Page 47 of Mr. Arrogant

She straddled him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“This is a good start.” She chuckled. Her dress rode up, exposing her hips.

His warm hands rested on her thighs.

“I thought you would say that.” His lips curled up in the corner.

His hands were definitely a distraction. If his hands slid up higher about three inches, he’d be at the edge of her panties. If only he would slip them and dive underneath her small cotton—

“Well, I’ll be damned,” a familiar voice appeared behind her.

Sofie’s head whipped around to find London and Alana standing at the entrance of Jaxon’s office. The couple stood stunned.

London chuckled and wrapped an arm around Alana’s shoulders. “When Sandi said Jaxon was showing Sofie around, I didn’t think she meant your Sofie.”

Sofie froze. Alana stood unmoving next to her husband. The pain brimming in Alana’s eyes felt as if someone had taken a knife to Sofie’s heart. Alana spun around and dashed out of the room.

“Alana!” Sofie cried out. She pushed off Jaxon and raced after her friend. Guilt tormented her as she hurried behind Alana who stopped by the elevator banks. “Please. Let me explain.”

She paused a few feet away from Alana. Her friend kept her back to her. Sofie’s heart sank. She had never meant to lie to her or hide anything from her. They had been friends for too long, and this was something she had never done before.

“It was Jaxon back in Bora Bora, wasn’t it?” Alana asked. Her voice was low and husky.

Sofie winced internally. This wasn’t the spunky bestie she had known and loved. This was the voice of a woman who had been hurt.

“The one you were sneaking around with,” Alana added.

“Yes.” Sofie wasn’t going to lie anymore to her. It was time she came clean. She had planned to share with Alana, but she wanted to make sure what they had was real. Now she wished she would have had the balls to just tell her, no matter whatwould have happened between her and Jaxon. “I was going to tell you.”

“I thought we were friends?” Alana spun around and glared at Sofie. She pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. “When did we start lying and hiding things from each other? Did you think I couldn’t handle you dating my brother-in-law?”

“We weren’t dating,” Sofie said. She immediately regretted it.

Alana narrowed her gaze on her.

“Honestly, we didn’t think anything was going to come out of what happened in Bora Bora.”

“What about what we talked about the other day? Or was that a lie, too?”

“No, that wasn’t a lie. Jaxon and I—I mean I—ended what we had at Bora Bora. I didn’t want to be hurt by him, so I chickened out and broke it off. Then I regretted it but was too proud to tell him I’d changed my mind so I was going to try to get over him by dating other guys.”

“And you couldn’t say any of this before? I’m your best friend. You’ve been by my side when my parents died, my failed relationships, and stood by my side at my wedding. But something like this, I couldn’t know or be a part of?” Tears streamed down Alana’s face.

It broke Sofie’s heart.

“You couldn’t trust me?” Alana said.

Sofie gulped in air, trying to push down the wave of nausea that threatened to overtake her. She wiped away the tears that balanced on the edges of her eyelashes. She loved Alana like a sister, and to see how much she’d hurt her friend, it sent a shooting pain through her.

“Of course I trust you.” Sofie took a step toward Alana. She hesitated for a moment and hated that she had put them in this predicament. It all could have been avoided had she been honest from the get-go. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a lousy friend lately. Ipromise I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t want to burden you with my issues.”

She arrived in front of Alana and studied her. Alana reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“That’s what friends are for.” Alana sniffed.

“Say you’ll forgive me?” Sofie moved closer to Alana who grabbed her and wrapped her up in a strong hug. Sofie returned it hard, fighting back her tears.

“Of course I do. How could I stay mad at you?” Alana’s hold tightened. She pulled back and studied Sofie. “So what gives? Do you love Jaxon?”

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