How to Steal Your Best Friend's Fiancé (How to Rom Com Series Book 2)

by London Casey

  Which meant I would have gotten to the bakery on time too.

  Except…

  I took a little detour to walk by the music club.

  A part of me just wanted to be there again. To revisit the entire night.

  My heart twisted.

  I wasn’t a bad person. Or at least I didn’t believe I was.

  I was the person who gave food to the homeless. I was the person who talked to Buzzy because she was mad at her mother. I was the person who checked on Miss Crabapple. I was the person who took over the failing family business.

  But what did that actually make me?

  A doormat.

  And all I could do as I walked, was tell myself that all the good I did was worth it and made up for the maybe not so good that I was thinking and feeling.

  Liam was… Liam.

  It’s how we were years ago.

  Yeah, sure, we lost some time during college and after, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t pick up where we left off.

  You mean the night you and him were going to meet at that tree and finally admit you had feelings?

  I shook my head.

  That’s not what I meant at all.

  That was high school.

  We were seventeen turning eighteen.

  That was a far cry from what we were now.

  Then why did you enjoy being with him so much last night? Why did you jump into his arms? Why did you and him get so close on the roof…

  My cheeks started to warm up.

  I replayed that scene in my mind dozens of times.

  I really wondered what would have happened if Buzzy hadn’t interrupted us.

  It was crazy to think about.

  And if that wasn’t crazy enough, when I thought about Liam, I thought about Miranda. Which was duh but it wasn’t good. She was in Boston on business. She trusted Liam and I to help plan their wedding.

  Did she though? Or did she just demand it? How many times has she screwed you over?

  I looked down at my feet.

  I pleaded with my mind to please stop.

  There was no way I was getting close to Liam to get back at Miranda.

  That would make me evil.

  I wasn’t evil.

  I was-

  “Emily?”

  I stopped walking and looked up to find a complete stranger staring at me.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “Ernie.”

  “I don’t know any Ernie.”

  “I know about you,” he said. “I saw you. Last night. Right here.”

  He nodded to the music club behind him.

  I hadn’t even realized I was there.

  My mind had been racing so fast, I would have just walked right by.

  “Okay,” I said.

  Now the anxiety kicked in.

  Thinking this guy maybe knew Miranda. And he was going to tell Miranda that I was with Liam last night. Even though we didn’t do anything wrong.

  Did we do anything wrong?

  I knew if I had to ask… then the answer was… yes…

  “I own the place,” Ernie said.

  “Oh,” I said. “Right.”

  “You have no idea who I am?”

  “No.”

  Ernie laughed. He touched his slicked back black hair and pointed to the front door. He wore gold bracelets that hit together like wind chimes.

  “Got a minute to come in?”

  “Actually, I don’t,” I said. “I own a bakery and I’m already late.”

  “Damn,” he said. “Well, then I’ll keep it quick. I was waiting for Faye to give you a call.”

  “Faye… right.”

  “Look, here’s the quick story,” Ernie said. “Carla and I? A long time ago. There was a moment. Okay? They sing great. I love when they’re here. Last night, all I heard about was you. I saw it myself. Amazing. I was just coming out for a smoke and here you are, walking by. So I stopped you. Now we’re caught up.”

  “Right,” I said. “I really do have to get going.”

  He put his right hand out. His hands were thick, which fit the rest of his look.

  “Emily,” he said. “I want you to come back here and sing again. As soon as possible. I want you to have your own set too. Pick some songs. And just get up there and go for it. Good singers bring in more people and I make more money. The bad singers help a little, but not as much.”

  I thought about Liam singing.

  The fact that he threw himself to the wolves to get me to sing…

  “I’ll think about it,” I said.

  “Sounds good,” Ernie said. His cell phone started to ring. “You talk to Faye. And Carla too. Then let me know.”

  Ernie produced a business card.

  Then he turned and answered his phone.

  I started to walk and I caught myself smiling.

  Me? Singing on stage? My own show?

  I instantly thought about playing guitar.

  I saw myself on stage, singing and playing…

  It was too good to be true.

  Kind of like Liam.

  “What are you still doing here?” Lucy asked as she flipped through the pile of receipts.

  “Sending you home,” I said. “Go home.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Take a break,” I said. “Enjoy the afternoon and night.”

  “It’s my job to close up.”

  “Not today.”

  Ember walked from the back and knocked on the wall. “Hey. I’m out. Are you two good?”

  “Emily is kicking me out,” Lucy said. “She’s up to something.”

  “Oh. Juicy.” Ember hurried around the counter. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” I said.

  “You have someone coming here, don’t you?” Lucy asked.

  “What?”

  “Oh, damn,” Ember said. “There’s only two possibilities…”

  “Which are?” I asked.

  “You’re meeting someone to get rid of the business,” Ember said. “Or…” She pointed to Lucy.

  Lucy smiled. “You’re meeting that hot guy who got you soaking wet.”

  “What?” I yelled.

  “Liam,” Lucy said. “When he broke the pipe in the bathroom… you were wet…”

  “Oh,” I said. “Right.”

