Anything For You by Sarah Mayberry Page A

out ASAP. That was what Delaney wanted, right? So he was giving it to her.
    Why had he jumped his best friend? It was the burning question that occupied all his waking hours. The way she’d run interference for him with his mother had driven home to him just how much he stood to lose if he let sex come between them. They had barely spoken all week, and already he missed their dinners, their banter, their comfortable silences. She was the last person he could afford to screw with—literally and figuratively. She meant too much to him, and God only knows, as soon as sex entered the equation where he was concerned, Disasterville was just around the corner. It was in the blood, as inevitable as death and taxes. He had to get things back to the way they’d always been, with Delaney as his best, uncomplicated, platonic buddy.
    He was still convinced that his original decision to forge on with business as usual was the best move he could make. The awkward post-mistake stage he’d anticipated was stretching out a little longer than he would have liked, true, but he and Delaney had years of friendship to fall back on. One stupid, misguided roll in the hay couldn’t wipe all that out. Could it?
    “Sorry I’m late.”
    Sam’s head shot up as Delaney spoke from the conference room doorway. She was wearing a neatly tailored white shirt and a just-above-the-knee skirt, and she looked harried, her hair tousled, her cheeks a little flushed. Not unlike a certain morning just a few days ago, when she’d climbed on top of him and taken them on the ride of a lifetime….
    Sam clenched his jaw. This was the problem. In his mind, when he thought about his relationship with Delaney, getting things back on track seemed easy. Natural. Then she walked into the room, and all he seemed to be able to think about was sex.
    Which just went to show what a swamp-dwelling lowlife he really was. No wonder he’d blanked out the fact that she was a woman all these years.
    “I had a flat tire,” Delaney said as she pulled up a seat. “Have I missed out on much?”
    “Why didn’t you call me?” Sam said. “I would have taken care of it.”
    Four days ago, she wouldn’t have hesitated, he knew. Now she just shrugged and avoided his eyes.
    “I handled it okay.”
    Signaling that the issue was closed, she focused on John and smiled encouragingly.
    “Where do you want to start?” she said.
    “I thought we could take a look at the general health of the business before we start talking about valuations and equity,” John said.
    Sam took a deep breath and willed himself to concentrate on the matter at hand. Which meant not noticing Delaney’s alluring new perfume, or the fact that she’d tucked her hair behind one perfect, shell-shaped ear to reveal the elegant, sensual curve of her neck.
    She’s your friend, jerk, he reminded himself. Start acting like one.
    “I’ve taken a look at these profit projections you’ve put forward. They’re pretty ambitious,” John said.
    “Not when you consider that the extreme sports industry has grown in double figures for the past four years, with predictions suggesting that we’ve barely seen the tip of the iceberg,” Delaney said, smoothly clicking into business mode. “Our readership has increased more than ten percent every year for the past three years, and our advertising sales have grown proportionately.”
    She shot a look at Sam. With the ease of long experience, he fielded her pass.
    “Take skateboarding, for example. It’s not just a fad for boys anymore,” he said. “It’s an industry. At present, there are several hundred men and women around the world who make a good living from doing nothing but skating in comps and exhibitions. The big names are millionaires several times over. We don’t think we’re being too optimistic in anticipating our slice of the pie. X-Pro has been there since the beginning of the wave in Australia. It’s well-respected, credible. Our readers value our