Read Online Just Good Friends by Ruth Ann Nordin - Free Book Online

she liked him so much. “She and
Brad will be well suited together.”
    “ I guess. He doesn’t really
say much, so it’s hard to know what he’s like.”
    “ Zoe enjoys talking, and he
enjoys listening. By the way,” she added, recalling the comment Zoe
made to her in the airport, “I think it’s refreshing for a man to
wear slacks instead of jeans all the time.”
    At that, his eyebrows rose. “Someone
doesn’t like my choice in pants?”
    She glanced up at him, surprised he
deducted that from her comment. “I realized all the men are wearing
jeans today.” Not that she had ever noticed it before, but since
Zoe brought it up, it made her more aware of what everyone was
wearing.
    “ Do I stick out like a sore
thumb because I don’t wear jeans?”
    “ No, you don’t stick out
like a sore thumb.”
    “ But Zoe probably didn’t
like it and felt the need to tell you?”
    Squeezing his arm, she grinned. “It’s
really uncanny how you can read my mind.”
    “ I’ve known you long enough
to figure out what you’re thinking.” Then he wrapped his arm around
her shoulders and shook his head. “I never truly understood what
you had to go through while growing up. I thought you were
exaggerating.”
    “ Try not to let Zoe bother
you. She’s just upset because you look better, are smarter, and
have a better job than Brad.”
    Chuckling, he said, “We’ll go with
that.”
    “ We don’t have to go with
it. It’s the truth.”
    “ Well, I’ll tell you one
thing. When we get back to Omaha, I’m going to appreciate my
parents a lot more.”
    “ You should. They’re great.
And best of all, they don’t hassle you about your love
life.”
    “ True. That is
nice.”
    He put his hands back in his coat
pockets, and she did the same. They spent the rest of the walk in a
comfortable silence.
     

Chapter
Seven
     
    “ Having a fiancé is the
best,” Zoe said as she opened another gift at her bridal
shower.
    Tiffany held back a yawn. Tiffany, the
other five bridesmaids, and the maid of honor were crammed into
Zoe’s apartment, and Tiffany was squeezed in between Zoe’s best
friend and one of their cousins. Zoe was sitting on the floor with
all the presents gathered around her, and the others were either in
chairs or sitting near her.
    For once, Tiffany envied the men who
had the luxury of spending their time at the stores on Black
Friday, doing some early Christmas shopping. Sure, they had to deal
with all the other bargain shoppers pressing them in from all sides
in the aisles, but a one-hour drive to the mall and another hour
back would give them some peace and quiet.
    As much as she wanted to join them—and
spend the day with Tyler—she’d had to go to her sister’s bridal
shower, or she would never hear the end of it. Some things were
just done in their family, and weddings and funerals were two of
them, including all the things they entailed.
    “ You are so lucky,” one of
their cousins told Zoe. “Brad is gorgeous.”
    “ He is, isn’t he?” Zoe
giggled, an action which, for some reason Tiffany couldn’t explain,
set the others into a fit of giggles as well.
    Tiffany pretended to laugh, despite her
flashback to junior high when girls were just starting to get
crushes on boys and giggled whenever the boys looked at them. It
was hard to believe Zoe was twenty-seven.
    Zoe finished opening the gift and
pulled out a red negligee. As expected, this was accompanied with
some good-natured joking about the wedding night. Tiffany glanced
at her watch and sighed. She didn’t know how it was possible, but
time seemed to be going slower the longer she stayed
here.
    “ You’ll love being married,”
another cousin told Zoe. “It gives your life meaning. You have
someone who loves you and provides for you.”
    “ If you’re lucky, you can
get him to do all the work while you spend his money,” another
cousin joked.
    “ Or sit around and watch
soap operas all day like I do,” the first one