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“And?”
She turned slightly and gifted me with a glare over her shoulder. “Okay fine, and because I need a favor.”
I sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, grateful the music masked my reaction as I waited for her to, inevitably, ask me to sign up for TFL. Again. “I’m listening.”
“My cousin Preston is coming for a visit so I can meet his wife, Nina. I wasn’t able to make it to the wedding. so I haven’t gotten a chance to spend any time with her yet. Will you come for dinner?”
I nodded, hiding the disappointment that the favor wasn’t…something else. “Sure. Why do you need me here? You and Preston get along well.” He was the only family member she was on speaking terms with since her parents and younger siblings were happy to forget her existence when they left Pilgrim nearly a decade ago.
“I don’t know. Being around any Worthington always puts me on edge a little. Even Preston. And I don’t know what to expect from Nina.”
Families were complicated, and I understood that better than most. It was just me and my mom once my dad split to marry his wealthy mistress. Our screwed up families was one of the things that had sealed our friendship. That, and my own mother was happy to have a daughter added to the family, especially one as girly and pretty as Sophie.
“What are you cooking?”
Her brown eyes narrowed in my direction and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Beet and avocado sushi,” she said just to hurt me.
I groaned. “I’ll be there anyway. What are best friends for, right?”
Her smile softened, and like a fool, my own raced in response. “Thanks, Stone.”
That smile and her gratitude were enough.
They had to be.Sophie“Dang it!” I knew I should have just worked from home this morning. It was Sunday for crying out loud, but the office was empty and the best time to get technical aspects of the job done without any interruptions. And I’d taken full advantage of the quiet time. But that meant I’d left dinner too late, and now I had to rush to get the meal ready before Preston and Nina arrived. In three hours.
Stone was right, there was no good reason to be nervous about Preston’s visit, but I was. And that anxiety combined with being late, had me rushing around like a chicken with its head chopped off.
“I like Preston,” I said out loud as I kicked off my shoes, dropped my bag in the front hall and rushed towards the kitchen with a bag full of last minute items I needed. I did like Preston, he was the only member of the family who dared speak to me, probably because he understood me. Even though Preston hadn’t walked away, he’d chosen a career the family considered ‘the help’, and that put him at odds with his family. Unlike me, the black sheep, Preston was still revered, loved in his small town of Tulip, where the family was a living, breathing legend. There was even a fountain statue built to honor the town founder, my great, great grandmother there.
I’d planned a classic soul food dinner. One that my own mother would hate for the fat content alone. No time to be nervous, I reminded myself. It’s just dinner.
I ignored my nerves while I chopped the chicken and dropped it in a seasoned buttermilk bath and focused on work, my specialty. Initially I went into the office to double check the algorithm after a difficult client, Magnus, complained that none of the women he deemed his type, had agreed to a second date with him. The guy wanted a trophy wife, and I didn’t judge, but he was rich enough for most women to ignore his off-putting personality. There had been a problem to solve, so I buried myself in work and more work.
It was my default, and probably why I was still single. Which I could admit wasn’t a good look for the CEO of a matchmaking agency. Luckily, my business partners, Eva and Olive, had both found love. It was good for optics, and I was brought up with a deep appreciation for how things looked.
Unfortunately.
“No more of that!” If I let my thoughts derail me further, dinner wouldn’t just be late, it would be inedible. I literally shook all the negative thoughts away and took stock of all the prep work. The mustard greens had been going in the slow cooker all day, which would have Stone’s mom Maggie cringing. But a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. The potatoes were boiling in a big pot, the cheeses were grated to be made into a sauce later, and the cornbread batter was ready for the oven.
Grabbing my phone, I rushed up the stairs to the master bedroom and quickly undressed before I stepped into the bathroom. The already steamy bathroom put a frown on my face. At least until the steam began to dissipate, since the open door cooled the bathroom down considerably and a figure started to take shape.
