His Best Friend's Girl: In the Line of Duty, Book 5

by Cathryn Fox

  “Good,” he said. “You all set?”

  She closed her laptop. “Yeah.”

  Matt gestured with a nod to her computer as she packed it away in her case. “What were you doing?”

  “Just paying bills.”

  Matt nodded but didn’t push the matter as she stacked paper on her desk and started to clean up. From the wistful look on her face, he guessed she wasn’t paying bills at all, and the girl couldn’t tell a fib if her damn life depended on it. He grinned, thinking back to their teen years when they all drank too much and crashed in Caleb’s basement. She’d been so sick that night. He and Caleb had spent the better part of the night taking turns holding her hair as she hovered over the toilet. She’d told her father she stayed at some girlfriend’s house and was too sick to call because she had the flu. He saw right through that lie, and accused her of being out with a boy. But she hadn’t been out with just one boy. She’d been out with two. Her father wasn’t half as angry when he found out Sky had been with him and Caleb. He shook his head as he thought about that. He and Caleb had a reputation a mile long. Why her father had ever trusted her with the likes of them, he’d never know.

  Matt played with his key inside his pocket and leaned against the doorjamb as he waited. Sky grabbed her purse from the drawer and met up with him. Everything in the way she moved was so sexy, so sensuous, he had no idea how Caleb couldn’t see that she was all grown up.

  An easy silence fell over them as they stepped outside and Matt wondered if she was going to bring up what he’d overheard. He locked up and they walked toward Gran’s house. Gran was his mom’s mother. He lost his mom to cancer when he was just a toddler, so he didn’t know Gran very well growing up, and had been working hard to make up time ever since. She’d moved here to take over his father’s house a few years back when his dad had died. Matt didn’t want anything to do with the house. It held nothing but bad memories and he preferred to live in his little one-bedroom apartment across the hall from Sky. It wasn’t much of an apartment, but it was a place to lay his head nonetheless.

  “How’s Gran?” Sky asked and Matt knew she was hedging.

  Matt kicked a rock and slowed his pace so she could keep up. “Good. She’d probably like to see you soon. It’s been a while.”

  “I know. I’ve just been so busy at work.” Silence, and then, “Matt?”

  “Hmmm.”

  “About what you overheard,” Sky began, crinkling her nose as she lifted her chin to meet his eyes.

  “Yeah. I thought you might want to talk about it.”

  “I didn’t mean for you to hear any of it.”

  They moved down the sidewalk and a car sped by, the passengers in the backseat hollering out to Sky. This, of course, was why he liked to walk her home. Sure, they didn’t live far and she could take care of herself, but there were assholes everywhere and he’d been protecting her from them for as long as he could remember.

  “I know,” he said, wishing he hadn’t heard it too. But he had and now he couldn’t ignore it.

  She tucked her hair behind her ears. “I…just…”

  “So you like Caleb,” he stated and rolled his shoulder casually, like there wasn’t a shit storm going on inside him. “It’s no big deal.”

  “Really?” she asked, her eyes wide. “It doesn’t make you uncomfortable?”

  “Why would it? Caleb’s a great guy, and I think you two would be great together.”

  “You do?”

  “Sure.”

  She toyed with the zipper on her purse. “Are you serious, Matt?”

  “Yeah, I’m serious. You should go for it.”

  She looked at the ground as they walked, going quiet for a moment. “He still thinks I’m one of the guys.”

  “Which was why you were going to try that whole napkin thing?”

  She cringed and cupped her cheeks. “Oh God, that is so embarrassing. I wasn’t really going to do it, you know.”

  “No.”

  “I don’t think so. Then again, maybe I was. I don’t know. I’m…I’m just…not really all that noticeable.”

  Matt stopped and turned to her, the streetlamp overhead spilling over them. When she blinked up at him with those big brown eyes, he gripped her shoulders. How could she not see how beautiful and special she really was? “Look, Sky. You don’t need tricks. You’re beautiful, smart and independent. A guy would be crazy not to see that.”

