Frenemies With Benefits (Geek To Chic Book 2) (27 page)

Safely tucked in Alex’s soft bed, surrounded by books and
her iPad, Izzy was bored out of her mind.
 
She had been home from the hospital for two days.
 
Two days of bed rest and she was going out of
her mind.
 
Of course, Alex playing the
part of overprotective nurse wasn’t helping.
 
He refused to let anyone visit, stating she needed her rest.
 
He had barely left her side.
 
This made thinking through her plans for the
future for her and her child almost impossible.
 

Suddenly she heard commotion ensue in the living room.
 
“She’s napping.
 
You’ll have to come back later.
 
I am not going to wake her.”
 
She heard Alex’s harsh tone begin to come
closer. The sound of someone tripping in the hallway let her know that Roni had
arrived from France. The sound of more feminine laughter, told her Roni wasn’t
alone.
 
A minute later her best friends
flung open the door to the bedroom. They all piled into the room, before C slammed
the door in Alex’s face, sticking her tongue out at him as she did, and locked
it.
 
Ensuring that Alex would not be able
to kick them out.
 

 
“Oh, Izzy.
 
Are you ok?”
 
Roni rushed over hugging her so tight she could barely breathe. She
coughed a little and Roni released her.
 
“Sorry, sorry.
 
I am just so happy
to see you.” Caroline, Jemma and Gracey hugged her too, more gently.
 

“I’m fine.
 
You didn’t
have to come back from France on my account.”
 
Izzy told her friend. “And you three didn’t have to miss work.”

“Oh, yes I did.”
 
Roni
protested.

 
The four faces in
front of her all took on a comical look as they sat on the edge of the bed,
quietly staring at Izzy.
 

“What?”
 
Izzy finally
snapped.

“Are you ready to talk about you and Super Asshole?
 
Or is it Alex now?”
 
Gracey laughed.
 

“What…what are you talking about?”
 
Izzy stammered.
 

“The two of you have been acting weird for months around
each other.
 
Now, you are in his
bed.
 
He is caring for you after your
accident.
 
And his over protectiveness
has him playing warden outside the door to make sure you get rest.” Jemma ticked
off each example on her fingers.
 
“Now,
tell us.”

Stunned Izzy stammered again, “We have been sleeping
together since I moved into my apartment here. I am so sorry I didn’t tell you
guys.”
 

“Yeah, we know.
 
Mama
Porter outed you a few months ago, well to us girls anyway.
 
We just wanted to hear it from you.”
 
Gracey beamed.

“You’re kidding me?”

“Nope.
 
That woman
couldn’t keep a secret if the fate of the world was dependent on it, I swear.”
C answered with a smirk.
 

 
Izzy shook her head
trying to make sense of what they had just told her.
 
“Wait a minute, then what was all that talk a
few weeks ago at the bar about Alex never settling down.
 
If you knew we were together why did you say
all of that?”
 

“Honestly, I wasn’t thinking when I said those things.
 
Plus I had no idea, that Alex and you were
serious in any form.
 
Since you two
hadn’t told anyone.
 
We only knew that
you two were hooking up. The things I don’t know are why you hated him to begin
with or how you and Alex ended up doing the horizontal mambo.”
 
Caroline inquired.
 

Sighing dramatically, Izzy wondered where she should begin. Looking
between Roni and Gracey, she asked. “Do you remember our trip to Cabo our
senior year of college?”
 

“Of course.” Roni scowled.
 
“We were having an incredible time, until that shit head left you after
sleeping with you!”
 

Smiling a little at her friend’s continued anger on her behalf;
she readied herself to tell her best friends in the world who Alex really
was.
 
“Well, Alex happens to be that shit
head.” Confusion crossed their faces.
 
“He lied about his name in Cabo.
 
Using his middle name, Jeremy, instead.”

“Oh my God!”
 
C
exclaimed with great excitement, bouncing up and down on her knees as she knelt
on the bed. “You’re Cabo girl?”
 

“What?
 
You knew about
me?”
 
Izzy was so embarrassed.
 

“I didn’t know the girl he called Z, was you, but yeah I
knew about her. He came home early from that trip.
 
This was very unusual.
 
He dragged me out drinking with him every night
that week, since Derek was still in Mexico dealing with clients.
 
I have never seen him so drunk.
 
Like he was trying to numb himself or
forget.
  
Finally I asked him what the
hell was wrong with him.
 
In a drunken
stupor, he told me how he had met the love of his life.
 
He went on to tell me about sleeping with
her; I mean you, and leaving you and what a mistake he made.
 
Alex was certain he would never meet another
girl who captured his heart the same as you did.
 
He believed he would be alone forever.
 
He was a miserable fucker for months.”
 

The room was completely silent.
 
All the girls processing the news that Alex
had regretted what he had done.
 
He
believed she was the love of his life.
 
Hope grew inside of her that maybe he hadn’t proposed marriage because
of the baby.
 
Maybe the baby just sped up
the timeline for marriage.
 
Maybe they
would have their happily ever after.
 

“So when do you get sprung from prison?
 
We need to go have a girl’s night of heavy
drinking to figure out this cluster.”
 
Gracey broke the silence.
 

Now, Izzy had to tell the girls the other secret.
 
“I can’t drink for a while, Gracey.”

“Do they have you on pain killers, honey?”
 
Jemma asked sweetly, stroking Izzy’s
hand.
 

The girls all looked concerned.
 
