The Supermodel's Best Friend (A Romantic Comedy) (35 page)

She’d always liked how he looked.
Ridiculously out of proportion to her, his action-figure girth, the
height that shrunk doorways—he was attractive. A fun adventure.

Not anymore. Now he was
scary
.

First of all, he was wearing a black tuxedo.
Not the kind she was used to, the ill-fitting Hefty bags rented at
the mall, but a gorgeous ensemble of perfectly tailored inky
sleekness that turned him into a broad-shouldered, sophisticated
god
.

She’d always been a sucker for black. And
now, with her heart all stirred up and her body remembering every
inch of his? A body she’d never touch again?

It hurt to look at him.

Focus on Krista. Put him out of your
mind.

But when she looked at her beautiful friend
she saw the over-caffeinated brightness of a woman who’d had a hot
and sweaty night. Good for her. No, really. They looked great
together.

I wonder if Alex still has that picture of
me in his wallet.

Alex’s gaze slid away from the bride and
groom and settled on Krista. Teeth that Lucy had never seen before
flashed in his face as he smiled at her. Bright, lusty happiness
shone in his face.

That picture was in a garbage can somewhere
by now. No—a recycling bin.

She shoved the tissue back between the
Peruvian lilies and godetias in her bouquet. Good riddance. She was
happy for Krista, or would be if it was what she wanted. If he
completed
her.

Pfft. Nobody was going to complete anybody,
that was bullshit. Everyone was alone and needed to accept that. As
soon as you started thinking you needed somebody else in order to
be a whole person, you put an impossible burden on the
relationship. Anchoring it to the ground, preventing either of you
from moving forward, growing, living.

Like Fawn. Her best friend. Lucy would miss
her, but she had a new life to begin. New York was far, but Fawn
had spent many months of each year there since she was seventeen.
With the Sterlings and her career, of course she should settle
there. Lucy would just have to fly more often. Maybe get a frequent
flyer credit card, work the system to accrue lots of points.

Her mind was already making the spreadsheet,
tallying the dollars and points and months.

“You are my sunshine,” Huntley said with a
straight face. In fact, his voice cracked.

Lucy pulled out her tissue again just before
they kissed. Unable to help herself, she glanced at Miles.

He was gazing at her, his own eyes
shining.

The reception was in the same courtyard as
the wedding, though the white chairs were cleared away and replaced
with the spa staffers in white uniforms carrying trays of food and
drinks. Shawn had spiced up his outfit with a polka-dot bow tie and
a big grin.

Lucy wasn’t going to drink, not even a single
glass of champagne. She had enough unruly feelings to deal with.
Jealousy, loneliness, doubt, sexual frustration—a big, simmering
stew of emotions she hadn’t felt since seventh grade. Liquor would
only weaken her grip on herself.

Because she refused to sink further into a
pit of despair. Her best friend was so happy she glowed. Wherever
the bride and groom walked, hand in hand, guests stopped talking
and gazed at them with dopey smiles on their faces.

The romance in the air was infectious. Fawn’s
father, Larry, was beaming, stealing kisses from his wife at every
opportunity. Geri was there with her new boyfriend, a handsome guy
in his forties who looked like George Clooney and danced like
Pacino in
Scent of a Woman
. No wonder she was hoarding
condoms.

With all that joy around her, Lucy would be
happy too. Even if it killed her.

Krista and Alex didn’t need any help being
cheerful, either. Even during the photographs, they’d stuck
together. Both had been eager to have one taken of just the two of
them, holding hands under a rose arbor.

The photographer was gone, but they still sat
there, talking and smiling into each other’s eyes.

Plucking a bottle of Calistoga off the bar,
Lucy strode over to clear the air. They were probably going to see
a lot of each other over the next… few weeks… forever?… so Lucy had
better make it clear there were no hard feelings.

“It sure is beautiful here, isn’t it?” she
said as she walked up to them.

They both looked up at the same time. Alex
frowned only for a split second before smiling back at her. “It
certainly is.”

“I meant to tell you how lovely you are in
pink,” Krista said. “I knew you would be.”

“I admit I was skeptical,” Lucy said,
touching her hair. “But I look fine.”

