Between Friends Read online

  Between Friends

  Elsa Miles

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  New Releases and Thank You

  Between Friends is a work of fiction and the characters, places, and incidents are products of my imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarities or resemblances to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, are coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 by Elsa Miles

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, video or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial purpose permitted by copyright law.

  Elsa Miles, Florida

  Publication Date: October 2019

  Available in Ebook and Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9997015-7-7

  Cover art by Alchemy Book Covers

  Dedicated to those who believe in happy endings

  Chapter 1

  Tessa looked at her watch in disbelief. She and Jordan should be pulling into the airport parking garage, not a shopping mall. If they missed their flight and her parents’ anniversary, she was going to kill him.

  “I can’t believe you waited until now to buy a gift,” Tessa accused her lifelong friend. “On second thought, yes I can. You always procrastinate.” Seriously, the next time someone pestered her about her and Jordan just being friends, she’d tell them about this very moment.

  “Not always,” Jordan said as he scanned the parking lot for a space. “We have plenty of time.” He hit the brakes when a car started pulling out of a prime spot.

  “Plenty of … Our plane boards in an hour.” She pulled up the boarding pass on her smart phone. “And now you’re waiting for a parking space? Look at this.” She tapped the display. “We are going to miss our plane.”

  “It’s a small airport.” Jordan parked.

  “San Francisco International Airport? Hardly.”

  “We’re TSA Pre. There won’t be a security line. Besides, it’s not like you’re always on time.”

  “What? I am. And prepared too. My gift is wrapped and packed.” She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

  “You’re a teacher and have more free time in the summer. I’m a busy man. Year-round.” He pulled into the parking space.

  She already knew he wasn’t serious. Jordan believed teachers to be the rock of society and tireless, but she played along. “That’s what you think. A teacher never stops teaching. Maybe I’ll teach you how to be on time.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re wasting precious time. Let’s go.” He grabbed for the tongue she stuck out but missed.

  As they got out of his car, Tessa tapped her iPhone and started a timer application, volume all the way up. Large block numbers covered the screen and started ticking loudly. She held it up to him. “You’re down to fifty-three minutes before boarding.” She turned on her heels and marched toward the store.

  Jordan poked her in the ribs once he caught up to her.

  She refused to look at him and focused on their destination.

  “You’re too serious sometimes,” he said.

  “Fifty-two minutes and fifty-four seconds.”

  “You are by far the biggest pest in my life. You even top Kelly.”

  “How Kelly can put up with a brother like you, I will never understand.”

  “But your brothers are perfect, is that right?”

  “Far from it, but at least they’ve acquired the same organization skills I did. They helped plan the party. The same anniversary party we’ll probably be late to thanks to you. Fifty-one minutes, by the way.”

  “Unfortunately for me, I only acquired their bratty sister.”

  “Tick tock.” Tessa spotted a picture frame display across the room and steered Jordan toward it. Even with digital photos, her parents insisted on having theirs printed and displayed.

  Halfway there, he stopped her. “How about this?”

  Tessa turned and blanched when she saw the red lingerie and silk boxers dangling from his hands.

  “You wouldn’t.” She imagined her parents sitting before their guests at the party, the nightie twirling around her dad’s finger above his head, her sweet mom having a heart attack. “My mom would die of mortification. And the party hosts, their best friends, aka your parents, would too.”

  “Actually, your parents will privately applaud my choice once they are alone.”

  Now she had a new image of her parents in her head she didn’t want. “Stop!”

  “They’re older, not dead. They’ll have sex until it’s impossible. I know I will.” He returned the item to the rack.

  “It’s official. Your mental capacity is restricted to your lower anatomy. I’ll never understand how you became an accomplished veterinarian,” she said. She glanced frantically at the clock and led him away from the lingerie section.

  He tugged her thick blond hair and drawled, “Female colleagues, Tessa. Female colleagues.”

  “Pervert,” she mumbled as she picked out a frame.

  “Prude.” He grabbed the frame from her hands and returned it to the stand.

  “Speaking of females, why isn’t hotsy totsy Julie coming? I’d hoped she would.” And she really had. Now her parents would get in a dither again about how she and Jordan might as well start dating. “With Julie there, I would only have gotten the you-are-the-only-single-woman-here-darling talk instead of the but-we-love-you-both-and-you-spend-so-much-time-together-anyway talk.”

  When he didn’t respond like she expected—at least not with a “too much time” dig—Tessa looked at him.

  Jordan was frowning. “Tell your parents to mind their own business.”

  “I’ve tried,” she said, “and besides, your parents egg them on. You’re not going to tell me why Julie isn’t coming?”

  “Nope.”

