Best Man...with Benefits Read online

  “So? Are you free Saturday night? For dinner?”

  “This Saturday? Um, sure, I guess.” Truthfully, she wasn’t thrilled at the idea of dinner for three when it included Seth.

  But it turned out Amy had something quite different in mind. “Seth wants Jackson to come for dinner, too.”

  Her heart made an uncomfortable bumping motion inside her chest. “Jackson’s coming, too?” She was sure she sounded less than thrilled.

  “Yes. Well, what can I do? He is Seth’s best friend. But not to worry. We both didn’t want to stick you with each other when you don’t get along, so we decided to invite two other people.”

  The way she said the words “two other people” made Lauren suspicious. She hadn’t said “couple,” which made it sound as though she’d invited two other singles along with Lauren and Jackson. Amy fiddled with her knife and fork instead of looking straight at Lauren.

  “Who are these other two people?” Lauren asked.

  “Don’t get weird, okay? It’s not a setup. Not exactly. Daniel is in banking. He just got moved here from London and doesn’t know many people. His family and Seth’s family go way back. So Seth thought it would be nice to invite him. He’s single and very eligible. We stopped in London on our way back from Italy and I met him. I tell you, if I wasn’t totally in love with Seth, I’d go for him. He’s hot. And that sexy British accent—mmm.”

  Of course, Amy couldn’t even begin to know what an awkward situation she was setting up. “You know I hate blind dates.”

  “It’s not a blind date. It’s six people having dinner together.”

  “Who’s the sixth?”

  “Someone we thought Jackson might like. You remember Sylvia? Who I used to work with?”

  “The architect?” Her voice rose slightly. Sylvia Yang wasn’t only an architect, she was one of those people with so many accomplishments she was completely intimidating. She’d been a championship rower in university, spoke her parents’ Cantonese plus a few other languages, was on the fast track with the architecture firm she’d joined, and she was stunning to look at. “I can’t believe she’s single.”

  “I know. She was dating a hotshot lawyer for a while, but they were both so busy they hardly ever saw each other. I think she’s getting to an age where she’s thinking of settling down.”

  Well, good luck with that if she thought Jackson was ready to settle down.

  “We’re going to cook an authentic Tuscan meal. We brought home the most incredible olive oil and, well, trust me, it’s going to be great.”

  Yeah, right. But how could she turn down her best friend?

  * * *

  JACKSON AND SETH played squash at Seth’s club after work. It was a routine they’d established when they’d first ended up working in the same area, Seth for his family’s real estate firm and Jackson for the start-up.

  After the game and shower, they met up in the lounge for a beer. Seth rubbed his wedding ring as though he was still getting used to it.

  “How’s married life?” Jackson asked him. They hadn’t had time to talk since the semi-drunk honeymoon phone call.

  “It’s great. Amy’s an angel.”

  “Good. So you got over your first fight?”

  Seth laughed, a boisterous ha ha ha, as though he’d forgotten he’d ever called. “Yeah. It was the stress of the wedding, that’s why we had the fight. I looked it up on the internet. Do you have any idea how high on the stress scale getting married is?” He rubbed his wedding ring again, polishing it the way Aladdin polished his lamp. “I mean it’s right up there with divorce and death. I had no idea.”

  Jackson wasn’t sure that comparing marriage to divorce and death when you hadn’t even been married a month was a great sign. However, Seth obviously didn’t want to talk about it, which was fine with him.

  “So, we bought all this crazy good stuff in Italy and we’re cooking Saturday night. Can you come?”

  “For dinner? With newlyweds?” He felt nauseous at the idea of being stuck with Seth and Amy while they cooed at each other.

  “Not only us. Amy wants to invite Lauren, obviously.”

  He had a momentary glimpse, a fleeting memory of Lauren walking toward him, swinging her leg over and settling herself on his lap. “Lauren’s coming?” His voice came out slightly hoarse and he had to clear his throat.

  “Don’t worry. We won’t stick you with her all night. We’re adding a couple of other people to the mix.”

