Jake made polite conversation as he led her toward the dining room. Lauren held up her end, although if someone were to later ask what they talked about she’d draw a blank. Her mind was busy taking in her surroundings. Although not overdone or showy like Cliff House, the Sherbrooke mansion in Newport, there was no mistaking the refined elegance and wealth that ran through the estate. Unlike the penthouse apartment Callie and Dylan lived in while in New York City which favored a modern style, their new home showcased a turn-of-the-century traditional décor. She hadn’t thought much about it on her previous visits, but now she wondered what had influenced the design.
Regardless of what inspired the home, the place was nothing like the apartment Callie had once lived in or the homes Lauren normally visited.
“Help yourself if you’re hungry.” Jake stopped next to his chair in the dining room and inclined his head toward the far wall. “Nancy set out plenty of food.”
Must be nice. The sarcastic thought remained safely in her head. She wasn’t jealous of her friends, but who wouldn’t love to have a gourmet buffet breakfast set out for them? “Thanks, but I’ll just grab some tea.” The greasy egg sandwich she’d eaten at the diner still sat in her stomach.
“You don’t know what you’re missing. Maureen gave Nancy her blueberry-lemon muffin recipe.” Jake held up a golden brown muffin.
Across the table from her, Charlie rolled her eyes in Lauren’s direction.
“I see some things never change.” For the first time since leaving Kevin’s house, the stress in her stomach lessened.
“If anything, it has gotten worse since Ma started sending him care packages full of baked goods.” Charlie winked in her direction. “I’m starting to think he only married me because of Ma’s cooking.”
“I told you, Charlie. That was only one of the reasons.” Jake popped the rest of his muffin in his mouth.
In response, Charlie punched him in the arm. “Be careful, or you’ll be sleeping on the floor tonight.”
Lauren sipped her tea and struggled to ignore the envy growing inside her. From the outside at least, Jake and Charlie had the perfect marriage. They teased each other, but at the same time showed affection for each other. They appeared to be friends, partners, and lovers all rolled into one. Sara and Christopher did as well. That type of relationship was what she’d always thought she wanted.
What Kevin offered her would be so much different. Could she live with that? If she married him, the world would be at her feet. As his wife, she could obtain so many of her dreams. An image of Nate sneaked its way into her head. As soon as it did, a collage of emotions bombarded her. Kevin’s safe. A marriage to him might not include love, at least not in the beginning, but that also meant he could never break her heart. Unlike someone else. Nate had the ability to not only break her heart but to crush it into a fine dust.
“Lauren,” Callie said with surprise from the doorway. “What’s up? Is something wrong?”
She studied her friend as Dylan pulled out a chair for her. While it could have been the lighting in the room, Callie appeared pale and tired. “I need to talk to you. I didn’t consider that you might have company.” In the past whenever they needed each other, there had been no need to call first. Sometimes she forgot how much Callie’s marriage changed things. “But it can wait.”
“They’re family. They don’t count. Come on; let’s go upstairs.” Callie stood again and grabbed a cup of tea from the sideboard. “Well, are you coming?” she asked when Lauren remained in her seat.
“Really, Callie it can—”
“No, it can’t. You wouldn’t have driven out here if it could wait.”
Lauren didn’t bother with an argument. Callie knew her too well. Instead, she snagged her tea and followed Callie up the wide central staircase to her and Dylan’s suite.
“Okay now, out with it, Lauren.” Callie didn’t waste any time once they sat down. “What’s the matter?”
“Kevin asked me to marry him last night.” Speaking the words aloud made the proposal all that more real. Despite the ring in her pocket, she had almost convinced herself she’d dreamed it all up. “And I kissed Nate.” She rushed out the second sentence.
Callie’s eyes grew large. “Wow! That’s great.” She leaned closer as if to give Lauren a hug but then stopped. “Wait, what? You kissed Nate? When?”
