Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
It was Wednesday night, and Max and I were having dinner together at my apartment. It was the first time I’d seen him since dinner with his parents on Sunday. I made lasagna and waited for him to come by after the office. As I was in the kitchen making the salad, the door opened, and Max walked in and set his briefcase down on the stool.
“Hi.” I smiled.
“Hey. It smells delicious in here. How was school today?”
“It was good. How was work?”
“Hectic and stressful as always.” He walked behind me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and buried his face into my neck. “It’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you too.”
“Can I help?” he asked.
“Yes. Finish cutting up these tomatoes for the salad while I check on the lasagna.” I reached up and kissed his soft lips before pulling the dish out of the oven.
Just as the two of us sat down at the table, there was a knock at the door.
“Are you expecting someone?”
“No. I have no idea who it could be.”
“I’ll answer it.” He got up from the table and opened the door. My eyes widened, and my heart started racing when I peeked over the table and saw Molly and Kara standing there.
“Umm. Is Emma here?”
“Yeah. Come on in, ladies.”
I jumped up from the table and ran to them. “What are you doing here?” I asked as the three of us hugged.
“We wanted to surprise you, but I think you may have surprised us. Isn’t that the guy from the club in Miami?”
“Yes, I am. I’m Max Hamilton.” He held out his hand. “We were never formally introduced.”
“What’s going on, Emma?” Molly asked.
I stood there and stared at my best friends, whom I never kept a secret. I didn’t expect this visit, and they caught me off guard.
“Come sit down and have some lasagna. I’ll explain everything, but first, let me pour you a drink because you’re going to need it.”
Max and I explained everything to them, and I could tell they weren’t happy about the situation. The two of them glared at me from across the table, a glare I learned growing up. After dinner, Max helped clean up and then said his goodbyes to Molly and Kara.
“It was lovely to finally meet the two of you officially this time.” He winked. He placed his thumb on my chin. “You owe me sex.”
“I know. Sorry.” I pouted.
“It’s all good. I’m glad your friends are here. Go catch up, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
He walked out the door, and as soon as I shut it, the girls were right behind me, grabbing my arms and dragging me to the couch.
“What the fuck, Emma? How the hell are you going to pull this off?” Kara asked with concern.
“It’s easy. After he collects his trust fund, I’m breaking off the engagement.”
“That’s not what she meant,” Molly chimed.
I looked at both of them as I narrowed one eye. “What are you talking about?”
“I can already tell you’re falling in love with him if you aren’t already in love with him. I’ve never seen you like this before. You’re different. I saw it in the way you looked at him every time he spoke.”
“You’re going to get hurt, Emma, and we’re worried for you.” Molly put her arm around me.
“You’re both wrong. I don’t love Max. This is an agreement we have. There’s no love between us—only amazing sex and friendship. We’re the friends-with-benefits couple and nothing else. I don’t have time for love or relationships, nor does he.”
“If you say so, but we’re still worried,” Kara spoke.
I grabbed the bottle of wine from the table and brought it over to the couch with our glasses.
“Now, tell me why the two of you are here.”
Excitement overtook both of them at the same time as their faces displayed huge smiles.
“We’re moving to New York!” Kara screamed.
“You’re kidding, right? Because seriously, that’s not even funny if you’re joking.”
Molly took hold of my hand. “No, Emma. We aren’t kidding around. We both have interviews tomorrow at a new hair salon that’s opening up over on Madison Avenue. They’re looking to hire ten new stylists. We miss you, and Miami hasn’t been the same since you left, and you know we’ve always wanted to see New York.”
I could barely contain my excitement. Having my best friends, who were like sisters to me, with me in New York was like a dream come true. I missed them, and the fun times we used to have.
“Poor Aubrey. Now she’s going to be left all alone back in Miami.”
Molly looked at me and gave me a big smile. “We were waiting for the best piece of news for last. She’s moving to New York too!”
“WHAT?!” I screamed in excitement.
“After she graduates in December, she has a job waiting for her at Lawson, Talbot, and Grimes Law Firm. She did a Skype interview with them, and they hired her. She wanted to come here with us and tell you in person, but with her classes, she couldn’t.”