  “Oh.” She stared at him for a long moment, her eyes moving over his face like she could see right through him. He let go of her shoulders and stepped back, putting a measure of distance between them.

  “Caleb’s birthday is this weekend,” he said quickly to distract her. “We’re all heading to the cottage so maybe it’s a good time to show him that you’re all grown up and get him to see you as the beautiful woman you are.”

  What the fuck am I doing?

  Her gaze fell to his chest and she looked like she was a million miles away. Then she blinked and looked back up at him. “So you really think I should go for it? You really think we’d be good together?”

  “Yeah. I do,” he said and started walking again. Only his footsteps echoed in the quiet night, and he could feel her gaze drilling into his back as she stood still behind him. “Coming?” he finally asked.

  “You’re the best friend any girl could ever have, Matt.”

  Before he realized what was happening, Sky jumped on his back for a piggyback ride. Her legs wrapped around his waist and as he grabbed her thighs to hoist her up, he knew he’d rather be tortured for hours by the enemy than think about her in bed with his best friend.

  Chapter Three

  There was nothing Sky could do to fight down the jittery feeling mushrooming inside her stomach as she negotiated her car along the winding road leading to Caleb’s cottage. She chose not to catch a lift with Caleb, instead deciding to drive herself, as well as Kat and Tallulah. Tallulah’s husband, Garrett, would be joining them all later. A decorated ex-soldier turned cop, he now worked the beat in downtown Austin and didn’t get off until after dinner. She looked at Tallulah sitting beside her, and then at Kat in the backseat. Sky didn’t get out from behind the counter at the bar too often and was glad for this quiet time with the girls—before she seduced Caleb and changed the way he looked at her. She swallowed. Hard.

  “Come on, Sky, everything will be fine,” Tallulah said, clearly picking up on her nervousness. She clapped her hands together. “I think you and Caleb will be so good together.”

  Sky drove down the long road to the cottage, waving to the people jogging along the gravel road as they ran past. “We’ve been friends a long time. I don’t want to do anything to ruin that.”

  “I know.” Tallulah reached over and squeezed her hand. “But you won’t. I’m sure of it. And like Kat said, wouldn’t it be worse if you never tried?”

  From the backseat Kat said, “If you do nothing at all, then you’ll never know and could spend the rest of your life regretting it.”

  Sky turned the wheel, taking the gravel road that led to the left. “True.”

  “And you do owe him thirty spankings right? Talk about the perfect opening for a seduction,” Kat added.

  That was more along the lines of Kat’s seduction. Sky’s involved slipping into his bedroom in her negligee, not spankings—at least she didn’t think so. She bit her bottom lip, hardly able to believe the directions of her thoughts. Up until now her sex life had been pretty vanilla, and she was happy with that. Caleb didn’t strike her as the kinky kind anyway, which was just fine by her. She simply wanted a good guy and wasn’t looking for anything out of the ordinary between the sheets. Nope. Stable and kind trumped a guy who would hold his girl down hard and give it to her good. Oh my. All Kat’s talk of kink had to be getting to her.

  Sky jacked the air conditioning and caught Kat’s mischievous glance in the rearview mirror. “What about you, Kat?” Sky asked. “Are you going to try to get Matt to notice you?”

&n
bsp; Kat grabbed a handful of hair, tied it up into a ponytail and gestured toward the birthday cake on the seat beside her. “As delicious as Matt and icing in the same room sounds, no. I’ve given up on him. This weekend is all about soaking up the rays and relaxing.”

  Tallulah smirked. “Yeah, and that’s only because she has a hot new patient at the hospital who is in for a little physical therapy.”

  “Oh, and who might that be?” Sky asked. “Anyone I know?”

  “If you know Thor, then yes.”

  “Thor?” Sky said, laughing.

  “Theodore Grant. He’s a friend of Garrett’s. Injured in the line of duty and recently discharged,” Tallulah explained.

  “Thor, for short,” Kat said. “At least that’s what I call him, and for the record there is nothing short about him.”

  Sky caught Kat’s glance in the mirror again. “So he’s a forever kind of guy?”

