Always You: A Lilac Bay Novel (Friends with Benefits) Read Free Page B

in.”
    She glanced at her watch again as she left, and it was all I could do not to throw a napkin at her as well.
    “Hey,” Andrew said, reaching for my wrist. I pulled away, quickly cleaning up my lunch mess, and he stood, taking my shoulders in his hands and making me look at him. “Riley.”
    “What?” I looked up at him, into those very familiar blue eyes, which right now were clearly full of regret.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that, I promise.”
    “Really? Cause you spent the beginning of our break talking about how I—what was it? Like to crush people under my far-superior heel? And now you’re calling me crazy.”
    “No! I’m not. Hey.” He shook my shoulders gently when I looked away, bending his knees a little to bring his eye line closer to mine. “I love how passionate you are about stuff. I really do. It’s one of your best qualities. I was just teasing you, okay? That’s all.”
    I sighed. It was impossible to stay mad at him when he did that wide-eyed puppy-dog thing. Which I guess made me just as stupid as the other girls on this island when it came to Andrew Powell.
    “Fine. Now get your hands off me so I can go get the bad news from Jones.”
    “It’s not going to be bad news,” he said, obviously relieved that he had been forgiven. He began to help clear away our dirty plates. “I have a good feeling about this. Here, why don’t you let me finish up here and you head down.”
    “Thanks, Andrew.” I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek to show I forgave him. “I knew there was a reason I was friends with you.”
    He cleared his throat before his cocky grin appeared once more. “You mean it’s not my grandmother’s cookies?”
    “Not just her cookies.”
    “Whatever. Call me when you’re done.”
    I waved as I headed out of the break room, trying to get my game face on for my meeting with the mayor. I could think about the Heather Dale contest later. For now, I was going to get that damn tourism campaign approved. It was like Andrew said—I might just be the most competitive person on this island. And that meant that I liked to win.

    * * *
    A half hour later I sat at my desk, feeling numb—though frustration was fast taking over. All of that work, all those weeks, and what had it gotten me?
    A pat on the shoulder. Literally.
    The phone on my desk rang, startling me, and I reached for it in a daze, barely noticing the red light next to the extension for the accounting office. “Hello?”
    “Hey,” Andrew said. “What happened?”
    I felt the slightest flicker of shame in my chest. Somehow, I didn’t like the idea of telling Andrew that I had failed. He’d been so sure it would work out.
    “Riley?”
    “He doesn’t think it’s a necessary investment at this time,” I replied, a new emotion joining the numbness and frustration and shame. Anger.
    “That’s bullshit," Andrew said. “Seriously, bullshit.”
    “Yeah, well. Not much I can do about it, I guess.”
    “I’m so sorry. I was positive he was going to go for it. You did such great work.”
    I shook my head, even though he likely couldn’t see me across the office. “I guess it’s what I should’ve expected. It’s like you said, people around here don’t like things to change.”
    “So what did he say?”
    I closed my eyes, remembering the exact expression on Mayor Jones’ face as he turned me down. It was that slightly bemused, slightly indulgent smile he always seemed to wear when I brought him a new idea. Like he was humoring me, like he was doing me a favor. Encouraging the kid. The anger flared again. “What do you think he said?”
    “If you tell me he said, ‘if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it,’ I’m going to be seriously pissed off now.”
    I laughed and it sounded about as bitter as I felt. “You know your boss well.”
    Andrew swore under his breath. “Did he even look at your information? All of that research?”
    “He did. He said it looked very impressive — and a