of her head. She wore brushed gold hoop earrings with crystals that kept catching my eye.
She’d painted her lips a classic, fuck-me red, and I wanted to kiss her until the lipstick smeared all over both of us.
When she cocked her head, I wondered how long I’d been standing there assessing how much I liked the way she looked.
“Morning,” I said, belatedly handing over the coffee and breakfast wrap I’d brought her.
Her eyes lit up in that way that always made my cold, dead insides spark to life.
“Thanks! You don’t have to do that, you know.” She beamed up at me, the picture of platonic affection. She was entirely too enthusiastic about this “friend” thing.
I grunted a response. Maybe I wasn’t allowed to bring the woman to orgasm, but I sure as hell could bring her food until I was convinced she was out of whatever stupid financial situation she’d gotten herself into.
She had a new bandage on her left ring finger but looked well-rested.
“How was the rest of your weekend?” she asked.
In no hurry to leave her, I put my tea on her desk and shrugged out of my coat. I noticed that her eyes lingered on it and had a vague recollection of suggesting “swapsies.”
Goddammit, I was a fucking idiot.
“Did you know scotch hangovers can last three days?” I asked conversationally.
She shuddered, closing those dark-lashed eyes. “Try tequila sometime. Last time Faith and I had a ‘men suck, let’s explore lesbianism’ drink fest, it involved tequila. I was sick for five days straight.”
I blinked and, of course, pictured it. Whatever. Cut me some slack. I’m a man whose last two-party action had been a lapdance at…
Abort! Abort! Abort! Do not get a fucking hard-on on day one of Let’s Be Friends.
I gritted my teeth in what I hoped looked like a smile and pretended I wasn’t picturing Ally making out with another woman. And then I knew I had it bad when some girl-on-girl fantasy only made me feel jealous. Yes, Ms. Morales, here’s a breakfast wrap with a side of my balls. You can keep them forever.
Ally winced. “Sorry. I’m kind of nervous about this friend thing and trying to play it cool.”
“By bringing up lesbianism?” I asked in exasperation. “Maybe we should take this a little slower and not speak.”
She buried her face in her hands, and I admired her ringless fingers like the fucking sex-starved moron I was.
“Let’s start over,” she suggested, dropping her hands. “How was your weekend?”
“Fine,” I lied. “How was yours?”
“Fine,” she parroted back.
“Good.”
“Great.”
“Okay then.” I was still standing there nodding at her and screaming at myself to walk the fuck away when a delivery guy hustled up, cracking his gum and giving Ally a once-over that was a little too thorough for my liking.
“Can I help you?” I asked him coldly. This guy was trespassing on my territory, and I had no problems letting him know it.
Ally shot me a “WTF is your problem, Crazy Pants?” look.
“Got a package here for Ally Morales,” he said.
The old “got a package” come-on. Jackass.
“That’s me,” she said perkily.
“Here you go.” With a stupid wink, the guy handed over a large box with a bold red bow on it. “Later,” he said, walking away backward like a cocky motherfucker. I wished I was behind him so I could shove him into a trashcan… or down a flight of stairs.
“What’s with the glare, Grumpy Grump Face?” Ally wanted to know.
“That guy was flirting with you,” I snapped.
The smartass coughed the word “friends” into her hand.
I glared at her.
“Buddies,” she coughed again.
“Do you have bronchitis?” I asked.
“No, but I do have a mystery present,” she said, slipping a white envelope from under the ridiculous bow. “You didn’t do this, did you?”
I shook my head and immediately wished I had.
I shouldn’t care what was in the box or who sent it to her. But shouldn’ts didn’t seem to have a place in my reality. I wasn’t moving from this spot until I found out. Friends cared when other friends got gifts, right?
Fuck it. I was staying.
She opened the card, and I didn’t care for the way her lips curved. It was a female smile of pleasure and satisfaction. One that I knew a human being with a dick and designs on her attention had put there.
Wordlessly, she set the card aside and worked the attention-seeking bow off the box.
“Whatcha got there, Al?”
Ruth popped her red head around the corner. She stutter-stepped for a minute, noticing me, and then