“Have you broken in the dining table yet?” Nora raised her eyebrows.
“We’ve had several meals there, yes.”
The corner of Nora’s mouth lifted. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Nora.” Everly’s cheeks flushed pink.
“What? It’s a fair question. We all know what’s beneath Corban’s nerdy exterior.”
“She has a point,” I said.
“I just want to know if he’s bent her over any tables lately.”
Hazel seemed to be trying to hide her smile. “We’re thoroughly enjoying our new house. Including the dining table.”
Nora smiled. “That’s my girl.”
“Sophie, how was the gala on Saturday?” Everly asked. “Thank you so much for going in our place.”
“It was kind of a disaster, but that’s not your fault.”
“Oh no, what happened?”
I took a deep breath and launched into my story, from realizing I’d forgotten to wear panties, to Dr. Handsy Perv, to Ruby and Marcus and their offer of a cocaine-fueled threesome.
“Oh dear god,” Nora said. “What an absolute nightmare.”
“You actually used bedsheets to climb from a second story balcony?” Hazel asked. “You must have impressive upper body strength.”
I flexed one bicep. “I have been working out. I also had help getting down. Except…”
“Except, what?” Everly asked.
I took another deep breath. “Circle of trust?”
My friends nodded and clasped hands, creating a circle. We all squeezed, then let go. The circle was sacred. What was said in the circle stayed in the circle.
It was one of the many reasons I loved them so much.
“At first I didn’t think there was anyone in the courtyard, but of course there was. And because it’s me, and I have the worst luck in the history of ever, it wasn’t just anyone. It was Camden Cox.”
“I think I’ve heard of him,” Hazel said.
“So have I. He’s a delicious piece of man candy in a suit,” Nora said. “And you weren’t wearing underwear. Please tell me this story ends with a hot hookup.”
I pulled a face. “No. Oh my god, no. Never. You don’t understand—I know him. Or I used to know him. And it’s not like he remembered me, the big jerk.”
“How do you know him?” Hazel asked.
“He lived on my street for a while when I was a kid and we went to school together. It was around fifth grade, I think. He moved a few years later, but I’ll never forget Camden Cox. He tormented me. I was a chubby little girl with curly blond hair, so of course he called me Miss Piggy. He’d hold his nose up to make a pig snout and oink at me, and he’d come up behind me and pull my pigtails.”
“That little snot,” Nora said.
“Right? And honestly, how does this kind of thing always happen to me? It’s not enough that I forget to wear underwear. I have to wind up hanging off a second-story balcony with my hoo-ha in the breeze while my childhood bully sees everything under my skirt.”
“It was nice of him to help you down, though,” Everly said.
I pressed my lips closed. I didn’t want to admit it, but he had been perfectly nice to me.
“Not nice enough to redeem him from being awful to our Sophie,” Nora said. “Or for looking up her skirt.”
“Thank you,” I said with a nod. “Although the looking up my skirt part wasn’t really his fault.”
“I’m glad you weren’t injured,” Hazel said. “And I commend your decision to decline the drugs and sex with a married couple. That wouldn’t have ended well.”
I shuddered. “Definitely not my thing.”
“And let’s not forget, we have Vegas to look forward to,” Nora said.
We did have Vegas to look forward to. Mr. Calloway had to be in Vegas over the upcoming weekend on business and Everly wanted company, so she’d invited the rest of us to tag along. I’d probably have to work some of the time, but I didn’t mind one bit. It was going to be so much fun.
“I know Vegas with a pregnant lady isn’t exactly the same,” Everly said, resting a hand on her belly.
“We’ll have plenty of fun,” Nora said. “We don’t have to party like a bunch of twenty-one-year-olds to have an amazing Vegas weekend.”
“It’s going to be fabulous,” I said.
We chatted more about our plans for the weekend. Spa treatments, time by the pool, maybe a little gambling, and lots of good food. I couldn’t wait.
After lunch, I said goodbye to my friends and walked back to my office. I took off my coat and sat at my desk. Time to catch up on my email.
Steve, one of my coworkers, came back from lunch and set a pet boutique bag on his desk. He sat right across the aisle from me and he was one of my favorite people here. He’d been so helpful in showing me the ropes when I’d first started, and now we chatted all the time. Today he was dressed in a brown button-down shirt with a sweater vest and brown slacks. It was a lot of brown, but that was Steve. What he lacked in fashion sense, he made up for in niceness and an unexpected sense of humor.
“Did you buy a present for Millie?” I asked, gesturing to the bag. Steve was sort of a crazy cat lady, except a guy and he only had one cat. But Millie was very important to him, even though she was basically the meanest cat I’d ever heard of.
“I did. I’m hoping these new toys give her something else to do in the evenings when I’m trying to eat dinner.”
“Does she try to steal your food?”
“No, she doesn’t like human food. But she jumps on my shoulder and puts her tail in my face.”
By tail in his face, I was pretty sure he meant butt in his face. Gross. “Doesn’t Millie weigh like twenty pounds?”
He shrugged. “More or less.”
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“Her claws are quite sharp, yes.” He said that in the same pleasant tone someone might have used to comment on the nice weather we’d been having.
“Well, I hope the new cat toys do the trick.”
My desk phone rang, so I picked it up. “Shepherd Calloway’s office. This is Sophie.”
“Hello Sophie. My name’s Oliver Carrington,” the voice on the other end said, and I smiled at his charming British accent. “I’m with Camden Cox’s office.”
My smile disappeared and my stomach did a belly flop. Camden Cox? Why was someone from his office calling here?
“Hi, Oliver. What can I do for you?”
“I was hoping you’d ask that. There’s something quite important you can do for me. Mr. Cox would like to set up a meeting with Mr. Calloway as soon as his schedule allows.”
It was hard not to giggle at his pronunciation of the word schedule. So cute. “What is this regarding?”
“A potential investment opportunity.”
Unfortunately, I had bad news for him. Mr. Calloway rarely took a meeting that he didn’t ask for himself, and he’d asked me to keep his calendar more open than usual in case Everly needed him. “I’m sorry Oliver, but Mr. Calloway’s schedule is very tight. I really don’t think I can fit anything in.”