Page 88 of Friend Me

“You mean you kissing Cooper? Isn’t that what you wanted? For me to see so I’d get the message and give up?”

I sucked in a breath. My skin had gone all prickly, and not in a good way. “No! I’d never want to hurt you like that. We’re friends, and—”

“Are we? Friends? Because you haven’t acted too much like a friend lately.”

“I know, and I’m sorry about that. I was scared.”

His eyebrows slammed down. “Scared of me?”

“Scared of how I felt and how that might change our relationship.” I traced a flower on my skirt. “You see, I…I care about you.” Crap, that wasn’t right. I’d undershot it.

“I mean”—I looked up—“I think I’m falling for you.” Why was this so hard? I’d read the words a thousand times in my romance novels. They rolled off the tongues of the heroines. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.

He didn’t say anything, and he kept his expression blank.

“Say something. Please.” I twisted my hands together in my lap.

“I—I don’t know what to say. Is this Operation Prince Charming Part Two? More pretending so Cooper will pull his head out of his ass and propose? What role am I supposed to be playing now?”

I laid my hand on his knee. “No role. No pretense. I have feelings for you, Tyler. More-than-friends feelings.”

“But at your house, you said you didn’t want that. That you couldn’t. And two weekends ago, you kissed him. How can I believe that—”

I sprang up from the sofa, bent over him in the chair, and covered his mouth with mine. I tried to infuse the kiss with all the longing, all the regret, and all the love I felt for him. It wasn’t soft, not like the kiss he’d given me on the dance floor, or sexy, like the one we’d shared outside the inn after his erotic foot massage. It was hard and full of meaning and promise. A commitment.

He was stiff at first, his lips frozen. But I persisted, nibbling at his soft lower lip, caressing his shoulders and pecs over his T-shirt. I was sure I looked ridiculous, bent at the waist, my ass in the air, but I didn’t care. I needed to show Tyler how I felt about him. That I wanted more than friendship. That I could give him what he’d said he wanted.

Little by little, he softened. I slipped my tongue between his lips and tasted him. Sweet and citrus fizzed on my tongue. His lemony tang was like coming home. I hummed. His hands landed on my back, and I melted onto his knees, into his lap. He sighed against my lips. “Mar—”

“Marlee!” Cooper’s muffled voice came through the door. “Are you in there?”

I tensed. By all the moons of Saturn, why had he come looking for me now?

“Don’t. If we’re quiet, he’ll think you’ve gone out,” Tyler whispered. He brushed his lips against mine.

“I have to see what he needs.” I raised myself from his lap, rubbing stray lipstick from my chin. I strode to the door and opened it. “Yes, Cooper?”

“We can’t find the presentation you and I worked on before my East Coast trip. Do you have a copy?”

I sighed. It was on the server, but Ben wasn’t fully familiar with our filing conventions. “I’ll find it for you. Give me a minute to finish up—”

But he’d looked over my head. Curse him for being so tall. “Hey, Tyler.” Looking down at me, he smirked. “I think he’s wearing your lipstick.”

I fell for it. I rubbed at my upper lip. “I need a minute.” I needed to make sure Tyler and I were okay. That he wasn’t about to bolt on me again. “And then I’ll find your file.” I started to shut the door, but Tyler had come up behind me.

“I’m going. I’m sure you and Cooper have important work to do together.”

“Tyler, wait—”

“No, Marlee. We’re done.”

His last word sucked all the light and air out of the room like a black hole. “Done?”

“You can’t give me what I need. What I deserve. Or even your undivided attention.”

“I—I’ll come down when I’ve taken care of Cooper.”

“That won’t be necessary. I don’t want anything more.” He brushed past me, past Cooper, and headed for the stairs.

Cooper leaned on the doorframe. “So, looks like you two—”

“Not helpful, Cooper. I’ll get that file for you now.” I strode past him to my desk, my face frozen.

Ben hovered near my desk. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I tried to—”

“It’s fine.” I unlocked my laptop and navigated to the file on the server.

It wasn’t fine. I’d made Tyler feel second-best again. Like I was using him again. It wasn’t Ben’s fault, and, as irritating as he’d been, it wasn’t Cooper’s. It was mine. I’d made it clear from the start of Tyler’s and my friendship that I wanted Cooper. And it’d take work to make Tyler think otherwise.

Fortunately, work was something I was good at. And I’d keep working until Tyler believed I loved him and no one else.

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