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“Didn’t you have another assignment lined up?” I ask. “I thought that was where you’d been for the last few weeks.”
“I made that up.”
“You mean you’ve been in New York all this time? With Lexi?”
“Yeah. I was due to be away for three weeks, and had allowed for editing as well, so I had plenty of time to kill. The problem was, when you took away the sun, sand, beaches and lack of clothes… it just wasn’t the same. We both knew it almost straight away, and it was only a matter of time before one of us said something.”
“I don’t see the problem. Not if you both feel the same way.”
“The problem is, I plucked up the courage to break it off with her last weekend… only rather than coming straight out with it, I told her I had to get back to Boston. That wasn’t strictly true. I don’t have anything lined up until next week, but I thought I’d make my escape and call her. It felt easier to end it over the phone.”
“Coward,” Ella mutters.
“I know. I’m not proud of myself, but my plan backfired anyway.”
“How?” I ask.
“Because she said she was going there, too. I hadn’t expected that… or the invitation she issued to a friend’s birthday party. That was the last thing I needed when I knew I was about to break up with her. Only I couldn’t think of a reason to get out of it.”
“So you went?”
“Yeah. And when I was there, I met her sister… a—and I fell for her.”
I can’t hide my surprise and I lean back a little, staring at him. “You fell for her?”
“Don’t sound so shocked. It might have been quick, but…”
“It’s not the speed,” Ella says, leaning forward so she can see him around me. “It’s the fact that we’re talking about you and love in the same sentence.”
“Thanks.” He lowers his head, and I turn and glare at Ella. She shrugs her shoulders, and I’m tempted to tell her to be a little more tactful. Okay, I may have been thinking exactly the same thing, but there was no need to say it out loud.
“I know how easy it is to fall,” I say to him, and he looks up again, nodding his head.
“It just happened… in the blink of an eye. But now I don’t know what to do. I spent the entire evening talking to Lexi’s sister, not Lexi. Obviously, it was damn awkward when she realized who I was, but what could I say? I’d already fallen for her by then. I know she’s the one for me, and I’ve broken things off with Lexi. It’s the right thing to do, for all of us, but how can I possibly ask her sister out?”
“You can’t,” Ella says. “Even if Lexi doesn’t care – which you can’t know for sure, when it’s her sister who’s involved – I don’t see how you can possibly hope to make it work. Her sister’s gonna think you’re the worst kind of player there is.”
“That’s what I thought.” Drew shakes his head, letting out a long sigh before he turns to me. “I came to your office on Friday to ask your advice.”
“Sorry. I wasn’t having the best day.”
“That’s okay.” He shakes his head. “But what I was gonna ask was, do you think it might help if I waited a while?”
I shrug my shoulders. “I think that depends on what you mean by ‘a while’?”
“I don’t know… as long as it takes, I guess.”
I put my hand on his arm. “I know this is a new concept for you, but you could try making friends with her.”
“Make friends?” he says, tilting his head. “With a woman?”
Ella laughs, and leans forward again, so she can see Drew. “It’s not impossible, you know?”
“It is for me.” He shakes his head. “I’ve never had a female friend in my life. I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“You could try calling her,” Ella suggests.
“And then what? If I ask her for a coffee, or a drink, doesn’t that make it a date?”