  “Define other people.”

  Seth got a kind of cagey look about him. “Look, it was Amy’s idea and I have to do what the little woman says.” He had actually called her “the little woman.” Jackson was so stunned it took him a while to hear the next words that came out of Seth’s mouth. He had to concentrate, rewind and catch up. By which time it seemed as if Seth and Amy were so pleased with each other and married life that they were going into the matchmaking business.

  “Wait,” he said. “Let me get this straight. You’re inviting two other single people to your dinner? One for me and one for Lauren?”

  Seth looked embarrassed, as he should. Since when did guys engage in matchmaking? Might as well get out the pink wool and start knitting toilet roll covers with yellow woolen roses on top. “It’s not a big deal. We didn’t want you and Lauren taking chunks out of each other at the dinner table, that’s all.”

  When he thought about taking chunks out of Lauren he thought of the way her skin tasted when he nibbled on it and the sounds she made when he grazed his teeth lightly over her nipple. Being set up with another woman while she was in the room was going to be interesting. Not that he and Lauren would ever go on a date or anything. Obviously, this sex thing was a temporary madness that would burn itself out. Still, he was curious. “Does Lauren know about this?”

  “Yeah. I guess. Amy told her when they had lunch.”

  “And she was okay with it?”

  “I think so.”

  And why should that make him feel weird? It was stupid to think she was saving herself for him, but somehow he’d assumed that neither of them were sleeping with other people. What would he do if he found out she was having sex with another guy? Or guys?

  He thought about it and knew the answer. First, she wouldn’t have sex with him if there were other options, any more than he’d welcome her into his bed if he had another woman in his life. They didn’t like each other. They were obviously sleeping with each other because that was the best option available.

  He thought that if someone else came along, maybe the champion rower architect, he’d be ready to move on.

  Probably.

  No doubt Lauren felt the same way.

  “Who have you lined up for Lauren?” He pretty much knew all the guys Seth knew and couldn’t imagine any of them appealing to Lauren, who seemed to him to be impossible to please outside the bedroom.

  “Guy named Daniel Putnam. You don’t know him. His dad’s a friend of my dad. He got transferred to San Francisco from London. He’s a stock analyst for one of the big banks.” Seth seemed to scan his memory for anything else he could add. “Plays polo.”

  “Polo?” Guy sounded like a total dud. Lauren would hate him.

  “Well, he’s British,” Seth said as though that explained it.

  Jackson dreaded the dinner from that moment on. He’d have bailed, pretended he had other plans, but he couldn’t. If Lauren was going to go through with a dinner that included newlyweds, a man she hated but was sleeping with, and two other singles, then he was going to go through with it, too.

  One thing he knew for certain, it would be an interesting evening.

  9

  WHAT DID YOU WEAR to a dinner party both your blind date and your secret lover would be attending? Lauren asked herself the question as she flipped through her wardrobe one more time.

  It wasn’t an extensive wardrobe. Mostly, her clothes ran to jeans, the kinds of shirts that she could burn, stain with metallic oxides or generally ruin, and a fe
w nice outfits for going out. Most of which she’d already worn for Amy’s wedding-related events. She’d never known how much socializing was involved in getting married.

  She called Amy, as she always did when she had a clothing dilemma. “What should I wear for dinner Saturday?”

  Amy knew her wardrobe as well as Lauren did, and it didn’t take her long to mentally scan it. There was a short pause before she said, “What about the cotton wrap dress? It shows off your figure and the color’s great on you.”

  It was the same dress Jackson had unwrapped just a few nights ago, which made the dress seem like a very bad idea. If she wore it, she knew he’d get the wrong idea. “I don’t think it’s good enough for British aristocracy,” she said.

  Amy laughed. “Every man who plays polo in England is not aristocracy. Why don’t you borrow something? I’ve got more clothes than I can ever wear.” Amy wasn’t boasting. They’d known each other so long, she was simply being honest. She loved shopping and money had never been an issue for her, which meant she owned way too many clothes, and too much stuff in general.

