That shit’s a myth. I drank all weekend, and I still felt like shit.
Sure. Just tell me when to meet you.
K.
I went back to work, then Emerson walked over. She had lunch in her hands, turkey apple sandwiches with spinach salads. She set mine in front of me.
“This looks healthy.”
“The guys will be disappointed, huh?” she said with a smile. “We can’t eat burritos every day.” She went over to the guys and handed them their food.
Emerson came back and took a seat across from me with her laptop open.
It was distracting having her so close to me, with her hair all big and curled, her sweater sliding off her shoulder slightly and showing that sexy skin underneath.
We hadn’t talked about Kevin since my penthouse, and I was grateful that it was over. She didn’t mention it again, and we’d never have to talk about it. “What are you working on?”
“Editing your book.”
“Isn’t that Astra Books’ problem?”
“But I want it to be perfect. I’m a lot more invested in this story than they are.”
“I don’t know about that since they’re the ones making the money.”
She shrugged. “Money isn’t everything.” She held her sandwich with one hand and took a bite. “Have you told your parents about Lizzie?”
I shook my head. “I was supposed to have dinner with them on Sunday night, but I canceled.”
She didn’t react to what I said even though she knew why I canceled. “I bet they’ll be happy.”
“Yes, I’ll hear all about it.” My parents liked to play Cupid in my life, and I hoped Dex settled down on his own. Otherwise, Mom would play with him like a puppet on a string.
She smiled then took another bite. “Still have time to tutor Lizzie today?”
“I always have time for her.”
She stopped chewing for a moment, but she continued.
“But I am meeting Ryan for a drink after work. I’ll meet you afterward.”
“When are they getting married?”
“Not sure. They’re kinda just making it up as they go along. Ryan didn’t want a bachelor party, but then it turned into one anyway.”
“Do you know who the maid of honor is?”
“Actually, no. Why?”
“Well, maybe you should host something for them. Like an engagement party or the rehearsal dinner, something like that.”
“I don’t want to overstep. I feel like if I offer something like that, it might drown out everything else they do…and make me look like an asshole.”
“How so?”
I should be working, but it was so much easier to talk to her. It was a break for my brain. “If I did something nice for them, it would just highlight the fact that I have more money than they do, and people will talk about that instead of everything else they do. Marriage isn’t about how nice the wedding is or the rehearsal or whatever. It’s about the two people, so I feel like doing that would overshadow everything and appear disingenuous.”
“I didn’t think about it like that.”
“They don’t know this yet, but I was going to send them on a nice honeymoon. Tell them privately. Camille has always wanted to go to Italy, so I thought I could send them there in the spring or summer.”
Her eyes softened. “That’s so sweet, Derek.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I just grabbed my sandwich and took a bite.
“And it’s also sweet that you don’t want anything to be about you, just them.”
I wished I’d done a better job of that with Kevin, but he’d cornered me and I didn’t know how to restrain my anger. But no one knew about it, so no harm done. Unless Kevin was a little bitch and told people.
“So, are you taking me as your date to this thing?”
I grinned. “Definitely. You’re my baby.”
She smiled back, like she loved the possessive nickname. “That’ll be fun. I love weddings.”
I fucking hated weddings. But I didn’t say that and just kept it to myself. I had no idea how I was going to get through the rehearsal dinner with a lot of the same people who were at my rehearsal dinner—and not think about that godawful night. Everyone would be thinking about it since Kevin and Tabitha would be there. It would be like a fucking reunion.
But this was about Ryan, and not me.
I’d walk in there with my head held high and swallow my humiliation. For him.I grinned as I sat across from him. “Did you wear that to work?”
He grabbed his hat by the bill and straightened it. “Hell yeah. I love this thing.”
“You’re never going to get employee of the month now.”
“Fuck it, I don’t want it anyway. If they fire me, Camille will just strip, and I’ll retire.”
I chuckled. “Sounds like a good plan.”
The waitress came over, and we ordered a couple beers. Ryan asked for some jalapeno poppers because he was starving. They came out a couple minutes later, and we drank our beers and dunked the fried peppers into the sauces.