lily could do not to drag her feet. Most nights she went to
bed early only to sleep badly, and while her relationship with Mel was on
better footing, she resented her friend’s selfish determination to stick to
that stupid rule, which ensured she could never be with Justin.

Well, she
could if she didn’t mind hurting Mel!

Late on
Friday night, Mel bounded into her room.

“Guess what?”
She dropped onto the bed, almost landing on Lily’s foot.

Lily shifted
closer to the left side of the bed to make room for Mel. She shut down her
electronic eBook reader and forced a smile. “What?”

“I met
someone.”

“I’m very
happy for you.”

“Come on,
Lil.”

Lily drew in
a deep breath then released it. She really wasn’t up to this. “Okay, where did
you meet him?” Because Mel expected it, she pretended interest in Mel’s new
relationship when she seriously didn’t care.

“At work.”

“That’s
nice.” She stifled a yawn, her sleep pattern had grown even worse, leaving her
tired all the time. “Tell me all about it tomorrow.” Lily turned over and
reached for the lamp switch. “I can’t wait.” Did Mel detect the lack of
enthusiasm?

“
Lily
.”

Evidently
not.

She sighed,
dropping her hand from the switch. Obviously she was going to have to play the
game right to the end. “What’s his name?”

“Liam.”

“What does he
do?”

“He’s a
consultant. He works on the tenth floor.”

At least she
saved Lily a question.

“Oh, Lil, I
think he’s the one. We hooked up after work for drinks, and when he kissed me,
I swear I saw stars...”

Mel babbled
on, gushing and declaring true love at long last and all Lily could think was,
thank God she was heading off tomorrow on a teambuilding residential, because
she was extraordinarily close to strangling the life right out of Mel.

*
* * *

Justin was on
his way to meet with buyers for a golfing weekend. If he could have gotten out
of it, he would’ve, but his second in command was off sick with flu so it was
left to him to persuade the buyers into a three million pound deal.

Normally that
would have been an easy walk but his head wasn’t in the game—not since Lily had
made it clear that she chose her friendship with Mel over him. If she had
agreed to take things slow, he would have understood, but she’d climbed into
his car and sat in icy silence the entire journey to her place.  It had been
hard, but he’d resisted the urge to beg her to give them a chance. To make her
see that Mel would get over herself eventually.

He lost count
of the times he caught himself about to phone her. On a few occasions, he drove
by their building hoping to catch sight of her. Thank God he never did, because
he seriously doubted she’d be impressed or that he wouldn’t shame himself by
begging her to love him like some poor lovesick loser.

He shifted
gear, vigilant for his turning. It was obvious she didn’t feel anything as
strong for him as he felt for her. Finally he decided to forget her. A ton of
women wanted him, why was he tripping over himself to get this one?

Spotting the
turnoff, he swung off the main road into the gated entrance of the lavish golf
club. Trees lined the long drive on either side and pristine flower gardens
offered a brightly coloured foreground to the manicured course beyond. The sun
was bright, the sky a clear blue and suddenly Justin knew he was going to have
a splendid weekend.

He might even
hook up with one of the beauties he was sure would be spending the weekend here,
and do something he never thought himself capable of—have anonymous sex.

Tapping his
fingers against the steering wheel of his SUV in time to the beat coming from
his stereo system, he grinned.

He just might
do that.

*
* * *

Set in three
hundred acres of stunning parkland, the grounds surrounding Crystal Heights
Gold Resort and Spa, was anybody’s definition of luxury. Lily stepped out of
her Prius, jammed in amongst the expensive cars filling the car park, and
stretched. She was glad to have some time away from Mel, but she wasn’t looking
forward to the long weekend of activities Mr Cummings, and his sickeningly
perky assistant had in store for his Sales team, starting with cocktails
tonight.