Best Friends and Other Lovers by J. F. KAUFMANN

Author:J. F. KAUFMANN
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: man/woman romance, second chance romances, love stories, best friends romance, contemporary romance
Publisher: Aurora Books
Published: 2020-07-09T00:00:00+00:00

TED DROVE ME HOME. I invited him in for a drink. And held my breath, afraid he would decline.

He didn’t.

“I NEED TO ASK YOU SOMETHING,” he said as he took my coat and hung it on the rack in the hallway.

Diedre was still lingering on the periphery of my mind, and I didn’t like the thought that popped into my head. “If you’re going to tell me that your fiancée wants me as her bridesmaid, I’m afraid I must say no. No way.”

Stupid.

Ted removed his coat and hooked it up beside mine. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d think you were jealous, Deanna Carter.”

“But you know me better, Theodore Wrangel,” I said, resting my eyes, for no apparent reason, on our coats. His was navy blue, knee-length, made of the finest wool; mine was ivory white and long. They looked good together.

I shook my head and pressed the switch to turn on the lights in the living room.

He placed his hand at the small of my back as we walked through the hallway. “It’s not about Diedre, and it’s not about the wed—” He stopped as my living room came into sight. “What the hell has happened here?”

I flashed him a grin. “You don’t like it?”

“No, not really,” he said, after taking another glance. “Why did you repaint the walls? Again.”

“I needed a change,” I said and tugged him in. “What’s wrong with this color?”

“It’s awful.”

“I like it.” I shrugged and went to the kitchen to make him a drink. I didn’t like it, but what the heck. I could always repaint it. Or just let the future tenant deal with it.

When I returned, Ted was sitting on my beige sofa, looking around the room with a bemused smile. I passed him my water bottle to open. Then he took his glass with a finger of cognac.

The central light was off, but Ted had turned the floor lamps on. It helped to mute the irritating brightness of the wall paint. I kicked off my shoes and intended to snuggle in the armchair across from the sofa.

“Not there,” Ted said, patting the spot next to him. “Here, please.”

I gave him an inquiring look.

“Please, Dee.”

“Okay.” I circled the coffee table and sat beside him cross-legged, facing him. My gaze moved across his tired and worried face. Ted lifted his hand and rubbed his forehead.

I placed my hands on his shoulders. His muscles were hard and tense. In a spontaneous gesture, I started kneading them gently. “Migraine?”

“No.”

“What’s wrong, then?” I asked. “Tell me.”

He closed his eyes for a moment and let out a deep breath. “Besides some things I can’t control?”

“Like what?”

He shook his head. “Never mind.”

“Can I help?”

His eyes opened and he rested his brilliant blue gaze on me. Even after all these years, Ted’s eyes, so vivid that you could see them from the other side of the room, still fascinated me. Sometimes I wondered how it would feel to see a pair of such incredible eyes first thing in the morning smiling down at me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.