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“Sophie.” My attention briefly shifts to Hunter who is now beside me. I can’t help it. When he says my name, it makes me weak in the knees. That’s the problem. He’s one ofthoseguys. The kind that makes you feel like you’re the only woman in the world when he looks at you. I’m sure that’s how Hannah feels every day. She’s too wrapped up in his charm to realize he’s a lying, cheating dick. But there’s nothing he can say to make me change my mind.
“Hannah, I have to tell you something,” I say.
She shifts in her chair, optimistic smile still in place. Shit, this is harder than I thought it would be. She seems so happy. I don’t want to ruin her day. Or her life.
“Sophie, can I—” Hunter tries to interject, but I rush my words out faster.
“I slept with Hunter.” I suck in a deep breath, hoping it will give Hannah time to react and I won’t have to go into all the details. I’m expecting a gaping mouth, tears, cursing, something that indicates that her world is falling apart, but there’s only silence. A moment later, Hannah’s eyebrows shoot to her hairline.
“I’m sorry, what?” she asks.
“We had sex,” I clarify, in case she was thinking it was a platonic sleepover, a cozy movie night with matching fleece pajamas and a bowl of popcorn. “In Vegas. I used to live there and he was there, maybe for work?” I question, growing more embarrassed by the minute that my admission reveals we didn’t get to know each other at all before we hooked up.
“Uh, Sophie—” Johnathan’s eyes are practically bugging out of his head, but I’m not done.
“And he left five hundred dollars in cash on the nightstand. Apparently, he thought I was a prostitute, so I think even if you decide to look past the cheating, his treatment of women speaks volumes about his character.” I turn to address Hunter. “Not to mention that I’ve lived in Las Vegas all my life and I highly doubt that was enough money for the things we did.”
There. I said it all. Everything I wanted to say. The group is quiet, all eyes gravitating toward Hunter. I’m waiting for some kind of reaction, but everyone appears to be stunned into silence.
Hunter closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. I hate that now I’m thinking how perfect his nose is. How good it felt when he ran the tip of it along the column of my neck just before he sucked the tender flesh in the crook of my neck.
Jesus, Sophie.Focus.
Hannah looks at Hunter with amusement. Johnathan is staring at me in disbelief. Have these people gone mad? Is this a normal occurrence that isn’t cause for alarm in their impending marriage? Finally, Hunter addresses me. The look on his face is a mix of exasperation and amusement. He might be a sociopath. How unfortunate.
“The cash on the side table wasn’t for you, it was for the cleaning service. The room needed...” Hunter clears his throat, “extra attention.” His eyes meet my gaze and I know what he’s talking about. The memories cause my whole body to flush, just like Hunter’s dick when it was inside me, they’re embedded so deep. I might have to undergo hypnotherapy to remove them. “I always tip the hotel cleaners with cash.”
“Oh,” is all I can manage. Now that he’s mentioning it, that might have been why the money was in one of the hotel envelopes. Shit. I feel bad that I gave the money for the hotel staff to a woman experiencing homelessness on The Strip after keeping five dollars to buy myself a breakfast burrito from Del Taco.
Hunter’s still staring at me. I try not to shrink under the weight of those pools of blue. The money is hardly the point, though. That was just a small detail.
“I think the bigger issue here is…you know…the sex.” I mouth the word sex because the tables around us have started to fill up and I’m not one to create a scene. Except, I’ve done exactly that. I notice that a busser is discreetly listening to our conversation as he clears a nearby table, and our waitress is hovering close by, likely wondering when it’s safe to take our order.
“I don’t know what to say.” Hannah looks to Hunter, her lips pressed together in what I can only describe as a restrained smile.
From out of nowhere, a man in a navy suit and gold flecked tie appears. He approaches Hannah from behind and upon his arrival leans in to give her a kiss on the cheek, his hands sliding over her shoulders affectionately. “Hey, babe. Sorry, I’m late.” He glances around at the rest of us. “Did I miss anything?”
Hannah smiles up at the man, then introduces him. “This is James McKenzie, my fiancé.”
CHAPTER3
Hunter
“Well, that was interesting.” Hannah turns to me as soon as we’re in the car.
Our lunch group having just departed Delphino’s, James headed back downtown and Hannah and I are sharing my car service east to my office in the Flatiron District.
“I’m not discussing it with you.” I pull out my phone, hoping that working on the short drive will save me from Hannah’s prying questions.
“How can you not discuss it with me? She’s part of my wedding planning team. I think full disclosure is necessary.”
“You’re going to sign the contract?” I look up from my email.
“Of course. They were lovely. Aside from the part where Sophie accused you of cheating on me,” she shivers in horror, “I think the meeting went splendid.” Hannah checks her face in her compact, then drops it back into her purse. “It was quite entertaining. Although, the forty-five minutes you spent staring at her was distracting from the fact that we were there to discuss my wedding.”
I rub a hand down my face because what the actual fuck just happened?
Had I been surprised to see Sophie standing there in the restaurant where I was meeting my sister’s potential wedding planners? That would be an understatement. Had I been happy to see her? I’d be lying if I said no.
