Friend and Lover Read online

  Friend and Lover

  by

  Angela Benson

  First published by Kensington, Pinnacle, 1995

  Print Copyright Angela Benson, 1995

  EBook Copyright Angela Benson, 2011

  EBook Published by Angela Benson, 2011

  Cover Design by fiverr.com/pro_ebookcovers

  Cover Photo © Depositphotos.com/Syda_Productions

  EBook Design by A Thirsty Mind, 2011

  Smashwords Edition, 2011

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the Author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  About the Author

  Angela Benson is the bestselling author of fourteen novels, two novellas and a non-fiction writing book. Her most recent print work is Delilah’s Daughters (Avon, 2014). Her next print book, The Summer of Me, will be released by Avon in 2015. While you’re waiting for Angela’s new title, be sure to check out her backlist recently released in eBook format. Join Angela on the web at http://www.facebook.com/AngelaBensonBooks or http://www.AngelaBenson.com.

  Author Booklist

  Sweet Passion Contemporary Romance Series

  Friend and Lover

  http://www.angelabenson.com/friendandlover.html

  “. . . a sham engagement between two longtime attorney friends leads to the real thing just in time for New Year’s Eve in Angela D. Benson’s funny and engaging ‘Friend and Lover’.” —Library Journal

  The Nicest Guy in America

  http://www.angelabenson.com/thenicestguyinamerica.html

  Angela Benson, a veteran romance writer, has earned her “stars and bars” with this sensational, subtle and sensual battle of the sexes. —Romantic Times Magazine Top Pick! 4.5/5 stars

  The Way Home

  http://www.angelabenson.com/thewayhome.html

  “ . . . with THE WAY HOME, [Angela Benson] emerges as a writer of great depth, sensitivity, and unparalleled talent.” —Romantic Times Magazine Top Pick! 4.5/5 stars

  Bands of Gold (coming August 2014)

  http://www.angelabenson.com/bandsofgold.html

  Christina’s ambition has taken her to the top of her profession, but new employee Jackson makes her wonder if she’s sacrificed too much for her success.

  For All Time (coming September 2014)

  http://www.angelabenson.com/foralltime.html

  "FOR ALL TIME will touch every woman's heart with its pathos and passion as Ms. Benson takes a heartrending look at the stark realities of marriage after the honeymoon is over." – 4 stars –Romantic Times Magazine

  Between the Lines (coming October 2014)

  http://www.angelabenson.com/betweenthelines.html

  "BETWEEN THE LINES is author Angela Benson's latest romantic confection, with the heady flavor of an Amaretto Liqueur and the rich sensuality of smooth, sweet cream!" – 4 stars –Romantic Times Magazine

  Genesis House Inspirational Romance & Family Drama Series

  Awakening Mercy, Book 1, Genesis House Series

  http://www.angelabenson.com/awakeningmercy.html

  “Ms. Benson paints a fine picture of the trials of a couple who must rely on their faith to make a go of a relationship in this 4-1/2 star read. She is just as compelling a writer in Christian romance as she is in contemporary.” —Affaire de Coeur Magazine

  Abiding Hope, Book 2, Genesis House Series

  http://www.angelabenson.com/abidinghope.html

  “Christy Award nominee, Benson, continues the momentum she established in Awakening Mercy as she explores the lives of Shay and Marvin Taylor, the founders of Genesis House. . . Benson is a leading author of African American romances and Christian fiction, and her insight into God’s impact on our lives make her work a requirement for growing collections.” —The Library Journal

  The Amen Sisters, Book 3, Genesis House Series

  http://www.angelabenson.com/theamensisters.html

  “Christy Award nominee, Benson, continues the momentum she established in Awakening Mercy as she explores the lives of Shay and Marvin Taylor, the founders of Genesis House. . . Benson is a leading author of African American romances and Christian fiction, and her insight into God’s impact on our lives make her work a requirement for growing collections.” —The Library Journal

  Enduring Love, Book 4 (coming November 2014)

  http://www.angelabenson.com/enduringlove.html

  When she left, she took his heart with her. Now he wants to get it—and her—back.

