Page 8 of The Best Man Problem
“My one-night stand!” Was she shouting? She felt like she was shouting. Why couldn’t she stop shouting?
Mo placed the hand not holding the food to her heart. “Aww, he found you. That’s either super romantic or supremely creepy.” Her best friend took a moment to think it over. “I’m going to vote for romantic.”
Of course she would. Because Mo thought everything in life was sunshine and rainbows. Even villains had a heart of gold if you dug deep enough, and everyone had a soul mate they eventually found and lived happily ever after with, according to Moira Rossi. Her childlike optimism was sweet but could be slightly frustrating at times. Times like this, when the situation was neither romantic nor creepy but simply one on the precipice of utter ruin.
“It’s fate.” Her friend and business partner hurried forward, setting the bag of food on Lilly’s desk, a wide grin dominating her small, round face. “He’s your one. Your soul mate.”
Nonsense. Lilly didn’t believe in soul mates. Good matches, sure. Partners in life, absolutely, but something as silly as fated loves? No. Lasting love was built on respect and common ground. Not fairy tales.
“No, Moira, he’s not my soul mate, and he didn’t come looking for me. He’s Marie and Kenneth’s best man.”
“Huh, small world.”
When the short woman said nothing more, Lilly lifted her hands to emphasize her point.
“Their best man. As in a member of the wedding party.”
“I know what a best man is, Lil,” she said, pulling out a bag of sour cream and onion chips and opening them.
How could she casually eat chips at a time like this? When the figurative sky could come crashing down on their heads at any moment? Again!
“And I slept with him.”
Mo stared at her, crunching the chip she’d just placed in her mouth before sliding her hand in the bag and pulling out another, offering it to Lilly.
“Chip?”
“How can you eat at a time like this?”
Mo glanced at the clock on the wall. “You mean lunchtime?”
That’s it. She really was going to kill her roommate. She’d have to take up ride-share driving or work nights at a bar making enough tips to cover the entire rent, because Mo was being intentionally obtuse about this very real, very serious situation. The woman drove her mad sometimes. If she didn’t love her so much—
“Did he forget your name or act like he didn’t remember you?”
“No.”
She shifted on her feet. Quite the opposite, in fact. The moment they locked eyes, Lilly saw the surprise and happiness light up those green-and-golden-hazel depths. She’d been the one to quash any and all admittance of former acquaintance. Lincoln had acquiesced to her silent plea, but the happy spark in his eyes dimmed the moment she pretended not to know him.
And now she felt guilty. Perfect.
“Was his wife or girlfriend with him?”
She shook her head. “He said he was single when I met him at the bar.”
But she’d been lied to before by a man. A best man.
“Oh, sweetie.” Mo, the amazing friend she was, picked up on Lilly’s thoughts and rushed around the desk to her side. “What happened before wasn’t your fault.”
“I had a relationship with a married man.” The words fell out of her on a shamed whisper. She feared that if she spoke them loud enough, the whole world would hear and judge her for her foolish mistake. “And almost ruined our business.”
“No, you dated a lying slimeball who told you he was single and whose slimeball family took his side when he claimed you seduced him because all they could see was a charming prince when we all know him for the toad he really was.”
None of that changed the fact that he had been married. Which made Lilly the other woman, the homewrecker, the tart. She’d been sick for months over what she’d inadvertently done. The damage it caused, not only to her business and a poor woman’s marriage but also to her heart. Trust wasn’t something Lilly gave easily, now even doubly so.
“I have a…difficult time letting go of mistakes. I admit that.”
“Really.” Mo raised a single eyebrow, a sardonic smile tilting her lips. “I wonder why that is.”