  “So, is it him?” Ember asked.

  “No,” I said. “It’s new friends.”

  “You have friends?” Lucy asked.

  “New friends?” Ember asked.

  “You two are horrible,” I said.

  “Well, tell us what’s going on,” Lucy said.

  I backed away from the counter. “I sang at a club last night. And I met a few other singers. And that’s that.”

  “You went out last night?” Ember asked.

  “Was Liam involved in this?” Lucy asked.

  I didn’t answer.

  My cheeks did it for me.

  Ember laughed.

  “Stop it,” I said.

  “This is something,” Lucy said.

  “What is?” I snapped.

  Lucy slowly put the receipts on the counter and stepped away. “Nothing. I’m going home. My boss told me to.”

  “I’m going home too,” Ember said.

  “You both suck,” I said.

  “One last thing,” Lucy said as she reached under the counter for her balled up coat. “You look happy right now. That’s all I’m going to say.”

  “I second that,” Ember said as she walked to the back of the bakery.

  A few seconds later I was alone.

  The front door was locked.

  The chairs were up on the tables.

  And I couldn’t calm my mind.

  Everyone was right.

  I was happy. I liked to sing. I wanted to do it again.

  But there was one thing really wrong.

  I didn’t want to do any of it unless Liam was with me.

  “Oh, this coffee is perfect,” Carla said. “Damn, you have som
ething here.”

  “You think?” I asked.

  “She’s right,” Faye said. “This is good. I never knew about this place before. You’re kind of in a bad spot.”

  “I’ve heard that before,” I said.

  “You’re at the end of a not so busy street,” Carla said. “This building is yuck too. No offense.”

  “I don’t own the building,” I said. “I just lease this spot.”

  “Then get out of here,” Faye said. “I know someone who-”

  “No thanks,” I said. “Trust me. No thanks.”

  “Fair enough,” Faye said.

  They both kept looking around.

  It was hard for me to take pride in the business. I knew all the dirty secrets. I knew where the skeletons were hiding.

  I knew what I wanted too and it wasn’t this place.

  “Sorry for coming over now,” Carla said. “You’re all closed up.”

  “I wouldn’t be able to focus otherwise,” I said.

  “I think it’s cool,” Faye said. “I feel like a badass chick. In a business after it’s closed.”

  “Like you and Dozer that one night?” Carla asked. “If Ernie ever finds out what you two did…”

  “Shut up,” Faye said.

  “Yeah, about Ernie,” I said.

  I looked at Carla.

  She batted her eyes. “What?”

  “He said you and him…”

  “That was a long time ago,” she said. “I fell for the whole I own the place and you’re beautiful thing.”

  “More than once,” Faye said.

  “How long?” I asked.

  “Until he proposed,” Faye said.

  “Can I tell my own story here?” Carla asked.

  “Ernie proposed to you?” I asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” Carla said. “The biggest diamond ring I ever saw.”

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “I didn’t want to marry him. So I told him that.”

  “While he was on one knee?”

  “Of course,” Carla said. “Hey. Life is too short to fuck around. I told him I liked him. I told him I didn’t love him. He put the ring away…”

  “And you fucked him,” Faye said.

  “You did?” I asked.

  “Well, yeah,” Carla said. “But that was the last time. And why are we talking about this? Or about me? We were supposed to talk about singing.”

  “Wait a second,” Faye said. She smiled a devilish grin, which matched her jet-black hair that came down just past her shoulders. “Can we talk about the guy you were with last night, Emily?”

  “Nope,” I said. “Let’s talk about singing.”

  Carla laughed. “Oh, come on. That guy was… hot. Tell me you took him home…”

  “Liam is an old friend.”

  “Old friend,” Faye said, rolling her eyes. “That means either he’s gay or he’s taken.”

  “Which one?” Carla asked.

  “Taken,” I said.

  “And where was she?” Faye asked.

  “She’s away right now,” I said.

  “Oh, you little devil,” Carla said. She slapped my arm. “The bitch goes away and you come out to play…”

  Faye clicked her tongue. “My, oh, my… you fit right in with us.”

  “Tell her about Robin and Fritz.”

  “Who’s Fritz?” I asked.

  “Her husband, Kyle,” Carla said. “That’s his nickname. Long story short… Fritz had a girlfriend. They were basically engaged. Weird story there too. But Robin saw him and wanted him. She was better. She believed they were meant to be.”

  “Did he… cheat?” I asked.

  “Not necessarily,” Faye said. “Feelings are crazy things, you know?”

  “Put it this way,” Carla said. “When they both knew, they both knew. That was it. Fritz got rid of the wrong woman and got the right one.”

  “Even though he knocked up the right one and we’re short a singer,” Faye said.

  “Which brings it all back to why we’re here,” Carla said.

  “Wait a second,” I said. “Robin and Fritz. They’re married? She’s pregnant? It’s good?”

  “I’ve never seen her so happy,” Faye said. “They’re meant to be. The heart knows what it wants. It’s not all sappy romance like in a movie.”

