Frenemies With Benefits (Geek To Chic Book 2) (11 page)

They quickly made it to
the Rio for lunch.
 
Barely waiting for
the waiter to finish his introduction, his mother ordered two frozen strawberry
margaritas.
 
The Rio’s margaritas are so
strong they have a two per customer limit.
  
And Alex was going to need two of the magical drinks by the look on his
mother’s face.
 
 

The two remained
silent, using the menus as a cloak to keep from speaking.
 
The waiter quickly returned with their
margaritas, took their food orders and was off.
 
Alex wasted no time downing half of his drink.
 
Alice simply sipped hers.
 
He knew she was waiting him out, willing him
to talk first.
 
Not going to happen, Mom.
 

“So are you going to
tell me about you and Izzy?”
 
Alice asked
patiently.
 

“What do you want to
know?”
 
Alex replied, not brave enough to
look his mother in her eyes.

“For starters when did
she decide to move into the building you live in?
 
That must be a good sign?”
 

Alex had spoken to his
mother on more than one occasion about Izzy.
 
Mainly after the multiple times in the past few months that she had
blown him off or slapped him.
 
He had
simply been venting, never realizing that his mother was making detailed notes
in her mind about his relationship with Izzy.
 

“She didn’t know it was
my building.
 
I never told her I had
moved.”
 
Alex wasn’t sure how his mother
would react to that bit of news.
 

“She had no idea you
lived there?”

“Nope.”

“Interesting.
 
Well you better thank your lucky stars she
has moved into your building and decided by some miracle to forgive your dumb
ass for what you pulled.”
 
Alice was
never one to hold back.
 

Upon running into Izzy
again, he did what every mama’s boy did, he ran to his mother confessing every
wrong he had done and his total confusion at seeing her again.
 
Alice did what every good mom did, and
smacked him in the back of the head. Telling him she raised him better than
that.
 
Seeing his misery, Alice softened
a little.
 
She then laughed at him,
telling him that he may be too old for her to punish but she had a feeling Izzy
was going to take care of that anyway.
 

“Yes, Mom, we have been
over this again and again.
 
I was an
asshole.”
 
His frustration coming through
clear as day.
 

“Well you must be
making progress in the forgiveness department.”
 
Alice raised a questioning eyebrow at her son.
 

The woman wanted to
know that Alex was somewhat serious about Izzy and not just using her.
 
Alex would love to tell his mother that they
were going to beat Derek and Roni down the aisle, but he wouldn’t lie to
her.
 
Looking her in the eye this time,
Alex said, “I’m trying.
 
If not for me
than for Derek and Roni.
 
I suspect
before we know it they will married with a kid on the way.
 
I don’t want them to have to worry about the
maid of honor and best man killing each other during the ceremony.”
 

“I think there is more
between the two of you then you think.
 
I
will let the issue go, for now.”
 

Stirring his drink with
the small straw, he spoke nervous to tell his mother she couldn’t talk about
them to anyone.
 
“I need you not tell
anyone you saw her at my place this morning.
 
She and I don’t want our business public knowledge at the moment.”
 
He hated having to ask the biggest gossip in
Denver to hold her tongue.
 

Alice looked as though
he had given her a puppy and then taken the damn thing away.
 
Which in a sense, he kind of had.
 
The biggest gossip to hit his group of
friends, friends she all knew, and she couldn’t tell a soul. Almost as though
it pained her to do so, she acquiesced, “I won’t tell.
 
But I think you’re both idiots if you think
your friend won’t figure it out for themselves.”
 

Rolling his eyes, “Yes,
I know.
 
We will have to be
careful.”
 
Before his mother could
convince him to let her tell someone, he changed the subject.
 
“Have Derek and Roni been over for dinner
since they got back?”
 
He would put the
focus on her adopted son instead.
 
Poor
bastard.
 

“Not for dinner, they
stopped in for a cup of tea and then had to run off.
 
That boy better bring her to a proper family
dinner soon or I will hunt him down.
 
