Only One Touch (Only One #4) - Natasha Madison Page 0,39

“How lazy did that make me look?”

“You would have been here faster if you took the stairs.” I laugh and look up at her. She just watches me as I walk toward the kitchen. “Did you leave me any food?” I look over my shoulder, knowing she always raids my fridge when I’m gone.

“If you are asking me if I touched your disgusting healthy meals,” she says, sitting on one of the stools at the counter. “That would be a no.”

I laugh, pulling open the fridge and grabbing a black plastic bowl to pop into the microwave. Lizzie has gotten up and is making herself a coffee. She looks over at me. “How was New York?”

“Good,” I say, not giving her any details.

“Did you end up meeting Laurene while you were there?” I shake my head as I eat. “Are you telling me that you stayed in New York all weekend long with Becca?”

“I’m not telling you anything.” I don’t look over at her. I’m not ready for this conversation with her. I’m not ready to share whatever I had with Becca with anyone.

“Oh my God,” she says, slapping the counter. “You have lost your mind.”

“Why do you say that?” I ask, confused.

“You had sex with Becca,” she says, and I don’t confirm it. “Do you really think that was the best decision?”

“I don’t know what it has to do with anything,” I say, ignoring the burning in my stomach.

“It has to do with the fact you guys work together,” she says. “How is that going to work?”

“Number one, we don’t work together.” Lizzie’s face says it all. “Okay, we work together sometimes.”

“Seven,” Lizzie says to me. “She is the agent to seven players on your team.”

“And?” I say, shocked that I didn’t know that.

“I just think that there is a line in the sand, and you crossed it,” she says, and I shrug my shoulders. “So what happens now?”

“Nothing,” I say. “I’m here. She’s there.” I ignore the pang of missing her.

“So you guys are going to what, pretend you haven’t done the nasty with each other every single time?” She takes a sip of her coffee. “It’s going to be awkward.”

“It’s only awkward if you make it that way. We are two consenting adults who spent the weekend together. No one needs to know anything more than that.”

“It’s going to get messy,” she says. “Then what?”

I shrug, not ready to face all those questions, because I’m scared of what the answers are going to be. “How is Laurene?”

“She’s good,” she says. “She really needs to speak to you.”

I look over at her with the way her tone was. “Is she okay?” I ask, and she gets off the stool.

“That is for me to know and you to find out,” she says to me. “Off the record.”

I look at her now. “You look happy.”

“What does that mean?” I ask. “I’m always happy.”

“No.” She shakes her head. “You always pretend to be happy. Smile when you need to. Say what needs to be said.” I just look at her. “Maybe it won’t be so bad.”

“What does that mean?” I ask.

“It means that if she makes you happy, go for it.” I don’t say anything to her, not sure what to say. “Just be wary.”

“I’ve never not been wary,” I say, getting up and tossing out the rest of the meal. Suddenly, I’m not hungry anymore. “You know me,” I say, turning and leaning against the counter to look at her.

“I do know you,” she says. “I just don’t want you to get hurt in all of this.”

“Look, I don’t know what to say right now,” I say. “Becca came out of the blue. You know this. She was never on my radar.”

“And now she is.” She points at me.

“And now she is,” I admit. “It was one weekend,” I finally say out loud, not adding in that it was one fucking amazing weekend. The best that I’ve ever had. I don’t add any of that because I’m not ready. And when I am ready, I think that I should talk to Becca about it and not Lizzie. “When it becomes more than that.”

She smirks at me. “It’ll be fun to watch.” She turns, walking away. “Call Laurene!” she shouts.

Chapter 17

Becca

“Erika,” I say when I walk out of my office, “can you make sure that all of these are mailed out?” I hand her the box of holiday cards that I just finished signing. “Also,” I start to tell her, but