Greek for Beginners (17 page)

A player? Carter?

Gina's throat constricted as the memories she'd filed carefully
away in the ‘biggest disaster of my life' box had a coming-out party.

Yes, he'd been devastatingly handsome, and moody and magnetic
and sexy enough to make any woman salivate uncontrollably, even an accomplished
flirt like her. But beneath that potent machismo had been a man who, like
Marnie, had been determined to do the right thing—who had been honourable and
sensitive and touchingly reserved, despite the hunger burning in those cool blue
eyes. How could that man be a player?

Nobody could change that much. Even in ten years....

‘Reese told me Carter had got a divorce,' she said. The guilt
she'd worked hard to mask ever since Reese had told her the news throbbed in her
belly like a lump of radioactive waste—alongside an inappropriate rush of heat,
which she studiously ignored.

‘I'm sorry about that too,' she said. It would be conceited of
her to think she was wholly responsible for the failure of Carter's marriage,
but she still had to shoulder her share of the blame. She'd slept with an
engaged man and then tried to push the blame onto the only innocent party in the
whole thing, Carter's fiancée, Missy.

‘You don't need to apologise,' Marnie remarked with sober
certainty. ‘The divorce wasn't your fault—they had a lot of other...' her voice
trailed off ‘...issues.'

‘It's nice of you to say that.' And nicer still to see that she
actually meant it. ‘But I was there when it happened, and I know how hard he
tried to resist me.'

Marnie shot her hands out in the shape of a T. ‘All right, time
out, because you are straying back into “things I will never need to know about
my brother” territory, here.'

Gina huffed out a laugh at the look of horror on Marnie's face.
Maybe the Southern Belle had grown up, but it seemed she still had the same
demure sensibilities when it came to discussing her big brother's sex life.

‘The point is...' Marnie put her hands down ‘...I'm ashamed of
the things I said that night too.' She drew a circle on the table. ‘I wanted to
put all the blame on you, because blaming Carter would mean admitting he didn't
belong on the pedestal I'd put him on.' She sighed. ‘We're not close these
days.'

Gina felt the renewed stab of regret. ‘Oh, Marnie, I'm so
sorry. Did I do that too?'

‘I don't think so,' Marnie said, sounding adamant. ‘It would
have happened anyway once I got older and wiser and realised what he was really
like.' The wry smile on Marnie's lips did nothing to dispel the thoughtful
expression. ‘You know, I don't remember you having such an overdeveloped guilt
complex.'

Gina chuckled at the observation. ‘Unfortunately, it's the end
result of believing everything is about you.'

Marnie sent her a quick grin, the unguarded moment a reminder
of the easy friendship they'd once shared.

‘Look, I hope we're good now,' Marnie said. ‘Because my
relationship with my brother isn't as important to me as my friendship with
y'all.'

‘Yeah, we're good,' Gina said, but felt oddly deflated as
Marnie excused herself to go to the restroom.

Maybe they hadn't had a catfight, and maybe she'd finally got
out the apology that she should have given Marnie ten years ago... But somehow
it didn't feel like enough.

Maybe her thoughtless seduction that night hadn't been the only
reason Carter's marriage had ended, but it had definitely helped to screw up his
relationship with his sister. And Gina couldn't quite shake the thought that
Marnie had fallen back on her perfect Southern manners to smooth everything
over, but didn't really mean it.

The buzzing of Marnie's phone jolted Gina out of her guilt
trip, and made coffee slosh over the rim of her mug. She mopped up the spill and
made a grab for the phone as it vibrated towards the edge of the table. Then
nearly dropped it at the photo that flashed up in the viewfinder under the text
message.

Arrive @ The Standard 7pm 2nite. In NYC til
next Fri. Txt me. We need 2 discuss yr allowance. C

Her heart leapt up to bump against her larynx and the swell of
heat that she'd been busy ignoring flared. She pressed her thumb to the screen
and ran it over the darkly handsome face that had hardly changed in ten years.
His hair was longer, the brutal buzz cut now a mass of thick waves that curled
around his ears and touched his collar. Those hollow cheeks had filled out a
bit, the electric blue of his eyes looked colder and even more intense, and
there were a few distinguished laughter lines, but otherwise Carter Price looked
even hotter than she remembered him. She touched the tempting little dent in his
chin—biting the tip of her tongue as a blast of memory assailed her. The rasp of
stubble and the nutty taste of pistachio as she licked a rivulet of ice cream
off his full bottom lip.

Stop fondling Marnie's phone, you
muppet.

The sharp rap of metal on wood rang out as she dropped the
phone on the table. Carter Price's unsettling gaze continued to stare at her, so
she flipped it over—moments before Marnie appeared at her shoulder.

‘Your phone was buzzing,' she offered, as nonchalantly as she
could manage, while blood coursed up her neck and pulsed at her temples.

‘Right, thanks.' Marnie picked up the phone and slid back into
the booth.

A frown formed on Marnie's forehead as she read the text. And
Gina wondered for one agonising moment if Marnie would mention the texter—and
then wondered how she was going to conduct a conversation while having a hot
flush. But Marnie didn't say anything, she simply frowned, keyed in a few
characters, pressed send and then tucked the phone into the pocket of the
briefcase.

‘Shall I go ahead and book the Tribeca Terrace?' she asked, her
voice clear and steady and businesslike, the frown gone.

Gina's shoulders knotted with tension and the sinking feeling
in her stomach dropped to her toes.

So Marnie had lied—maybe she wanted to pretend that they were
both past what had happened ten years ago, that it didn't matter any more. But
how could it be true when she couldn't even bring herself to mention Carter's
name?

Marnie didn't trust her. And frankly who could blame her?

They made arrangements to meet up the next day for the
bridesmaids' fittings at Reese's friend Amber's bridal boutique in the Manhattan
Bridge Overpass District before Marnie—who seemed more than a little
preoccupied—rushed off to get to her office in Brooklyn.

Gina watched her leave, and realised that there was only one
way to win Marnie's trust—and prove to herself that she deserved it. And that
was to finally make amends for everything that had happened ten years ago, on
the night she'd thrown herself at a virtually married man.

She gulped down her lukewarm coffee as goosebumps prickled up
her spine. Unfortunately that meant apologising to more than just Marnie.

ISBN: 9781460318546

GREEK FOR BEGINNERS
Copyright © 2013 by Jackie Braun Fridline

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