Best Dating Rules: A Romantic Comedy (The Best Girls Book 2) (25 page)

Emily grinned. “Hello again, Sister. Had a change of heart?” She noted Charlie’s flushed face. Was that excitement or embarrassment?

“I’m claiming temporary insanity,” she answered, still trying to extricate her hand from his grasp.

“Well, Josh. While you were outside somehow coercing my sister to stay, Spencer beat your time on the last climb.” Spencer looked absurdly pleased at her praise.

“I’ve never quite made it before, but I copied Josh’s route,” he said graciously.

“And I was following Charlie’s advice,” Josh admitted.

“It’s so unfair!” Charlie stomped her foot. “I can do everything perfectly, but I don’t have enough strength to make the climb. Sometimes it really sucks to be a girl.”

Josh gave her a goofy smile. “I’m glad you’re a girl.”

Emily saw Brad attempting to contain his laughter at his friend’s atypical behavior. He whispered something to Grace, and they laughed together.

Charlie sat beside Josh, her only possible option since he continued to hang onto her hand. They watched as Brad and Spencer made their climbs.

Grace scooted next to her on the bench. “I’m having a hard time keeping my tongue in my mouth. Brad’s got the best body I’ve ever seen. Don’t you think?”

Charlie appraised his nicely proportioned build.
But I think Josh’s muscles are even nicer. Yikes! What am I doing?

“So, it seems like you two have hit it off.”

“Yeah, I like him a lot. He’s so fun. And I just broke up with my last boyfriend—he was getting too clingy.”

Charlie noticed her fingers throbbing.

“Josh, I promise I won’t run away. But you’re cutting off the circulation in my hand.”

He blinked, gazing at their joined hands as if he hadn’t realized he was holding hands with her. He tilted his head. “Sorry. I just… I’m not sure… I think maybe I’ve never held hands before. It was nice.”

He let go, and she messaged her hand. “Seriously? There’s actually something you haven’t done before?”

“Not much, but there are a few things.” His smile disappeared, and he swallowed. “I know I’ve never been in love.”

“Yeah? Well, you can write and let me know when that happens.”

The climbers changed clothes at the gym before the group went out to eat.

Emily was acutely aware of Spencer’s presence as they sat at the table. His arm was around the back of her chair while his hand rubbed her shoulder, sending tingles down her spine. And she couldn’t help thinking about after dinner. Would he try to kiss her again? Ever since she’d laid down the law about not kissing, she could hardly think of anything else. That was the whole reason she shouldn’t kiss him again. She was becoming obsessed with him and losing her perspective. And she really didn’t know if she could control herself with him. Kissing other guys had never affected her like kissing Spencer.

She watched him talking, unaware of her perusal. He was so handsome. He wasn’t nearly as cocky as he’d seemed at first. Now she knew him, she found he had a vulnerable side. Sometimes he was almost shy. He turned to her and caught her gaze. When he smiled at her, his eyelids lowered slightly, causing her to remember his expression when he kissed her the night before. His hand moved to trace a line from her shoulder up the angle of her neck to her jaw. Her eyes closed involuntarily, and she could have sworn tiny sparks flew from his fingertips.

How did he know exactly what to do? He could control her reaction with the slightest touch. It felt so good, but she wasn’t sure she liked the idea of him controlling her. When the waitress came with their food, she was relieved as he pulled his hand away to eat.

She turned her attention to her sister who’d been awkwardly quiet since they left for the restaurant. She couldn’t imagine what Josh had said to change her mind, but she intended to find out later. She had never managed to deter her stubborn sister once she made a decision. Well, not never. She knew a few little tricks to get her way with Charlie, but those were closely guarded secrets.

“When are you coming back to New York again, Charlie?” Grace asked.

Josh appeared to be almost holding his breath, anticipating her answer. “Uhmm. I don’t know.” She studied her napkin with sudden interest.

“Don’t you have a break between rafting season and ski season?” Emily asked.

