An Unexpected Love (Women's Fiction/BWWM Romance) by Stacy-Deanne Read Free Book Online Page B

can she even think this?”
    “Let me ask you something, and I want you
to be straight with me. Are you attracted to David?”
    “Of course I am.” She laughed. “Are you
nuts? He’s a great guy. Any woman would be attracted to him, but I would never
hurt Val. I cherish David’s friendship. I wouldn’t jeopardize that. And no
matter how conniving people might think I am, I’d never sleep with my sister’s
husband.”
    “I’m glad to hear that because this isn’t
like when we were kids, Corrine. Back then you did shit to Val, and it was
overlooked a lot.”
    “I didn’t do anything to Val.”
    “Corrine.” Layla rolled her eyes. “I was
there, remember? You were always jealous of Val, and you did some nasty things.
All I’m saying is the consequences would be much higher now. Val loves David
more than anything, and she wouldn’t ever forgive you if you got in the way of
that.” Layla stood. “And honestly, I wouldn’t either.”
    “When it comes to Val’s marriage, it’s not
me she should be worried about.” Corrine stood and straightened her dress.
“It’s herself .”

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    David knocked on Patrick’s office door,
which stood ajar.
    “Hey, Mr. Accountant.”
    “Hey, man.” Patrick looked up from his
computer. “What are you doing here?”
    “On lunch break.” David walked in,
unbuttoning his blazer. “Figured you would be too, so maybe we can catch some
lunch at that Japanese place down the street.”
    “It’s good to see you, man.” Patrick stood
and shook David’s hand. “You look good.”
    He hit David’s arm and then sat back down.
    “You too.” David glanced around the
pristine office and sat on the chair across from Patrick. “What do you say?” He
wiggled his fingers. “Up for some sushi?”
    “I wish I could.” Patrick focused on his
computer. “I gotta finish this stuff up. I’d planned to just skip lunch.”
    “Oh.” David poked his lips out and nodded.
“Guess I should’ve called before popping in.”
    “No, it’s cool with me.” Patrick took off his
reading glasses and leaned back in the leather chair. “I’m always glad to see
my…my…what the hell are we?”
    David laughed.
    “You crazy. I guess we’re
brothers-in-law-in-law.” Patrick guffawed.
    David’s laughter eased. “See, this is why
I like talking to you. You make me smile. You make me forget shit, you know?”
    “Uh-oh.” Patrick rocked on the back legs
of his chair. “How come I get the feeling you didn’t come down here just for
sushi?”
    David pointed to the door. “You got a minute?”
      “Sure.”
    David jumped up and closed the door. “You’re
right. I came down because I needed to talk to you.” He sat down. “Brotha to
brotha.”
    “Okay.” Patrick leaned forward. “I’m glad
you’re here. I need to talk to someone, too. I can’t think of anyone better
than you.”
    “You wanna go first?”
    Patrick rubbed his chin. “No, go ahead.”

 
    “You already can guess that it’s Val.”
David let out a huge breath. “I don’t know how long I can deal with this, man.
We fight constantly over the silliest little things.”
    “That sounds familiar.”
    “Can you believe this morning we had a
forty-five minute argument because I left toast crumbs on the butter?” David
grimaced. “Are you freaking kidding me?”
    “That is kinda gross,
though.”
    “I’m serious, man. It’s getting to where
I’m scared to walk up in the house. We got this big marketing campaign I’m
leading. I’m glad as hell I’ll have to work late some nights just so I don’t
have to hear her mouth.”
    “I hate to see you two going down this
route.” Patrick clasped his fingers in his lap. “But the good news is that you
and Val are still communicating. Sure, you’re fighting all the time. But when
you both stop fighting, that’s when you should be worried. It means you’ve both
stopped caring.”
    David reflected on the insight. “I never
thought about it like