Alex stood up. “Better than fine. Lovely, as
Krista said.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek quickly. “If
you’ll excuse me, I need to use the little boy’s room. Can I get
either of you anything from the bar on my way back?”

They assured him they were fine and he left
them there alone.

“Isn’t he sensitive? Almost psychic,” Krista
said, standing up. “I didn’t even have to tell him I wanted to talk
to you in private.”

“I’m glad you’re happy.”

“You are, aren’t you? Which is why I need to
apologize. I was such a bitch.”

“Oh, you were just—”

“No, I was a bitch. I thought you were
starting something special with Miles and all I could think of was
my own emptiness.” She folded her lips into her mouth. “I was
jealous, Lucy. Green with envy. I am so, so sorry.”

“Oh, God, don’t cry. Krista, please.”

But the tears already trickled down her
cheeks. Lucy bent down and put her water bottle on the flagstones
before putting her arms around her friend’s waist. “You goose.
Nothing to cry about.”

“And now you’re alone and I’m not and I feel
so bad,” Krista said.

Lucy released her and retrieved her water
bottle. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Miles stared at you through the whole
ceremony.”

“I know.”

“I don’t know what happened, but I hope it
wasn’t my fault. Anything I said.”

Lucy sipped her water. “No, just reality
crashing in.”

“Alex—sorry, I hope you don’t mind that we
talked about it—he says Miles has
always
run away from his
problems.”

However shit-canned her life plans were at
the moment, at least she hadn’t hooked up with that guy. “Alex has
always
been annoying. Hope you don’t mind if I talk about
it.”

Instead of angry, Krista looked stricken. “He
didn’t mean anything—”

“Sorry. The thing is, Alex doesn’t know the
whole story. Why Miles cut himself off from his family, why he
dropped out of school. He could’ve put money first and sucked it up
with his father, letting him pay for everything, getting a free
ride through life—but he chose to be true to himself and make his
own way. Helping other kids like himself in the process. He’s
quite… amazing, actually.”

Krista stared at her. “If you feel that way,
why aren’t you together?”

“He’s not the marrying type.”

“So you
do
agree with Alex.”

Lucy paused. Did she? “About this, maybe. But
not in general. I can’t risk… What if we… I’ve done this before,
you know? Years of waiting, being put off. Life’s too short.”

“Lucy, life’s too short not to go for
it.”

“I’ve got to be practical.”

“Fuck practical! Practical got you Dan! This
is something different and you know it. You have real feelings for
Miles. When’s that ever happened to you?”

Unable to resist, Lucy looked over at the
handsome giant in his tux. The one who saved her from zip lines and
brought her Big Macs. The one who did yoga in jeans and couldn’t
even bend his knees. The one who kissed her like he’d never get
enough.

To her horror, she felt tears pool in her
eyes.

Krista squeezed her wrist, stopping Lucy from
hiding her face in her water bottle. “You never cried over Dan and
you were with him eight years.”

“Of course I did. I cried like crazy.”

“Really? But you were so casual about it. I
never would have thought—so, you were really torn up?”

Uneasy with the sudden, eager look that
flashed over Krista’s face, Lucy said quickly, “I wasn’t crying
over Dan exactly. Just… ” She trailed off, not wanting to spell out
her humiliation.
What if the next guy who wants to marry me is
even worse? How badly will I lower my standards just to have a
family?

“The idea of him. I get that. I totally get
that.” Krista laughed and tipped back a glass of champagne. “As I’m
sure you’ve noticed.”

She did. How far would Krista go with Alex
just because he was there, convenient, willing?

Suddenly, not having a real drink wasn’t
going to work. When she spotted Alex returning, Lucy hugged Krista
one more time and fled to the bar.

* * *

Gulping down his third—fourth?—glass of
champagne, Miles sagged against a classical statue of a woman twice
his size, trying to catch glimpses of Lucy’s feet. The string
quartet was gone, replaced by an apparently famous New York DJ and
dance area in a tiled corner of the courtyard.

She’d taken off her shoes and was bouncing
around with dozens of other guests who apparently didn’t mind the
bride and groom’s taste in Top 40. Her toenails were the same color
as her hair.

