A Fortunate Arrangement. Nancy Robards Thompson

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      Maia made a face and waved away her words with a flippant flick of her hand. “You gave your notice. We’re celebrating, and I wanted to start the night off with a bang. How did he take the news?”

      Felicity shrugged. “He took it about as well as you might expect.”

      Maia handed Felicity a glass of sparkling rosé.

      Felicity couldn’t suppress a smile thinking about how upset he’d been by the news.

       How am I supposed to get by without you, Felicity?

      Did she dare tell Maia what he said? One of two things would happen: her friend would either point out what Felicity already knew—it wasn’t personal. It simply meant that she was good at her job. Or she would read way too much into it and try to tempt Felicity into abandoning her common sense about where she stood with Austin Fortune.

      Either way, this little nugget was best kept bottled up. Because much like the sparkling wine Maia had brought over to help her celebrate, once the feeling was uncorked, it wouldn’t be long before the harsh reality made it flat and unpalatable.

      Actually, that was Felicity’s view on romance in general. Once romance was set in motion, it was as if a clock started ticking, counting down toward the inevitable end.

      Instead of letting the air out of her giddy feeling, she sipped her drink and closed her eyes, savoring the bubbles that tickled her nose.

      “What exactly does that mean?” Maia asked. “The guy has his good days and he has his beastly days. Which was this? Was he Mr. Wonderful or was he the Beast?”

      Maia knew way too much about Felicity’s unrequited crush on her boss. The two women were next-door neighbors, each owning half of a double shotgun-style home that had been converted into two units. They had become fast friends that cool February evening when Felicity moved in and Maia, bearing a casserole of red beans and rice and a bottle of zinfandel, had knocked on Felicity’s door and introduced herself.

      Felicity had invited her in and amid a maze of boxes, they’d bonded as they feasted on the dinner and wine.

      Four years later, they shared more than a common interior wall and communal outdoor space. Maia was so easy to talk to that Felicity constantly found herself confiding secrets that in the past she would’ve never entrusted to anyone. Secrets such as the big honking crush she’d had on Austin since the day he’d hired her.

      “Austin was...Austin.” She shrugged. “He was all business, as usual.”

      Maia didn’t just frown, she looked outraged. “What? He just said okay and was fine with letting you walk out of his life forever?”

      “I gave my notice. I didn’t ask him for a divorce.”

      “I know that,” Maia said. “Did he not show any emotion at all?”

      “He didn’t cry, if that’s what you were expecting.”

      “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course he wouldn’t cry. Beasts don’t cry. But they do bellow. Did he bellow? Please tell me at the very least he bellowed. If he didn’t, I’ll have to worry about him.”

      “You’re ridiculous,” Felicity said.

      Truly, she was. Ridiculously good at getting Felicity to spill her guts. Because suddenly, she was brimming over with the need to tell Maia everything.

      “He said he didn’t want me to go.” Felicity bit her bottom lip. Maia looked at her expectantly. “Actually, he said, ‘How am I supposed to get by without you?’”

      “Oooh, giiirl.” Maia whistled.

      And that was how Maia did it. It was that subtle, almost like sleight of hand. One minute, Felicity would be steadfast in her resolution to bury a secret deep in her heart, in a place only she knew. Then somehow Maia had diverted her attention and extracted the secret from her.

      “Get by without you,” Felicity repeated. “Not live without you. There’s a world of difference in getting by and living.”

      Maia shook her head. “Same thing, baby girl. That’s simply Beast-speak. He loves you. You need to tell him how you feel.”

      This time Felicity was the one shaking her head.

      “Then you’re telling me you’re perfectly happy getting by rather than living?” The woman was relentless. “But he let you off work early.” Maia glanced at her watch. “Relatively speaking. It’s 6:45. I guess that’s almost normal business hours.”

      “He’s having dinner with his parents tonight,” Felicity said. “After that, he’s catching a flight to Atlanta for a meeting tomorrow. I was at a good stopping point. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to call it a day at a reasonable hour for a change.”

      “I’m surprised he didn’t insist that you go to Atlanta with him. Seems like he has a hard time functioning without you there to keep everything in order.”

      Felicity would’ve loved to go to Atlanta with him. Arriving at the hotel, which would allow her to indulge in the brief illusion that they were checking in together. One room. A king-size bed. Both of them naked, spending one glorious night making love—

      Felicity tried to shake the image of hot, sweaty, naked Austin. It wasn’t the first time she’d thought about what he’d look like naked. She just knew that underneath his custom-fit Tom Ford suits, Austin’s body would be long and lean and sexy. His shoulders—oh, those shoulders, they were so perfect they made her want to weep—those broad shoulders would give way to strong, muscled arms—not too muscled, but just right so that his biceps would bulge when he pulled her into his arms and against his perfectly defined chest. Lean hips would showcase a washboard-flat stomach just above the part of his body that would rock her world.

      She drew in a sharp breath. She couldn’t help it. That’s what he did to her. It wasn’t considered objectifying a man if you were in love with him, right? She didn’t think of anyone else like this. She didn’t want to just sleep with him—okay, she did want to sleep with him and she’d fully imagined that experience, too. She wanted so much more than lust or a one-night stand. She wanted to love Austin and she wanted him to love her, too. But he didn’t. Clearly, he didn’t.

      Her sexy daydreams were the consolation prize for the fact that beyond the office, Austin didn’t even realize she existed.

      “That’s not true,” Felicity said, answering her friend’s comment about how Austin couldn’t function without her.

      Maia pinned her with a dubious look.

      “Okay, maybe it’s partially true,” Felicity conceded. “It’s called job security. I make myself indispensable and I keep getting paid.”

      “I think you’re long past needing to worry about job security. How long has it been now?”

      “Almost five years.”

      “Do you think he will remember your anniversary?” There was a gleam in Maia’s eye that Felicity tried to ignore. “I think it’s an occasion that calls for flowers СКАЧАТЬ