“Twice actually.” Lauren stared down at her hands. She hadn’t intended to tell anyone that. Not even Callie.
Callie nibbled her bottom lip. “I’m confused. Kevin proposed, but you’ve been seeing Nate?”
She had dated a lot while in college and a fair amount since then, but she’d never cheated on a boyfriend. The way Callie said it, though, sounded as if she’d done just that. “I’m not seeing Nate. We kissed once when he spent the night and again the other day. That’s it.”
“He spent the night?” Callie’s voice rose a few more octaves.
Lauren grimaced. She’d forgotten Callie didn’t know all the details about the night her car broke down. “The night my car broke down he gave me a ride home. By the time we got to my house the roads were bad. It would have been dangerous for him to leave, so he slept in the spare bedroom.”
“Okay,” Callie said, dragging out the words. “And you kissed him?”
“It just happened. One second we were arguing and the next kissing.” She couldn’t put all the blame on him. Yeah, he’d made the first move, but she’d reciprocated.
“What about the second time?”
“I was upset and crying. I’d just told him about the baby.” A large lump formed in her throat. “We haven’t seen each other since but I—”
“Wait. You told him? Why now? I think you better start at the beginning and don’t leave anything out.”
“I didn’t intend to. He showed up one night demanding an explanation. Matt actually dropped the news on him at O’Donnell’s.”
“Man, this story keeps getting worse.”
“Will you please let me finish?” Giving Callie a play-by-play account of the past few weeks was difficult enough. She did not need the constant interruptions.
“Not another word. Promise.”
“Anyway, I couldn’t lie to him, so I told him everything. Then we kissed again. When I told him about Kevin and that I was happy with him, Nate called my bluff. He asked me to give him another chance.”
“What did you tell him? You can’t stop there, Lauren.”
Lauren exhaled slowly and picked at her fingernail. “I told him I need time to think.” Rather than help her sort things out, her conversation so far only intensified the uncertainties she’d been battling for weeks.
“Okay. Did you still take Kevin with you to New York last weekend?”
She switched her attention to another fingernail. “He had the flu, so I went without him. He invited me to spend this weekend with him instead, and I planned on doing that until he pulled out this ring.” Lauren handed the box to Callie. “Or at least I think I would’ve stayed if not for that. I’m not sure.”
“You said your relationship wasn’t serious yet.”
Lauren shrugged. “I didn’t think it was. He shocked me last night when he gave me that.”
Next to her, Callie opened the box. The light reflected off the stone, casting rainbows on the ceiling.
“He’s got good taste.” She examined the ring for a moment before handing it back. “Do you want to marry him? Are you in love with him?”
She snapped the box closed. “I like him, but love? No, not yet anyway. And I know it’s the same for him.”
“He asked you to marry him, but he doesn’t love you? Lauren, come on, get serious. Why would he do that?”
Lauren had considered that she’d have to tell Callie his reasons for the marriage. “He sees marriage as a business deal. It’d be good for his company if he got married.” Please don’t ask for details. How could Lauren ever tell her friend that Kevin was using marriage as a way to get in tight with her fa
mily?
Callie looked like she’d just swallowed a lemon whole. “What about you? How is this business deal good for you?” Callie’s tone told Lauren her exact thoughts on the matter.
“Financial security. I can open my own dance studio. I can travel. Whatever I want.” Lauren made an attempt at a sound argument. “It’s not as if I don’t like him. We get along well and have fun. Maybe someday we’ll love each other.”
Callie sat in silence biting her lip, a sure sign she was processing everything she’d heard. Across from her, Lauren waited and forced herself to remain silent. Part of her wanted to further plead her case, make Callie understand why marriage made sense. How would that look, though? Would it appear as if she was trying to convince herself, too?
“What about Nate?” Callie asked, her tone gentle and patient.
Not the question she expected. Lauren had to reverse gears.
“You said you told him you needed time to think,” Callie said, repeating her own words. “If you told him that then you must still feel something for him.”