  “Please. I’m not a charity case.”

  “We always borrow each other’s clothes,” Amy said, sounding mystified. It was true, although, admittedly, it was usually Lauren who borrowed Amy’s much nicer clothes, but the possibility that Jackson might recognize her wearing one of Amy’s outfits made her skin crawl with hot embarrassment. Not that he’d probably even recognize any of Amy’s clothes, but she’d know she was wearing borrowed feathers. Likely Seth would, too, and he might tell Jackson.

  “I think I need to go shopping,” she said. “I’m a big girl. I should get some more going-out clothes.”

  “Ooh, excellent. I haven’t had good retail therapy since—” Lauren paused. “Okay, since my honeymoon two weeks ago. But this is different.”

  “And I need your help.”

  “Cool.”

  So they went shopping. Lauren spent most of her money investing in her business, but for once she listened to Amy and decided to splurge on an outfit. She went with a local designer Amy knew about whose prices reflected the fact that she hadn’t been discovered yet.

  “Yes,” Amy announced when she tried on a summer-blue dress that hugged her waist and flowed over her hips.

  Naturally, a new dress needed shoes. And then Amy had to try on a few dresses and shoes of her own. “Because I got so fat in Italy, I can’t fit into anything.” She always had an excuse for spending money.

  “How about coffee?” Lauren asked as they strolled past a coffee shop.

  “How about lipstick?” Amy countered, pointing across the street. “You should update your cosmetics every season, you know.”

  When they headed out of Sephora, Amy turned to her, her eyes sparkling. They were both wearing their new lipstick colors and carrying bags replete with their updated cosmetics. “Brit boy won’t be able to keep his eyes off you. Trust me.”

  “Amy,” she said, feeling as if she needed to tell her best friend about her and Jackson. But when she tried to form the words to explain, nothing came to her.

  Amy stared at her for a second and then said, “It’s only dinner. We’ll have fun.”

  “And Jackson’s definitely coming still?” She fumbled as one of her bags threatened to slip. “I mean, I don’t want to feel like a third wheel with Ms. Champion Rower and The Brit.”

  “Yes, he’s definitely coming.”

  Happily burdened with shopping bags, and not so happily burdened with her secret, she headed home, where Lauren was struck with guilt over the chunk of change she’d put on her credit card and promptly went to work on a new line of wine holders for the winery. Stock was low and the holders provided a nice stream of extra income for her.

  Besides, keeping her hands busy and her mind focused helped her ignore the jumpy feeling she had about Saturday.

  * * *

  BEFORE SHE KNEW IT, Lauren was standing in front of Amy and Seth’s door holding a bottle of the cabernet that she’d last drunk while lying naked in bed with Jackson.

  Stop it! she ordered herself, and she rang the bell.

  Amy opened the door wearing a stunning skirt, the blouse she’d bought on their shopping trip and yet a different pair of Italian shoes that smote Lauren with envy.

  “You look fantastic,” Amy said, pulling her in for a hug.

  “You, too.”

  Amy dropped her voice to a near whisper. “Wait till you see him. He’s even cuter than I remembered.” Amy fanned herself. “His accent is so much sexier in America than it was in the UK, where everyone sounds like him.”

  Chatter and soft music drifted from the living room, and after thanking her for the wine, Amy led her into the house.

  “Lauren,” Seth said, rising from his seat and coming forward for a hug. “Great to see you.”

  “Hi, Seth. Good to see you, too.”

  “Come on in. I think you know everyone but Daniel.”

  She walked in and felt Jackson’s presence as strongly as if they were alone, naked and touching. How did he do that to her? Her gaze went unerringly to his.

  He looked so good. He’d made a real effort with his appearance, she noted, for Sylvia Yang no doubt. His eyes were ridiculously blue in the navy shirt he wore, no doubt, for that very reason. His pants were hipster narrow and he wore leather shoes that looked brand-new.

  Out to impress, was he?

