Free The Better Man by Cerian Hebert Page B

there,
I think I’ll go nuts. I’m so bad at it.”
    Lori patted Tina’s
hand. “You’ll get used to it. Believe me, it’ll come to you in no time. You
need to take a deep breath.”
    “Easy for you
to say.”
    “Easy for me.
I’m going to be unemployed soon.”
    “That bad?”
    Lori chuckled.
“Only if I want it to be, I guess.”
    “You have Will
to go back to, right? I mean, how could you even think of not being with him?”
    “Will is more
complicated than that. I don’t want him to be a rebound relationship. He’s been
my best friend for so long. I love him dearly, I always have, but now there’s a
whole new element to our relationship and it scares me.”
    “Why? God,
Lori, I’d kill for a guy to look at me the way Will looks at you. I know you’re
probably nursing a broken heart right now, but I believe in fate, and maybe Will
is your destiny.”
    Lori stared at
Tina without speaking.
    “I know it
sounds corny.” Tina laughed. “But think about it.”
    “I have. I’ve
spent two weeks thinking about it. Oh, it’s so hard. I’ve fallen in love with
New Hampshire, really I have. But I’m afraid I’ll decide to stay and a year
down the road I’ll regret it and want Will, but it’ll be too late. He’ll have
found someone else and I’ll have to live with that regret for the rest of my
life.”
    “Then go.”
    “But what if I
do go and Will and I find we’re not good together? We might ruin our entire
friendship because we leapt in like this.”
    “Is that likely
to happen? You’ve known each other for a long time, right? Not like you met him
after the wedding. Oh, Lori, give it a try. New Hampshire will always be here.
If it healed your heart once then it will again, right? Call me a hopeless
romantic, but don’t you think you and Will deserve a chance?”
    Lori grimaced.
“That’s what I’m going to try and figure out.”
    “Talk to Mr.
Goss. If he decides he wants to fill the position and hires you, well, then
that’s what’s meant to be. If not, that’ll be a sign to go back to Florida and
make a go of it with Will.”
    “I guess.”
    “Not that I
wouldn’t want to work with you, because I think that would be awesome, but I’m
kind of rooting for Will right now.”
    Tina stood and
left Lori alone to consider her fate and destiny.

Chapter Eight
     
    She should have
been home a week ago, but Lori was still in New Hampshire. Though they talked
at least every other day, Will’s frustration grew with each conversation. Lori
was cryptic about what she was doing up there and nothing Will said would push
her to reveal more. She hadn’t said she’d gotten the front desk job at the inn,
but did say she currently worked for the owner. Doing what, he didn’t know. She
also told him she was still thinking about where their relationship was
heading, trying to figure out what to do about them.
    He told her he
loved her. That was true enough and he wasn’t going to hold his feelings back.
He’d already held them in for too long. Maybe if he’d said something sooner,
years ago, they wouldn’t be in this position.
    Each time he
said it she returned the sentiment, and Will knew it was true.
    But would their
love be enough to bring her back?
    He just didn’t
know.
    At least he wasn’t
the only one not getting information. Connie was furious. Apparently, Lori
wasn’t being any more open with her. “I’ll go drag her back here if I have to,”
she had told him the morning she showed up at his office in search of answers.
    “I don’t think that’ll
do much good. She’s got to make her decision on her own. Pushing her  isn’t
going to make things any easier.”
    Connie frowned.
“Probably doesn’t want to run the risk of seeing that ass and his new
plaything. I can’t say as I blame her. I wouldn’t want to be reminded of it
either.” Since that meeting, both of them were still waiting for some solid
news.
    The “ass” and
his “plaything” weren’t going to be an