AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Not possible. At least she had some distraction. Every minute I wasn’t in meetings, I thought of her. I dreamed of her. I missed her.
I shut the room service menu, my appetite gone, and laid on the bed. I hadn’t traveled to Austin before and, judging by the heat, I didn’t have the energy to wander around looking for a good place to eat nearby.
Instead, I waded through my overstuffed email inbox, which had grown to over five hundred unread emails overnight. I searched for the starred emails, leaving the rest for my assistant. One labeled “Cancelled Meeting” caught my eye and I opened it.
Andy,
James Schaffer has requested we reschedule your meeting because of a family emergency. Would you rather stay in Austin or fly to Chicago early?
Zach
I read over the email again and then opened my calendar. Two days. Rescheduling my meeting with James left two days free. I wrote a quick reply:
Neither.
CHAPTER23
Nora
“I’m notsure I’m up for going to a bar tonight,” I whined.
Going back to school had fried my brain and I missed Andy way more than I cared to admit. My ability to be a good sport nose-dived as soon as Cal walked in.
“Just a drink. Maybe two. Or four. A couple, at least,” he said good-naturedly as I followed him along on his exploration of the house. “Jesus, I wish you’d married Andy earlier. You could have saved Len the hassle of building a whole damn house for Bunny.”
“Who’s even going to be there on a Tuesday? Nobody, that’s who.”
Cal shrugged. “What’s wrong with going out for a drink with your brother?” He stopped in the middled of the foyer to stare down a white bust. “Why?” he asked, pointing to it.
“Andy’s mom was a fan of classical Greek sculpture, I guess. Maybe. He said I could redecorate anything I wanted, but I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“Here. Right here.” He pointed emphatically to the bust.
I laughed. “What if it’s worth something?”
“You want me to hock it?”
I laughed. “No. It’s easier to redecorate when it’s all junk from a thrift store. I don’t know what’s expensive here and what isn’t.”
“I think it’s all pricey. Have you considered selling the place and starting fresh?”
“No,” I said too quickly.
Not that I hadn’t considered it—in my wildest daydreams. The ones where Andy asked me to rip up the business proposal and marry him again, for real. Of course, those daydreams skipped the obvious roadblock continuing to lie to everyone about how our relationship started. But the daydreams proved to be pleasant enough diversions between classes.
Cal raised an eyebrow. “Well, in that case, start with the stuff that doesn’t have a resale value, like that awful wallpaper in the kitchen. But for now, drinks.”
I groaned. “Fine. One drink. I’m not staying out all night. I’m exhausted.”
“Get changed quick, and I’ll let you haggle me down to three.”
“I have to get changed too?” I whined.
Other than a few snarky comments about some questionably short dresses, he never said anything about my clothes. I glanced down at my ensemble, more practical than anything: blue jeans and a black top.
“I look fine. Besides, it’s not like I’m going out to meet anyone.”
“I’m not either,” he said with a laugh. “But you’ve got a stain that I hope is dog food on your ass, and if you brushed your hair this morning, you did a piss-poor job. I thought you might not want to go out looking like Andy kicked you to the curb.”
