Page 20 of The One You Want

Chapter Five

Rose stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She’d told Maggie she’d meet her back at their table. She needed a minute to think about how and when to tell Maggie about her and Marc. Or if she should tell her at all. The longer she waited, the worse it could be. She didn’t want her friend to think she harbored any feelings toward Marc. She also didn’t want Maggie to think she didn’t like him.

She didn’t really know him.

Which made her think about Maggie’s comment about her and Marc talking more. Maggie certainly knew Marc better than Rose did, but did Maggie really know him? Did she know what kind of man he really was deep down?

Had they ever talked about their past relationships?

Did Maggie know he’d once cheated on a girlfriend?

Was that something he’d done more than once?

Did that mean he’d do it again?

Her mind spun out.

Rose didn’t want her friend to get hurt, but was it her place to bring any of this up? Especially right before their wedding?

Lost in her thoughts, she quickly dried her hands, then walked out of the bathroom and stopped short when she spotted Maggie and Marc in the hallway.

Marc’s gaze connected with Rose’s.

Maggie had her back to Rose. “And we’re getting a dog.”

Marc brushed the backs of his fingers along the side of Maggie’s face and smiled down at her with amusement. “Whatever you want, sweetheart.” He kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll meet you back at the table in a minute.”

Maggie slipped past Marc and headed out into the bar.

Rose tried to follow, but Marc slipped his hand around her arm and stopped her. Rose dipped her gaze to his hand on her, then met his eyes. “What are you doing?”

His gaze softened on her. “Remembering the last time I touched you.”

She sucked in a gasp of air, wrenched her arm free, then held her breath.

Marc stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Please don’t tell her about us.”

“You mean about how you told me you weren’t seeing anyone, then slept with me and cheated on your girlfriend?”

Marc sighed. “That’s not fair.”

“That’s the truth,” she shot back.

“But it’s not the whole picture.”

“Have you known the whole time you’ve been seeing her that she and I are best friends?”

“No.”

The answer came a little too quickly.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Okay, when we first started dating, yeah, I thought about it. I didn’t know your last name, so when Maggie mentioned her best friend, Rose, I thought maybe she could be you... But how crazy would that be? And then I saw pictures of the two of you at her place. That’s when I knew it really was you.”

It dawned on Rose that Maggie never sent pictures of Marc or posted them on her social media. Not that Maggie did that a lot in the past anyway. But still, if she had a great guy in her life, Rose thought she’d especially want to share that news with the world.

“So because you knew I was Maggie’s best friend, you asked her not to post or send any photos of you.” She didn’t phrase it as a question, because she was starting to understand Marc a lot better.