I
need to get to know the woman that has stolen one of my boys’ heart.”
 

They chatted more about
Derek and Roni.
 
Alice already had the
wedding of the century planned for the two it would seem.
 
Caroline and Netty were the next topic.
 
Like any proud Grandma, Alice had a ton of
pictures of the spunky baby on her phone.
 
Showing him every last one, even though he saw Netty more than she
did.
 
One picture did stun him a
little.
 
“Wait, go back one.”
 

On the screen of his
mom’s iPhone was a picture of what looked like a stunningly happy family, only
the family wasn’t a family.
 
The picture
was of Caroline staring up at Collin, who was holding baby Netty and kissing
her cheek.
 
“When was that taken?”
 

His mother looked at
the photo.
 
“A week or so ago, I
guess.
 
Your dad and I stopped by
Caroline’s on our way home from the farmer’s market one Saturday.
 
That sweet Collin boy was their fixing
something or another in that crappy house she lives in.
 
I snapped that in the backyard.”
 

Interesting, so he
wasn’t the only one having a little something going on the side.
 
However, if Caroline ended up shedding even a
single tear because of his friend, he would beat the shit out of him.
 

“Oh, Alex. Calm down,
they are just friends.
 
No need to get
that over protective look.”
 
Alice shook
her head at him and looked down at the picture.
 
“Although, they would make a very sweet couple.”
 

Alice had that match making
look to her right now.
 
Perfect, now she
would be too busy getting Caroline and Collin together to go gossip or worry
about his life.
 
Suddenly more relaxed,
he finished his margarita.
 
Their food
arrived and they dove in.
 
“What time is
our pedicure appointment?”

“We have an hour.
 
Are you sure you don’t want to go spend the
day with Izzy?”
 
She smiled all too
brightly.
 

Choosing it was best to
ignore her pointed question he continued to eat.
 
Hoping he could make it through the pedicure
without her wanting too many details on his delicate relationship.
  

Placing a few bottles
of wine on the coffee table along with glasses, Izzy heard the doorbell
rang.
 
She practically skipped over to
the door.
 
“Hey girls!”
 
She almost sang when she opened the
door.
 
Hugging each of the girls as they
entered.
 

After hugging Gracey,
she held Izzy at arm's length.
 
Gracey
eyed her inquisitively.
 
Looking her over
from head to toe.
 
A minute into the awkward
moment with her friend, Izzy started to pull away. Gracey’s hands tightened on
Izzy’s arms, her eyes grew enormous and her jaw dropped.
 
“You had sex!”
 
Gracey excitedly screamed in front of
everyone.
 

“What are you talking
about?”
 
Izzy attempted to laugh her over
observant friend’s comment off.
 
Freeing
herself from Gracey’s arms.
 
She walked past
the other slack jawed girls into the living room.
 
Casually plopping down on the couch.
 
Trying not to look anyone in the eye, she
stated, “I’m not dating anyone right now.”
 
Not exactly a lie but not exactly the truth either.

“That’s a non-answer!”
 
Gracey happily protested.

Thankfully Roni stepped
in to defend Izzy.
 
“Come on Gracey, you
know Izzy has a strict rule about no sex before the six month mark. So no
dating mean no sex for her.”
 
Crashing
down on the couch next to Izzy, Roni poured them both a glass of wine.

“Well, something is
definitely up with her.
 
She is far too
happy.
 
Oh shit, you killed Alex and
invited us over tonight to help you hide the body.”
 
Gracey tried to pull off serious with her
hands on her hips.
 
She failed when she
laughed at the end.
 

“Sadly the man is still
alive and well.”
 
Although he did tell
her after their third round of sex last night that she was going to be the
death of him.
 
She smiled to herself at the
memories of last night.
 

A finger was suddenly
right in front of her face.
 
“You’re
right, something’s up look at the wicked smile on her face.”
 
Jemma declared.
 

Blanking her face
quickly, Izzy shook her head.
 
“Can’t I
just be happy to see my girls?
 
Speaking
of which, aren’t we missing one?”
 
