Page 19 of Friend Me

7

Tyler staredstraight ahead at the closed elevator doors. “You’re into Cooper, aren’t you?”

My face heated. “What? No. We work together, that’s all.” Only Alicia and Jackson knew about my crush. As Jackson’s right hand, I had to protect a certain image, and I’d rather my coworkers didn’t know about my less-than-professional feelings.

But, damn him, Tyler knew. “No, youlikehim.” He grimaced. “I can see how you…you look at him. The way you did just now.”

“It’s just a crush.” I fiddled with the zipper on my purse. “He doesn’t even know. Or he pretends not to.”

His voice was gentle when he spoke again. “Hey, we’re friends, right?”

I faced him. He smiled when my gaze met his, but I couldn’t tell if it was sadness or pity that drew down the corners of his eyes. “Yes. Friends.”

He nodded. “Friends help each other out. Would you like me to help you?”

“Help me?”

“You know, act like we’re…more than friends. Draw Cooper’s attention to you. Make him see you the way I—the way everyone else does.” One finger tapped against my pink suitcase handle.

“You mean we pretend we’retogether-together and try to make him jealous?” Was that the push Cooper needed? He was competitive; that I knew. I couldn’t read Tyler’s profile. Did he really mean it?

“Yeah.”

“Really? You’d do that for me?”

His voice was tight. “I said I would.”

If he didn’t mind pretending this weekend, how could I turn down his offer? “Okay.”

Another quick glance at me. “Okay?”

“Let’s do it,” I said. Maybe he and I could dance to the Beatles’ “With a Little Help from My Friends.”

“We should have a code name.”

“A code name?”

“You know, if we need to say something and there are other people around. Same as for software projects.”

“Oh. I’d been thinking of it as the Cowgirl-Up-for-Cooper Plan.”

He wrinkled his nose. “How about Operation…Operation Prince Charming?”

I squeed and hugged myself. If it weren’t for the camera in the elevator, I’d have kissed his cheek. “That’s perfect! And thanks, really. I hope it’s not too uncomfortable for you. You know, pretending to be my guy.”

One side of his mouth quirked up. “I’ll manage.”

* * *

The inn,with its backdrop of acres of neat rows of grapevines, looked just like the brochure Alicia and I had pored over together.

“Wow.” Tyler leaned against the side of his Mustang and took it all in. She must not have shown him the brochures.

The two-hour trip to the vineyard had flown by with road-trip games. We’d played the singing game—Tyler knewwaytoo many emo song lyrics; the movie game—I’d crushed him since I knew every romantic comedy ever made; and the classic alphabet game. I’d been almost disappointed at our turn-off to the wedding venue. But we were here now, and Operation Prince Charming was a go.

“I know, isn’t it elegant?” I walked around the hood to stand beside him.

The two-story building’s white stucco walls were broken by arched doorways and windows that revealed a wraparound porch with glossy red Adirondack chairs. Guests relaxed with glasses of wine, and a couple of waiters moved among them. Late-summer flowers in scarlet, lemon, and sunset-orange spilled from pots set in the windows and doorways.

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