  Kat gave a sly smirk. “Yeah, he sure seems like he could go on forever and ever.”

  Everyone laughed, but Sky’s smile quickly dissolved when she reached the end of the road and pulled in behind Caleb’s truck. She caught sight of Matt’s motorcycle parked near the shed.

  “Looks like everyone is here.”

  She glanced around and spotted Luke and Emery kissing down by the wharf, and was happy that Luke had finally knocked the chip off his shoulder and went for what he wanted. Thinking about that had her thoughts going to Caleb and how she was about to step out of her comfort zone and go for what she wanted too. With any luck she’d also have a happy ending, because the alternative, which could very well mean putting a crimp into their friendship, was something she couldn’t allow to happen.

  “Show time,” Kat said, and reached for her door handle. “You brought that napkin, right?”

  Sky laughed. “No, I didn’t.”

  “The napkin is a guaranteed win, Sky.”

  “Well I didn’t bring it, so I guess I’ll just have to improvise,” she said, thinking about the sexy underwear she’d recently purchased.

  Kat tapped the back of Sky’s seat. “You know, there is one other way to get him to notice you.”

  “Oh?” Sky said.

  “Yeah, every guy wants what other guys have,” Kat said.

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning, if he starts seeing another guy notice you then he’ll notice you too.”

  “Since there are no other guys that notice me, that plan is out. Besides, Matt said I didn’t need to use any tricks.” Both Tallulah and Kat stopped cold and stared at her.

  “What?” they said in unison.

  “What?” Sky responded, her glance bobbing back and forth between her two friends.

  “What exactly did Matt say?” Kat asked, her perceptive green eyes narrowing in on Sky’s.

  Feeling a little uncomfortable under her friend’s scrutiny, Sky shifted in her seat. “Nothing, really. I mean we talked about what he overheard and he told me I didn’t need any tricks to get a guy’s attention. That any guy would be lucky to have me.”

  Kat let loose a long, slow whistle and gave a shake of her head like she’d just had some major epiphany. “Oh, shit. Now it all makes sense.”

  Sky turned in her seat and rested her hand on the passenger headrest as both Tallulah and Kat stared at her. “What are you talking about?” Sky asked, not really sure if she wanted to hear it.

  “Matt. He likes you,” Kat blurted out.

  Sky shook her head hard at the outrageousness of that statement. “No, he doesn’t,” she said quickly. They were close, yes. But never once had he shown any interest in her outside of their friendship. “He was the one who encouraged me to go for it with Caleb. He told me he thought we were perfect for each other. If he liked me he wouldn’t do that, right?”

  “I guess you’re right,” Tallulah said, nodding her head in agreement.

  Kat gave them both a dubious look and did some weird head-bobbing thing. “Whatever you say,” she said. With cake in hand, she climbed from the car.

  Sky slid from her seat and met the girls at the trunk. She popped it and they all grabbed their gear. She hiked her bag over her shoulder just as Matt came around the corner, wearing his backpack. As she looked at him, she took in the dark smudges under his eyes. He might looked relaxed in his swim trunks and T-shirt but she knew him well enough to know he was studying too much and wasn’t getting enough sleep. He had never been a great student and she knew how worried he was, but this weekend he needed a break and she was damn well going to see to it that he got the rest he needed.

  “Need any help?” he asked, and before Sky could answer, he grabbed her duffle bag and shouldered it.

  Sky closed the trunk, and Tallulah and Kat rushed off to take their luggage inside. Matt gave her a little nudge with his shoulder to set her into motion. She followed along beside him, lost in her thoughts, her conversation with Kat still lingering in her brain.

  “Hey, you okay?” Matt asked.

  “Fine, why?”

  “You seem a little distracted.”

  Gravel crunched beneath her feet as she walked and the fragrant scent from the trees and foliage fell over her as they approached the cottage’s front door. She breathed in the smells of nature in an effort to relax herself, then exhaled slowly.

  “Matt…” she began, thinking Kat couldn’t be right. Was it possible that Matt liked her?

  “Yeah?”

