Hard For My Best Friend's Sister Read online

  I parked the car and hurried around to her side to open the door for her. She smiled at me, amused. “You’re quite the gentleman tonight. You know you lost the chance to impress me when you stole my Barbies with my brother and had your GI Joes hold them hostage, right?”

  “I want to make the past up to you tonight. All of the past. I treated you like shit, Dylan, and I’m sorry for that.”

  “Yes, you did.” She took my hand and electricity shot up my arm. This woman could floor me with a single touch. “But I don’t mind the stuff that happened when we were all in elementary school so much. We were kids. We didn’t know any better.”

  “Thank you for forgiving me for one thing, at least.” I looked into her eyes to try to determine if she was thinking about forgiving me for the rest of it, but she doesn’t let her expression reveal anything to me.

  The valet took the car, and I led Dylan into the restaurant. I reserved a prime table in a quiet corner for us. I wanted to be able to talk to her properly without the rest of the restaurant drowning her out. Not that this place is very loud.

  “Very nice,” Dylan said as she sat down in the seat I pulled out for her. I sat down across from her and tried to remember not to put my elbows on the table.

  “How’s your brother doing?” I asked. I already knew, but I wanted to keep the conversation going between us without things getting awkward.

  “He’s good. Getting married in the spring. But you already know that.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe I want your take on it.”

  The waiter brought a basket of bread sticks and a plate of olive oil. I thanked him quietly and waited impatiently for him to take our drink orders and leave. I wasn’t here for the food, I was here for Dylan.

  She ordered a glass of red wine and I did the same. I’d read somewhere that copying increased empathy. Dylan gave me a tight smile. She was onto me.

  “My take.” She picked up a piece of bread and tore it apart with her fingers. “She’s nice. A little more energetic than I expected. Strangely enough, I think he’s more grounded when he’s around her. Like she calms him.”

  I did my best to focus on her words and not her cleavage. I hadn’t met Bryan’s fiancé yet. I was glad to hear she was good for him. He’d sounded happy with her when I’d seen him last on a business trip.

  Keeping in touch would be so much easier if we all lived closer. It would also be easier if I didn’t have to step lightly around Dylan. It would be easiest of all if I was part of the family officially.

  Whoa, too soon. I’d managed to get her out to dinner and I was already thinking about marrying her. I must have lost my damn mind.

  “And your parents?” I asked.

  “Planning their retirement on the beach. Dad wants to buy a boat.”

  I laughed. “Your mother must hate that.”

  “Yeah, she’s not so thrilled. But I think she’ll give in.”

  I paused. Was she trying to tell me something? Her eyes met mine like she was trying to convey something to me. Hope rose in my chest.

  “It’s hard to let things go, but I think it’s worth it,” I said.

  She shrugged. “Sometimes.” She took a bite of bread and her eyes rolled back in her head. “This is fantastic. You have to try some.”

  I grabbed a piece and swirled it slowly in the olive oil, analyzing what Dylan had told me so far. She might forgive me, but she might not.

  If nothing else, I needed her to forgive me.

  “How about your family?” Dylan asked. “How are your parents?”

  I didn’t have any siblings or nearby relatives other than my parents, and they’d both worked all the time when I was growing up. That was probably why I’d ended up spending so much time at the Butler house.

  “They took an early retirement and moved to the Bahamas.”

  Dylan must not have been keeping track of me like I’d been keeping track of her because she flinched like she honestly hadn’t known.

  “Oh. I mean, that’s good for them, but it must be hard for you to be so far away.”

  “We email.” I wasn’t as close to my parents as she was to hers. I kept in contact with them and saw them every holiday, but it was nothing like Dylan’s family and all their get-togethers and meetups. She would consider her parents moving to another country to be a tragedy.

