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The evil ex-wife.
He clears his throat. “Andee, you know Wyatt. And these folks here are Amalia Plum and Ralph Simons from Empire. They’re in the romance division.”
She looks at us with distaste. From what Henry told me, I’d expect nothing less.
“Oh yes, romance,” she says like it’s dirty in her mouth. “You people like to brag how large your market is, how so many people read romance, how popular the books are.”
Before I can ‘accidentally’ spill my drink on her, Ralph speaks up. “Andee, sounds like you haven’t read much romance. Tell you what. I’ll have a box of romance novels sent over to your office tomorrow. Give you something good to read for a change.” He pats her on the back like he’s trying to comfort her.
Go Ralph. What a smack down.
Maybe my office mate has more game than I give him credit for.
Andee sniffs. “Oh, that won’t be necessary, really?—”
But Ralph cuts her off, raising his hands in the air. “Really, Andee, it’s no trouble. Think of it as a professional courtesy.”
He turns and leaves before she can protest again, leaving her standing there with her mouth open.
“Hey,” Wyatt says, scanning over the crowd, “looks like Levi is finishing up. I’ll call the limo. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
He puts his hand on my lower back and the three of us head for the door without another glance in Andee’s direction.
And now her mouth is really hanging open.
42
AMALIA
“Oh my God,did you see that?” Wyatt laughs. “Andee wants those romance books like she wants cancer. And she’s gonna get a shitload of them tomorrow.” He slaps his thigh in delight.
Henry shakes his head. “It really was the perfect way to shut her up. That Ralph guy got her good.”
I agree. Bonus points for Ralph. I didn’t know he had it in him.
But that woman? Was Henry really married to her? Is this some kind of practical joke? Because I don’t see him with that God-awful person, not at all. She’s horrible.
I have questions. So many questions. But I’ll save those for later. No reason to spoil the festive mood.
Levi reaches into the limo’s minibar and pours us each a couple fingers of bourbon, something I’m slowly learning to like. “I signed a shitload of books tonight. We must have raised a lot of money for the charity.” He shakes out his signing hand.
The guys run through the events of the evening, including the sighting of Levi’s number one fan, an elderly woman whoshows up at every one of his signings. While they kid each other, Wyatt takes shit for answering a call from his mother, Henry gradually forgets the discomfort of dealing with his ex-wife, and the gloominess I sensed earlier in Levi has all but disappeared.
I watch them in wonder. They’re good guys. They really are. And the fact that they’re hot as hell is just… icing on the cake. Like the good kind of icing. Buttercream icing.
My thoughts wander back to the evening before when Henry told me they’re ‘interested’ in me. Not sure what that means, but hell, I’m interested right back. I don’t know what it could lead to, all thisinterest, but I’m not going to think too hard about it, at least not right now.
As the limo barrels up and down the avenues of New York City, I sit on the bench seat buzzing, watching the guys, trying not to go out of my mind. Since the drive to tonight’s event, when I teased them with my no panty surprise, I’ve longed for them and the kind of release I’m pretty sure only they can give me.
If they don’t get clued in to my need pretty goddamn soon, I’ll just tear my clothes off and jump one of them.
Turns out, I don’t have to wait long.
Thank God.
The guys’ conversation finally slows down. I never knew men could gab like that, but then I’ve never known men like these three.
After all that talking, they look out the car windows like they’ve lost track of their sense of place and time, and Henry turns to Wyatt. “Dude, how long do we have the limo for?” he asks, throwing a naughty glance my way.
