Friends--And Then Some by Debbie Macomber

home.”
    “You probably should.” But Lily’s tone lacked enthusiasm. The day had been charmed, a gift she had never expected to receive. “Gram will wonder about us.”
    “We might cool her wrath if we bring a peace offering,” Jake suggested.
    “What do you have in mind?”
    “Chinese food.”
    “But Jake …”
    “Gram loves it.”
    “I know, but—”
    “No buts.”
    They took the cable car back to where Jake had parked his taxi. Lily tried to talk to him twice on the way through Chinatown. Jake knew his way around, popping in and out of shops greeting friends and exchanging pleasantries along the way, and all the while, ignoring Lily.
    “I didn’t know you spoke Chinese,” Lily commented, hurrying after him.
    “Only a little.” He didn’t mention that half of everything he’d said had been an explanation about Lily.
    “Not from what I heard.”
    “I’m a man of many talents,” he joked, loading her arms with the brown paper sacks that contained their meal.
    Again on the way home, Lily tried to talk to Jake, but he sang at the top of his lungs, infecting her with his good mood. Soon Lily’s sweet voice joined his own. At a stoplight, their smiling eyes met briefly and the song died on his lips. Without thinking, Jake leaned over and touched his mouth to hers. His hand brushed the hair from her temple and lingered in the thick dark strands.
    A blaring horn behind him rudely alerted Jake to the fact that the light had changed. Forcing himself to sing again, Jake stepped on the accelerator and sped ahead.
    Lily had a more difficult time recovering from the casual kiss. Had that really just happened? It somehow felt so extraordinarily right to have Jake claim her lips as if he’d been doing it for a lifetime. His light touch left her longing for more.
    When Jake glanced at her curiously out of the corner of his eye, she forced her voice to join his, but it wasn’t the same and both of them knew it.
    Jake eased to a stop in front of the house. Gram was standing on the front porch, her hands riding her round hips as she paced the small area. “It’s about time you got home, girl. Rick called. He’s on his way over.”

Chapter Five
    The sensation of dread went all the way through Jake. He’d known from the minute they entered Chinatown that Lily had been trying to talk to him. But in his stupidity, Jake had feared that she was going to mention things he didn’t want to discuss—mainly that something rare and special was happening between them. Such talk was best delayed and, if possible, ignored entirely.
    “Rick’s coming?” he questioned, turning to Lily and trying to disguise the raging battle that was going on inside him. Rick was better for Lily than he’d ever be. Rick could give her the world. But Jake didn’t like it. Not one bit. There was something very wrong about spending the day with Lily and then watching her march off with Rick that evening. His gut instinct told him Rick wasn’t the right man for Lily, but he couldn’t say anything without making a fool of himself. He’d been doing enough of that lately as it was.
    “I tried to tell you earlier,” she mumbled, feeling guilty. “I … we … Rick and I, that is, we’re going to dinner …”
    “No problem,” Jake said, feigning a shrug of indifference. “Gram and I will have a good time without you.” He walked ahead of Lily and took the older woman by the hand. “I guess you’re stuck with me tonight.”
    “I’d consider it a privilege,” Gram said with a smile.
    Jake responded with one of his own. He led the way into the house, carrying the sacks of spicy Chinese food to the kitchen. If Lily wore the white dress he bought her, he didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t. Not after all they’d shared that day. Deep down, Jake knew she wouldn’t do that to him.
    Lily walked to her room with all the enthusiasm of someone going to the dentist for a root canal. She felt terrible. Everything had been so