  With effort, she dragged her gaze away from Jackson to the man who had risen and was advancing on her with his hand outstretched. Wow, was her first thought. Amy hadn’t exaggerated. He really was exceptionally good-looking. Daniel had hair so brown it was almost black, and sleepy dark eyes that were oddly out of sync with his prep-school smile. He wore a blazer with an open-necked shirt, gray trousers and hip-looking boots. He could’ve been a model in an ad for British cologne.

  As he took her hand he pulled her closer and kissed her cheek. Smooth, she thought. Practiced.

  “Pleasure to meet you, Lauren,” he said. Amy was right. The accent was definitely sexy.

  “Nice to meet you, too.”

  “Come sit beside me and tell me all about America,” Daniel said, drawing her over to the seat beside his.

  “America’s a pretty big place,” she said, settling beside him and accepting the glass of prosecco Seth handed her. They were going Italian all the way tonight.

  She sipped the bubbly wine.

  “Then tell me how to make myself agreeable to American women,” he said, a teasing light in his eye that suggested he didn’t think he was going to have any trouble doing just that.

  “I doubt we’re very different from British women. What works there will probably work here.”

  “But there are cultural differences, surely.”

  “If you want to make yourself agreeable to American women, you should talk to Jackson over there. He certainly thinks he knows how to please women.”

  “I don’t hear any complaints,” Jackson said, giving her a look that suggested she was plenty pleased with him.

  “American women are very polite,” she said. “They don’t want to hurt a man’s feelings.”

  “And some American women are impossible to please,” he argued back.

  “Don’t mind these two,” Amy said brightly. “They always insult each other like this.”

  It was crazy. Insane even, but exchanging insults with Jackson was making her hot. She glanced at him and got the momentary impression that it was having the same effect on him.

  She turned back to Daniel. “Amy said you got transferred here with your job. What exactly is it you do?” Not that she was all that interested, but if she kept talking to Daniel, she could ignore Jackson.

  “I’m basically a stock analyst. I research companies, stay on top of trends and make recommendations for our private banking team.”

  “Wow. That sounds—” boring “—um, interesting.”

  “It wouldn’t be everybody’s cup of tea but I enjoy the work. Lot
of stress, of course. Billions of dollars are at stake, but so far I’ve managed to do all right.”

  Obviously more than all right since his transfer was also a promotion, according to Amy.

  An interruption occurred when the door chimed again and Sylvia Yang entered the room. Lauren’s first thought was that she was glad she’d splurged on a new outfit and cosmetics. Everything about Sylvia screamed success. Her red dress was obviously designer, and Lauren remembered admiring that same summer handbag in the window of the Furla store. After greetings had been exchanged and she’d been introduced to Daniel and Jackson, Sylvia settled beside Jackson. For tonight, at least, it was clear who was paired with whom.

  Once they’d resettled, and Seth had poured Sylvia a drink, Lauren heard Jackson ask her about her work. A safe topic, and Sylvia seemed happy to talk.

  “And what about you, Lauren? What is it that you do?” Daniel asked, bringing her attention back to him.

  “I make stained glass.”

  “You mean, like, church windows?”

  Amy jumped in. “Lauren makes the most incredible contemporary art out of colored glass. Come and see what she made Seth and me for our wedding gift.”

  “Oh, no, really,” Lauren said feeling like a kid whose mother forces them to play the piano for company.

  But Amy was already up and Daniel rose, too. What else could the poor guy do when Amy was so insistent? “She designed it specially for us. There was already a window in the landing, but it was so boring. Wait until you see what she created.”

  Daniel followed Amy, and to her horror, Sylvia rose, too. “I’d love to see your work.” And then Jackson tagged along, as well. Only Seth stayed behind. “I’ll get started on the antipasto,” he said, but Amy was so busy singing her praises that Lauren doubted she heard.

  When the tour group reached the landing there was still enough light to reflect the blues and soft grays of the piece. Amy said, “You should see it in the morning sun. It’s like waking up to sun and waves. We love it.”