AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, if you change your mind about it,” says Kenna, standing up and straightening her already perfect cocktail dress, “the forms are all on the website. Registration is open until Sunday night.”
Somebody calls Kenna’s name and she excuses herself, leaving me and Cooper alone at the corner of the bar.
“So you and Hicks, huh?” says Cooper. There’s no sly grin this time, no suggestion in his tone. Just a straightforward question.
“Yeah,” I say. I hate lying to him but I don’t dare tell him the truth, not when we’re surrounded by so many of Drew’s coworkers who might spread the word if they heard us talking. Plus I doubt Drew would want me confiding in Cooper of all people, considering all they’ve done this evening is fight like schoolboys.
“You’re happy?” Cooper asks, not making eye contact as he tosses back the rest of his drink.
This one is harder to answer.
“I’m happy with Drew,” I say, as honestly as I can. Because I am happy with my friend. He’s the best guy I know.
Cooper looks me in the eye, like he can see right into my head. He knows something’s up.
Before he can call me on it, though, some suit from the network comes over to talk to him and for the next twenty minutes, I nod and play Drew’s attentive girlfriend for his colleagues, ignoring the speculative looks I get from Coop here and there. Surely it doesn’t really count as lying. I haven’t seen the man in ten years—God only knows when I’ll see him again after tonight.
The thought makes my stomach twist a little. Coop was a good friend. Maybe he could have been more.
Drew had introduced me to Alan just a week after my one date with Cooper. It hadn’t seemed fair to ask Coop if we could be friends when I was head over heels for somebody else, so I never tried to find him after the school year ended. I could cuss myself for being so shortsighted, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. Especially since Coop’s under the impression I’m with somebody else now.
So I breathe through the regret—the wine helps—giving myself these few moments to think about what might have been. I think Cooper sees something of it in my face. When the production staff people wander off, Coop moves closer and ducks his head to look me in the eye.
“Bailey—” he says.
“There you are,” says Drew, coming up behind me. “I’ve been looking all over for you.” He bends down to kiss my cheek, his arm around my waist again.
Cooper glares at him. “We’re literally standing right where you left us.”
“Hmm,” says Drew, ignoring Cooper now. Cooper’s shoulders bunch, tension clouding the air around us. I still don’t understand where it’s coming from, but I’d have to be dead not to notice it.
“Actually,” says Cooper, his voice sharpening, “I was just about to ask Ross here for a dance. What do you say, Bailey?”
This is probably a bad idea. There’s no chance this is not a bad idea.
“Sure,” I say, setting down my glass. I lean over to kiss Drew on the cheek, relishing his stubble against my lips. Drew’s looking like murder, but it doesn’t worry me. It provokes a tickle at the base of my spine. Bad idea. “Back in a minute.”
Not that I want him to be jealous or anything. It’s not like Drew’s going to get jealous over me dancing with Cooper anyway—we’re just friends. Fake kissing his fake girlfriend doesn’t mean anything. And there’s nothing unusual about a girlfriend dancing with a colleague at the office party.
No matter how many eyes that follow Cooper and me to the dance floor might suggest otherwise.
5
Drew
Lawson twirls Bailey around before settling his arms around her, and as much as I want to protect her from all that venom and spite, I have to admit they look good together. He’s a much better dancer than cook, that’s for damn sure.
I grit my teeth and force myself to smile, aware that a couple of my colleagues are watching me watch them dance.
Much as Lawson provokes me—and I know he does it on purpose—it’s not usually this easy to get a reaction out of me. Tonight the stress isn’t entirely his fault, and I’m not handling it as well as I ought to be.
I should never have kissed Bailey. Or let her kiss me, or whatever. However it happened, it was a bad idea. Asking her here, asking her to pose as my girlfriend, was stupid. This could seriously mess up our friendship and after a damned decade I’m not about to take that chance. Nothing else can happen between us.
Fortunately, the gala won’t last forever. And Mila seems to have found other ways of entertaining herself—ever since that first confrontation she’s given us a wide berth, even her new pal Lawson. Of course, he’s been Bailey’s shadow for the last hour, which might have something to do with it.
“That’s quite a woman you’ve got there,” says the bartender over my shoulder. I glance back at him and raise a brow. He shrugs. “Just saying.”
“Thanks,” I say.
