“Why are they here?” he asked.
“So we can work. I can’t leave the mountain, so they agreed to a field trip.” She leaned toward him and lowered her voice. “I know you’re going to find it difficult to believe, but this is a really fun group.”
Most of her colleagues were squinting in the sun and looking uncomfortable. “I can only imagine.”
She walked over to the oldest woman in the group—a slightly overweight, stylishly dressed blonde—linked arms with her and led her forward.
“Jack, this is my friend Betina. Technically she’s a liaison—she stands between the team and the real world, taking care of all the details the scientifically gifted seem to be so bad with. In reality, she’s my best friend and the reason I’m just so darned normal.”
He eyed the other woman and wondered how many of Meri’s secrets she knew.
“Nice to meet you,” he said as he shook hands with Betina.
Betina smiled. “I’m enjoying meeting you, as well,” she said. “Finally.”
Finally?
Meri grinned. “Did I tell you or what?”
Tell her what? But before Jack could ask, the group went into the house. He was left standing on the porch, wondering when the hell his life had gotten so out of his control.
Meri sat cross-legged in the center of the bed while her friend unpacked. “He’s gorgeous. Admit it—you saw it.”
Betina smiled. “Jack is very nice-looking, if you enjoy the tall, dark and powerful type. He wasn’t happy about us arriving.”
“I know. I didn’t tell him you were coming. It was fabulous. I wish you’d seen the look on his face when I explained why you were here. Of course, it was right after I told him I might marry Andrew, so there it was a double-thrill moment for me.”
Betina unpacked her cosmetics and carried them into the attached bathroom. “You know you’re not marrying Andrew. You’re baiting Jack.”
“It’s fun and I need a hobby.” Meri flopped back on the bed. “Why shouldn’t I bait him? He deserves it. He was mean to me.”
“He was in college. At that age, men are not known for their emotional sensitivity. Actually, they’re not known for it at any age. But the point is, you bared your heart and soul and he reacted badly. I agree some punishment is in order, but you’re taking it all too far. This is a mistake, Meri.”
Meri loved Betina like a sister…sometimes like a mom. There were only twelve years between them chronologically, but in life experiences they were light-years apart.
Betina had been the project manager’s assistant at the think tank that had first hired Meri. The second week Meri had been there, Betina had walked into her lab.
“Do you have anything close to a sense of humor?” the other woman had asked. “I don’t mind that you’re brilliant, but a sense of humor is required for any kind of a relationship.”
Meri hadn’t known what to say. She’d been eighteen and terrified of living on her own in a strange city. Money wasn’t an issue—the think tank had hired her for more than she’d ever thought she would earn and she had a family trust fund. But she’d spent that last third of her life in college. What did she know about furnishing an apartment, buying a car, paying bills?
“I don’t know if I would qualify as funny,” Meri had said honestly. “Does sarcasm count?”
Betina had smiled. “Oh, honey, sarcasm is the best.”
At that moment their friendship had been born.
Betina had been turning thirty and on her own for over a decade. She’d shown Meri how to live on her own and had insisted she buy a condo in a good part of D.C.
She’d taken care of Meri after both her surgeries, offered fashion advice, love life advice and had hooked her up with a trainer who had pummeled her into shape.
“Why is getting revenge a mistake?” Meri asked as her friend finished unpacking. “He’s earned it.”
“Because you’re not thinking this through. You’re going to get into trouble and I don’t want that to happen. Your relationship with Jack isn’t what you think.”
Meri frowned. “What do you mean? I totally understand my feelings about Jack. I had a huge crush on him, he hurt me and, because of that, I’ve been unable to move on. If I sleep with him, I’ll instantly figure out that he’s not special at all. He’s just some guy and I’ll be healed. The benefit is I get to leave him wanting more.”
Betina sat next to her and fluffed her short hair. “I hate travel. I always get puffy.” Then she drew in a breath. “You didn’t have a crush on Jack. You were in love with him then and you’re still in love with him. You’re emotionally connected to him, even if you refuse to admit it. Sleeping with him is only going to confuse the matter. The problem with your plan is that, odds are, the person left wanting more could easily be you.”
Meri sat up and took Betina’s hands. “I love and admire you, but you are desperately wrong.”
“I hope so, for your sake.”
But her friend sounded worried as she spoke. Meri appreciated the show of support. They were never going to agree on this topic. Better to move on.
She released Betina’s hands and grinned. “So Colin is right next door. Whatever will the two of you get up to late at night?”
Betina flushed. “Lower your voice,” she whispered. “He’ll hear you.”
“Oh, please. He wouldn’t hear a nuclear explosion if he was focused on something else, and when I walked by his room, he was already booting his laptop. We’re safe. Don’t you love how I got the two of you into the house while everyone else is far, far away?”
“I guess,” Betina said with uncharacteristic indecision. “I know something has to happen soon or I’ll be forced to back the car over him. He’s such a sweetie. And you know I really like him, but I don’t think I’m his type.”
Meri groaned. “He doesn’t have a type. He’s a nerd. Do you think he dates much?”
“He should. He’s adorable and smart and funny.”
Her friend had it bad, Meri thought happily. And she was pretty sure that Colin found Betina equally intriguing. Usually Betina simply took what she wanted in the man department. But something about Colin made her nervous.
“He’s afraid of being rejected,” Meri told her. “Something I can relate to.”
“I wouldn’t reject him,” Betina said. “But it will never work. We’re on a project together. I’m too old for him and I’m too fat.”
“You’re six years older, which is nothing, and you’re not fat. You’re totally curvy and lush. Guys go for that.”
They always had. Meri had spent the last decade marveling at the number of men her friend met, dated, slept with and dumped.
“Not Colin. He barely speaks to me.”
“Which is interesting,” Meri said. “He talks to everyone else.”
It was true. Colin was tongue-tied around Betina. Meri thought it was charming.
At first, when her friend had confessed her interest in Colin, Meri had been protective of her coworker. Colin might enjoy the ride that was Betina, but once dumped, he would be heartbroken. Then Betina had admitted her feelings went a whole lot deeper. The L word had been whispered.
After getting over the idea of her friend being in love with anyone, Meri had agreed to help. So far, she’d been unable to think of a way to bring the couple together.