Just Good Friends Read online

  Just

  Good

  Friends

  Ruth Ann Nordin

  Wedded Bliss Romances, LLC

  Just Good Friends - Smashwords Edition

  Published by Ruth Ann Nordin at Smashwords

  Copyright © 2014 by Ruth Ann Nordin

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes:

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. If you would like to share this book with another person, please do. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Cover Photo images Copyright Dreamstime. All rights reserved – used with permission.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Epilogue

  More Books in the Omaha Contemporary Romance Series

  Across the Stars Series

  Chronological List of All of Ruth Ann Nordin’s Romances

  Where to Find Ruth Ann Nordin

  Dedication: To Tiffany Davis for inspiring me to write this book. I know it was a long time in coming, but it’s finally done. Thanks for all your encouragement over the years!

  Chapter One

  “You’re dumping me?” Tiffany Clark asked.

  Andy Deeb glanced around the upscale restaurant. “Could you please keep your voice down? People might overhear, and it’d be embarrassing.”

  Then why did he pick a public place to give her the big send off? Why not just do it on the phone or in an email or in a private setting? Why wait until the meal was over, and he was ready to pay the bill? He just spent the entire meal talking to her as if nothing was wrong for goodness’ sakes, and suddenly he set his napkin on the table and blurted out that he wanted to see other people.

  Forcing her voice lower, she said, “You could have told me some other way.”

  “Yes, I could have,” he allowed. “But I don’t want to sit around and watch you cry or have to go into a long and drawn-out discussion on all the things you could have done better. The truth is, there’s nothing you could have done differently. You don’t fit my lifestyle.”

  “Your lifestyle?”

  With a smile he might have bestowed upon a child, he reached over and patted her hand. “You were fun for a time, but I need to get serious about finding a wife. I need someone who is more…more…” He shrugged. “Domestic.”

  She rolled her blue eyes. Domestic? “This is all because I can’t cook?”

  “Do you know how embarrassing it’d be to have a dinner party where all you served were peanut butter sandwiches? Look,” he took out his pocket mirror and checked his reflection, “it’s not personal. You have your good points. The last four months have been a blast. But I turn thirty-eight next week. It’s time I got married and had some kids. You know. Do the whole family thing. My chances of promotion would be better that way.”

  “Can we at least wait until after my sister’s wedding to break up?”

  He winced. “Oh. Well, not really. I sort of made plans with someone else for that weekend.”

  “But we made plans to go there last month.”

  “Tiffany, your voice,” he warned, giving another frantic glance around the room.

  “I didn’t raise my voice.”

  “But you might.” He patted his neatly trimmed mustache then shoved the mirror back into the pocket of his suit jacket. “The thing is, you don’t fit my image of what a wife should be. You’re a brilliant, dynamic woman who is eager to learn new things.”

  Her eyebrows rose. And those were things that didn’t work in her favor?

  “I need someone who isn’t going to outshine me,” he finally added when she didn’t say anything. “You’re too attractive. When we go somewhere together, people need to think I’m the better looking one.” Smiling, he patted her hand. “I hope you understand.”

  As he stood up, she asked, “Were you planning to drive me home or should I find my own way?”

  “I took the liberty of calling a cab for you. Don’t worry. I told him to charge my card.” Giving her a pat on the shoulder, he said, “It’s been fun. Really, it has.”

  His gaze swept the room once more before he hurried out of the restaurant. She shook her head. If he expected her to get on her hands and knees and plead for him to stay with her, he had another thing coming. For one, she had her pride. And two, she really wasn’t all that upset.

  Grabbing her purse, she went to the entrance to grab her coat. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Thanksgiving was coming up fast. That didn’t leave her with a lot of time to get out of going to Montana. She quickly thought over all the possible excuses she might use.

  She could say she got sick, except her mother would never buy it since she never got sick. She could have some freak accident and say she was in the hospital, except she doubted her parents would stay up there if she did. Knowing them, they’d take the first flight to Omaha to rush to her bedside.

  After she buttoned her coat, she dug her cell phone out of her purse. Yes, she could take the cab, but she didn’t feel up to it. On a night like this, a girl needed a friend to talk to. And in this case, there was no better friend than Tyler Jackson.

  The phone rang four times before Tyler answered. “Your date’s over already?” he greeted.

  “Yeah. Hey, can you pick me up?”

  “Sure.” He paused then added, “Your date didn’t go well?”

  “He broke up with me.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Well, I’m not a good cook. Plus, I’m too attractive and too smart.”

  “He said you’re too attractive and too smart?” he asked, a bewildered tone in his voice.

  “Pretty much.”

  “How is it possible to be too attractive and too smart?”

