Just Between Friends. Julianna Morris
thin ice. “This is about you thinking I’m still a child, right?”
“Chugging beer isn’t going to change my opinion one way or the other,” Dylan murmured. Kate was so cute with her feathers ruffled that he enjoyed shaking her up now and then.
She thumped two glasses on the table. “You’re impossible. A total pill.”
“I know.”
Dylan spied a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth and shook his head. She really was a sweet kid.
All afternoon he’d been thinking about her crazy plan to get married. He supposed that it was natural Kate would turn to him for help—he’d been playing protective big brother ever since they’d met. Despite her family’s money, she’d had a lonely childhood, spending more time with the family servants than with her family. When he’d come with his dad to wash the cars and do yard work she’d tagged along, always at his heels, asking questions and making him feel…
He sighed.
Might as well admit it, Kate had made him feel big and important, even though he was just a skinny youngster wearing hand-me-down jeans and T-shirts. In a funny sort of way she still made him feel big and important whenever they were together, teasing and calling him her best friend.
“Such a serious face.” Kate opened the carton of milk and filled their glasses. “If you behave yourself you can have a wine milkshake later.”
“And if I don’t behave, what do I get then?” Dylan’s voice deepened provocatively, startling him.
Where had that come from?
He’d never flirted with Kate. She was a bright, annoying kid who he was fond of, but he’d never considered anything romantic with her. Heck, he’d seen her knobby knees when she was a youngster and listened as she bemoaned her flat chest. Not that she was flat-chested any longer. In fact, she had a very nice set of measurements. So nice it was…he hastily put a brake on his unruly thoughts.
Kate blinked, obviously surprised. Then she tossed her head and gave him a slow smile. “You’ll get something better than a wine milkshake, that’s for sure.”
Dylan didn’t have time to decipher the expression in her eyes before she spun around and grabbed a shaker of crushed red pepper from the counter.
“Do you want fresh-grated Parmesan on your pizza?” she asked over her shoulder.
“Uh…I think they included some. Not fresh-grated, but good enough,” he muttered, still trying to sort out what had just happened. For God’s sake, he’d actually been flirting with a girl he regarded as a kid sister. Romance with Kate had never occurred to him, and if it had, he would have laughed at the idea. She was too rich, too flighty, too everything.
“Okay.”
She set the hot pepper sprinkles next to his glass of milk, which made him grin despite his inner turmoil. Kate didn’t like spicy food, which was why he always ordered their pizza as half vegetarian and half meat-lover’s special. She’d eat a couple pieces of the vegetarian and he’d have the rest.
Yet his smile faded as he gazed at the table. Kate had bought a special shaker and filled it with crushed red pepper after the time the restaurant had forgotten to include any with their order. She might be a royal pain, but she was fiercely loyal to her friends. Nothing was too much trouble when Kate Douglas was on your side.
A stab of guilt hit Dylan. Was it really such a sacrifice to marry her for a year? They got along pretty well, and it wasn’t as if he was dating anyone seriously. In fact, a convenient not-really-a-marriage with Kate would get his mother off his back about finding a nice girl. Now that three of her children were happily wed, Pegeen O’Rourke was even more determined to see the rest of them married off. It was something to think about.
“Earth to Dylan,” Kate intoned, jolting him back to the present. She dropped into a chair and rested her chin on her hand. “I’m hungry, how about you?”
“Right,” he muttered. “Hungry.”
A spicy fragrance rose from the large pizza inside the box, and they ate quietly for several minutes. Silences between them had always been comfortable and natural, but Kate’s earlier proposal had changed all that. He was crazy to even consider marrying a spoiled princess with the staying power of a soap bubble. Everything about her was delicate, from her golden hair and sea-green eyes to the arches in her small feet. She didn’t have a clue about the tough things in life.
Of course, if they did get married it wouldn’t be real. They’d be like roommates, with separate lives and separate beds. Legally, they’d end with a divorce, but as far as his conscience was concerned, it would be an annulment. A marriage that hasn’t been consummated isn’t a marriage in the first place.
“You aren’t having any hot pepper,” Kate said, shifting uncomfortably.
She couldn’t understand the peculiar expression on Dylan’s face or the way he stared at her. It wasn’t desire or affection—more like she had spinach caught in her teeth.
He shook the red pepper on his pizza and continued eating. She glanced around her cozy home and thought about what it would be like to share it with someone. She’d hate losing the carriage house because of Nanna Jane’s will, but it would be worse to lose her best friend. Maybe she should just tell Dylan she’d changed her mind and was giving up the estate.
Yet when Kate opened her mouth, the words stuck in her throat. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life wondering about what might have been. It was hard enough having spent her entire adult life pining after a man who thought she was still a kid. So instead of saying anything, she bit into a second slice of pizza.
She wanted to be like Great-Grandfather Rycroft Douglas, who threw his hat in the wind and dug for gold in the land of the midnight sun. That’s where she wanted to spend her honeymoon, in Alaska, celebrating the rebellious spirit she’d inherited from him.
All at once the corners of Kate’s mouth turned down. If she married Dylan—and it was a big if—there wouldn’t be a real honeymoon. Darn it all. She didn’t know whether to be angry about the conditions in Nanna Jane’s will or grateful for the opportunity.
“What’s wrong, Katydid?” Dylan asked quietly. “Are you thinking about your grandmother’s will?”
Her startled gaze flew to his. “How did you…?”
“I can tell you’re unhappy about something, and that’s the most obvious cause.”
Well, she had been thinking about the will in connection to Dylan and what the future might bring. Her spirits lifted. He’d sensed she was unhappy. It wasn’t a declaration of love, but it was better than nothing.
Kate shrugged and drank the last of her milk. “I’m all right,” she said noncommittally. She knew enough about Dylan to know she couldn’t push.
He reached across the table and drew his thumb across her upper lip. Heat rose in her cheeks both from his touch and the realization that she’d left a thin line of milk on her mouth. Lord, what her grandmother would have said about such unladylike impropriety. Kate didn’t care about the impropriety, but she hated looking ridiculous. Yet Dylan’s dark eyes were curiously warm.
“Dylan?” she whispered.
For a long moment he just stared at her lips. The breath caught in her throat and a tingling sensation crept across her nerves. Was he thinking about kissing her, or just wondering what it would be like? She’d only thought about it a few thousand times, but who was counting?
“I…I’ve been thinking about what you said…suggested this afternoon,” he muttered. “If we do it, we’ll need to sign a prenuptial agreement. It should be clear when we end things that we each keep what we owned before the marriage. Your grandmother’s lawyers can draft the thing—they’ll probably insist on it, anyway.”
The hope cascading through Kate