Page 50 of Payback
Chapter Twelve
Bella was immersed in Loran’s house plans when a tap on her office door distracted her. She assumed it was her assistant when she muttered, “Come in.”
“Hey.”
Her head snapped up when she heard a voice she hadn’t heard in a couple of years. A lawyer she’d been friends with, and dated, back home.
“Oh my God!” She jumped up, crossing the room to hug him. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m your new neighbour,” he said, laughing at her shocked expression. “Just moved in to my new office down the hall.”
“What?” she was still holding his hands in hers when she stepped back. “When we connected on social media and you asked how I liked it here, I had no idea you were considering moving here yourself.”
“I got a job offer from a pretty prestigious law firm. Junior partner. The opportunity was too good to pass up.”
She gave him another quick hug. “Congratulations, Matt. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks.” His gaze drifted to the flowers on her desk. Loran had been sending them every week since they started dating, claiming he wanted her to have an excuse to think of him during the day. Like that was a problem. The problem was keeping her mind off the man.
“Nice flowers.”
“Thanks.” She smiled. “My boyfriend sent them.” She wanted to make it clear to Matt friendship was the only offer on the table.
“Ah, so it’s like that, is it?” He rocked back on his heels and slipped his hands into the pockets of his gray dress pants. “Who is he? Anyone I know?”
“Uh, you might know of him. He’s a ballplayer.”
“Loran.”
At her questioning look, he said, “I follow you on social media, remember? You’ve posted a few pictures of you two together lately.”
“I guess I have, haven’t I?”
She didn’t know why she felt awkward talking to Matt about the man in her life. They’d been friends since high school and only dated a few times after college. Maybe it was because this was the first serious relationship in her life she’d ever been willing to acknowledge.
She didn’t realize the door was still open until Loran cleared his throat, drawing her attention. His eyes were narrowed as he sized Matt up.
“Speak of the devil,” she said, rushing to Loran’s side. “Hey, babe.” She rolled forward on her toes to kiss him and the tension was palpable when he wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her to his side.
“Loran, this is an old friend of mine. Matt. We went to high school together. He just accepted a job at a law firm in the city. In fact, his new office is just down the hall.”
“Is that right?” Loran continued to size him up. “That’s quite a coincidence, isn’t it? Did you know Bella worked here… in this building?”
Looking uncomfortable, Matt glanced at Bella, before chuckling. “Uh yeah, I did. We keep in touch on social media. I asked her how she liked the city, where she’d set up shop, where she was living.”
“Pretty inquisitive for a casual acquaintance, aren’t you?”
Bella stepped out of Loran’s arms, shooting him a warning look. “We’refriends,” she said, emphasizing their relationship. “That’s what friends do, take an interest in each other’s lives.”
“You have a lot offriendslike this, Bella?”
She was going to kill him for embarrassing her this way! What happened to the trust they were supposedly building? His jealousy and insecurity took her back to another time and place, another man, and she didnotwant to go there.
“Uh, I should get back to work,” Matt said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Bella tried to see her friend the way Loran might have. He was good-looking, well-dressed, polished, some might deem him a little too slick, if they were meeting him for the first time, but she knew he was one of the good guys. She just had to convince Loran of that so he wouldn’t worry that Matt was a threat to their relationship.
“I’m really glad you stopped by.” Her smile was strained when she said, “I’d love to take you out for lunch one day this week to celebrate your promotion.”