  “I don’t know, but apparently, it means he can’t be the center of attention, and that just won’t do.” She glanced at the cab as it pulled up to the curb and wondered if she should tell the driver to find someone else to drive. “How long do you think it’ll be before you get here?” she asked him.

  “I’m on my way to the car. Where are you?”

  She told him the name of the restaurant.

  “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Is that soon enough?”

  “Yes, I have nothing else to do tonight,” she replied.

  “Okay. See you soon.”

  After she hung up, she went to the cab and knocked on the passenger side window. When the driver turned to her, she said she already had a ride and thanked him for coming. Then she returned to the restaurant to wait for her frien
d.

  The fact that Andy paid for a cab to send her home was a stupid consolation gift. But the break up really hadn’t been that much of a shock. She didn’t want to be with him. Not really. And she could tell the interest had been waning on his end as well. Why didn’t she just end it when she knew it wasn’t going anywhere?

  “Because I need a date for the wedding,” she muttered.

  The hostess glanced over at her. “Did you want something?”

  “No. I’m sorry. Just thinking aloud.”

  The hostess turned her attention back to the menus she was putting away, and Tiffany stared out the window, mindlessly watching cars as they passed by. When Tyler pulled up to the front, she hurried out to his car.

  He chuckled as he redid his seat belt. “I didn’t mind going in to get you, you know.” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

  “I know, but I was bored. And,” she added as she got comfortable, “the servers kept giving me sympathetic looks. I think they knew I got dumped tonight.”

  “When you didn’t leave with Andy, that was a big clue.” He shifted the car into drive and drove down the street. “So, you’re too pretty and intelligent, huh?”

  She chuckled. “I’ve been dumped for worse reasons.”

  “Hey, if you’re going to get dumped, that’s the best reason for it. It beats being boring or too serious or not being a good dancer.”

  She shot him an amused look. “You don’t dance that badly.”

  “I kept stepping on her shoes.”

  “Well, if Candace only wanted you so she could go dancing, good riddance. You can do better than that. It’s better to have a woman who has a brain.”

  “I know. I wasn’t that serious about her anyway.” He turned left at the green light. “So, you’re not upset about this? At all?”

  “Not as much as I thought I’d be. In a way, I’m relieved.”

  “You are?”

  “Yeah. He wasn’t right for me. The truth is, he did me a favor.”

  He nodded and focused on the road in front of him.

  She studied his profile as the lights from the posts lit the interior of the car. He had wavy blond hair, dark green eyes, a slight dimple on his cheek when he smiled, and a strong jaw. She’d always thought he was handsome, especially in a softer light.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to go to my eye doctor for some contacts?” she teased.

  “I like my glasses just fine,” he replied, tapping the black frames. “There’s no way I’m going to put flimsy contacts in my eyes. What if one gets stuck?”

  “They don’t get stuck.”

  “Yes, they do. I had a friend in college who got one stuck. It slid to the top of his eye. He had to fiddle with it for a half hour before it came out.” With a shiver, he shook his head. “No way am I going to deal with that headache. Plus, you have to keep them clean and buy more when you run out. It’s easier to wake up in the morning and put the glasses on.”

  “Or you could have surgery to get perfect vision.”

  He grimaced. “I’ll pass.” He turned into the parking lot of her apartment and pulled into a parking spot.

  “Thanks for the ride.”

  “Anytime. And Tiffany?”

  She paused, hand on the door handle. “Yes?”

  “If you need to talk, you know who to call.”

  She smiled. “I know. Thanks, Tyler.”

  She got out of the car and waved to him before entering the building. When she got into her apartment, she dropped her purse on the coffee table and slid out of her coat. She was ready to hang it up in the closet, but then she caught sight of the blinking red light on her answering machine. She had kept her cell phone turned off most of the evening because she didn’t like it on when she was on a date. Tapping the edge of her coat, she debated whether or not to wait until tomorrow to press that button.

  Maybe it wasn’t her mother. Maybe it was Beth. Or maybe it was someone from work. Or maybe it was a telemarketer. After a quick debate, she hung the coat up and went to the machine. Quick and painless. That was the best way to find out. She pressed the button and waited for the message.

  “Tiffy, this is Mom,” her mother greeted into the phone, “and this is Zoe,” her sister chimed in. “We were just on Facebook,” her mother continued, “and we noticed Andy switched his status from ‘in a relationship’ to ‘single’. We’re so sorry, honey.”

  “We really are,” Zoe added.

  Tiffany rolled her eyes.

  “But this just might be the best thing,” her mother went on. “As it turns out, Zoe’s fiancé has a friend who doesn’t have a date for the wedding.”

  “He’s definitely available,” Zoe said.

