Free The Accidental Boyfriend by Maggie Dallen

show up…like this.”
    She didn’t explain but she didn’t have to. “Like this” was having been found in the wrong Paris. Chasing after a guy. An unexpected wave of annoyance made his voice sharper than he intended. “I take it she doesn’t approve of Benjamin?”
    Her brows drew together in confusion. “I don’t need her approval .”
    So she basically admitted it. Ivy didn’t like him which meant, he wasn’t good enough, which meant….what? He could go for it? He wasn’t sure that logic would stand up to Daniel’s standards.
    “It’s just embarrassing is all,” Holly said with a sigh.
    He looked down at the top of her head, surprised by the honesty in her voice. He found it oddly brave of her to admit. Most people would bluster and joke their way through something like this. Not that “something like this” was a common event, but still.
    He wanted to say something to make her feel better about facing her family but drew a blank. What did he know about sibling conversations? He had one brother and they hadn’t spoken in years. He had long since established his role as the disappointment in his family—he was definitely not one to be doling out advice.
    So instead, he found himself shamelessly digging for information. “You must really care about this guy to travel halfway around the world to surprise him,” he said. He waited for her to respond, even though he didn’t want to hear what he knew she would say.
    “I do,” she said with a sigh that spoke volumes. He mentally kicked himself for bringing it up. He didn’t want to hear about this. He wanted to flirt and tease and watch her laugh with abandon—but instead she was staring off into the distance with such a forlorn expression, he couldn’t seem to stop himself.
    “Have you been together long?” he asked.
    She glanced up at him as though surprised to find him there beside her. Rather insulting, actually. He was usually in demand with women, not forgotten while standing by their side. But even Holly’s voice sounded dreamy, like she was lost in memory.
    “We’ve been together forever,” she said. She sipped her coffee and he caught a hint of a smile on her lips. “We got engaged,” she said.
    Her words were a swift kick in the gut and Jack was temporarily paralyzed, unable to form words to respond. Holly looked up and laughed at the surprise on his face.
    “When we were in kindergarten,” she finished.
    He let out the breath that had caught in his chest with what he hoped was a normal sounding laugh. “So it was serious.”
    “Mmm,” she mused, a thoughtful look on her face. “It’s been a very long engagement.”
    “So what happened? You grew apart in grade school?”
    Her head fell back as she let out a loud, contagious laugh that had other passersby smiling in their direction. “College,” she corrected. “I wanted to see the world, meet people, have exciting adventures and Benjamin….well, he’s a homebody.”
    Somehow Holly made “homebody” sound like a sexy trait. He had a fleeting and bizarre desire to be a homebody, which was ridiculous.
    “But we stayed great friends,” she continued. “Best friends.”
    She stopped talking abruptly so he filled in the blanks. “But now you want more.”
    He thought she wouldn’t respond, she was staring fixedly at the river which had come into view. “Yes,” she finally said.
    They walked in silence for a bit, sipping their coffee and taking in the view of longboats floating down the Seine. He meant to let it go. He didn’t want to hear anymore. But despite himself, he heard his voice asking, “What changed?”
    She turned to him with a quizzical look, her forehead creased in confusion. “What?”
    “What changed?” he repeated. “What happened to make you want more after so many years as best friends?” He heard the mockery in his tone at the way he said “best friends” and clamped his mouth shut. He sounded like a jealous ex.
    She gave a little shrug