Page 18 of Always You (A Lilac Bay Novel)

Everyone laughed.

“You’re a menace, Libby, you know that, right?” I asked her.

She waved away my objections. “I’m just looking out for your financial interests.”

“Ooh,” Jenny cried, sitting up straight. “I have the best idea!”

“Who?” Libby asked eagerly.

“Andrew!”

Everyone at the table stared at her, silent.

“Andrew?” I finally asked. “As in—Andrew Powell?”

“Yes!” She looked inordinately pleased with herself. “You guys arealwayshanging out! You have so much in common! You should totally date!”

It was quiet for another moment before everyone burst into laughter.

“That’s a good one, Jenny,” Posey said, shaking her head. “I thought you were serious for a minute.”

Jenny looked bewildered. “But I am serious.”

“Jenny.” I tried to keep my tone gentle, not wanting to hurt her feelings. “Thank you for trying to help, seriously. But that’s just about the worst idea I ever heard.”

“Why?” She looked around the table at seven incredulous expressions. “I don’t understand why that would be such a bad idea.”

“Because they’ve been friends since first grade,” Posey told her. “Like,bestfriends.”

“So?”

“So—” I suppressed a shudder. “It would be almost—incestuous.”

“Yeah,” Posey agreed. “They’re basically brother and sister at this point.”

“And they fight all the time,” Edward added.

“Just like brothers and sisters,” Zane agreed.

“Plus, Andrew is totally a little man-whore,” Libby said. “Which makes him very nice to look at, but not exactly the person you’d want to start a relationship with.”

My eyes darted across the bar to where Andrew stood, inches away from a blond in skintight jeans and platform heels. I had never seen her before, which meant she was either a tourist or over from the mainland. Regardless, she was clearly well on her way to becoming familiar to Andrew. Her hand was resting on one of his arms and every time he spoke she would lean in just a bit closer, laughing. As I watched he whispered something in her ear and she nodded. They both pushed off from the bar—a moment later they were lost in the crowd, probably on their way to a more private location.

Man-whore indeed.

“He’s a good guy,” Libby told Jenny. “It just wouldn’t work between them. They would only end up screwing up their friendship.”

“And then who would she have to complain about Millie with all day at work?” Posey asked.

“Exactly,” I said. “We’re good friends, Jenny. That’s all.”

Jenny looked around at the table and I waited for her to agree. But instead her expression hardened, her arms coming up to cross over her chest. Now that was a new look for her. Fierce Jenny Hillman—who would have thought?

“Jenny, they’re so different,” Libby said, when it was obvious she still wasn’t convinced.

“No they aren’t!” Jenny said. “They like all the same things.”

“They both like sports,” Libby admitted. “And they both like winning. But Riley is very driven. About everything, not just the Rec League or catching the most fish out with the guys. And Andrew just… isn’t.”