Page 28 of His Best Friend's Wife
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Jamie forgaveme way too easily. We walked together in companionable silence––as comfortable as could be expected, under the awkwardcircumstances.
Deciding the best way to help her was to put my plan to play Cupid into high gear, I tested the waters by asking her point-blank what she thought aboutManny.
"He's great," she responded, smiling breezily. "He's a reliable, hard-worker, who is friendly andpleasant."
I cringed a little. She sounded like she was describing a goldenretriever.
Picking up on my reaction, Jamie frowned a little. "What?"
"Well, what I really wanted to know was if you are attracted tohim?"
"Oh," Jamie's frown deepened as she pondered that. "I never really thought about him in thatway."
Figuring that I wasn't the matchmaking guru that I had thought, I dropped it, until she added, "Before."
Raising my brows, I turned to face her. She didn't seem to want to elaborate, so I prompted her, "Butnow?"
"Hmm." She seemed to take a long time to ponder it before deciding. "I guess he is kind of cute, and he is fantastic on thegrill."
I nodded and waggled my eyebrows at her. She chuckled and gave my shoulder a light shove. "Oh stop," she told me. "What would he see in me,anyway?"
"You know," I grinned down at her, "That'sexactlywhat he said when I asked him aboutyou."
"Really?" She didn't bother to hide the thrilled enthusiasm from hervoice.
"Yep." I confirmed, happy to feel like I was rectifying the unfortunate situation with her in some smallway.
Cassie surprised me by showing up at the cafe for a late breakfast. I was somewhat embarrassed to let her see that I had been demoted to dishwasher, but it didn't seem to bother her in theslightest.
When I took a break and joined the love of my life at the booth where Jamie had just delivered her French toast and bacon, Cassie's eyes gleamed with anticipation when I told her about my plan to spark a love connection forJamie.
"I thought there might be something brewing between the two of you." Cassie's questioning gaze betrayed herworry.
It seemed inconceivable to me that this woman would worry about my feelings for anyone else. I wanted to reassure her that she was the only one for me, but I also didn't want to start our relationship on a lie. I finally settled on, "Jamie's a wonderful person, who deserves to be happy, and Manny's a great guy. I'd like to help them find theirbliss."
"Find their bliss?!?" Cassie guffawed at my silly choice of words before beaming at me. "Leave it to me," she enthused, obviously thrilled to have aproject.
By the time my shift ended, Cassie had arranged for the four of us to go on a double date that evening. Normally, it would have taken an act of God to get us all released from the dinner shift on the same night. I had no idea how she managed it, nor did I intend to ask. I'd rather just marvel at her ingenuity without peeking behind thecurtain.
I loved walking into my small apartment and finding her relaxing there like she owned the place––feet kicked up on the couch, reading a book. I couldn't think of anything better to come home to, and I told her asmuch.
We kissed, which quickly turned into heavy petting. After tearing our lips apart, I panted, "We don't have time to do this properly." Even though I didn't want to stop, the anticipation of loving Cassie slowly later was enough of a promise to allow me to curb my overwhelming desire...for themoment.
"Later, then." Cassie rubbed her palm over my length outside my jeans before giving me a catlike grin and backingaway.
I groaned, hating myself for suggesting this delay. In an impeccable show of restraint, I leaned in to kiss her one last time before lifting my arm towards the door and asking, "Shallwe?"
Even though we were a few minutes early, we found Jamie waiting nervously on the front porch. The sight of her pacing and wringing her hands made me breathe a sigh of relief that I hadn't complied with my urge to take Cassie frantically, standing up in my living room mere moments ago. There would be plenty of time for that later, and I would do a more thorough, pleasurable job of it than a hectic quickie. Right now, my friend neededreassurance.
Resting a hand on Jamie's shoulder, I told her, "Manny already knows what a wonderful person you are, and he has had a secret crush on you for ages. Tonight is just an extension of our work relationship to see if there is a spark of something more between the two ofyou."
Jamie released a long breath as if she had been holding it for a while. I didn't have time to share any more platitudes to help calm her because Manny was walking up our sidewalk, looking like he was on the verge of vomiting. I had never seen his normally dark complexion sopale.
"You okay, dude?" I whispered near his ear as we trailed behind the women on the way to Manny's car. I felt concerned that he might be attempting to power through an illness in order to not have to cancel his date withJamie.
"Just nervous." Manny gave me a pained grin, and I suddenly knew that tonight was going to be a game-changer for them. They both cared enough to be anxious about how the evening would go, so I would make sure it wentsplendidly.