Sometimes Callie knew her too darn well. “I do.” Before now she’d kept the truth inside. “When we kissed it was like we hadn’t spent more than a day apart. But I don’t know if I want to go there again, chickie. If I do and things end again . . . I can’t go through that another time. I’m safe in a relationship with Kevin. There is no burning passion between us, but he can’t hurt me either. “
“You won’t be happy. That type of marriage isn’t you. We both know that. Maybe it works for others, but you’re too much like me. Before long you’ll wish you’d never met Kevin.”
Lauren squirmed. She’d known Callie would speak the truth. “Then you think I should say no.”
Callie nodded. “At least for now. Maybe keep things the way they are with him and see what happens. What’s the rush?” Callie stopped then opened her mouth to say more only to snap it shut again.
“What? Tell me?”
“You’re not going to like it.” She sounded resigned to the fact.
“Out with it, chickie.”
“I think you should give Nate another chance. I know how much it hurt when he left, but you’re both different people now. He wouldn’t be trying if he didn’t still love you.”
Tears tickled her eyes, and she forced the happy image of her niece and nephew the previous Christmas into her thoughts. The memory did the trick, and the overwhelming sadness she’d felt moments earlier dissipated enough she could keep from bawling her eyes out. “Do you remember what I was like when he left last time? I can’t go through that again.”
Callie put a hand on her arm. “You’re assuming it won’t work before you even try,” she said in her most patient teacher’s voice. “What if everything goes the way you always wanted?” She leaned closer. “Do you want to risk that for a business arrangement? People don’t usually get a second chance like this, Lauren.”
You’d be crazy to let it pass. Callie didn’t say the words, yet Lauren read between the lines.
“I just don’t know.” The war between her head and heart continued to rage despite her heart-to-heart with Callie.
“How about you forget about it for a little while? Stay here tonight and relax. Sleep on it. Nothing will change between now and tomorrow morning.”
A few years earlier Lauren would have said yes without any hesitation. “You have company.” Callie’s family never treated her like an outsider, but she still occasionally felt like one.
Callie rolled her eyes. “Please, it’s just family. You’re practically my sister, too.”
Stay there surrounded by friends or return home alone with nothing to do but dwell on her relationship problems? It wasn’t even a fair contest. “Okay, you twisted my arm. You’ve got yourself another house guest for the night, girlfriend.”
***
“I say, let the guys stay here and we go out,” Sara said. “Maybe dinner and a movie.”
Everyone was gathered in the entertainment room enjoying each other’s company, while Jake and Christopher played a video game on the television. The sight of the two men so engrossed in the game amused Lauren to no end. Thanks to the media and the way it portrayed the two men, few would ever believe that international playboy Jake Sherbrooke and billionaire genius Christopher Hall spent their time playing video games. But while it might have surprised others, it didn’t shock her. Despite their social status, both men were down-to-earth and enjoyed the same activities as other men their age. Lauren knew firsthand that even grown men still enjoyed their video games, at least both her brother and brother-in-law did.
Most likely Nate still does, too. She’d locked all thoughts of Nate away for the night, or she had tried to. Even with her best efforts, the image materialized of Nate playing a game just as Jake and Christopher were. For as long as she could remember, he’d enjoyed playing video games. She remembered him saving his allowance just so he could buy the newest releases when they hit the shelves. And she had to admit she occasionally liked playing as well. Not the type that Jake and Christopher were playing now, but rather car racing ones. As teenagers, she and Nate would sometimes play video games like that for hours.
What about Kevin? She didn’t see him in front of screen with a game controller in his hand. She pictured him more in front of a chess board. Not that there was anything wrong with that. She played chess, although not well. She’d never had the patience necessary to learn all the strategies involved. But Kevin was probably fantastic at the game.
“I’m in,” Charlie said, breaking into Lauren’s thoughts.
“Me, too,” Lauren added, locking her thoughts of Nate and Kevin away.