  The waiter brought our wine and took our dinner orders. I sipped mine slowly and watched Dylan drink hers. She didn’t swirl it around and hold it in her mouth to taste it. She downed it like cheap beer. It was such a Dylan thing to do that I wanted to kiss her. She was nothing like the stuck-up pretentious women I’ve tried to date since moving here.

  “How’s work?” I asked abruptly to try and get my mind off her lips and what I wanted to do to them.

  “I love it,” Dylan said. “I put in way too many hours and my mom lectures me about being a workaholic, but it’s all worth it. I’ve been in line for a promotion for months now, and I really think I might get it soon.” Her face glowed.

  “I hope you get it,” I said. “You deserve it. You’re fantastic at your job.”

  “Thank you. I know.” She grinned impishly.

  The waiter brought dinner. I ate slowly while Dylan downed her third glass of wine. I wondered if she was getting drunk to make this less awkward, but it didn’t matter. I was finally getting my chance to talk to Dylan.

  Her cheeks were growing more flushed with every glass she drank. “I think I should stop,” Dylan said with a giggle.

  “Probably a good idea,” I said.

  She pushed her wine glass away. “Don’t let me drink anymore.”

  “Noted.”

  She dug into her plate and ate with relish. Dylan was all grown up, but she definitely hadn’t become one of those women who was afraid to eat in front of a guy, which was refreshing. I’d always liked the reckless, devil may care part of her personality. It was what had made me start noticing her as something more than my best friend’s sister. Even in college I’d gotten frustrated with dating women who thought everything in life should be taken slowly and ambition was best kept small.

  Dylan wanted everything and she wanted it yesterday. It was a desire I understood completely.

  We ate in silence for a minute before she set down her napkin and met my gaze. “I want to know why,” she said.

  “Why?” I wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but I suspected. The one thing standing between us, the night that had wrecked everything. “You want to know why I left?”

  “Yes.” Her gaze bore into mine.

  I’d rather have avoided the subject for a little bit longer, but I knew I wasn’t going to earn forgiveness without explaining myself.

  “I don’t have a good reason. I made a mistake.”

  “Which part?” She fiddled with her napkin. “You made a mistake sleeping with me or-”

  “No. Well, the timing was wrong, but no. I don’t consider sleeping with you a mistake. At all.” I tried to reach for her hand, but she pulled back from me. “I fucked up when I left. I just panicked. You’re my best friend’s little sister. You’re so far off limits you may as well be on another planet, and I broke every rule in the bro code when I slept with you.”

  Dylan rolled her eyes. “The bro code? That’s what this is about?”

  I smiled.

  The waiter tried to stop by with a dessert menu and I waved him off.

  “I told you I didn’t have a good excuse. I was in college. I was an idiot. I didn’t realize that I could lose you until you were gone.” My voice caught. I hadn’t known that the decision I’d made that night would ruin my relationship with Dylan for ten years. If I’d known, even as dumb as I was, I still would have made a different choice and stayed. Nothing was worth losing Dylan.

  “In between groveling for forgiveness, could you get that waiter back? I really want some chocolate cake.” Dylan grinned at me, and I knew she was going to forgive me.

  I relaxed. It was a start. She was giving me t
he second chance I needed to mend our broken relationship.

  I waved the waiter back and ordered Dylan her cake, with ice cream and extra chocolate sauce on top.

  Dylan sighed. “I really shouldn’t eat so much. A minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips…”

  “I like your hips.” I tried to check her out past the table, but the damn tablecloth was in the way. “Don’t listen to stupid shit like that. It just screws with your head. You can enjoy yourself and still be sexy.”

  Dylan pressed a spoon against her lips. “Some people would say you need to be miserable to be sexy. Suffer for your beauty and all that.”

  “Some people don’t have two rocks to rub together in their skull to strike a spark. I think you’re sexier when you’re happy than when you’re miserable.”

  Dylan raised an eyebrow in that maddening way she had. “You think you can make me happy?”

  “I’d like to try.”

