Page 94 of The Best of Friends

He laughed. “How come I didn’t find you years ago?”

“You met me when I was still in high school. You weren’t interested.”

They sat next to each other on the sofa. She angled toward him.

“I was a fool,” he told her.

She touched his glass with hers. “I’ll drink to that.” She studied his face, the perfect curve of his mouth and the light reflected in his blue eyes. “You want to talk about something.”

“How do you know?”

“You have talk-face.”

She forced herself to smile when she really wanted to run. If she left before he could say anything, she wouldn’t be hurt. And right now not being hurt seemed like a damned good plan.

“My mother came to see me,” he began.

“Oh, God. Because of me.” She put her glass on the coffee table. “I should have said something. I was so angry, and I should have warned you. I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.”

“Excuse me? How can you not be sorry? I’m sure she’s furious. She’s going to come screaming for an explanation.” She held in a groan. “Which she already has, because that’s how you know.”

“She came to the office this afternoon, wanting to know if it was true we were dating.”

Jayne wanted to sink into the floor. “I totally screwed this up, huh? I’d offer to talk to her, but I don’t think that would help. Maybe if Rebecca got in touch with her or—”

He pressed his fingers against her mouth. “Shh. It’s all good. I wanted her to know we’re going out.”

“Why?”

“So she’ll get off me about going out with someone else. You’re the one I’m seeing. You’re the one I want to keep seeing, Jayne. Why do you think I asked you to be my date to the party?”

“But I…” She picked up her glass and took a big swallow.

She told herself not to get too excited by the information. It didn’t mean that he was falling for her or that she was more than someone he was casually dating. If she read too much into his words, she would only get hurt more.

“Okay,” she said cautiously. “But your mother is upset.”

“So?” He leaned in and kissed her.

“There’s going to be trouble.”

“We can handle it.”

Her heart fluttered. “I’m not sure you’re worth it,” she joked.

“I am.” He touched her cheek. “I don’t expect you to do anything about my mother. I just wanted you to know that she’s not happy. Forewarned and all that. I can handle it, can you?”

“I’ve been dealing with Elizabeth for years. I’m an expert.”

“Good.” He set down his glass, then moved a stack of magazines on the table, revealing a large, flat, dark purple box with “Worden’s Jewelry” embossed in gold. “I have something for you.”

If it had been a ring box, she probably would have had a heart attack and died right there on the sofa. As it was, she found it difficult to breathe, what with her entire body frozen. Frozenandtrembling. Talk about a trick and a half.

“You’re not like anyone I’ve ever met,” he said, holding out the box. “I want you to know that you’re important to me, and in my family, we say that with diamonds.”

He waited. She stared at the box but made no move to reach for it.