Secret Fires: A Standalone Romance by Candace Camp & Anastasia Hopcus

Author:Candace Camp & Anastasia Hopcus [Camp, Candace & Hopcus, Anastasia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Clutch Books LLC
Published: 2021-05-23T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Stephanie stared at Jill for a moment, then exclaimed, “Neil’s not in love with me—we just started dating!”

Jill’s pretty lips thinned into a vicious line. “No? Ask anybody. Everyone who saw Neil with you knew. The only ones too dumb to figure it out were you and Ty. Neil always wanted you, but he was too noble to try to steal you from his best friend. I never had a chance with him!” Her nostrils flared with anger. “No matter what I did or how good I looked, I couldn’t ever compete because I wasn’t you.”

Stephanie couldn’t pull her thoughts together enough to say anything. It was crazy. How could Neil have been in love with her for years and years and she’d never even picked up a clue? That was certainly not something she would put on her resume as an investigative reporter. Maybe Jill was only lashing out in hurt because Neil had rejected her. That must be it. Stephanie groped for something to say. “Neil and I were good friends, but there was never anything going on between us. Not until a few weeks ago. Maybe you saw our close friendship, and in your mind you turned it into something it wasn’t.”

Jill laughed humorlessly. “No. You’ve been blind.” She turned to leave, flinging a parting shot over her shoulder. “I hope Neil’s happy now that he’s gotten what he always wanted.” Her tone indicated the exact opposite of her words.

Stephanie watched the woman walk away, then looked back down at her food. Her appetite had vanished. She piled the containers together on the tray and swept them into the trash. Shakily she gathered her package and purse and left. As she went to her car, she ran over Jill’s assertions in her mind. Neil and Ty were best friends; she and Neil had gotten along well themselves; and the three of them had been together a lot. Perhaps that had started rumors. Pete Cherneski had jokingly called them ‘the thruple,’ but surely their teammates hadn’t actually thought there was anything to the nickname.

If Neil had felt anything more for her, he would have told her at some point. Or would he? Stephanie had to admit that it would fit Neil’s personality to love her without letting on. He was too loyal to hurt Ty and too kind to saddle her with the knowledge of his unrequited feelings. He was also the only person she knew who had the iron will it would take to love someone they saw all the time without ever expressing it.

Now that she thought about it, Stephanie remembered a few occasions when she had caught Neil watching her with a dark, pained expression. There had been the time he had danced with her because Ty was taking shots with the guys and her favorite song had come on in the bar. Then suddenly Neil had pulled away as if he were angry and stalked out of the room. His tirade the other

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