Page 47 of Sugarlips
I laughed. “Like a catering service, but with booze.”
Her eyes widened. “Yes! When you run out of alcohol, they would come over, deliver you booze, maybe make you a few cocktails, then be on their way.”
“We could call itCartini!”
She laughed, then sighed wistfully, falling back on the counter. “We’re really good at coming up with ideas. Just not so good at implementing them.”
“Hey,” I said quietly, nudging her with my elbow. “Go easy on The Dump Truck. We’re not even a week in. You can’t expect it to be an incredible success immediately. Look at my mom’s bakery. We struggled to keep that afloat for years until it became Beefcakes.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Oh, God. Don’t tell me that’s what we have to look forward to! Youjustgot out of debt. The last thing you need is for our new business to land you right back where you left off.”
“I’m just saying relax. There’s time to turn this around.”
At the back of my cabinet I saw a bottle of Campari peeking back at me and reached for it. “Ever had Campari?” I asked her.
“Isn’t it bitter?”
I held up a finger and rushed to the fridge to grab a bottle of orange juice. “Normally, yes. But not when you combine it with this.” I poured her a glass and slid it over. With one sip, her eyes lit up.
“It’s delicious!”
“See? My liquor isn’tallbad.”
She held the glass in both hands, looking down into the liquid like a crystal ball. “Hey,” she said quietly, “Thanks for what you did back there. With Dan. You didn’t need to pretend for my sake—”
“It wasn’t a big deal, Chloe.”
She blinked, moisture brimming in those bright blue eyes of hers. “It was to me. It’s so stupid, but when he saw us together and he seemed to get… I don’t know…”
“Jealous?” I offered.
Her eyes went wide. “Yes! I wasn’t imagining that, right?”
I shrugged, ignoring the pang in my heart at how happy Dan’s jealousy seemed to make her. It was yet another reminder how off-limits she was. It had barely been a few weeks since her world turned upside down—since her wedding was called off. “I don’t think you were imagining it,” I admitted. “Besides, any man with a pulse would be crazy not to be jealous of seeing you with someone else.”
Her lips thinned, pressing together as she took another sip of the Campari. “Regardless, thank you for going along with that. He’ll find out the truth soon enough anyway, I guess—”
“Why?”
She looked taken aback for a moment. “Why what?”
“Why would he need to find out the truth? I don’t see any need to correct it. We really only need to sort this out with our families—especially with Elaina—but other than that, if the rest of the town thinks we’re together… so what?”
Chloe swallowed so hard that I watched the svelte line of her throat contract with the movement. “Then what about moving on…dating? How will either of us meet anyone if the whole town thinks we’re together?”
It was my turn to gulp down my own drink. “Are youreadyto date?”
Her mouth twitched, not quite into a smile… but even the smallest curve of those pouty lips was breathtaking.
Her eyes searched my face before she answered, “For the right person, I am.”
My breath hitched and I could feel my pulse slamming at the base of my jaw. Of all the friend zones I’d been slipped into through the years, this one was the worst. And also the best. Respecting her boundaries wasn’t easy. Not when I wanted her so damn badly, I could feel it in the steel rod pushing against my zipper. But she was right. What we had was too good. Too valuable to lose. Unlike the other women from college who’d categorize me as a “friend,” but then wouldn’t make any effort tobea friend unless they needed something from me. Chloe was different. Chloe was passionate and funny and smart and unlike any woman I’d ever met through the years.
“He’s out there,” I finally answered. “The right man for you.” I held up my glass and clinked it to hers as the curve of her mouth widened into that heart-melting grin.
“Andshe’sout there for you, too. I can’t wait to meet her and eventually force her to be my best friend, too.”
I set my glass down and held up my hands. “Whoa, wait a minute. When I get a girlfriend, you’re just gonna dumpmybest friend status forher?”
