Page 24 of Long Story Short

Scarlett scoffs. “No, not all of them. Some. But for the most part, nope. But that’s because I have to work with them, and they’re all much too full of themselves.”

Now that I’m dressed, I step in front of the camera once again. “It was just dinner, and it won’t be happening again because I need to focus on writing this book.”

It’s Scarlett’s turn to roll her eyes. “You also need to have fun. Maybe some hot sex with your neighbor will give you inspiration.”

I shake my head. “It wouldn’t be inspiration; it’d be a distraction. We had dinner once and won’t again for the next six weeks. Now, I need to get off here and go to bed so I can wake up and get a lot of writing done tomorrow.”

Scarlett clicks her tongue. “God, you’re boring.”

I smile as I pick up the phone and bring it closer to my face. “You love me anyway. Good night, Scar.”

“Bye, love you.” She ends the call, and her hot pink face disappears.

I finish getting ready, not realizing that there’s a smile on my face as I climb into bed, and it’s because of how much I enjoyed my evening with Tyson.

FOURTEEN

TYSON

“Why do you keep looking around?” Jude Kensington asks as he takes a seat next to me at the banquet table.

I pull my gaze from the entrance of Pembroke’s ballroom and focus on Jude instead. “I don’t know what you mean.”

He lifts an eyebrow as he holds a crystal champagne flute to his lips. “I mean, you keep looking around at everyone at the party as if you’re looking for someone. I want to know who you’re looking for.”

I scoff as I shift in my chair. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m just looking around to see who I recognize here. I don’t frequent Pembroke as much as you do, remember?”

Jude’s quiet for a moment, but the cocky smirk that he wears tells me he doesn’t believe me at all. “Mm-hmm, sure. You’re looking for someone; I’m just trying to figure out who.”

“I don’t hear from you for a month, which I understand why since you were figuring out how to be a father in that time, and then you suddenly come back and start grilling me about looking for someone in a room? Maybe I should be grilling you more instead.”

His grin only gets wider. During the offseason, I visited the Hamptons to get a feel for whether I liked it here enough to buy. During that time, I hung out at Pembroke and with Jude. We were just striking up a friendship when all of a sudden, he stopped answering my texts and calls. Come to find out, he’d found out that he was a father, and in the time since we last spoke, he also fell in love with his best friend, Charlotte.

Jude chuckles, his gaze moving to where Charlotte is standing, talking to Lucy and Winnie. They all dote over the baby in Charlotte’s arms—Jude’s daughter, Ava. “You know why I liked you from the very beginning?” Jude asks, his gaze still focused on Charlotte and his daughter.

“Because of my sparkling personality?”

He chuckles. “No. Because you weren’t nosy. You didn’t ask questions like everyone else does. You mind your own business. I like that about you, Bishop.”

I cock my head to the side. “Then why aren’t you minding your own business when it comes to me?”

Jude finally looks away from the girls and focuses on me. Like always, he wears a wide smile. “That’s the thing about me. Everyone knows I don’t mind my own business. So, tell me why you keep looking around the room with a scowl? Who are you looking for, and what did they do to make you mad?”

I frown because I hate how easily he’s read me. It’s been days since my dinner with Josie, and I haven’t seen her once. She was clear about needing to work instead of spending time with me, but there was a part of me that figured I might see her outside or that she might stop by. She hasn’t. And never once did I imagine finding myself wishing her cat would escape to my house again, yet I keep sitting on my porch, hoping that Mouse makes a great escape.

And in the time when I haven’t been waiting for a Josie sighting at her house, I’ve been at the club, hoping she pops up here. Part of me was hoping she’d show up to the welcome party this evening—hence, me constantly looking around the room—but so far, it doesn’t seem like she’s going to be here.

Fingers snapping in front of my face pull me from my thoughts. Jude pulls his hand back and rests it on my shoulder instead. “I’m not going to pry anymore tonight, but good luck with whatever’s going on, Bishop.” He pushes himself out of the chair and walks over to Charlotte and his daughter.

I can’t help but smile at the way Ava lights up the moment she sees her dad. It’s adorable.

“Having fun tonight?” my sister asks. I hadn’t realized she’d walked over, but she takes the seat Jude was just in and watches me closely.

“I am. What about you?”

Winnie gives me a soft smile as she looks around the room. “Of course I’m having fun. But I attend these kinds of things more than you do.”

“You don’t have to check on me,” I tell her, not missing how there’s a tiny bit of concern in her voice. I don’t know why it’s there. Just because I don’t always choose to attend events like this doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy them when I actually do make an appearance.