I started jumping up and down because I was so happy. Then reality hit me. “What if you two don’t get the job at the salon?”
“We already thought of that, and it doesn’t matter. We’ll find jobs at one of these salons in New York or even Jersey.” Kara smiled.
Kara and Molly stayed the night. I had to get up and go to class, so I left them the extra key on the counter. As I walked to class, I dialed Aubrey.
“Hello, my dearest best friend,” she answered.
“I can’t believe you’re moving to New York in December and didn’t tell me!”
She laughed. “I wanted to, but the other two goofballs wanted to do it in person. I’m so excited, Emma, and I’m ready to make a fresh start.”
“I am thrilled that we’re all going to be together. I just got to class, so I’ll talk to you later. Love you, Aubrey.”
“Love you too, girly!”
I couldn’t wait to introduce Hannah and Austin to my friends as I was telling them all about the girls. During my last class, a text message came through from Max.
“Dinner tonight. The four of us. I’ll pick you ladies up at seven o’clock, and then you’ll be spending the night at my house. So pack a bag.”
“What if I don’t want to spend the night?”
“It’s not an option. You owe me sex, and I’m ready to collect.”
I smiled and rolled my eyes. “See you at seven.”
He was becoming the most important person in my life very quickly. I knew that falling in love with him wasn’t an option, but it was too late, and I knew he was falling for me. The question was: how were we going to continue our relationship after he collected his trust fund?
When I arrived home and opened the door, Molly and Kara were huddled on the couch, watching Sex in the City with a pint of ice cream and spoons in their hands. I set my purse down and sat in between them.
“How did your interviews go?”
“Great,” Kara spoke. “They said they’d let us know by the end of tomorrow.”
“I’m keeping my fingers crossed for both of you! By the way, Max is picking us up at seven for dinner.” I took the spoon from Kara and dipped it in the ice cream.
“Please tell me he has a brother,” Molly begged.
“Sorry. He only has a nasty seventeen-year-old sister named Fiona. For some reason, that girl hates me.”
“Friends, perhaps?” Kara smiled.
“I never met any of his friends.”
“That’s weird. Don’t you think you should?”
I shrugged. “We have a three-month arrangement. He probably doesn’t want his friends involved.”
I took one last bite of ice cream and got up from the couch to change for dinner. Kara and Molly followed suit and did the same. At precisely seven o’clock, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, Darren was standing there.
“Come on in, Darren. We’re almost ready.”
“Max informed me that your friends were in town and that you were forced to tell them about your ‘arrangement.’”
“Yeah. But I trust them with my life, so I’m not worried. Molly. Kara. I would like you to meet Darren, Max’s driver.”
“Nice to meet you, ladies.” Darren smiled.
“Nice to meet you too, Darren,” they both chimed at the same time.
We walked down to the car, and I looked around because the only thing in front of the building was a limousine.
“No Rolls today, Darren?”
“Not today, Emma.” He winked as he opened the door.
I slid in first, taking the seat next to Max.
“Hey, good looking.” I smiled as I leaned over and kissed his lips.
“Hey, beautiful.” He took my purse from me and set it down on the floor. “Hello, ladies.”
Both girls blushed as they sat across from us. It wasn’t hard to do when one of the hottest and sexiest guys in the universe spoke to you.
“Did you tell them about the engagement party?”
“Umm. No.”
“We would love it if the two of you would join us Saturday night at our engagement party.”
Molly frowned. “Engagement party? Isn’t that taking things a bit far?”
“It’s my parents. They feel the need to show off to their friends.”
“We’d love to come and celebrate your fake engagement.” Kara smiled.
We drank, talked, and laughed as we ate dinner, and I couldn’t have been more pleased at how well Max got along with my friends. I had visions of a future where we’d be sitting here with Kara and Molly and their boyfriends, laughing and having a good time. I had to have a little hope that when all was said and done at the end of three months, Max would love me enough to want to keep me in his life. After a great dinner and conversation, we dropped the girls back at my apartment, and I went home with Max, where our first round of sex took place in the kitchen because we couldn’t make it to the bedroom fast enough.