Page 44 of Perfect Enough

“Thank you for being such a great friend and going along with this idiotic plan of mine.”

I smiled, then pushed away my disappointment from that one word.

Friend.

“If I remember correctly, Soph, it was my idea.”

Chapter Ten

SOPHIA

Josh smiled, but something about his facial expression was off when I thanked him for being a good friend.

That was what I had to keep telling myself. Josh was a friend—nothing more. He’d done me a favor by taking me to the wedding, and given the way Karen had treated me, and with my helicopter mother, it was all I could do not to crawl into a hole and stay there. A friend was exactly what I needed.

I sighed and glanced around the family room. A part of me wished I’d downed the whiskey and just dealt with the taste and the way it made my throat burn. Maybe it would have helped with these confusing emotions.

Taking in another deep breath, I let it out slowly. I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I stay where I was and wait for him? Go choose a room to stay in? Or maybe I should leave? I was being a coward by staying here. Would my mother truly know if I had or not? No, she wouldn’t. I’d already taken up most of Josh’s night off. Was I really going to stay all night?

A thought occurred to me. What if Josh had plans for after the wedding? I placed a hand over the now-churning feeling in my stomach.

“I hope this works for you.”

Whipping my head around, I quickly asked, “Am I ruining any plans you had for this evening?”

Josh looked confused. “Plans?”

“Yes! I’m so sorry, Josh. I guess I didn’t think about whether you might have plans for later this evening. After the wedding.”

His sideways, boyish grin appeared, and now it was like a switch in my stomach flipped. I went from feeling sick to trying to ignore the pull of desire from that one smile. How many women had he smiled at exactly like that, and they simply fell to their knees in front of him?

“Soph, my only plan for tonight was to spend it with you.”

I knew he didn’t mean all night, but I still couldn’t help smiling. “I’m glad I didn’t mess anything up for you this evening.”

“I found these in one of the spare rooms. My sister stayed here for a few days and left some clothes. They’re clean.”

Taking them, I said, “Thank you so much.”

“Come on, I’ll show you which room you can sleep in.”

I followed Josh, struck by how he wasn’t taking advantage of the situation. He was a gentleman through and through.Why did that kind of disappoint me? I didn’twanthim to make a move on me…but a part of me wondered why he wasn’t.

With a shake of my head, I internally sighed at myself.

He walked to the first spare bedroom he’d shown me earlier on our tour. It was the soft green bedroom. There was a sleigh bed with a white comforter that looked like it would be so cozy, especially in the dead of winter. A small dresser was on the other side of the room. A small writing desk under the large picture window.

“This room has a bathroom attached,” Josh stated as he walked toward it. “There’s a basket in the cabinet with a disposable toothbrush, some soap, and, I think, some little shampoos if you want them.”

I raised my brows, and he laughed.

“I have friends who stay over sometimes. My mother was the one who suggested the basket with items that people might need if they spend the night unplanned.”

“How smart of her,” I said as I approached the basket. I was curious if his mother had also put any female items in there. One quick peek proved she hadn’t. I wasn’t sure why that made me feel better.

“It’s still early. Would you like to watch a movie, maybe?”

There went that smile again. “I like the sound of that. Do you want to shower or anything?”