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11
JASE
The Sundowner was as packed as I’d anticipated, but we managed to snag a small booth at the back. I ordered our first round of drinks while Emilia and Tyrone took seats, and then I joined them, sliding in next to my best friend.
I sipped at my drink as I studied the man sitting opposite us. “So, tell us more about you, Ty. You’ve done very well for yourself.” Although I already knew about his life now, he didn’t know that.
He raised his eyebrows at my statement. “That’s rich, coming from you two! Talk about doing well for yourselves. You guys are rock stars.”
We both laughed for the first time in days. “I don’t know I’d go that far.”
“I would.” His expression sobered. “Not to sound creepy, but I’ve been following you over the years. You’ve done some amazing work. Your company seems to be doing extremely well, and I know all about the foundation. May have made a donation or two myself.”
I heard the gasp of surprise coming from my right, and when I looked over at my best friend, I saw the shock on her face. “You’ve donated to the Quinnett Foundation?”
“Sure have.”
“I’ve never noticed your name on the list of donors before.”
We both looked over the names of donors on a monthly basis to see if we felt someone was worth adding to our list for the charity ball.
“The donations have always been under my firm name for taxation purposes.”
“Ah.” I swallowed a mouthful of whiskey. “I still should have recognized the name.”
He spread his hands in supplication. “I’ll forgive you. I’m impressed. Seriously. I saw the spread in the magazine that called you shooting stars. They weren’t kidding. You did good.” He lifted his glass in a toast to us and threw the contents back.
“We have a good life.” This declaration from Emilia made me smile.
“Yes, we do,” I echoed. “We work hard, but not having to worry about money is no hardship.”
“I bet.” Ty winked at us. “Since you’re so rich and all, I’ll have another scotch on the rocks. Make it a double.”
I smiled and managed to flag down a waitress to place an order for another round of drinks, and added some fries and wings to the tab.
“Tell us about your family, Ty. You’re married?” Emilia had obviously noticed the platinum band on his left hand.
“I am. My beautiful wife, Diondra, and I have three great kids.” He whipped out his phone and showed us photographs of his wife, two sons, and daughter. Emilia cooed over the photos and he told us about his family and practice.
Once our drinks and snacks arrived, we dived in. “How long have you two been together?”
His question shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. Most people assumed Emilia and I were in a romantic relationship, and we rarely bothered to correct them. They believed what they wanted to. We exchanged glances.
“We’re not together, not in that sense.” Emilia’s voice was gentle. “Jase is still my best friend and always will be.”
The wing Tyrone had lifted up to his mouth suddenly stopped moving. “I’m sorry, I just assumed…”
She gave him a warm smile. “Most people do. Don’t give it another thought.”
He gnawed on the wing for a few moments before giving us a puzzled look. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
I nodded. “Shoot.”
“Why aren’t you together?”
Emilia and I once again exchanged glances, and thankfully she answered because I wasn’t entirely sure what to say. “Because we don’t love each other like that, Ty.” I could see the uncertainty in her expression and knew she had to be thinking the same thing I did. Maybe she was lying.
The grave look he gave us would no doubt have served him well in court. “You sure about that?”