  Single Title Inspirational Family Drama

  The Summer of Me (coming January 2015)

  http://www.angelabenson.com/summerofme.html

  The nationally bestselling author of Delilah’s Daughters and The Amen Sisters returns with a moving story about a single mother who discovers the woman she can be in one unforgettable summer.

  Delilah’s Daughters

  http://www.angelabenson.com/delilahsdaughters.html

  "...instead of Samson’s secret, it’s Delilah’s that threatens to destroy the spiritual foundation she and her late husband, Rocky, build for their three daughters...Delilah’s Daughters is a captivating story from the beginning to the breathtaking end." 4.5 stars (out of 5 ) — Romantic Times Magazine

  Sins of the Father

  http://www.angelabenson.com/sinsofthefather.html

  Sins of the Father is a powerful story of revenge, betrayal, and forgiveness. Benson uses three-dimensional characters to prove that regret, shame and hatred can give way to acceptance, forgiveness and love. The storyline will surprise you while the outcome will increase your faith in God. If you love reading about real life issues, this is a book that will keep you glued to the pages. –Real Page Turners

  Up Pops the Devil

  http://www.angelabenson.com/uppopsthedevil.html

  "Angela Benson writes a commanding and enthralling story on the power of salvation and how temptation works to unravel it. . .Benson’s writing is fluid and demonstrates her ability to incorporate biblical principle in everyday living." – RAWSISTAZ Reviews

  Showers of Blessings, a novella in A Million Blessings

  http://www.angelabenson.com/amillionblessings.html

  Assistant pastor Ronnie has a shameful secret: he's a compulsive gambler. And just when it seems he's run out of luck, he finds salvation in a miraculous win. But nothing can keep Ronnie from recklessly betting his family's future. His only way out is through renewed faith–and a desperate act of redemption.

  Nonfiction

  Telling Your Tale: The Beginner’s Guide to Writing Fiction for Print and eBook

  Telling Your Tale Workbook: The Beginner’s Guide to Writing Fiction for Print and eBook

  http://www.angelabenson.com/tellingyourtale.html

  “[Benson’s] writing advice is constructive and sincere; writers would be well-advised to follow her advice and practice their craft by completing the exercises in the book.” —WritersWrite.com on Telling The Tale (first edition)

  Dedication

  This story is dedicated to my husband George, my personal friend and lover.

  Dear Reader,

  Thanks so much for downloading Friend and Lover, a novella in my Sweet Passion contemporary romance series. In Friend and Lover, Reed Lewis thinks his best friend, Paige Thomas, is engaged to the wrong man, so he devises a holiday ruse to make her see things his way.

  Friend and Lover is a special story to me for several reasons. Firstly, the primary characters are named after peop
le in my family. It was a special treat for me to use the names of my deceased maternal grandparents, Grady and Willie Pearl. Secondly, the story allowed me to showcase my humorous side. It’s tough to be funny in fiction, but I had a good time with it in Friend and Lover. Finally, Friend and Lover provides the emotional and uplifting read that readers of Angela Benson books have come to expect. So take a load off and spend a few hours with best friends, Reed Lewis and Paige Thomas. I hope you enjoy their journey.

  Please keep in touch. You can reach me at http://www.angelabenson.com/contact.html. I love hearing from readers!

  Angela

  One

  “Just a minute,” Paige Thomas yelled to whoever was ringing her apartment doorbell at nine A.M. the day after Christmas. She’d just gotten in herself, having taken the six A.M. flight from Boston to Atlanta. She’d planned on spending the day being upset with Dexter Fine, her fiancé, for canceling their plans to spend the holidays together. As usual, he’d used work as an excuse. This time, he’d had to visit a client in Los Angeles.