“Uhmm, yes. Usually. But I’m thinking about starting school again this fall.”

“That’s great,” said Josh. “You could come to New York and study at NYU.”

“But, I actually already got accepted in Colorado.”

“Oh, that’s good, I guess,” Josh’s face fell.

“You didn’t tell me you’d even applied.” Emily pouted at her sister.

“It was supposed to be a surprise,” said Charlie. “Don’t tell Mom and Steven. I want to tell them myself.”

“It really would be fun if you came here to go to school,” said Emily.

Charlie’s chin jutted out. “I can’t afford to pay out-of-state tuition.”

Emily nodded. She understood not wanting to take tuition money from Steven, although he’d be glad to pay. She had the same sense of pride, feeling uncomfortable even taking the job he’d offered despite the fact she was well qualified.

Spencer frowned. “Couldn’t your—ow!” Emily kicked him under the table.

“Maybe you could get a scholarship,” Emily suggested.

“Couldn’t your dad pay for it?” Josh asked.

“No,” Charlie said firmly. “He married my mom, not me. He shouldn’t be saddled with my expensive tuition.”

Brad choked on his drink. “Are we actually talking about Steven Gherring, here? He could pay that without blinking an eye.”

“It’s the principle of the thing,” declared Emily. “My mom still shops at the second-hand clothing stores when Steven’s not around to protest. We weren’t raised to waste money or take handouts.”

“Let’s change the subject,” said Charlie. “I’ll have a Fall Break, and I’ll come to visit y’all in New York.”

“I can’t wait until Fall Break to see you,” mumbled Josh.

“I don’t think this is a good time to have this discussion,” said Charlie.

“When else can we discuss it?”

“Fine,” said Charlie. “Then let me state for the record I think you’ll probably forget about me by tomorrow and most assuredly by the end of the week. Brad, wouldn’t you say that’s a fairly accurate prediction?”

Josh glowered at Brad, but as usual, he merely laughed at his friend’s predicament. “I would say, based on Josh’s past behavior, that’s an extremely accurate prediction.” Before Charlie could gloat or Josh could explode, he held up his hand. “
However
...“ He waited until he had the attention of everyone at the table. “
However
, Josh doesn’t seem to be following his normal patterns of behavior. Not since after the two of you came out of the living room last night.” His lips spread in a teeth-flashing smile, and he winked at Charlie. “I’m just sayin’...”

“I waited six months to see Emily again, except for Skype,” said Spencer. “And she pretty much fought me the whole time. And then when she moved here, she still wouldn’t date me. But she was worth the wait.”

Josh gave him a horrified look. “Is that supposed to be encouraging?”

“Maybe not encouraging, but realistic. And I’m not as stubborn as my sister.” Emily pointed with her water glass.

“Ha!” said Charlie. “That’s a laugh. You’re twice as stubborn as me.”

“Maybe you’re right, Sister. Maybe you’re getting soft. I’ve never seen you cave as easily as you did with Josh.”

Charlie gave Emily a warning glare, but Josh shook his head. “Believe me, it wasn’t easy. None of my normal stuff works on Charlie. I’m really starting to feel insecure.”

“Really, Josh? I don’t think you even understand the concept of insecurity.”

“You’re right, Charlie.” Brad nodded toward Josh. “But if anyone can give him a taste of it, you can.”

Spencer was determined to have a few minutes alone with Emily. Climbing had been fun and dinner was great, but he couldn’t stop thinking about her. It was exquisite torture to have her so near and barely be able to touch her. In the back of his mind, the entire evening, he thought about what it would feel like to kiss her again. He knew she didn’t want to kiss him, and he’d never force her. But so far, he’d had some success persuading her to bend her rule a little. If only he could get her alone...

After dinner, Brad announced he was walking Grace home. Josh pleaded and cajoled with Charlie until she relented and agreed to walk with him to get ice cream before returning to the apartment. When Charlie invited Emily and Spencer to come, the two men exchanged glances, and Spencer knew they were on the same page. Both of them were hoping to have some alone time with their Best girls. Spencer started rubbing his fingers lightly up and down on the inside of Emily’s arm, effectively rendering her incapable of speech.