  “You’re still together, aren’t you?” Jordan had had his share of girlfriends, but Julie had broken the record on time so far.

  “Mind your own business.”

  They were quiet for a few minutes while they walked through the store. Tessa looked at him out of the corner of her eye. His square jaw was clamped as if he was deep in thought about something he’d rather not think about at all. She had assumed all was well between Jordan and Julie. Did they break up?

  “If you find a gift within the next minute, I won’t bring up Julie again.” She crossed her fingers finger behind her back.

  Jordan grabbed the first item he saw. A teapot. He raised his brows. “Boring enough?”

  “Quite. I’ll give you a few more minutes.” r />
  Five minutes later, Jordan found a selfie stick. “For their travels,” he said.

  A selfie stick was actually a perfect idea for her parents, and she wondered if Jordan had intended to get one all along. He enjoyed winding her up too much. Tessa sighed with relief as they approached the line-free register.

  As Jordan reached the cashier, Tessa watched the pretty woman’s eyes pique with interest while surveying his six-two frame. Jordan was seemingly indifferent to the attention the cashier lavished upon him.

  Tessa turned away and rolled her eyes when the clerk leaned against the counter and said, “Finding everything to your liking?”

  Pretty nervy given the woman didn’t know them and shouldn’t assume Tessa and Jordan weren’t a couple. Hmph. What kind of response did the woman expect?

  Smiling, Jordan finished the transaction, grabbed his bag, and said goodbye.

  Tessa leaned toward him as they walked to the car and mimicked the pretty woman. “Did you find everything to your liking?”

  He chuckled. “Knock it off.”

  “Don’t you get sick of that happening? It happens every time I take you out in public. If these women only knew the real you.”

  “I don’t mind it,” he admitted as he opened her door and walked around to climb inside. “But I do get sick of your exaggerations.”

  Instead of responding, Tessa studied him. She knew what women liked. She’d had a hard time ignoring his appeal since she was fourteen.

  “Are you done studying me or is there something on my face?” Jordan interrupted her thoughts and winked at her. “What are you thinking about?” he asked as he pulled onto the street. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

  “I was wondering why you never get sick of all the attention. It happens all the time.”

  Jordan rolled his eyes. “There you go again. It doesn’t happen all the time. Besides, a little attention has never killed a guy.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure about that if I were you. Those women usually have a pure cardiac arrest on their minds.”

  “Tessa. Stop.”

  She passed him an innocent look and lifted her hands to her sides. “Just sharing my observations.”

  “Right. What about you?” He turned the tables on her. “I’ve seen it happen to you just as often. If that had been a guy working behind the register, I could be asking you these silly questions. Do you think they all have pure thoughts on their minds?”

  She waved her hand, dismissing the topic and looked out the window. “Those men that you think are looking at me are actually drooling over you too.” She yelped when he slid his hand beneath her arm and pinched the sensitive inner skin. She rubbed the irritated area. “I hate it when you do that.”

  “Good. Now we’re both annoyed.”

  Tessa flashed her fake beauty queen smile. “Forty-four minutes.”

  Chapter 2

  Honey, I’m home.” Tessa smiled as she walked through her apartment door.

  “Welcome back to California,” her now-temporary roommate, Lisa, greeted as she finished putting the last coat of nail polish on her toes. She wrinkled her nose as if trying to scratch an itch under her green pore-reducing mud mask. Still not lifting her curled head, she continued, “I missed you. Did you and hottie Jordan have a nice visit with your family?”

  “We had a wonderful time,” Jordan said as he set Tessa’s suitcase in the entryway. “Hi, Lisa.”

  “Oh!” Lisa started to gather her cosmetics to retreat to her bedroom but instead plopped back on the sofa and crossed her legs. “I hadn’t realized that you had come in Jordan. Hello.” She glared at Tessa.

  Tessa mouthed, I’m sorry.

  “I’ve got to run. It’s another twenty-minute drive to Mill Valley.” He nodded at Lisa and turned to Tessa. “Call me in a few days, and we’ll go riding.” He squeezed her shoulder and was gone.

  “Why didn’t you tell me he would be coming in?” Lisa wailed. “That was positively the most humiliating experience. He looked gorgeous as usual, and I look like my grandma. No, worse than my grandma. How could you, Tessa?” Lisa groaned and rested her face in her hands. She shot back up as the gooey green mask covered her fingers.

  “I didn’t know he was going to come up,” Tessa said. “But I am sorry.”

  Lisa sighed. “It’s the first time I’ve seen him since you and I were college roommates. How can he be more gorgeous than he already was? Dang.”

  “He’s a bigger pain in the butt too,” Tessa said. She rolled her suitcase toward the hallway and her bedroom. “But seriously, I’m sorry. I’m not used to having a roommate. I should have given you the heads up—you do look frightful.”

