Page 17 of The Friend

“Come on, you wouldn’t need to be crazy, just slightly unbalanced to donate a few hours of your time to help out an old friend.”

“Don’t even think about it,old friend.”

She reached across the table and captured one of his hands. “Come on, Calloway. At least consider it.”

He stared at her as if she’d asked him to walk on water to reach the mainland. “I have, and the answer is still no.”

“In all the years we’ve known each other, haven’t I been the perfect friend? Haven’t I supported you, helped you with homework, and protected you from the bimbos that wanted to date you? Remember all that?”

His frown deepened. “That was years ago.”

“Yeah, but remember what you said to me back then?”

His lips thinned as he glared at her in mutinous silence, before muttering, “That’s low.”

“You said if you could ever do anything for me, your best friend in the whole world, in return, all I had to do was ask.”

He yanked his hand out of her grasp and folded his arms. “You sure know how to turn the screws.”

“Call it gentle persuasion.”

“I’d rather call it emotional blackmail.”

“Are you pouting?”

His lips twitched and she grinned.

“Damn you, Weiss.”

She let out a loud whoop that had nearby guests craning their heads to stare in disapproval. “It’s only a few hours. It’ll be quick and painless, you’ll see.”

“Yeah, right.”

Abby stifled her first impulse to fling herself into his arms. After that kiss last night, any physical contact beyond hand-holding or arm-around-the-shoulder wouldn’t be a good idea. Not with the memory still fresh, and making her wonder what it would be like to do a lot more than kiss her best friend.

“Thanks, Calloway. You’re a real pal.”

“Yeah, that’s me, a regular run-of-the-mill friend who has just agreed to the most outlandish scheme he’s ever heard.” He made circles at his temple. “I must have rocks in my head.”

“No, you’ve got a warm heart.”

His expression softened, a second before his lips curved into a wicked smile. “You know this is going to cost you big time, right?”

“No problem,” she said, her pulse picking up tempo at the calculated gleam in his eyes.

Whatever he had in mind, it had naughty written all over it.

“It’s going to be fun having you in my debt.” He tapped his bottom lip, pretending to think. “You owe me and you never know when I’ll ask you to pay up.”

She fiddled with the sugar bowl, her fingers twirling the spoon around and around as she wondered if his husky tone was a figment of her imagination.

“Like I said, I can handle it. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a bride to find, a location to scout, and a day’s worth of work to rearrange.”

“Need a hand?”

She shook her head, her mind already racing as she multi-tasked what she needed to do over the next few hours.

“Thanks, but I’ll let you know as soon as the tux arrives. If you can word Tom up, maybe check out a few locations, that would help.”

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