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“I can’t. I promised Sue I’d take the boys for their annual wellness check. It’s at one, and she’ll be working.”
“I can go with you if you want. To help out?”
I look at her, irresistibly charming wearing my shirt. Her blonde hair is disheveled, and a couple of hickeys are still on her neck from last night’s lovemaking. She smells of flowers, and sex and paradise. And she’s mine—all mine.
But that doesn’t mean I can break the rules. I sigh, frustration filling my chest. “I can’t have you with me. Sue was adamant about it.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “I understand. I mean look, I know it’ll take time. But I really like Max and Charlie, and they like me too. How long will this go on?”
I avoid her gaze, and button my shirt, then go to my belt rack and grab the Italian leather black one.
“Unless we won’t be together for long,” she says in a small voice.
I stop what I’m doing and pull her to me, kissing the top of her head. “You’re not going anywhere, sweetheart. But you need to be patient, as I do. Let some time go by, maybe Sue will find it in her heart to forgive us.”
She shakes her head. “You don’t know much about women.”
I know more than she thinks, but I keep that nugget of information to myself. She has a point, though, and the positivity of being with her must have rubbed off on me, if I expect Susan to acquiesce easily. “Well, maybe she can manage to just forget. Or date someone and no longer give a crap about us.” Susan is an attractive and smart woman, and if she found a good guy who was a good person to also be in the twins’ lives, that would be the solution for all of our problems.
“That’s more likely. You mean I should be setting her up on dates?”
“Don’t,” I say. “Don’t get involved.”
She chuckles, waving me off. “I’m just teasing you. I know my place.”
“Your place is with me,” I say, my voice dropping an octave.
She kisses my cheek. “Does that mean you’ll take me to your firm’s party?”
I square my shoulders. A cold shiver rolls down my spine. “What do you mean?” I ask simply to buy time. I wasn’t planning on making a decision soon, much less sharing it with her.
“I saw the invitation on your desk. You weren’t planning on telling me?”
I step back, running my fingers through my hair. I obviously shouldn’t rely on the buying time strategy too much. “I didn’t think it’d be a big deal.”
“Well, isn’t this the kind of event where partners bring dates or spouses?”
I inhale. Her expression is sober, like I can’t get my way with a snarky comment or even sex. She lifts her chin and stares at me, determined. “Yes.”
“So? Are you embarrassed of me?”
“No,” I rush to say.
She leans against one of the shelves, making it clear avoidance won’t work this time. “Then why? Why can’t I go with you?”
I run my fingers down my face. “Because you’ll be bored out of your mind.” That isn’t a lie—the people who work in my firm tend to be snooty, and think too highly of themselves. I worked hard to get where I am, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see what it means.
“Why can’t I be the judge of that? Or are you being condescending?”
With the back of my hand, I caress her cheek. She doesn’t lean forward or move away. She’s waiting for a conclusion to this conundrum, I can tell. My gut clenches. Taking her with me will mean a different kind of problem. “Trust me, if there was a way for me not to go, I’d not go.”
“Then let me go with you. Make it less boring.”
I swallow the lump of frustration in my throat. “You have to understand… A lot of those people knew Sue. Going there with someone new, and a woman as young and gorgeous as you, it’ll be like making a statement.”
She jerks away from me, stepping back. A cloud of disappointment darkens her eyes. “I’m good enough for you to fuck, but not to be around your friends? I introduced you to my friends.”
“And how did that turn out?” Those brats hate me.
