Now I owned the building.
The scent of food wafted from the open door of a restaurant, making me glad I wasn’t heading to this meeting on an empty stomach. There was definitely something to Oliver’s insistence on afternoon tea.
We crossed the street and Oliver stopped in his tracks. He tilted his head, peering into a shop on the corner.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Shh.”
“Did you just shush me?”
He held up a hand and took a tentative step forward, his head still tilted at an odd angle. “Give me one second.”
It was a tea shop, aptly named Spot Of Tea. But I had no clue why Oliver was staring through the window like a creeper.
“You like tea a lot more than I realized,” I said. “I’m a little worried, to be honest.”
“It’s not the tea, it’s—” He stopped and let out what could only be described as a sigh. “Her.”
I moved closer so I could see the girl working behind the counter. She had long, light-brown hair and wore a white apron over her blue shirt. “Who is she?”
“I don’t know. They don’t wear name tags. But I think I’m going to marry her.”
I snort-laughed. “Marry her? You might be skipping a few steps if you don’t even know her name.”
He adjusted his glasses. “I know. I’m working on it.”
“Well, either get your ass in there and ask her out or let’s keep walking. We have a meeting to get to and you’re blocking the sidewalk.”
He huffed but tore his gaze away from her. “Fine. But I’m not kidding. I look at her and I have this feeling. She’s destined to be my wife.”
I resumed walking and Oliver fell in step beside me.
“Since when are you so interested in getting married?”
“I’m not interested in marriage for the sake of getting married. Although my mother certainly has opinions about that. You’d think she’s the matriarch of a wealthy family desperate for an heir.”
“You and me both.” My mother had something of an obsession with me getting married. Which was unfortunate for her because I wasn’t the marrying type.
“But wouldn’t it be nice to come home to that special someone every night?” he asked.
“Not really.”
He laughed. “You’d think you’re a confirmed old bachelor, not a very eligible man in his thirties.”
“Maybe I’m ahead of my time. Confirmed old bachelor sounds fine to me.”
Oliver laughed again, but I wasn’t kidding. My parents’ marriage had been a shitshow, and I’d decided years ago that marriage wasn’t for me. I dated women all the time, but never anything serious. And I had a great life. I’d risen from nothing, and now I worked hard, played hard, and enjoyed the many fruits of my labor without having to answer to anyone.
Why the hell would I ever change the way I lived?
We got to Irene Prager’s office and by the time we left, Oliver and I had charmed her into sticking with the Skyline project. I texted Althea on the way back, letting her know we’d salvaged one of our investors. Thank fuck.
Now I just needed to get that meeting with Shepherd Calloway.
3
Sophie
The spring air was pleasant as I walked from my office to the bistro. I was meeting my friends for lunch and I wasn’t running late. Go, me!
I’d recovered from my mishaps at Saturday’s gala with wine and a for-the-millionth-time viewing of Pride and Prejudice. The good news was Dr. Handsy Perv hadn’t tried to contact me since. Apparently running away from him and darting into an elevator with a stranger had gotten the message across. That wasn’t a bad silver lining to my Saturday night debacle.
I paused outside the bistro and glanced at my reflection in the window of a parked car. It felt like I might have something in my teeth, so I leaned down and used the window as a mirror.
Just as I was curling my upper lip back so I could see my gumline, the window lowered, revealing a young guy in the driver’s seat.
I froze, my face contorted in a strange grimace. “Sorry.”
He shook his head slowly and put the window up again.
Lovely.
I straightened, let out a sigh, and turned to go into the restaurant. By some miracle, I didn’t trip or bump into anyone when I crossed the sidewalk. That made me smile. One out of two wasn’t bad.
The bistro had lively Italian music playing in the background and tables decorated with checkered cloths. Nora, Hazel, and Everly were already there, seated near the back. I carefully picked my way around the other customers, making sure I didn’t bump into anyone or smack them with my purse.
I’d met Everly a couple of years ago when she’d hired me to replace her as Mr. Calloway’s assistant so she could start a new job as the executive director of a charitable foundation. She’d invited me to come for a run—and drinks afterward—with her and Nora and Hazel, and because sometimes even I got lucky, I’d fit right in. Now here I was, with three of the best friends a girl could ask for.
“Hey, Soph.” Nora wiggled her fingers at me. Her dark hair was down in loose waves and she wore a deep red shirt and jeans.
“Hi, ladies.” With a smile, I carefully took off my light jacket and draped it over the back of my chair, then sat.
Everly was next to Nora, wearing a yellow dress, her blond hair pinned up. You could just see her baby bump, which was the cutest thing ever. Hazel sat on her other side, wearing a tan cardigan over a white blouse. Her new wedding ring sparkled on her left hand. She and her husband Corban had opted for a short engagement and small wedding, and had recently returned from their honeymoon.
“How are you feeling?” I asked Everly. “Did the swelling go down?”
“It did. I just need to remember to put my feet up at the end of the day. But otherwise, I feel great.”
“You really do make the cutest pregnant woman,” Nora said. “It’s done wonders for your complexion.”
Everly touched her cheeks. “Thanks. Speaking of the baby, I have news. We found out this morning that we’re having a girl.”
I clutched my hands to my chest and firmly ignored the way my ovaries jumped up and down, trying to get my attention.
When is it our turn, Sophie?
Nora reached over to grab Everly’s hands. “Oh honey, I’m so happy for you.”
“I imagine Shepherd displayed an uncharacteristic degree of emotion at the news,” Hazel said.
“Oh my god, you guys. He cleared his throat,” Everly said with a sigh.
That was an uncharacteristic display of emotion for Mr. Calloway. He was kind of a hardass, but I didn’t mind. He was fair, and that mattered to me more than friendliness. And he loved his wife like crazy, so I knew he had a heart in there somewhere.
“No wonder he was in such a good mood when he came into the office,” I said. “He nodded to me when he walked by my desk.”
“That was nice of him,” Everly said with a smile, then turned to Hazel. “How’s the new house? Are you getting settled?”
Hazel adjusted her glasses. “It’s quite satisfactory.”