  Of course, her father had taken Dexter’s side and chastised her for not being supportive of her hard-working fiancé. She was getting angry again just thinking about it. She closed her suitcase and shoved it in her already crowded bedroom closet and ran to open the door.

  “Just a minute,” she said again, in an annoyed tone that she hoped the intruder recognized. She jerked the door open and saw an elderly woman standing in her doorway. The chastisement on her lips fell away. The woman had to be eighty, if she was a day. She couldn’t have been more than five-four, a hundred pounds. She looked rather feeble standing there with her gray hair pulled back in a bun, wire-rimmed glasses, support hose, and orthopedic shoes. The woman was so much the stereotypical senior citizen that Paige was immediately sorry and embarrassed for her rudeness. “I’m sorry, ma’am,” she said. “May I help you?”

  The older woman opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by a booming male voice coming from down the hallway. “Big Momma, I thought I told you to wait for me at the elevator.” Before Paige saw him, she knew it was her friend, Reed Lewis. She’d recognize his deep, rich, Barry White-like voice anywhere. When she saw him, she wondered why he was carrying three suitcases, one under his arm, and one in each hand. The one under his arm had caused his black bomber jacket and sweater to rise, giving a glimpse of his flat, brown stomach.

  “Reed, what are you doing—?”

  Reed quickly dropped the suitcases by her door and pulled her into his arms. “Go along with me until I can explain,” he whispered in her ear. “I missed you, sweetheart,” he said, loudly enough for the woman Paige now guessed was his grandmother to hear. “I hope your father and mother were well.”

  He pulled back from her and she saw the plea in his eyes. What was going on? she wondered.

  He looked at his grandmother. “Didn’t I tell you she was something, Big Momma?”

  His grandmother slapped him on the arm. “You have no manners, sonny. You didn’t even introduce me. The girl looks like she’s scared to death.”

  Reed grinned at his grandmother and Paige knew then that they shared a special relationship. “Big Momma, this is Paige Thomas. Paige, my grandmother, Willie Pearl Lewis. You can call her Big Momma, or you can call her Grandma Lewis.”

  Paige extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Grandma Lewis.” Big Momma was a bit much, in her opinion.

  Grandma Lewis looked at Paige’s outstretched hand and shook her head. “You young folks! I’m not shaking my granddaughter-in-law-to-be’s hand. I want a hug, and a better one than you gave your fiancé,” she said with a huff and pushed her patent leather handbag further up her arm to embrace Paige.

  It wasn’t a strong hug, because it seemed Grandma Lewis didn’t have a lot of strength, but it was a loving hug. Paige felt the love all the way to her bones.

  When Grandma Lewis pulled away, Paige felt that she’d lost something vital. As if she knew Paige’s thoughts, Grandma Lewis winked at her. “You’re a special girl, Paige. My grandson finally did something right.”

  Reed put his hand to his heart. “I’m hurt, Big Momma. All this time I thought I could do no wrong.”

  Grandma Lewis looked at him and smiled. “Now, greet your fiancée like you love her. If your grandfather, rest his soul, had come to visit me after being separated for Christmas Day, I’d want more than that poor excuse for a hug you gave Paige.”

  Reed reached in his pocket and pulled out a dried sprig of mistletoe.

  “Reed—” Paige lifted her hand to stop him, but before she could finish the sentence, he had pulled her into his arms.

  He hugged her and whispered, “Do it for my grandmother. Please, I’ll explain later.”

  “You owe me, big time, Reed Lewis,” she whispered back.

  Paige thought she’d done what he’d wanted when he pulled back from the hug, so the kiss surprised her. It was the first time she’d kissed a guy with a mustache. There was something very sensual about the contrast of the feel of his lips against hers and the lingering caress of his mustache against her skin.

  She heard herself moan, and felt Reed deepen the kiss. Her arms automatically encircled his back.

  “That’s enough, children,” Grandma Lewis said. “I don’t think my heart can take any more of your welcoming.”