  Her breath hitched in her throat. I didn’t want to wait for dessert. I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and haul her out of the restaurant and back to my apartment like the Neanderthal I was.

  “I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am for what happened between us. I’ve hated myself for ten years because of what I did to you. I want you back in my life.”

  I said too much. I was afraid she was going to run and never look back. I shouldn’t have overplayed my hand like that. Stupid, stupid, stupid. But I wanted her too badly and it showed through everything I tried to say and do.

  Dylan was silent. She lowered her spoon down to her empty plate. I watched every twitch of her face as I waited for her answer.

  “I want you, too.”

  Chapter 7

  Dylan

  I said it. I really said it. I told Cameron Richmond that I wanted him.

  Forgiving him felt as natural as breathing. He had always been my weakness. I fell in love with him when I was six years old and he handed me a water balloon and told me he wanted me on his team. Seriously. Those navy blue eyes, eyelashes wet with spray from the hose, and I was done-for.

  Even when I hated him, he was my weakness.

  But wanting him was impossible. I lived in Dallas, he lived here in New York City. I’d only flown in for this meeting. I would leave tomorrow after the deal was signed.

  “There’s one thing I have to know,” Cameron said.

  I leaned back in my chair. “What I’m wearing under this dress?”

  Cameron’s entire body froze at once. I wanted to push him and see if he fell over.

  I smiled and tilted my head. “The answer is: underwear.”

  He didn’t laugh. His pupils were dilated, and he moved his hand slowly past his plate.

  My pulse jumped. He was reaching for me. We were going to start making out and then we’d fall to the floor and knock over the table and the whole restaurant would stare.

  He didn’t grab my hand. He picked up the spoon I’d set down beside my plate. I tried not to show my disappointment.

  He cleared his throat. “That’s not what I was going to ask.”

  “Of course not. Because you’re a gentleman.” Cameron had changed in the ten years since I’d seen him last, but surely he hadn’t changed that much.

  “I can be a gentleman. I keep telling you I’m not a kid anymore, Dylan. I grew up.”

  He had. Oh, he had. He filled out that suit much better than his scrawny, frat boy self would have. He clearly took care of himself and hit the gym regularly. I wondered when he found time for it in his busy lawyer lifestyle.

  He probably found ways to make time for things he felt important. Staying in shape, this dinner with me… Hmm. That was something to consider.

  Was I important to him? He’d made a lot of effort to apologize to me, but that could just be guilt. Then there was that kiss. Scorching, steamy, all consuming. It was hard to believe he didn’t give a damn about me when he could kiss me like that.

  “Fine. Then what were you going to ask?” I smiled, sure I had him. Whatever question he’d been planning to ask me, it was bound to have been obscene.

  Cameron blinked, and I drew in a breath.

  “I was going to ask if you still donate to infomercials.”

  “What?” That was not the question I’d been expecting.

  “You know, those commercials with the sad music and the pictures of orphans and animals. Do you still donate to those?”

  “I-” Yes, I still donated to them, when I was up too late and feeling melancholy. Usually there was also drinking involved. And crying. Lots of crying.

  I tried to remember when I’d first started calling those stupid numbers. It was before I was eighteen, I knew that much. I used to steal my parent’s credit cards and pretend to be older.

  How did Cameron remember that? I hadn’t even known that he knew about it.

  I studied his face. He was in earnest. He really wanted to know. God, I loved him. I didn’t know if my heart would survive having a fling with him, but I knew I had to try. I’d only regret it if I didn’t seize this opportunity to be with him, even if it was only for one night.

  I let my eyelids flutter and my voice drop into a husky invitation. “Why don’t you invite me back to your place and find out.”

  Cameron’s knuckles went white around the spoon. “Find out what underwear you’re wearing or if you still watch infomercials?”

  “Both.” I cocked an eyebrow.

  Cameron was practically drooling. I had him. The question was, what to do with him?

