Synopsis
Noah is Griffin Colewater’s best friend and absolutely no one knows him better. Certainly not any of the parade of girlfriends he’s had over the years. Even his most recent, Lauren, whom he has been with the longest.
And just broke up with.
Does it make Noah a terrible friend if he’s just a little bit thrilled about that?
It doesn’t really matter, though. Griffin is the oldest son of the owners of Colewater Properties, a multi-gazillion dollar hotel conglomerate. He is also next in line to take over when his father retires which makes Griffin the most sought-after bachelor in the city. So, another girl is right around the corner.
The issue? Griffin’s mother claims to be desperately tired of his playboy antics. She is demanding Griffin settle down with a wife and family “or else”. Being that Griffin has never actually been able to please his mother in anything, Noah doesn’t understand Griffin’s continued hopeless mission to make that happen now.
Which makes the huge charity bash his parents are throwing a bit problematic. His mother is insisting on meeting Lauren. Yep. Griffin has yet to tell her he’s single again. And he insists he’s not going to. Instead, Griffin does something insane. He hires a fake girlfriend. Yah. A fake Lauren. Well ― not fake. She’s a ‘Lauren’, too. But that’s not the point. Griffin asked Noah to provide the “girlfriend for months” knowledge to Lauren number two so she could pull this whole ‘girlfriend’ thing off.
Honestly. What can go wrong with that?
Um… a lot.
Because Griffin is not only Noah’s very best friend in all the world, Noah is also so crazy in love with the man, he hurts. A stupid stunt like this could reveal that very thing and freak Griffin’s parents out so badly, they’re going to hire a hit on Noah. But the bigger problem in Noah’s mind? Griffin is totally not gay and if he ever found out Noah’s true feelings?
Damn.
It could ruin everything.
Warning: rough childhoods.
Excerpt
“Ahhhhhhh!”
The scream jarred Noah awake and nearly off the couch. With eyes wide and his heart in his throat, he darted his gaze around the large living room, expecting big foot or murderers or at the very least a hot guy running naked across the floor. But there was none of those things. Just Griffin’s latest, his longest actually, standing there trying to cover her nakedness with perfectly manicured fingers. Her hair was only a bit out of place. However, she had no doubt gone to bed with her makeup on.
“What’s wrong?” Noah croaked out, trying to calm his heart as Griffin came tearing―okay, stumbling―up the hallway behind her, yanking on a robe.
“Lauren? What the fuck?” Griffin made it into the living room to stand beside Lauren. He, too, had perused the room with eyes that were barely open, squinting against the bright early sunshine already pouring in the windows. “Why are you screaming?”
She pointed a finger, having to bare a plump breast to do it, right at Noah. “There’s a man in our house.”
Griffin glanced at Noah and grinned. “Where?”
“Funny,” Noah deadpanned as he flopped back into his pillow, blood still pumping loudly in his ears. “What time is it, anyway?”
“Fuck,” Griffin grouched. “Six. Lauren, what the fuck are you screeching at six in the morning for?”
“I’m not screeching!”
Oh, she so totally was, and it grated on every nerve in Noah’s body.
“There’s a stranger sleeping on the couch in my living room!” she insisted.
Wait. Her living room?
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Griffin yawned. “That’s Noah. You know Noah.”
Which was true. It would be hard not to know him if anyone met Griffin even a little. They were pretty much inseparable.
“How did he get in here, and what is he doing in our condo at six in the morning?”
“He has his own… wait…” There was movement and suddenly Griffin was hunched down near Noah’s head. “Hey buddy, she has a point. What are you doing here? What happened?”
“I was kicked out,” Noah moaned sleepily.
“What? That asshole!”
“Who’s an asshole?” came that shrieking voice again. Evidently, she felt it safer to shout from a distance.
“Can you tell her to tone it down a bit?” Noah whimpered.
“I can tell her. She won’t listen.”
“Quit talking about me like I’m not here!”
“Pretty tough to forget that,” Griffin murmured.
She squealed again but seemed to storm off because it was blessedly quiet again. Noah really did need to learn to like her better. Or at all. The problem was, she hated Noah.
“You’re going to pay for that,” Noah said.
“Believe me, I already am. Tell me what happened.” Griffin picked Noah’s head up, scooted himself under it so he was sitting on the couch and laid Noah’s head in his lap.
“You need to go do this with Lauren.”
“Do what? Besides, I want to find out what happened.”
Damn. Noah should never have come here. He wished now he had barged in on Genny and Marcus instead. Of course, he didn’t have an open invitation there like he did here. Still… “Sorry for… well, ruining your morning with Lauren.”
“You didn’t ruin anything. Quit stalling. Was it that asshole, Sabastian?”
“Who else? He…”
“He what?”
“He’s a jerk. They’re both jerks. They threw me out last night.” Literally. But he didn’t say that out loud. He was still pretty freaked out about it.
“Fuck, Noah, you’re the one on the lease. Not that asshole you let move in with you. Why do you…? Wait. You’re shaking. What else happened?”
“I’m… just cold.” Lie.
“Hmmm. Well, never mind. I’ll deal with it.”
Oh shit. “How?”
“I don’t want you to worry about it.” He patted Noah’s head and smoothed his most likely wild hair. “What time did you get here?”
“About two.” He had somehow misplaced his wallet. Most likely it was laying on his living room floor having fallen out during the scuffle. Having no money or bus card meant he had to walk instead of being able to take a taxi or even mass transit. Thankfully the doorman knew Noah, and Griffin had left explicit instructions with the building’s staff that if Noah ever needed anything, including a spare key card to Griffin’s condo, he would be given it.
“Really? Wow. Go back to sleep.” He continued to stroke Noah’s hair. “Even I got more sleep than that.”
Noah opened his eyes and turned his head to stare up at Griffin. “Are you serious? Two o’clock, Griffin. You guys were going at it like… like…” His anxiety tamped up a bit. “Well, whatever. I shouldn’t have come.” Especially since it always depressed him to be reminded Lauren was front and center. And other things.
“Of course, you should be here, you know that. Why didn’t you just sleep in the guest bedroom?”
Noah rolled his eyes and turned back away. “You mean the one next to your room? You know why.”
Griffin harumphed. “Really? What? We were noisy?”
“You were deafening. Earsplitting. God. I hate the sound of hetero sex.”
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Author Bio
I am Hurri Cosmo and I live in Minnesota where I hold tight to the idea that here, where it’s cold a good part of the year, I won’t age as fast. Yep, I avoid the truth as much as I avoid mirrors. But one of the reasons I love writing is reality doesn’t always offer up a “happily ever after” and being able to take control of that is a powerful lure.
Being a happy ending junkie, writing just makes them easier to find. Oh, I don’t mind “real life” and I do try to at least keep it in mind when I write my stories, but I truly love creating a wonderful couple, knowing they will fall in love and have their HEA. Every - single - time. And, of course, that is exactly the reason I love reading this genre, too.
Give me a glass of red wine, some dark chocolate, and my computer, whether I am reading or writing, and I will entertain myself for hours. The fact I actually get paid to do it is Snickers bars on the frosting on the cake.
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