Her Best Friend's Brother(53)

Last night? She and Gio had fought last night?

Libby slept with him on the rebound? And now she regretted it. Now she wanted him back.

“Okay, wel. Listen, I am sure that things wil work out. You don’t need to tel him about… you know.” Libby cried harder.

Tears pricked at the back of his eyes. It was so hard not to beg her to stay, to beg her to forget Gio. But if she was this miserable now Tony knew she could never be truly happy with him and he couldn’t live his life waiting for Gio to turn up and steal her back from him.

“I’m so sorry Lib. If he loves you it won’t matter—

and if you’re stil worried just … maybe you can just fake it? Go real stil and gasp or something.”

“What?” Libby lifted her head to look at him.

“I mean if your umm… if Gio was expecting… on your wedding night?” Gee for a man who made a living with words he was doing a hel of a job stringing a sentence together now. “What I am trying to say, Libby. Is that I want you to be happy. So I am going to back off. I’l stop caling, and taking you out. And I swear Gio wil never know that we dated. If I have to have Mel’s tongue cut from her head—he won’t find out.”

from her head—he won’t find out.”

Shock forced Libby to finaly hear the words Tony was saying. But she was stil realy confused. “When were we dating?”

Tony’s eyebrows crumpled together. “You know… before. The past six weeks.” She was stil staring at him.

“The picnic, and the wine festival, and al those lunch dates, we wasted an entire afternoon on Die Hard!”

“Mel invited me to the picnic. And the wine festival was about for the paper. They weren’t dates—you never said they were dates. Die Hard is never a waste! ” If it wasn’t so awful Tony would have laughed at her. Realy? Was now the time to continue their John McClain pissy or not pissy debate? “Of course they were dates—what did you think we were doing?”

“Hanging out I guess. A date would be different—

getting dressed up, you picking me up, bringing me flowers taking me out to dinner or dancing or…” Libby’s face fel.

Shit. He had forgotten the flowers. Now that she mentioned it he was pretty sure Mel had mentioned flowers at some point. “I forgot about the flowers, and I didn’t think you wanted to go to a dressy meal. I would have taken you anywhere you wanted.”

“You’re right.” Libby said quietly. “We were dating.” She dropped her head into her hands and moaned.

“I’m sorry Libby.” Tony didn’t even know what he was apologizing for anymore. But this was the first time he had ever made a woman cry just be taking her on a few dates. “Maybe they weren’t dates?”

“No. They were.” Libby kept her face down. It was hard for Tony to read the expression on her face when al he could see was her hair. “Tony Marchetti finaly takes me out on, not one but, several dates—and I missed it.”

“Libby? I am seriously confused here.”

“Me too.”

They sat there for awhile holding each other.

Neither one sure what to say. Finaly Libby broke the silence. “What wedding?”

“Hmm?”

“You thought I was going to marry Gio? You mentioned a wedding night.”

Tony looked very uncomfortable. “Mel seemed to think that’s where things were headed.”

“Mel’s dumb.”

Tony alowed himself to feel relief, and hope. “You aren’t then?”

“No. Gio and I decided to be just friends.”

“And you’re okay with that?” Libby nodded into his shoulder. “Then… why did I walk in and find you crying on the floor?”

“Oh. Sometimes girls cry?” Libby looked at him hopefuly. Maybe he would let her get away with that. He stared back. “Okay, I just realized that I am not a just sex kind of girl. When I woke up alone my feelings were hurt that you would just leave like that. But it’s okay.”

“I was coming back! I didn’t want to wake you.

Didn’t you read the note?”

“There was a note?”

Libby’s cel phone rang. Tony picked it up. “Stay out of it Mel!” He hung up on her.

Tony squirmed away from Libby slightly so they were sitting facing each other. He couldn’t have this conversation if he was distracted by the smel of lavender and sex.

“Do you remember me teling you once that we have communication problems?”

Libby nodded.

“Okay. So there is some stuff I need to know. Do you love Gio?”

“No”

“You don’t want him back?”