“I think we’ll go back to Emily’s apartment and wait for you guys there,” he said, pulling Emily toward the waiting car. “She shouldn’t be walking too much on her sore ankle.”

Josh gave him a knowing smile as he tried to wrap his arm around Charlie’s shoulder. But she twisted away, and he grasped her hand. Spencer chuckled to himself. Yesterday morning he’d been ready to murder the guy, and now he felt sorry for him.

Spencer wisely decided to hold off his assault while they were in the car, lest she refuse to invite him upstairs. He could see the emotions flitting across her face. She was obviously nervous about being alone with him. He had to distract her.

“So, my mother says your mom’s improving a lot. Maybe they won’t even need her much longer. I hope she’s still looking for a job.”

“They haven’t discussed it with me, but Steven is so overprotective. I’m sure he’ll want to keep Connie employed just in case they need her again. That’s his modus operandi, throw money at things and cover all your bases.”

“I can see that, especially where your mom’s concerned. Actually, he’s pretty devoted to you and your sister, too. You should have seen him when you were in the hospital and then when you went missing.”

“I know. I feel so bad about that. I can’t understand myself, doing stupid stuff like that.”

“Hey, I wasn’t bringing it up to make you feel bad. I just wanted you to know that... that I think he really loves you—you and Charlie, both. I think he loves you as if you really were his daughters.”

“I know. He really is great.”

“You know, if he really were your dad, you wouldn’t feel bad when he wanted to do things for you. Like paying for Charlie’s college tuition.”

“But he isn’t really our dad.”

“I’m just saying, you should look at it from his perspective. He has money and he likes to spend it on the people he loves. Maybe sometimes you and Charlie might hurt his feelings when you don’t accept what he wants to give you.”

“Maybe.” The closer the car got to the apartment, the more she fidgeted. “Spencer, I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to come upstairs.”

“I’d really like a cup of tea. Surely there’s no harm in that?”

“Okay, but you have to promise not to kiss me.”

“Okay, I promise.” But he wasn’t promising not to kiss her back if she started it.

Emily sat on the couch beside Spencer, drinking tea. They both had on shorts, and she was incredibly cognizant of where his muscled masculine leg pressed against her smooth skin. It was as if every nerve fiber was hypersensitive, firing rapid impulses to scramble her brain. He sat on her right side, holding his tea mug casually in his right hand, with his left arm around the back of the couch. She waited tensely for his hand to slip onto her shoulder, but he kept it on the couch. She didn’t know whether to be grateful or irritated. He was being good. He wasn’t trying to kiss her.

Spencer finished his tea and set it on the table next to him. Then he sat back and his hand rested on her leg. And oh-so-casually his fingers moved, gently caressing her skin. And all of her hypersensitive nerve endings started shooting off like fireworks. She put her hand on top of his to stop its movement. He smiled and interlaced their fingers.

“You know,” he said, “I could do this for hours.”

“Do what?”

“This. Just sitting together. Close. Enjoying your company.” He pulled her hand into his lap and turned her arm over, exposing her wrist. He toyed with the soft smooth skin, sliding his fingers up to the inside of her elbow. She felt her heart pounding inside her chest. He was doing it again, making her lose control. She stiffened, prepared to pull her hand away, when he released it and stood up.

“I’m going to get a refill. Would you like one?”

She stared at him, dazed and confused. He wasn’t trying to get past her defenses after all. “Uhmm, no thanks.”

He was gone for sixty seconds, pouring fresh hot water over the tea leaves. He returned and set his cup down. “I’ll let it steep.”

He rested his hand lightly on her leg, and she waited for his fingers to move. But his hand remained still. “This is nice,” he said, with a gentle smile. She waited for the light tickling motion to assault her senses, but his fingers didn’t budge. At last, she offered him her upturned wrist.