“Is there anything good playing?” Callie asked.
“Always A Bridesmaid came out yesterday,” Sara answered referring to Mia Troy’s newest romantic comedy.
“Oh, that sounds like a winner,” Christopher called out.
Lauren laughed when Sara shot him a dirty look. Even after months of getting to know Sara, the transformation she’d made since falling in love with Christopher Hall amazed her. Before that, Sara came across as cold and distant. A real snob with no personality. Now Lauren considered Sara a friend.
“I wouldn’t talk. You thought Gateway 3000 was a good movie.”
She cringed at the mention of the new sci-fi movie. She’d seen it herself with a friend. “Tell me she’s joking,” Lauren pleaded. “That was a horrible movie. The only thing it had going for it was Anderson Brady.”
“He made it almost worth watching,” Sara said with a wink toward the women in the room.
Christopher began a retort, but Jake cut him off. “Unless you want to find yourself on the floor tonight, better keep your mouth shut.”
Christopher focused back on the game and shot the enemy solider on the screen. “Enjoy the movies.”
With their plans set for the evening, Lauren along with Callie, Sara, and Charlie headed out for a girls-only evening, which started with dinner at an Italian restaurant. Like just about everything in and around Greenwich, the restaurant catered to society’s elite and it showed. The name of the restaurant wasn’t lit up in bold neon colors. A canopy led from the sidewalk, where a valet took the car, right up to the carved wooden door. Inside, a maître d’ in a three-piece suit greeted them by name and escorted them to a table in a corner of the restaurant. Fine linen tablecloths covered each table in the dimly lit establishment. Fresh flowers in crystal vases graced each table, along with long slender candles in silver candelabras, providing an intimate atmosphere. If all that wasn’t enough to make Lauren aware of how out of place she was, each place setting at the table had enough utensils to fill her silverware draw at home.
However, like the other times Callie had taken her to the places in her new life, Lauren tucked her unease away and followed Callie’s lead. So when the maître d’ handed her an open menu containing a selection of wines and cocktails, she accepted it with a thank you. Looking down at the menu, she tried to forget ab
out the discreet glances the other restaurant patrons threw in their direction.
Even the restaurants and clubs she frequented overpriced their alcoholic drinks, so when she did order one she favored those that were least expensive. A quick scan of the menu showed she couldn’t do that tonight. No dollar amounts were listed next to any of the drinks. Just another reminder of the clientele that frequented the restaurant, and the fact that within this group she was the outsider. The only one who couldn’t easily afford her portion of the tab tonight, not that Callie would let her pay. As with previous times they’d gone to restaurants like this, Callie would insist on covering the whole check. Lauren hated having Callie foot the bill for her, and they’d disagreed about it in the past. At the same time, places like this would put a dent in her monthly budget, so they’d reached a compromise more than a year ago. Whenever Callie visited her in Massachusetts, Lauren paid for meals, but when she visited Callie in either New York or Connecticut, Callie covered dinners out. While not the ideal agreement, it worked.
If I married Kevin, Callie wouldn’t need to cover my portion at places like this. As soon as she had the thought, she bent her head in disgust. Money should be the last thing influencing her decision.
“And what can I get for you tonight?” the uniformed waiter asked, once Sara finished placing her cocktail order.
“I’ll have an Espresso Martini.” Unprepared, Lauren automatically named one of her favorite cocktails and reached for her dinner menu. When the waiter returned for their dinner choices, she wanted to be prepared.
“I’ll have a sparkling water,” Callie said when the waiter turned toward her.
“I’ll put this order in while everyone looks over the menu. So, please take your time making your choices. If you have any questions, please ask.” The uniformed waiter smiled then stepped away.
“You’re not having a drink?” Lauren closed the menu, food no longer on her mind. Callie didn’t drink a lot, but in a social setting like this she would normally join in.
The Billionaire's Best Friend (The Sherbrookes of Newport) Page 12