  “You don’t…” She let her words fall off and gave herself a quick lecture. Of course he didn’t like her, and coming right out and asking him was only going to make things awkward between them. Refusing to let Kat’s ridiculous epiphany mess with her head, she asked, “How’s the studying going?”

  “It’s going.”

  She touched his arm, and he flinched like he’d been physically struck. “Whoa,” she said, taken aback. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, sorry. Just got a little too much sun today.” She looked at his arm, and wondered why he was lying. “And I think I’m a little tense, worried about taking the MCATs.”

  “I know you are, but I think you need a break. All work and no play makes Matt a tense boy. How about this, you take some time off this weekend and when we get back to the city, I’ll help you study. I told you I didn’t mind.”

  His features softened as his gaze moved over her face. “Okay, and I really should close the books. I mean it is Caleb’s birthday.” The second Caleb’s name left his mouth they both went quiet for a moment. Matt glanced over her shoulder, like he was looking for Caleb, and raked his fingers through his hair. “So why don’t we go grab a beer and see what everyone is up to?”

  A strange, uneasy feeling moved through her as he began to walk away from her. “Matt, wait…” He turned back to her and her stomach clenched. He was her best friend, and she needed to know he was okay with her going after Caleb. She’d never want to do anything to ruin their friendship. She’d be completely lost without him in her life. She stepped up to him. “Are you sure you’re okay with—”

  He cupped her face. “Sky. You two are perfect for each other. I told you that already. Caleb just doesn’t know it yet.” He touched his head. “Sometimes he can be pretty thick.” They both shared a laugh, the tension between them easing. “You and me, we’re good.”

  “You sure?”

  “Positive. Now come on. I really need that beer.”

  They reached the front door and Kat and Tallulah were already in their swimsuits and headed for the water. She followed Matt inside, and he dropped their bags on the kitchen floor. He went to the fridge to grab them each a beer and Sky took that moment to wipe her suddenly damp hands on her shorts. God, she could hardly believe she was going to seduce Caleb, right here in his cottage. She looked past the kitchen counter at the sofa facing the huge widow overlooking the lake. When she spotted Caleb on his boat with fellow comrade Jack Barnes, kicking back and drinking a beer, a streak of nervousness raced through her.

  Matt came up behind her, and
when she caught his familiar scent of sandalwood, soap and something uniquely Matt, she was about to turn, but ended up shrieking and running from him when he lifted the back of her T-shirt and pressed the cold bottle to her skin.

  She should have expected it, of course. Ever since they were kids, Matt was always carrying on with her like that, and she knew better than to turn her back on him.

  “That’s freezing,” she cried out, spinning to face him when she was a safe distance away, happy that the tension between them was gone and he was back in play mode.

  His gaze dropped from her face and traveled downward. For a minute she thought he was checking out the sliver of skin between her shorts and tank top, but then his eyes went back to hers. “You look…hot.”

  She caught the strange expression that came over his face before he twisted the cap off and held the bottle of beer out to her. He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair, messing it in that way that made him look so boyish and adorable. “I mean, you looked like you were hot. Here. Drink.”

  She pointed to the end table. “Put it there.”

  He grinned and rooted his feet. “Nope. You have to come and get it.”

  “You two at it again?” Jack Barnes asked as he came sauntering in through the door behind her.

  “At what?” Sky said, turning to face him.

  Jack rolled his eyes and grabbed a beer from the fridge. “Get a room already.”

  Matt turned on him and gave a razor-sharp look that would kill anything in its path. “Jack,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “Whoa.” Jack held his hands up and backed out. “Sorry. Just kidding.”

  The second Jack left, Matt said, “Where are you sleeping?”

  “Kat and I are going to share. We talked about it on the way here.” She pointed to one of two bedrooms on the main level. One was Caleb’s, and the other a spare. Up above there was a loft, but it looked like Luke and Emery had already claimed that. “Tallulah said she and Garrett are taking the boat house.”

  He grabbed her bag, walked to the bedroom, and tossed in onto the big bed, beside Kat’s small suitcase.