Izzy
was hoping this would distract them enough.
 

“C will be along in a
few, she had to drop Netty off.”
 
Roni
informed them all, handing out the now full glasses of wine.
 

Settling into the
living, wine in hand and Chinese food on the way, the girls were ready for a
night of relaxation.
 
“Are the Porters
watching her tonight?”
 
Jemma asked.

“Nope, they have a
charity function to attend tonight.”
 
Roni answered, clearly drawing out the conversation.
 

“So who is watching
Netty?”
 
Izzy asked.
 

“Collin! All by
himself!” Roni answered, with the excitement level of a child on Christmas
morning.
 
“Netty won’t stay with anyone
else but Collin or Mama and Papa Porter.
 
Not even Derek and me.
 
Although
who can blame the kid on that one after his one and only time babysitting the
poor child.”
 
They all laughed at the
story of Derek’s attempt at babysitting. It ended in both baby and Uncle being
covered in shit until Roni rescued them.
 

“I thought Collin was
going to boys’ night at Alex’s?”
 
Gracey
probed.
 

Crap
on a cracker!
 
Izzy had totally forgotten that the boys were
all up at Alex’s place, having a boy’s night in!
 
Doing a mental check of his place, she
quickly thought through each room mentally checking if she forgot
anything.
 
She almost laughed at her
paranoia.
 
Even if there was some sign of
her in his apartment the guys would never think it was her. They would assume
that the girly evidence would belong to one of his many conquests.
 
A sobering thought for Izzy.
 

In a month’s time Alex
would go right back to his whorish ways and she would return to her lonely
bed.
 
She had one month to once and for
all end her obsession with Alex.
 
An obsession
that caused her to dump every man she dated before they made the six month
mark.
 
Another sad fact.
 

Snapping out of her
depressing thoughts, she started listening to the conversation around her
again.
 
“They must hang out a lot for
Netty to attach herself to Collin like that.” Jemma commented.
 
“Since I am Derek’s assistant, I have access
to all the executives’ calendars.
 
I was
booking a meeting a few days ago, and noticed that Collin has an hour in the
afternoon blocked out every day.
 
Come to
find out it is so he can be available in case C can’t pick Netty up from daycare.
 
He loves that little girl.”
 

“That’s sweet.
 
How has everything gone since the
merger?”
 
Izzy asked.
 

Jemma and Roni shared a
look and both sighed.
 
When both Gracey
and Izzy raised an eyebrow at them, Roni huffed out an answer.
 
“Well the boys all get along great.
 
Plus, having Collin, come onboard has forced
Derek to relax many of his policies and given him someone to share the work
with.
 
However, now the scrutiny on the
company from business reporters and competitors is unbelievable.
 
Which is why Derek and I are leaving for
France in a few weeks, to secure a contract.
 
They want face to face time, lots of time, with the CEO.”
 

“France? That will be
incredible!”
 
Izzy was excited for her
friend.
 

“It will if I can get
Derek to leave his work for even five minutes to enjoy the city.”
 
Roni smiled.
 
“I have a plan though.”

“I bet that plan
includes either, you being naked or in some barely there lingerie.”
 
Gracey joked.
 
All the girls giggled.
 

The Chinese food
arrived, while sitting around the coffee table eating, the girls gossiped about
the boys.
 
Derek was attempting to leave
behind his workaholic ways.
 
Collin was
making deals happen.
 
Phin was man
whoring his way through the woman of the Denver area. Roc was still a mystery
man, never saying more than five words at a stretch.
 
Gavin was working too hard to find the real
identity of a hacker who they hired.
 
And
Alex….

“He’s been a mess
lately.
 
Unorganized and unfocused.
 
It is a good thing he hired me, I do make him
look good.”
  
Roni boosted, taking a huge
bite of her noodles.
 
 

“That’s unlike
Alex.
 
He has never been as serious as
Derek, but he has always been as focused.”
 
Jemma noted. Shaking her chopsticks at the other women she went on, “But
you’re right, for the past few weeks he has been beyond distracted.”