  When Reed pulled away and smiled down at her, Paige felt as though she were looking at him for the first time. His deep-set light-brown eyes were hooded by thick black eyebrows and long eyelashes that probably made some women jealous. That didn’t mean there was anything feminine about his face, though. To the contrary, his face was all male, from the wide forehead to the strong cheekbones and the square chin. When he smiled, his features turned soft and inviting. And his ears—she wanted to use them as handles to pull his face back to hers.

  Hold up, Paige, she said to herself. This is Reed, your old friend Reed, you’re talking about. What’s happening here?

  Reed mouthed the words “Thank you,” then gave her a quick hug before picking up the suitcases in the hallway. “My apartment’s flooded and we have no place to stay. Can we bunk with you for a few days?”

  Paige was still thinking about that kiss and wondering where Reed had learned to kiss like that.

  “Doesn’t look like she’s going to let us in, Reed,” Grandma Lewis said.

  “Oh.” Paige stammered and stepped back so they could enter her apartment. “Come on in.” She smiled at Grandma Lewis. “Make yourself at home.”

  As Reed passed her, Paige whispered, “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, and you’d better do it fast.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Reed pressed his ear against Paige’s bedroom door in an attempt to hear what she and his grandmother were talking about, but he could hear only bits and pieces of sentences.

  He listened for a few more seconds before giving up and moving back to his seat on the sofa.

  He propped his feet up on Paige’s glass-topped cocktail table, smiling as he thought about the grief she’d give him when she saw his feet there.

  His smile eased into a frown as thoughts of the last time he’d been in her apartment filled his mind. It had been three months ago, after they’d attended the Hawks’ season opener.

  “Take your feet off my table,” she’d said, pushing his jeans-clad legs to the floor. “You act like you have no home training, and I know your mother taught you better than that.”

  He’d grinned at her, liking the way her big, brown eyes sparked when she pretended to be upset. “Hey, my mother was more concerned with making sure her men were comfortable than she was about some old furniture.” His use of the word “old” was a jibe, since all the furniture in her apartment had been replaced in the last year. She’d called it remodeling. He’d called it a waste of money. Too much white and too much fluff for his taste.

  His remark had only gotten a smirk from her before she’d gone off for a quick shower. Then the phone had rung. He knew he should
n’t have answered it, but he had. It had been Dexter. Mr. Fine.

  “Lewis, what are you doing in my fiancée’s apartment this late at night?”

  ‘Because you’re not here, where you ought to be’ were the words that came to Reed’s mind, but he didn’t speak them. Not out of any respect for Fine, but out of respect for his friendship with Paige. “We went to a Hawks game, Fine. Nothing for you to worry about.”

  “I’m not worried about you, Lewis,” Fine said in a smug voice. “Put Paige on the phone.”

  Reed punched his hand into the back of the upholstered white sofa, wishing the sofa were Fine’s face. How he hated the guy. In his opinion, Fine was in no way good enough for Paige. The guy didn’t have a heart. “She’s in the shower. Do you want me to go get her?”

  Reed took satisfaction in the silence that his question caused, “Tell Paige I’ll call back later.”

  Tell Paige I’ll call back later, Reed repeated in his mind. The guy was too arrogant for words. “Right,” Reed said, and hung up the phone.

  “Who was it?”

  Reed looked up to see Paige standing in her bathroom door, her calf-length green terrycloth robe wrapped around her, her still-wet thick black hair plastered to her neck. He felt a tightness in his chest and thought for the thousandth time in their four-year relationship that Paige didn’t have a clue about the effect she had on him.

  “So, who was it?” she asked again.

  He cleared his throat. “Mr. Fine,” he spit out, and immediately regretted it.

  She pursed her lips and he knew she was holding back her anger. “Why didn’t you call out to me, Reed? You know I would have spoken to him.”

  Reed flopped back down on the sofa, angry that Fine had ruined his evening with Paige. “He said he’d call back. There’s no need to get bent out of shape.”

  She walked over and sat next to him on the sofa. “I’m not getting bent out of shape. What did you say to him?”