Complications Read Free

fell silent while Holly nibbled at her toast, then got up to put her dishes in the sink. “I’ll be a little late getting home tonight. I need to stop to pick up some groceries and my dry cleaning.”
    “I could take care of that for you, if you want.”
    “You sure?”
    Ally shot her a mock-exasperated look. “You’re letting me crash here rent-free. Running a few errands is the least I can do.”
    After Holly left for work, Ally brought her laptop into the kitchen, poured herself another cuppa joe and launched back into research for her article on rising oil prices and their impact on the global economy. Around noon she caught a whiff of her aromatic armpits and decided to jump into the shower, then went out to run Holly’s errands.
    It was a pleasant early-autumn day, blue-skied and sunny with a hint of crispness in the air. Ally strolled along, guilt needling her for wasting time she should’ve been spending on her article, but being out and about was too delightful a treat to rush through. She was used to being cooped up in stuffy office buildings all day; even now, without a nine-to-five job, she still clung fast to that old nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic. Still, she spared a few minutes to browse in the little mom-and-pop market on the corner, then headed for the dry cleaner a couple of blocks down on the opposite side of the street.
    She walked back to the apartment with a bag of groceries under each arm and Holly’s cleaning slung over her shoulder, humming an off-key tune that trailed off when she spied a black stretch limo parked at the curb. Then Eric poured out of the backseat, flashing a grin, and she froze. What was he doing here? And why did he have to show up when she was wearing her rattiest pair of jeans, an old Columbia sweatshirt and no makeup?
    “Hi.” She forced a weak smile. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today.”
    “Neither was I, but you left something behind last night.” He held up her BlackBerry.
    Holy crap. She hadn’t even noticed it was missing—but then, her phone hadn’t exactly been ringing off the hook lately. “Thanks. I appreciate you bringing it by in person.”
    “I figured you’d want it back as quickly as possible. I wouldn’t last five minutes without my phone.” He slipped it in the side pocket of her purse. “There you go.”
    The groceries were getting heavy; she was about to set the bags down on the sidewalk when Eric’s driver stepped forward and took them from her. “Um, how’d you know I was living here?” she asked, her gaze flicking from the driver back to Eric.
    “The cab driving off in the wrong direction last night was my first clue,” Eric said. “Then when I showed up at your old building and saw you weren’t listed on the directory, I looked up Holly’s number on your phone and gave her a call.”
    So now he knew she was not only out of a job, but reduced to sacking out on her best friend’s couch. Oh for a crack in the pavement to crawl through… “Well, um, thanks for coming so far out of your way. Like I said, I appreciate it.”
    She was about to bolt up the front steps, groceries be damned, when Eric reached for her arm. “Let James help you carry everything inside.”
    “That’s not necessary,” she snapped. “I can manage fine by myself.”
    “I know you can. But there’s no shame in asking for help.”
    She hadn’t felt so awful and humiliated about her situation until now. Accepting Holly’s aid was one thing—they’d been friends since freshman year in college, and besides, she knew Holly would never think less of her for it. But Eric’s offer hit her like a fist to the gut, making her realize how sad and pathetic she must look to him.
    Her eyes stung, but she blinked hard, channeling the tears into brittle laughter. “That’s funny, coming from Mr. Self-Sufficient himself.”
    “You think I haven’t been at the end of my rope? Believe me, I have. I’m sure Nick must have told you what happened the