Page 64 of All for Love

A pink flush spread on her cheeks. She giggled and sent an accusatory glare at her champagne. “You know, I think I’d better get some water, but I really am happy for you, Kody. You deserve only the best and that girl? She’s it. I believe you’ve known her for quite some time?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Since we were about sixteen.”

“Well, then what are you waiting for?” she asked. “It’s time to start looking for a ring, my dear. Before someone else beats you to it.”

She gave one last smile and then took off to find that water, and I shook my head and scoffed. As I started turning, a member of the Wagner board approached me with his hand extended to shake mine. “Kody! It’s good to see you, son.”

I placed my palm against his and gave him a firm shake, relieved that there was someone in this room who wasn’t obsessed with Marissa. “Thanks for coming out, Jim. It’s an honor to have you, as always.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He withdrew his hand and flashed me his pearly teeth on a sharklike grin. “I just met your girl. She’s quite something. Fantastic sense of humor. Especially for a cop.”

Inwardly groaning, I nodded. “Yeah, she’s something, alright. Everyone around here seems to think so.”

“Jenny and I will expect an invitation to the wedding,” he said. “If, by chance, it doesn’t work out between you two, let me know. I’d love to introduce her to my son. He’s going through a bad breakup, but I don’t suppose you’ll be letting this one go. No smart man would. She’s a keeper.”

For someone else, yes.“That’s very true. Give me a call when your son gets over his breakup and isn’t on the rebound. You never know. Marissa might be interested in a blind date by then.”

He chuckled, but I didn’t miss the puzzled look in his eyes when the laughter subsided. “Perhaps, but don’t sell yourself short, Kody. You’re quite a catch yourself. Put some backbone into it. God knows, my son could use a woman like her in his life, but she’s yours. We won’t try to poach her. Just treat her right, you hear?”

“Of course, sir.”

He clapped me on the side of the bicep and spotted someone over my shoulder. “Ah, there’s Jack. I need to have a quick talk with him. Good luck, Kody. Don’t mess it up. If you do, there will be plenty of men just like my son waiting in the wings to scoop her up.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, taking a long sip of my drink as he took off to speak to the other board member.

A few people approached me, but I dodged them by heading to the bathroom. The same one Mercedes had dragged me into that night.

Fuck.

Overwhelmed by memories, I breathed through the unexpected wave of pain and got out of there as fast as I could—only to walk smack bang into some of the women from the office. All of whom were superfans of Marissa’s.

“I’m so glad you two finally found your way to each other,” Emily, a long-time account manager at the company, cooed at me. “I remember watching you guys dance around it and wondering how long it was going to take before you realized you’re perfect for each other.”

“So perfect,” another account manager agreed. “A devastatingly gorgeous couple with hearts of gold. It was about time you both stopped beating about the bush.”

“You know,” Emily said, smiling as she looked at me. “There was that one time back when you were both in your early twenties that we all thought it was going to happen. You disappeared into the file room together and we thought, Finally. This is it.”

The other women tutted her tongue. “But then you reappeared just a few minutes later, laughing your heads off and going your separate ways. We kind of gave up on you after that.”

I balked, my grip tightening on my glass. I moved my gaze from one of them to the other. “You knew about that?”

They laughed, and Emily leaned in like she was about to share a secret. “We know about everything, Mr. Wagner. You will be good to her, won’t you? She works too hard and she needs a strong man like yourself to lean on.”

“Marissa does just fine on her own,” I said. “She doesn’t need anyone to lean on.”

Emily’s eyebrows hooked up before she gave me a doubtful smile. “Well, she may say that but everyone needs someone from time to time. Even you.”

I stole a glance at Mercedes as the women moved on, and she just so happened to be looking back at me. Knowing I was simply prolonging the pain, I mouthed at her, “Meet me in the solarium.”

Inclining my head in that direction, I strode off toward it and hoped like hell only she followed me. As happy as I should’ve been that the Marissa ruse was working so well, I just wasn’t in the mood to keep it going right now.

I needed a minute to be real, and there was only one person I wanted to do it with.