Free The Billionaire's Best Friend (The Sherbrookes of Newport) by Christina Tetreault

back then? Did she think about him? Over the years he’d spent countless nights unable to sleep with thoughts of her on his mind.
    “ Everything’s ready. What do you want to drink?” Lauren appeared at the entrance, and he once again focused on the here and now.
    “ Do you have any soda?”
    “ Only root beer.”
    Just like he ’d guessed. “That’s fine.” Nate stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching out for her and followed her into the kitchen. “Have you lived here long?”
    “ Almost two years.” She made no attempt to elaborate as she grabbed a root beer from the refrigerator and handed it to him. “I need to go shopping, so there weren’t many options for dinner.” She settled herself on a bar stool at the counter.
    Considering some of the food he ’d eaten while in the military, she could have served him toast with butter and he wouldn’t have complained. He nodded toward the grilled cheese and tomato sandwich and soup. “This is great. Thanks.” Picking up his sandwich, he bit into it. Immediately his jaw froze as the rich combination of sharp cheddar, tangy tomato, and fresh basil exploded on his tongue.
    She remembered . She’d never liked basil on her grilled cheese. When they’d been children she’d always reminded his mom not to add it to her sandwich when she cooked them grilled cheese. Yet his had some on it now. His heart smiled at the fact as he reached for the bowl of soup.
     
    Bite. Chew. Swallow. Lauren went through the motions, while next to her Nate polished off one sandwich and started on his second. With him so close, she could hardly breathe, never mind eat. Ever since the retirement party, thoughts of him invaded her mind in a way they hadn’t in years. But when she’d looked into the living room while preparing dinner and saw him holding that picture, an entire avalanche of feelings and memories dropped on her. For a brief moment she was once again a child on vacation with her family and best friend. Then her mind fast-forwarded to lazy summer days as a teenager with the person she’d thought she would spend the rest of her life with. Finally, she crashed headlong into the day he stood before her and crushed her heart.
    Had he felt anything when he saw the picture? A tiny cruel part of her hoped he felt pain when looked at it. She still did, even after all this time. The picture also brought back memories of her wonderful childhood with the people who had played an integral part in it. For that reason she ’d never gotten rid of the picture. She sometimes pushed it farther back on the shelf, when the memories of Nate’s betrayal overshadowed the happy ones, but she never removed it.
    “ I’m going to change and send Jared a text message. Help yourself to anything in the refrigerator.” Leaving her half-eaten dinner behind, Lauren escaped to her bedroom. Thanks to the combination of Nate’s closeness and the painful memories stirred up by that picture, her ability to hold it together was near the breaking point. Anger and sadness clutched at her heart, and she wanted to yell at him for what he’d done all those years ago. Demand answers to the questions that had haunted her since then. But she knew doing those things would accomplish nothing. What happened back then was ancient history. Something best left in the past. “Pull it together. Don’t let him know how you feel,” she muttered, tugging off her top. “Keep your mouth closed, and he’ll be gone in the morning.”
     
    ***
     
    In the corner of the couch, Lauren sat dressed in a pair of pink fleece pajama bottoms and an oversized white sweatshirt with ballet slippers and the name of a dance school on the front. She’d pulled her hair up in a ponytail and washed her makeup off. The sight of her like that threw him back fifteen years. How many times back then had they sat with her dressed in a similar manner watching television or studying?
    He tried not to think about all those occasions