  Tiffany had the nagging suspicion Zoe was thinking of Lucas.

  “I think you’ve seen his picture on Facebook in my status update a couple days ago,” Zoe continued. “His name is Lucas.”

  Yes, Tiffany remembered the picture. He was holding up two mugs of beer and riding a horse in only his underwear. Zoe claimed he did it because of a dare, but Tiffany wondered if the guy was really like that all the time.

  “The best part is,” Zoe went on, “he has no girlfriend, and since you are no longer with Andy, there might be a possible love connection. Anyway, give us a call.”

  Tiffany gagged and ended the message. She didn’t need to hear any more. She unplugged the phone from the wall so she wouldn’t get any more calls for the night and got ready for bed. This was worse than she thought. If she didn’t show up with someone, she was going to be forced to be with Lucas. She hadn’t met him, but she’d seen more than she wanted to. And not just in that picture. From time to time, Facebook would show her that Zoe’s fiancé commented on one of his status updates, and it seemed as if Lucas actually sorted through garbage to find hidden treasures. Just thinking about it made her shiver.

  She was going to have to do something. Either she was going to show up with someone or she was going to have to get into a horrible accident that made travel impossible. Whatever she had to do, there was no way she was going to go to Montana by herself. No freaking way.

  Chapter Two

  The next day, Tiffany invited Tyler out to lunch. Usually, they would pal around, but today, she had something specific in mind. And that something was to avoid being pawned off on Lucas.

  Once they ordered their meals, she decided to come right out and ask her question. “Will you pretend to be my boyfriend? I don’t want to show up at my sister’s wedding without a date.”

  Tyler had his glass of soda halfway to his mouth when she blurted out the question, and judging by the way his eyes grew wide, she knew it was the last thing he expected her to say.

  Giving him a moment to process what she asked, she fiddled with the napkin on the table in front of her. He was going to tell her it was a stupid idea. For sure, she never would have come up with it if she hadn’t been desperate. But Thanksgiving was in five days. She didn’t have time to waste.

  Tyler set the glass down and tapped his fingers on the table. After a very long and agonizing moment, he nodded. “Alright.” Then he took a sip of his drink. “I didn’t realize how much grief your mom was giving you about being single.”

  “It’s not just my mom. It’s my dad, too. In fact, the whole family is in on it. Why do you think I left Montana to come here as soon as I graduated college?”

  He shot her a teasing smile. “Because you love the Huskers?”

  Amused, she tucked her hair behind her ear. “Ah yes, the Huskers. Nebraska’s claim to fame.”

  “Hey, it’s the only football team we got.”

  She giggled as the server came up to their table and set their dishes in front of them. After the server left, she straightened in her seat. She picked up a fork and poked her grilled chicken salad with it. “I have to admit I’m relieved you said yes. I thought you were going to tell me how stupid my idea was.”

  “Well,” he said as he picked up his cheeseburger, “I’
ve never been to Montana, so it’ll give me a good excuse to check it out. Plus, traveling alone is no fun.”

  “It’s not the traveling alone part that bothers me. I just don’t feel like having them all gang up on me.”

  “No one likes to be ganged up on.”

  She ate a forkful of her salad and nodded. “True.”

  After a couple minutes of eating in silence, he asked, “How long will we be there?”

  “Technically, four days, though it’s more like three. We get in Wednesday evening and leave Saturday afternoon. My sister’s wedding is Saturday morning, and I have to be there for Thanksgiving. Otherwise, I’d come in Friday night.”

  She watched as he took another bite from his cheeseburger. She secretly envied his ability to eat whatever he wanted without gaining weight. Most of the time, he wore a suit for his job as vice president at Rudolph Vacation Enterprises, but when he went casual, as he was today, he opted for a polo shirt and nice slacks. “It’s disgusting.”

  Swallowing his food, he asked, “Is there a hair in your salad?”

  “No, it’s not that. I was just thinking of how unfair it is that you eat like a teenager but don’t gain weight.”

  “That’s because I exercise a lot. One of the perks I get at work is the exercise room. I do that in my free time.”

  “Nathan Rudolph gives you free time?”

  Raising an eyebrow, he shook his head. “He only seems intimidating to his competitors because he’s particular about who he does business with.”

  “You like working for him?”

  “Well, it helps we were roommates in college twenty years ago. You can’t be scared of someone who kept his baby blanket tucked under his pillow.”

  She stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out if he was kidding, but he seemed serious. “A baby blanket?” she asked, just to be sure she understood him right.

  His lips curled up into a mischievous grin. “Yep. He said it brought him luck.”

  “Do you think he still has it?”

  “I’m sure he keeps it somewhere, but I doubt it’s under his pillow anymore.”