Effortless by Lynn Montagano Read Free Book Online

Lia. And I say that with no disrespect. Whatever happened between him and Brent must have been huge because they were like brothers at university. At least that’s what I hear.”
    The fact that Darren loved to gossip could work in my favor. My curiosity was insatiable and anytime I learned a new nugget about Alastair it left me craving more. For the time being, I chose to stifle the questions and just enjoy the rest of our lunch.
    “You have exactly twenty-four hours to tell your best friend about that ring, lass,” he said on our walk back to the building. “I can’t keep a secret like that from Steph forever. We live together. She’s up my arse all the time wanting to know if Alastair has told me anything. I’m surprised I haven’t gone mad yet from all her pestering.”
    I laughed heartily as we walked into the elevator. “You’re a saint, Darren.”
    “True that.” He winked and gave me a little wave when we reached his floor.
    Even though my dealings with Brent had always been a little stressful, I decided to have a little fun at Stephanie’s expense and texted her when I returned to my office.
    1:43pm How big is it?
    1:47pm ??????????
    1:48pm Brent’s wonder stick
    My desk phone rang within seconds.
    “Yes?”
    “Amelia Grace Meyers,” she hissed, “you’re not funny.”
    “Sorry.” I laughed. “I couldn’t help myself. What are you doing after work?”
    “Finding a new roommate.”
    I laughed even harder. “Aw, don’t be mad at Darren. You know he can’t stay quiet about big news like that forever.”
    “There is no big news. We’ve hung out and stuff. It’s really nothing.”
    “Alright. Whatever you say.”
    “Lia,” she whined, “he’s not even my type. He’s too buttoned up and proper. I like ’em carefree and wild.”
    “You’re protesting too much.”
    “Fine,” she sighed. “We had dinner a couple of times. That’s
it
.”
    I tapped a pen on my desk, wanting to be judicious with my words. “Listen, um. Just, you know, be—”
    “I know,” she snapped. “You hate him and Alastair hates him so I have to hate him too.”
    “That’s not what I was going to say. I just…I know how you are when people say negative things about—”
    “Oh my God,” she grumbled. “Do you really think we sit around and talk about Alastair like he’s some fascinating subject? Jesus Christ. He’s your boyfriend. He has a bad history with Brent and his sister. I could give three flying shits about all that because it’s really none of my business. You need to stop convincing yourself that your relationship with Alastair fucking Holden is the end all, be all of the world.”
    I sat in stunned silence, confused as to how this conversation took such a sour turn. When she was heated, Stephanie could be irrational.
    “Fuck,” she muttered. “Look, I didn’t mean to fly off the handle like that. I’m PMS-ing and this deadline for creative is stressing me out and” —she sighed— “you know I love Alastair. And I love you. And you’re far from being the girl who thinks their relationship is the most important thing on the planet to everyone else. Did I cover them all?”
    “I’m coming down to bring you Pamprin.”
    “Smart ass. I’d rather have ice cream.” She paused. “I really am sorry.”
    “Wow.” I snickered. “You hate apologizing so that PMS must be severe.”
    ”And yet you continue to test my limits, Amelia Grace,” she said. I could hear the smile in her voice. “We should get together this weekend and do something fun. Maybe we could take the train into Edinburgh for some lunch.”
    “Sounds good to me.”
    “Fantastic. I gotta run. We’ll talk later.”
    Shaking my head at Stephanie, I placed the phone in its cradle and emailed my sister to give her a quick update on how I was doing. I also promised to come visit her soon. I flirted with the idea of calling my mom but decided to wait until this weekend. She’d most likely want a detailed report on