  “Back to singing,” I said.

  “Simple,” Carla said. “Do you want to sing with us or not?”

  “I do,” I said. “I’d love to sing on stage with you. And Ernie wants me to sing a solo show too.”

  “Perfect,” Faye said. “How awesome is it that the night Robin sings her last song with us you’re there to sing, Emily?”

  “Thank Liam,” I said. “He wanted me to do it.”

  “I hope that’s not all he wants you to do,” Carla said with a wink.

  I laughed.

  My cheeks turned red.

  I was actually happy for the first time in a long time.

  All because of Liam.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Liam

  I heard my phone ringing from across the apartment.

  I wasn’t sure I had ever ran so fast through the apartment to get to my phone ever.

  For good reason.

  There was a phone call I had been waiting for damn near all day.

  With each passing second it felt like the day was going to go without hearing her voice. Which almost felt like a tragedy to me.

  There was that other voice in my head, reminding me of one word.

  Wrong.

  Wrong was right.

  But what was right didn’t feel it.

  That made everything simply confusing.

  All my racing thoughts came to a sudden halt when I saw the name on the screen.

  Miranda.

  I rubbed my jaw and answered the call.

  “Hey,” I said in the happiest voice I could muster up.

  “Liam,” she yelled into the phone.

  “Miranda?”

  “Liam. Is that you?”

  “Yes,” I said as I walked toward the kitchen. “It’s me.”

  “This is Miranda,” she said.

  “Are you drunk?”

  “What? No.”

  “Yes you are,” I said. I laughed. “What are you doing calling me drunk?”

  “We’re supposed to get married. Remember that?”

  I took a slow breath. “Miranda, where are you right now?”

  “Outside. Liam. I’m smoking a cigarette.”

  I swallowed hard. “Why are you doing that, Miranda?”

  “Because I want to,” she said. “You can’t control me anymore.”

  “I don’t control you. I never tried to.”

  “You made me quit smoking.”

  “I didn’t make anyone do anything,” I said. “You wanted to quit and asked for my help. Remember?”

  “Liar,” she said. “I’m going to smoke a million cigarettes tonight. Okay? What are you going to do about it?”

  “Nothing. If that makes you happy…”

  “You used to make me happy, Liam,” Miranda said.

  “I think you need to call it a night over there, Miranda. You’re starting to say some mean things.”

  Which was typical Miranda when she got too drunk. There was a level of her drinking that went from being tipsy and fun to just plain mean. There were dozens of times in college I would have to wrap my arms around her waist and carry her out of a college bar because she was ready to start a fight that I would have to finish.

  “You’re the mean one,” Miranda said. “Everyone here says so. You’re not here, Liam. You’re supposed to be here.”

  “Miranda…”

  “So I’m going to smoke and drink and you can’t stop me,” she said. “And you know what? What would happen if I met a nice guy too? Huh? What would you do?”

  Now she was really pushing at me.

  She wanted me to get mad. She wanted me to explode with anger.

>   That would help lay the path of her justification of whatever she wanted to do.

  I felt that burning in the pit of my stomach. Anger. But it was just that. Anger.

  It wasn’t jealousy at all.

  “Just tell me you’re safe,” I said. “Then we can talk in the morning when you’re sober.”

  “Oh, I’m safe,” she said. “I’m right where I want to be, Liam.”

  “Why did you call me tonight?”

  “To make sure you remembered my voice. You’re a stranger to me. I’m a stranger to you. So what the fuck are we doing here? Why don’t I just give you this ring back and we can shake hands?”

  I shut my eyes.

  I clenched my jaw.

  Full disclosure - it wasn’t the first time she had said that to me.

  “Goodnight, Miranda,” I said. “You need to call me in the morning.”

  “Goodnight,” Miranda said. “I’m going to fucking party.”

  She hung up on me.

  I looked around the apartment.

  I glanced down at my phone.

  All I wanted to do was text Emily.

  Instead, I went to bed.

  I sat behind my desk after kicking the interns out.

  I hated that David was going to be the successful one in the group.

  Marie was second up. She was smart but too timid. She second guessed herself way too much. And Jacob was lost in love land.

  I spun around in my chair and put my hands behind my head.

  The skyline of the city was as cliché as ever, but it was also comforting.

  I didn’t sleep well last night.

  My mind and heart were ripped into two pieces.

  It wasn’t a simple decision here either. It wasn’t a decision that touched on only our two lives. The situation was so twisted up…

  What am I supposed to do? Leave Miranda for Emily? Does Emily even want that? Then Emily’s business is basically done for. Then I’ll have to be the guy that buys out Miranda on the lease Emily signed and then help her relocate and start over. But Emily doesn’t want that. I know that for sure. She doesn’t want anyone to take care of her like that. She’s too damn stubborn for that…

  My cell vibrated against the desk under a folder and notebook.

  I dug my phone out and saw Miranda’s name again.

  I sighed but knew I had to talk to her.

  “Should I keep my voice low?” I whispered.