  The waiter set down the slice of chocolate cake and the check between us then disappeared, as quiet as a breath.

  “One condition.” I hold up a finger. “No business. No one finds out about this, and you don’t let it interfere with our work. Agreed?”

  “Agreed. Are you going to eat that cake?” Cameron’s eyes were smoldering.

  My dress felt too tight around my breasts. I was breathing so hard I was likely to burst out of it. “Why. Do you want it?”

  “I want you.” He slid the spoon to me.

  I picked up the spoon, slid it into the cake, and took a huge bite of chocolate. It was delicious, rich, and creamy, and I knew I’d never be able to wait long enough to finish it all.

  “Done,” I said. I wanted him way more than I wanted chocolate cake. I almost asked for a doggy bag, then changed my mind. It would take too long.

  Cameron slapped a wad of cash down on the bill, then held out his hand to me.

  “You have enough cash for that?” I took his hand and got to my feet.

  “I believe in always being prepared.” He winked.

  I melted. It was the stupid wink. Leave it to Cameron Richmond to make me feel like a school girl again.

  “I could pick up the bill, you know,” I said. If I got my promotion tomorrow, I was pretty sure I’d be making just as much money as him. Maybe I should buy a car like his. On second thought, I should probably spend the money on upgrading my work wardrobe.

  “I know. But this dinner is about apologizing to you, remember?”

  “Yes. You’ve done a very good job of it. I forgive you.” I searched my mind, but the old grudge was gone. That night was ten years ago. We were both stupid children then. Yes, he’d acted badly, but he’d been young and scared of my brother. “Do you still care about the bro code?” I asked as we walked out of the restaurant.

  Cameron laughed. “The bro code? No, not so much. I’m not a frat boy jerk anymore. My code these days involves matters of honor and honesty. Oh, and upholding the law and dealing ethically as a lawyer. When you’re old enough to know you wouldn’t sleep with your friend’s mom anyway, there really isn’t a need for a bro code.”

  “But you would sleep with your best friend’s sister.”

  Cameron paused at the valet stand.

  I shouldn’t have said it. I’d brought my brother into this at the worst possible time. We were adults now. My brother was getting married soon. Surely he wouldn’t care who I did or didn’t
sleep with.

  “Never mind,” I said. “I like that you’ve grown up enough to stop following some skewed idea of bro-hood.”

  The car pulled up, and Cameron opened the passenger door for me and grinned. “These days, I prefer friendship.”

  “So do I.” I flushed. I barely knew what I was saying anymore.

  I was going to have sex with Cameron again. That knowledge had my head spinning. I buckled into my seat and waited for him to get in his and close his door.

  “Just to clarify, this is only a one night stand,” I said. “No strings. No attachments. Tomorrow we go back to reality and pretend this never happened.” This would be our chance for a do-over, and to set things right. That’s it.

  A muscle in Cameron’s cheek jumped. “Understood.” He didn’t sound happy about it. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d missed something.

  I shifted in the leather seat. My panties were already wet just thinking about what we were going to do. I wished he still had that sexy stubble to scrape against my thighs as he-

  “Where are we going?” I asked. I didn’t recognize the buildings around us. This wasn’t the way back to the hotel.

  “My apartment.”

  I’d thought for sure he’d want to do this at my hotel room to make it feel more temporary. Going back to his apartment with him felt personal. I didn’t want this night to be personal. I wanted one last fling to get over him. I wanted proof that we would never work as a couple so I wouldn’t go back to Dallas and mope about what could have been.

  His apartment was bound to be an unwelcoming bachelor pad, though. Odds were it would do an even better job of convincing me that we couldn’t be together. “Okay,” I said. “I guess the drinks there will be cheaper than the hotel mini bar.”

  “I don’t know about cheaper, but they’ll definitely be nicer.” Cameron tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. His dark eyes were intent on the road so I couldn’t see what he was thinking. “I’ve got some wine I think you’ll like.”