Izzy almost found it amusing.
 
“No, I’m not on medication of any kind.
 
I can’t drink for another say…28 weeks.”
 
She waited for the girls to catch on to what
she meant.
 

“Holly shit! Mama Porter does have magical baby making
powers.”
 
C snickered.
 

The girls all fell into a fit of laughter.
 
“That settles it.
 
I am doubling up on my pills and Derek is
wearing two condoms!”
 
Roni professed,
making the girls laugh harder.
 
“Speaking
of Derek, I have some news.”

~*~*~*~

Since Izzy was surrounded by the women who loved her, Alex
decided to take a break from his ever vigilant care giving duties.
 
Collapsing onto the couch, his head fell back
on the back of the couch, his eyes instantly closing.
 
He knew he was going a little over board when
it came to caring for Izzy, he just couldn’t help it.
 
He hadn’t been to the office since her
accident. Choosing to work at home, rather than going into the office.
 
Although he was getting little work actually accomplished,
since he was constantly checking on Izzy.

Chuckling a little to himself when he remembered the last
time he went to check on her, she called him the demon warden from hell.
 
Accused him of holding her hostage, following
it up by throwing a book at his head.
 
After that he gave her a little space.
   

The front door opening and closing had him opening one
eye.
 
He already knew that it was most
likely Derek.
 
Sure enough in walked his
best friend.
 
Derek had a smug smile on his
face and a plain envelope in his hand.
 
He waved the envelope in front of him.
 
“Didn’t think I would have to retrieve this from the lawyers so
soon.”
 
He laughed, tossing the envelope
at Alex.
 
He fell onto the couch next to
him.
 
“Well, go ahead and open the damn
thing.”
 

Alex looked down at the envelope lying on his chest.
 
“Should I get my checkbook ready?”
 

“Open it” Derek smirked, while dialing his phone.
 
“Yes, I would like to make a reservation for
two for 7:00 tonight.
 
Last name is
Porter.
 
Thank you.”
 
Derek hung up. “You need to get cleaned up if
you are taking me to Sullivan’s tonight.
 
I can’t let people see me with a date that has an overgrown beard and
clothes that haven’t been changed in a week.”

Shooting Derek the finger, Alex opened the envelope.
 
Sure enough, when he pulled the card out
Izzy’s name was scribbled a crossed the white paper.
 
“So when do I have to publicly declare your
awesomeness?”
 
Alex stated flatly.
 

“You can do it, during your toast at my wedding.”
 
Derek casually said.

Taking a beat to catch on to what Derek was saying, Alex
turned on the couch to face his friend.
 
“Wait, you asked her to marry you?”
 
Alex’s voice clearly reflecting the shock he was experiencing.
 

“I did.
 
I was walking
back to the hotel from a meeting the night after we arrived in Paris.
 
In the window of one of the jewelry shops was
the ring
.
 
I took it as a sign.
Bought the ring right there and then.
 
That night I took her to this small restaurant near the Eiffel Tower, I
was so nervous I thought I was going to puke all over her.”
 
Derek laughed, shaking his head at the
memory. “I must have been paler than I thought because she kept asking if I was
ok.
 
By the look on her face, she was
really worried about me.
 
So instead of
doing the ultra-cool thing and whispering sweet words of love to her, I blurted
out ‘will you marry me?’”
 

Alex chuckled at his friend’s lack of smoothness.
 
“It must have worked if I have to plan a
toast?
 
Congrats, dude.”
 
Alex was very happy for his friend.
 

“Of course she said yes, as she knocked over the champagne
bottle and broke the glasses.”
 

They both laughed.
 

“You want to tell me about you and Izzy?” Derek asked in a
low curious voice.

“She’s pregnant.”
 
Alex
had meant to tell his friend more than that one basic fact, but those were the
words that fell from his mouth in explanation.
 

To Derek’s credit that man didn’t even flinch at the
news.
 
“Double wedding?”
 
He asked a little cheeky.
 

Alex sat forward on the couch; resting his elbows on his
knees and his head in his hands.
 
“No, I
fucked up the proposal.
 
She doesn’t want
to get married.
 
Hell, the only reason
she’s even staying here is because the doctor told her she needed someone to
take care of her and I didn’t give her a choice when she was released from the
hospital on where she would go.”
 

“So you asked her to marry you?” This time Derek did seem
shocked.
 
“Ok, man how did you manage to
screw up a proposal when the girl is already having your kid?”

Picking an imaginary piece of lint from his jeans, Alex
looked at the floor, not wanting to meet the eyes of his best friend.
 
“I kind of told her that we should just hop a
flight to Vegas and get married since we were going to get married because of
the baby anyway.”
 
He waited a few beats
for Derek to either laugh or tell him what a fucking moron he was.
 

When the silence became too much he looked over at his
friend.
 
Derek simply nodded and picked
up his cell, dialing a number.
 
“Yes, I
made a reservation a few minutes ago, the name is Porter.
 
I need to change the number of guests from
two to six. Yes, still at 7:00.
 
Thank
you.”
 
He hung up, pocketing his
phone.
 
“I figured we better call in all
the boys.
 
You are going to need every
last suggestion all of us idiots can come up with to get past a royal fuck up
like that one.
 
I thought I was an idiot
when it came to women, but I think that proposal, if you want to use that word,
clearly proves you are the stupidest fucker amongst us.
 
Now go shower and get ready.
 
I’ll call the guys.”