Loving the Best Man (Friends & Lovers Book 2) (9 page)

“I will, one day. I actually like it here.” Well, she had liked it until recently.

“Aren’t you making good money working at 50G? Can’t you move now?”

She knew it wouldn’t go well if she told him to mind his business. Without being lovers, they still were friends and she wouldn’t disrespect him.

“Yeah,” She said, nodding as she removed her own coat. “I am making good money. But money was never the reason I stayed here. Well…when I first moved in this was all I could afford. But I was making okay money at the gym too. And I
chose
to stay here. I liked it. I still like it.”

He shook his head and walked away from her. He sat on the couch and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.

“It’s not that big of a deal, Lincoln.” But now that he’d brought it up, it occurred to her that she
should
probably move. She could go somewhere where Marley couldn’t find her.

“I don’t like it.”

“I’m going to clean it off tomorrow.”

“I don’t mean just that. I mean this entire situation.”

“Maybe I will look for a new place,” She said, not wanting Lincoln to think that he’d forced her into deciding to move but seeing no way around it. “I’ve been so comfortable here that there didn’t seem to be a reason to move.”

“I think that’s a good reason.” He sounded slightly calmer and jabbed a finger in the direction of her door.

“Well, that’s never happened before. So now that it has…I’ll consider moving.
If
I can find a decent place at a decent price. I don’t care how good my salary is now. I’m not giving it away for anything less than what I deserve.”

“Sounds good,” Lincoln murmured. “Sounds really good.”

Despite the situation, she found herself smiling at him. He looked so sexy sitting back on her ugly couch and her fingers itched to touch him.

Why does he have to be so damn good looking?

“Do you want some wine or tea?” She asked. She dropped her purse on the coffee table.

“No,” He said simply. “I want you. Now get over here.”

She hurried over, kicking her shoes off as she went. She certainly didn’t have to be told twice.

Chapter Five

The week went by in a flurry of activity. Everyone was getting ready for Christmas and taking care of last minute shopping. Emerald, who had taken care of all her Christmas shopping back on Black Friday, wondered if she should get Lincoln a present. They’d never exchanged gifts before. It would probably be a bad idea.

They weren’t going to see each other on Christmas Eve since he was going to be with his family and she wondered if they’d even see each other on Christmas. She was always invited to the Phillips house for Christmas but she usually spent it with her father.

A couple of days after the graffiti incident, as she referred to it, she found another note slipped under her door. She put it in her dresser drawer without reading it and wondered if going to see Marley again would make the situation worse. Going the first time hadn’t helped at all so she decided against another visit.

The day before Christmas Eve, a wet snow fell in the early evening and Emerald wished that she’d brought boots to work with her. Thankfully 50G had its own indoor parking garage so she wouldn’t have to step in the snow in her heels until she got home. At the end of the day, she gratefully went to her car.

As she weaved through the New York traffic, which was much worse than usual thanks to the holiday shoppers and travelers and nasty weather, she thought about Lincoln. Again. His office party had been the night before and he’d gone on his own. He hadn’t mentioned the party to her again but she still felt awkward about it.

She almost hadn’t expected him to come over but he had. She’d had to hide her joy when he appeared at her door. She tried to tell herself that she wasn’t
that
happy to see him; she’d just needed sex. But the truth was they were spending so much time together that she was downright getting used to him.

She yawned, sitting at a never-ending red light. She saw why so many people in the office used the subway. Traffic could be annoying at worst and stressful at best. The slushy snow made for an even more complicated commute and Emerald was antsy by the time she parked on her corner.

She pulled her hood up over her head and got out of the car. She ran down the block as quickly as she could, so cold that her teeth were chattering. Her feet were wet and frozen by the time she entered her building. She checked her mailbox and went up to her apartment. She cautiously walked to her door but everything looked fine. She hated that all the comfort she’d felt in her apartment building was gone.

After taking off her coat, she dried off her feet and wrapped up in a blanket. She wanted nothing more than to have a very hot shower but she knew it wouldn’t be a good idea just yet with her feet being numbingly cold.

She would be going to Lincoln’s place in a little while. It annoyed her that the snow continued to fall. It made no sense to take a shower and then go back out into that mess.

