you can go to Catalina and be a stand-in girlfriend, you’re nuts. I see the way you look at him. I’ve looked at one too many guys like that. Like they walk on water.”
Alex winced. “Is it really that obvious?” she whispered.
Cassie shook her head. “No. No, don’t worry about that. It’s just I spend a lot of time with you. And Justin is always here. So I spend a lot of time with the two of you together. I just see these things. What I know is that with proximity, stuff is harder to hide. So what is your plan? Because I’m not letting my boss lady go to Catalina with a piece of toilet paper stuck to her shoe.”
The metaphor gave Alex a great idea for a painting. Focus on what the girl is asking you.
“Look, I get what you’re saying, but what was I supposed to do? He is my best friend. And he is as close to family as I’ve got.”
“So you can just pretend to be his girlfriend and hope he doesn’t notice that, hey, you’re in love with him?”
“I’m not in love with him. I just—”
“Sometimes you hold on just a second too long when he gives you a hug. When you think he’s not watching, you inhale deeply just to get a contact high from his cologne. Every time he holds your hand and pulls you close, you imagine being with him and what it would be like if he finally one day turned to you and said ‘Let’s do this. Give it a go?’ I’ve been that girl. A lot. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Her heart thundered against her chest. If Cassie had seen it, she had no hope being locked in on the island with Justin and all his relatives. He’ll find out. And then your friendship will be over.
Alex flushed. “Oh no, this is a disaster. What was I thinking?”
Cassie busied herself. She set another canvas aside, then marked it off her checklist before placing it in its location in the cart. She had a system. When it came to the creative side, that was all Alex, but the organization, the getting pieces to where they needed to be, the customer service, that was all Cassie. She ran everything behind the scenes and Alex would be lost without her.
“I’m not in love with him. We are best friends. And he is like my family. And I wanted to help him out.” Damn, that sounded lame even to her ears. She was so totally screwed. “Oh my God. Would have I done? How do I get out of it?”
“Well, honey, I’m not sure you can get out of it. He said his grandma’s really sick, right? You must’ve had a plan when you said yes.”
“I don’t know. I was sort of gonna do what I’ve always done. You know, pretend it’s not there, bury the feelings deep under years of dirty laundry, where no one should ever go. That was my whole plan. That’s it.”
Cassie shook her head. “I swear, for someone so bright and intuitive, I’m surprised you really don’t want to do anything about your feelings.”
“You don’t understand. I’ve only ever had Justin.” And now Alex could see the problem with that. She’d never really had any close girlfriends. She’d never let anyone get close. Except, Cassie was trying to be a friend right now.
Maybe it was the desperation, maybe it was her spiking blood pressure or the blood roaring to her head that made her think twice. But all she knew was that Cassie was offering some kind of life preserver. And it was nice.
If you get too close, she could hurt you, too. But before Alex could latch onto that thought, Cassie smiled at her. “Look, I’m here if you want to talk about it. I think you and I could be friends. Besides, one of these days, you might need someone more than Justin for advice and stuff.”
Cassie had a point. And for once, Alex liked the idea of having someone else to confide in. Because right about now, she needed all the support she could get.
“I don’t get it. Explain to me why I need to buy new clothes?”
Justin tapped Alex on the nose. She really was adorable. “I think you look awesome. No matter what you wear.” Even now, with her hair up in a messy bun and dressed in a long-sleeved T-shirt and baggy boyfriend jeans, she was cute. Actually stunning, really, bare of any makeup; this was how he liked her. But on closer inspection, there was some paint in her hair. And on her jeans. And also on the hem of the camisole she wore under the long-sleeved T-shirt, which was sticking out. And of course there was paint on her nails. But, well, he was used to that by now.
“Honey, you’ve got paint all over you.”
Her eyes went wide. “I do not. I cleaned up well this time.” He subtly pointed out the jeans and the camisole. And she cursed. “Damn it. I swear I put on clean clothes. I don’t know what happens. Between actually getting dressed in the confines of my bedroom from naked to out the door, something goes very wrong. Every time.”
The moment the word made it past her lips, his brain offered all kinds of visuals and how she would look naked. His favorite was Alex in bed, her dark hair fanning out over the pillow. Paint in all sorts of strategic places that he wanted to kiss. What the hell was that? He shook his head. This was Alex. Why did he want to kiss her? The best part about them was that they were friends. He’d never gone there with her. And he never would. He was not looking to screw that up. Except...that naughty image of Alex wouldn’t go away. And this time the paint was replaced by chocolate. Damn.
“Okay, fine, I guess I need to get some new clothes.”
“Honestly, Alex, you always look great to me. Paint and all. But you don’t know them. Martin, his parents. All except Grandma Lucy. They’re a bunch of vipers.”
She shrugged. “It’s okay, between you and Cassie, I’m getting some truth that I wasn’t ready for over the last couple of days.”
“What did Cassie have to say?”
Alex’s brows furrowed, and she took a moment too long to answer the question. “Just that I’m by myself a lot. And it wouldn’t hurt to have more than just one friend.”
“You have more than one friend. You have lots of them. We were hanging out with a group of them at my house the other night.”
She shook her head. “Your friends. I go along for the ride because I get to kick it with you, so I tolerate other people.”
“You’re crazy, everyone likes you.”
Justin laughed even as he shook his head. She might think she was a loner type but people naturally gravitated toward her. She could be serious, or silly, or just thought provoking. She was so layered. And not just about art. As long as he’d known her, she’d been obsessed with music of all kinds, except country, she liked to say. And books. They were an escape, she’d explained, but painting, painting was life.
She shrugged again. “Yeah, but you know that saying, ‘Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.’”
He laughed. “So you’re okay with doing this?”
“I can be easy, just as long as you’re not trying to replace my entire wardrobe. If it’s just a couple of things, then no big deal.”