Her hair was the same color as heaven.

Huntley came over to him. Smiling, anxieties
forgotten, the newly married man nodded at the statue. “Good thing
that Amazon is there. She’s the only thing big enough to hold you
up.” He held out a plate mounded over with something white on
toothpicks.

“They’ve got it all wrong. Heaven gets the
fire. The color. All that”—Miles waved his free hand, bumping the
plate Huntley was extending—“passion.”

Huntley glanced back and saw the object of
Miles’s gaze. “Easy, buddy. This is not the time to get
stupid.”

“Too late.” Miles tilted the glass back to
his lips before holding it up to his face to confirm its emptiness.
“You’d think a billionaire could afford bigger glasses. Nothing but
Dixie cups in this joint.” He leaned down and propped it between
the toes of the statue. Boring gray stone toes.

Huntley leaned over to rescue the glass.
“These ‘Dixie cups’ are crystal imported from Ireland as a wedding
gift from my mother’s last client. She got six mil in the
settlement.”

“Figures.” Miles moved to kick the glass but
was too late. He hit the statue platform instead and had to grab
the stone lady’s massive knee for balance. “Getting married costs a
fortune, but getting divorced gets you one.”

“No, that costs even more.” Huntley gripped
his arm and spoke in his ear. “Careful, Miles. Eye on the prize. As
long as you keep playing it cool, you’ve got nothing to worry about
with Little Orphan Ann—shit, what was that for?”

“Don’t call her that.”

Rubbing his shoulder where Miles had hit him,
Huntley stepped back. “No more drinking until Fawn and I are out of
here.” He looked over his shoulder. “I should leave Eric here to
watch out for you, but I need him to get us to the airport.”

“You will address Lucy with
respect
.”

“Then again, I don’t know anybody else here
who can take down an elephant with his bare hands.” Huntley sipped
his own drink and looked him up and down. “Should it come to that.
Just what are you so upset about again?”

“I told her how crazy I am about her and she
told me bye-bye. Unless I pop the question.”

“Christ. Fawn warned you.”

Miles pushed away from the statue,
straightening himself up to his full height. He swayed a little,
but he just needed to take a deep breath, regain his balance, and
he’d be able to walk across the short distance between him and Lucy
just fine. “She doesn’t need marriage. She needs
love
.”

“Pound your chest again when you tell her
that. Modern chicks dig that.”

“No limits. No plans. Just two consenting
adults with the guts to take it where it leads.”

Huntley’s mocking smile fell. He looked over
the crowd. “Maybe Fawn can help me rein you in. She’s worked too
hard on this.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll drag her somewhere
private.” He grinned. “I’ve learned my lesson. Get naked right
away. Saves time and trouble. No time to waffle. Just eat
waffles.”

“My God, how much did you drink?”

On the dance floor, Krista and Alex began to
kiss like both were headed off to war.

The pain on Lucy’s face as she watched them
made Miles’s heart skip a beat. “I need to tell her again how I
feel. This time so she believes me.”

“Not the time,” Huntley insisted.

“It’s the perfect time. Look at her! She’s so
sad!”

“Look at you! You’re so wasted!”

Miles smoothed his hair. “She won’t mind. She
needs me. I know she does.”

“Damn. Fawn!” Huntley looked around wildly.
“She’s schemed for weeks to pull this off. Don’t screw it up on her
big day.”

“She did pull it off. She’s Mrs. Huntley the
Third now.”

“Not us,
you
. Promise me you’ll stay
here for five minutes while I go look for her. Just five. Okay?
Wedding present to me?”

“This was all her doing. Me. Lucy. You knew
that?”

“Where do you think she got the idea?”

“You have uncharted depths.” Miles leaned
down and wrapped his arms around his old friend. Then, overcome
with the moment, he lifted him from the ground and squeezed.
“Congratulations on the ball and chain, buddy.”

Gasping, Huntley tried to wriggle free.
“Fawn!” he cried. “Anybody!”

Unfortunately it was Alex who heard the call
for help. Breaking his lip-lock with Krista, he came over with her
in tow. He pried Miles’s fingers loose. “You’re ruining his
suit.”