Can I take a shower at your place?
She sent the text message then wished she hadn’t. She could just imagine his reaction. He’d probably be offended. Oh well, it was too late. She’d already sent the message.

Of course you can,
came his quick reply. Then:
What kind of question is that?

Laughing dryly for a moment, she called a cab and finally got out from under the blankets and went to her dresser to choose some clothes to wear. She wondered if she should even bother with clothes since they’d probably just spend the night in bed anyway. She didn’t know how the sex had gotten even better but somehow it did and her thighs trembled just thinking about it.

She finally chose plain blue jeans and a sweater, throwing them into a duffel bag with her socks, panties, bra, and a few other essentials. It felt intimate to be taking an overnight bag to his house. But it wasn’t exactly an overnight bag. He’d drop her off home in the middle of the night as was their usual routine.

Feeling hungry, she ate a yogurt then put her heavy duty winter boots on. They were expensive designer boots but had been well worth the price. The waterproof leather and furry interior made them practical for winter weather and comfortable as well. She’d been so set on wearing her heels that morning when she should have put the boots on instead.

She put her coat on and grabbed her purse, duffel bag and phone. She looked at the phone, seeing that she’d missed a text message. She didn’t recognize the number which meant it most likely was from Marley. Every so often he’d insult her from a new number. She opened the message then exited out of it without reading it. She would ignore it as usual but it was finally starting to wear on her that the insults and threats never stopped coming. When would he ever get bored and move on?

She waited downstairs in the hall, near the front door, smiling at people coming and going as she did. She knew most of her neighbors from living in the building for so long. Some of them were friendly. Some weren’t. But she was always polite to them all.

The cab took longer than usual to come and she sighed in relief when it finally arrived. Lincoln texted her to say that he was going to order pizza and she replied a simple okay before leaning back and closing her eyes.

All of the late nights were taking a toll; her eyes got heavy very quickly and she shook her head in an effort to stay awake. She tried to distract herself by surfing the web on her phone but she didn’t find anything to interest her and spent most of the ride yawning.

When the cab pulled up outside of Lincoln’s apartment building, she quickly paid the driver and jumped out. She greeted the doorman and hurried to the elevator. When she reached Lincoln’s door, she rang the bell and smiled at him when he opened it.

He looked delicious in a red tank top and black shorts, all of the lean muscles in his arms and shoulders on display. Without thinking, she dropped her bags onto the floor and looped her arms around his neck, pressing her mouth against his.

A discreet cough in the background made her freeze and she pulled back, seeing Devin and Robyn watching them with wide grins on their faces. Embarrassed but unwilling to show it or admit it, Emerald took her coat off and hung it up.

“I didn’t know you had company,” She murmured before going over to greet her friends and hugging them both. “Where’s Olivia?”

“She’s asleep,” Robyn replied. “She just went down after we got here.”

“Is this some kind of weird double-date?” Emerald joked, stepping out of her boots. She’d already made a wet mark on the pretty white floor.

“Actually, no,” Devin said, suddenly looking serious. “We need to talk to you.”

Emerald went on alert, seeing that they all looked extremely somber.

“What’s going on? Did something happen?” Emerald took Robyn’s hand.

“That’s what I want to know,” Robyn replied. “Devin came home today and said that someone told him your tires got slashed last week.”

“Fucking office gossip,” Emerald mumbled. She shook her head and prepared herself for their interrogation.

“And Linc said that a few days ago someone sprayed graffiti on your door,” Robyn added, her voice getting louder. “What’s going on, Emmy?”

Seeing how worried they all looked, she made an immediate decision to downplay the whole thing. She didn’t want them to worry even more than they clearly did. Their worrying wouldn’t help anything.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Emerald said, walking to Lincoln’s kitchen and reaching for a wine glass. They followed her.

“I don’t understand you,” Lincoln said, sounding exasperated.

“It
is
a big deal.” Robyn shook her head vehemently.

Emerald poured three glasses of wine -Robyn was nursing- and turned to her friends.

“I’m not letting this scare me and you guys shouldn’t, either.” She held the wine glasses out to Devin and Lincoln but they both glared at her without taking them. She sat one down and sipped from the other. “I’m used to dealing with losers. This is no different.”

“Arguing with someone is different than getting your tires slashed, Emerald,” Robyn said heatedly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lincoln asked. “We’ve seen each other almost every day since the wedding. You’ve been lying all this time.”