  Lisa threw a couch pillow at her. “Hurry back. I’ll make some popcorn. I want to hear all about the trip home.”

  Tessa changed into her yoga clothes and plopped down on her couch, grateful for Lisa’s good company. Lisa had moved in with Tessa six weeks ago, just after Lisa broke up with her boyfriend, Pete. Lisa had said, “I’m having a twenty-something identity crisis. Can I stay with you for a while?” Tessa hadn’t hesitated to swing the door open and give Lisa a key. Besides, she’d never liked Pete and had always thought Lisa deserved a better partner.

  Lisa returned with a bowl of popcorn and sighed. “I still don’t see how you can stay immune to someone like Jordan.”

  “Years of experience. Besides, I’ve told you a thousand times that Jordan is like—”

  “—a brother,” Lisa said in a flat voice. “I don’t buy it. But speaking of brothers, how are your five yummy brothers?”

  Tessa pulled her hair into a bun. “Not yummy, that’s for sure. The anniversary party was wonderful, and my parents were surprised. But even more surprising,” she said and smiled, “is that Jordan’s sister, Kelly, announced her engagement to Tom. They plan to be married in August.”

  Lisa sat up straight. “But that’s only two months away. Is she pregnant?”

  “No. I don’t think so …”

  “Haven’t they been dating for a while? Isn’t it about time?”

  “From the look on Tom’s face, you’d think it was tomorrow.”

  “Are you in the wedding?”

  Tessa nodded. “Kelly asked me to be her Maid of Honor, and Tom asked Jordan to be his Best Man.”

  “Good practice,” Lisa said with a glint in her eye.

  “For what? High heels and a dress?” Tessa laughed.

  “No, for walking down the aisle with Jordan.”

  Tessa rolled her eyes. “I walked into that one.”

  “Pun intended?” Lisa giggled at herself. “This will be the third time in less than two years that you will be a Maid of Honor. What I want to know,” Lisa asked with a straight face, “is will I be the Maid of Honor at your and Jordan’s wedding?”

  Lisa was too slow to miss the flying pillow.

  “Hurry up and get over your ex,” Tessa said. “Jordan is all yours.”

  “We’ll see,” Lisa said.

  Chapter 3

  Jordan rolled over onto his stomach and tried to ignore the pounding at the front door. A few silent moments passed before he heard the jiggling doorknob and a click. He groaned and rolled onto his back. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and squinted toward the cracked blinds of his bedroom window. He’d had a late night at work.

  Oh, hell. Tessa.

  It was barely dawn. He was going to take Tessa’s key away someday if she didn’t quit waking him so early on his precious weekend mornings.

  “Jordan,” she called through the house, “aren’t you awake?”

  Jordan pushed his pillows behind him so he could half sit up. He did not bother to answer her. Of course he wasn’t awake. What sane exhausted man would be? But this early-Saturday-morning rousing was practically a ritual, or a nuisance—he couldn’t decide. He yawned and listened to her predictable search through his house. Every week he told her to let him sleep in, that they could take the horses out later in the day, but every week s
he was bounding into his bedroom before the sun with the energy of the teenagers she taught at school.

  She tapped at his door.

  “Go away,” he said.

  The bedroom doorknob turned slowly. Tessa poked her head into his room and smiled. “I’m so sorry, did I wake you?”

  “You meant to. I told you to let me sleep in.”

  “Are you decent?” she asked.

  If bedding covering his naked body counted, then yes. He just gave her a flat stare.

  She strode to his window and yanked up the blinds, illuminating the bedroom with the rising sun.

  Jordan squinted. “Okay. I’m getting up.” He threw a pillow at her as she reached the bedroom doorway. He missed and watched her glide out of his room, closing the door behind her. Throwing back the covers, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stretched his sinewy arms behind his back as he headed for his closet. Yes, today was the day he was going to take her key away. Then he smiled because he knew he wouldn’t.

  Tessa walked around Jordan’s clean and comfortable house for the millionth time, looking at all the familiar objects. There was his family picture hanging on the wall in the hallway next to a portrait of her at five years of age. In his living room there was the oak bookshelf and the cherry wood desk that Jordan and her brothers had crafted together. His home was a reflection of his attachment to everyone and thing he cared about. His belongings either had personal value or were antiques. The corners of her mouth lifted as she walked slowly through his space. He’d once told her that his home was his sanctuary. Despite her teasing about his lack of punctuality, she knew he worked hard to be the best veterinarian in the Bay Area, and he took his practice and customers seriously. Too seriously, really, working longer hours than a person was meant too, if anyone asked her.