Read Online Anyone but Alex (The English Brothers Book 3) by Katy Regnery - Free Book Online Page A

his eyes. “You know, Barrett? You fell in love with the gardener’s daughter when you were eight-years-old. Would it be so impossible for you to believe that something like that could have happened to me with Jessie Winslow?”
    Barrett’s face softened at Alex’s reference to Emily, but his eyes were still concerned. “Do you truly want to be her friend?”
    No, growled his body.
    “ Yes. I swear it. Her friend. That’s all.”
    “You’re not going to try to get her in bed?”
    Alex shook his head. As much as Alex wanted Jessica in his bed, he truly intended to keep their relationship above-board.
    Barrett took a deep breath. “You can’t spend time with her if you’re having Thursday nooners with Hope Atwell and banging Sally, Molly, and Mary on the side.”
    “Done. I’ll end things with Hope and clear the rest of my calendar.”
    Barrett looked truly shocked. “Just like that? You’ll throw over Hope and the rest of your social life to be friends with Jessica?”
    “She’s only here for five weeks. I can go back to my old life when she goes home.” Even as he said the words, they felt bitter in his mouth. He rubbed his chest for a moment, returning his eyes to Barrett for advice.
    “Okay. ” Barrett’s voice was still worried, but more thoughtful now. “If you’re really serious about this, here are some suggestions. When you’re with her? No hotels. No tinted-glass limos. No drunken groping on the dance floor of night clubs where anyone could get a photo on their smart phone.”
    “Got it.”
    “You don’t hold hands with a friend or try to get her alone in dark corners.”
    “Okay. Lots of don’ts. What can you do?”
    “You can meet in public places for breakfast or lunch and go your separate ways in separate cabs when your meal is over. You can kiss on the cheek to say hello. And otherwise? You talk.”
    “Talk.”
    “Talk and maybe laugh, if that feels right, and eat lunch together. I don’t know. Talk about all that history you two have. Ask her about London, where she went to school and what she does for work. Come to think of it, ask her about Devon and see if she knows anything about the shipbuil—”
    “Barrett,” Alex said sharply.
    “Right. You know what? Forget she’s a woman, Alex. Just be her friend.”
    Alex sat back, taking a deep breath. Forget she’s a woman? Forget the sky’s blue. Forget the grass is green. Forget the onyx black of her hair and the red rosiness of her lips and the—
    “ Friends , Alex,” said Barrett meaningfully, watching Alex’s face. “And what exactly are you going to do about the Winslow’s?”
    Alex sighed loudly. “The proof will be in the pudding. If my behavior is above reproach, they won’t have anything to worry about.”
    “God help you,” said Barrett, standing and pushing in the guest chair. “If you hurt a hair on that girl’s head, God help all of us. We’re no slouches, but English brothers against Winslow brothers? We’d lose.”
    Alex watched as his big brother headed out the door, then turned his chair to the Philadelphia skyline. Hurt her? He’d die before hurting her. He’d die before watching that trusting light go dark in her eyes.
    For the first time in his life, Alex knew… if anyone was going to get hurt, it would be him.
    ***
    By ten o’clock on Tuesday morning, Jessica was a wreck.
    She and Alex hadn’t exchanged phone numbers, nor had he called her at Westerly to reconfirm their lunch date, which made her fear the worst. Maybe the scotch and the moonlight had momentarily addled his brain and upon further reflection he had probably decided that there was no way in hell he was interested in a friendship with Jess when there were thousands of willing females ready to please him.
    Alex didn’t do friends, right? Her brother said it and Alex said it—and regardless of their brief, sweet history as children and blatant attraction to one another as adults, there was no reason for her to think she was