“I didn’t lie to you,” Emerald said, her heart thumping. “I didn’t think it was worth mentioning. And I still don’t think it’s worth talking about.”

“You could be in danger,” Devin said, his voice low. It appeared that he was the only one who still was calm.

“I’m not in danger. Stop overreacting. This is exactly why I didn’t say anything.” Emerald drank down the rest of her wine as if it was water and picked up a second glass.

“Stop being so stupid!” Robyn put her hands on Emerald’s shoulders and made eye contact.

“I’m being very cautious.” Emerald made a controlled effort to keep her tone even. “And that’s all I can do. Let’s leave it at that.”

“You said you’re going to look for an apartment,” Lincoln reminded her.

“I am,” Emerald said, rolling her eyes. “But give me a break; it’s only been a few days since I said that.”

She hadn’t looked at any classified ads for apartments. It didn’t make sense to when Christmas was only days away. She’d decided to start after the new year began.

“You can stay with us.” Devin and Robyn said at the same time.

“No.” She polished off the second glass of wine and thought about having the other glass. Maybe she’d have it after her shower. “I like having my own place.”

“It would only be temporary.” Devin crossed his arms over his chest. “We’re worried about you.”

“Or stay here with Linc.”

“
No
.”

“You’re here all the time, anyway,” Lincoln said, walking over and touching her arm.

As tempting as the idea of staying with him was, she and Lincoln did not need to live together, even temporarily. It would just confuse things between them even more.

“I’m not discussing this anymore,” Emerald said, out of patience and growing upset. She didn’t know why she suddenly wanted to cry but she really did. Maybe because it would be so nice to lean on someone, especially Lincoln. It would be so easy to let him protect her. But that’s not who she was.

“I’m going to take a shower. It’s been a long day.” She hurried to the bathroom, expecting them all to protest. At the very least, she thought Robyn would try to stop her. But they stood quietly behind her, not saying a thing.

She closed the bathroom door and turned the lock, not wanting to face anyone again until she’d calmed down. She turned on the spray of the shower and adjusted the enormous showerhead before she began to undress. The tears were already dripping down her cheeks before she’d even stepped under the water.

“I’m going to hire a private investigator,” Linc said. They were sitting in the living room and Robyn was wringing her hands.

Devin nodded. “That’s a good idea. If she won’t get the police involved, this is the next best thing. Get some evidence of who it is right away.”

“I think she might need a security guard too,” Linc said, surprised that he’d said it out loud.

“She’ll never go for that,” Robyn told him.

“She doesn’t have to know.”

Robyn was shaking her head. “It’s a bad idea. If she finds out, she’ll be pissed…”

“But what if someone is after her? And she lives in that damn building that doesn’t even have a simple lock on the front door.” Linc didn’t bother to hide his frustration.

“So far they haven’t tried to hurt her. It seems they just wanted to scare her for some reason.” Robyn sighed.

“But you don’t know that.”

“You don’t either,” Robyn said, frowning at him. “She’s my best friend. I know what’s best for her.”

In all the years Linc had known Robyn, he’d never wanted to curse her out until that very second.

“Fuck!” He muttered.

“She’s right,” Devin said, slapping Linc on his back. “We can explain away a private investigator trying to find out who slashed her tires. But to have someone shadowing her without her knowledge...that’s going to do more harm than good.”

“You two are certifiable.” Linc barked.

“In case you can’t tell,” Robyn said sarcastically, “Emmy is very independent. If you’re set on hiring a body guard, you’d better tell her. Because if you do it behind her back and she finds out about it, she’s going to be very mad. And the girl can hold a grudge. So think before you do something you’ll regret.”

Linc leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes, feeling helpless. He wanted to punch something. Or someone.

“Damn,” Devin said, actually laughing. Linc opened his eyes, glowering. “I never thought I’d see the day when you’d care this much about a woman.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Linc stood up. “This isn’t funny.”

Robyn looked back and forth between them. Devin kept laughing.

“I’m going to my office to make some calls,” Linc said, ignoring him. “The pizza should be here soon. It’s already been paid for. William will call when the delivery guy is here.”

As he walked down the hall to his office, Devin continued to laugh. Linc went into his office and slammed the door shut.