“Distracted, how?”
 
Izzy asked.
 
She didn’t want to appear to be overly interested in his life, but she
was very curious.
 

“Mrs. Frostberry,
thinks his distraction has to do with the merger.
 
Derek and he are not used to having other
executives to rely on.
 
Suddenly they have
four other highly capable executives.
 
She thinks he doesn’t want to share his responsibilities with Phin. His
male ego is injured.”
 
Jemma gossiped,
rolling her eyes at the stupidity of men’s egos.
 

Of course it had to do
with his work and not her.
 
She had been
distracted since he came back into her life. She had been a ball of nervous
energy since that first night in the bar.
 
She had to admit having him around was good for her running.
 
She had dropped thirty seconds on each of her
miles because her body had excess energy to burn.
 
Energy fueled by hatred of man who broke her
heart.
 
And lust for the same man.
 
Was it possible to hate and lust after
someone at the same time?
 

Caroline burst into her
apartment.
 
“Sorry I am so late
girls.
 
Netty and I had dinner with
Collin.
 
She made a huge mess of his
kitchen, so I stayed and cleaned up.
 
What gossip did I miss?”
 

~*~*~*~

The guys were spread
across Alex’s living room with an Xbox control in their hands and a beer
nearby.
 
Male bonding was at its finest –
or lowest depending on how you looked at it – tonight.
 
They were ruthlessly killing each other’s
avatars off on the game and even more ruthlessly shit talking in real life.
 

For the fourth time
since the guys had arrived, Alex grabbed his phone to check his texts.
 
He knew Izzy and the girls were having girl’s
night in at her place. He was still hoping to get a late night visit set up for
later.
 

“What the fuck
man?
 
Is a girl sending you naked pictures
of herself or something?”
 
Phin
joked.
 

Alex’s head snapped up
from his phone, “What?”

“Your phone dude, you
have been checking it every five fucking minutes.
 
Who’s the girl?”
 
This time Gavin spoke up.
 

“The girl?”
 
Alex asked, his voice cracking a little.
 
How was he going to answer this line of
questioning?
 
Did he make up a girl?
 

“No guy is that
attached to his phone unless he is hoping to hear from girl.
 
I assume we are going to get kicked out soon
so your booty call can come over.”
 
Phin
replied with a smirk.

“She’s not a booty
call!” Alex growled out.
 
Shit! That came off way to defensive
.

Every man in his
apartment dropped his controlled, turning their full attention to Alex.
 
“Has the mighty playboy fallen in
looovvveee?” Phin joked, dragging out the last word in a sing song voice.
 

Before Alex’s brain
could engage enough to fire back a reply, Derek stepped in.
 
“Alex, our Alex, in love?
 
You’ve met the guy right?”
 
Derek jerked his thumb in Alex’s
direction.
 
“This is the man that has not
gone out with the same girl more than twice since I have known him.
 
No monogamy is not in his make up.”
 

The guys all laughed at
the joke.
 
Alex pulled off a sincere
laugh, even though he wanted to scream at his best friend how wrong he was.

“However, I can’t wait
to watch each and every one of you assholes chase after a girl you fall
for.”
 
Derek pointed his beer bottle at
each one of them.

“Of course you were the
first; you never enjoyed playing the field like the rest of us.”
 
Alex quipped.
 
Thankfully the hamster powering his brain was running in his wheel
again.
 

“That may be true, but
it doesn’t change the fact that now I get to sit back and laugh my ass off as
each of you super players fall.”

“And why do you think
we are all going to follow your path to happily ever after land? I, for one, am
happy living in bed hopping land.” Phin grinned.

Setting his beer on the
coffee, Derek leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs.
 
“I will make a bet with you guys right now
that within a few years each of you has found a woman you can’t live
without.
 
A woman who will actually put
up with each of your unique bullshit.”
 

Alex remained
silent.
 
Knowing he would be paying his
friend out the minute Izzy agreed to actually let him tell the world they were
together.