Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“Well, the jeweler, he thinks it’s only fair to give Ev the commission on the sale of the ring, and Ev, he turns around and tells the jeweler to give the money to his favorite charity,” Ash said, chuckling. “I mean, it was great to see that sale happen in real time because it perfectly illustrated that a charming, handsome man, using all the right words, can sell anything.”
Everyone around us clapped, and were even more excited when the food started coming out. Lots of servers delivering plate after plate, having to call out orders as so many people had played musical chairs on them.
“We didn’t really get a chance to talk yesterday,” Damien told Ash as they both got their food. “Sorry about that.”
“No worries,” Ash replied kindly.
“So how are you two related?” Sienna asked.
“I certainly have no idea,” Ash told her. “Perhaps your fiancé knows.”
It was kind of Ash to remember to call Damien that. Thoughtful. And whether he remembered it from the night before, or he’d overheard the earlier conversation at our table—it was good of him. I did wonder why Damien had yet to bestow a ring on the winsome Sienna Donahue. I had no idea what he was waiting for. She was perfect for him.
“My grandfather was Coleman Walder,” Damien began, his gaze flat as he regarded Ash. “My grandmother, Juliet, was his second wife, and my mother was their third child, Margo.”
“You’re his uncle,” I said to Ash, “just like you are Bitsy’s.”
“It feels like I should be older, doesn’t it?” he asked, grinning.
“And more venerable,” I teased him. “With a pipe.”
“Oh, a pipe. Yes.”
I leaned sideways and kissed him, and he smiled like crazy.
“Our family is so big because Grandpa couldn’t stop marrying or having children,” Bitsy said. “It’s nuts.”
“It certainly is,” Damien agreed, sounding irritated over that fact.
There was a lot of silence then as people started eating.
“The French dip was an inspired choice,” Ash murmured between bites, having to touch me, fiddling with the collar of my sweater. I was reminded, in a flash of memory, that Damien hated this sweater. He always had suggestions about updating my wardrobe. With hindsight came so much clarity, and I had to wonder what it was he’d liked about me.
It certainly wasn’t my small, cozy house in Highland Park, given all the time we spent at his condo in the city. He never met my family or friends, so they had not been the draw, and it certainly wasn’t my very sensible 2013 Toyota Highlander. But he’d stuck it out for over a year, so he must’ve had a reason.
As I glanced over at him, I realized that even the twinge from the day before was gone. And it wasn’t simply me being excited about starting something with Ash that had taken the very last drop of care about Damien. Or more correctly, it wasn’t just that. It was seeing his treatment of Sienna. She had no ring, just as he’d never met any of the people who inhabited my life. To my mind, it was the same thing. He didn’t want to commit. Not to me then, and now, not to her. Sitting there, in his proximity again, the longer I looked at him, the more I understood. He felt in his profession that he could not rise to the heights of money and power with a man at his side. The law was traditional, I knew that. Perhaps he was right. Even in places like New York or Chicago, maybe being out, being bisexual, would stop him from getting where he wanted to go. It was possible. Having no understanding of his world, I couldn’t say with any certainty. With Sienna, perhaps he felt there was someone better. A person who would bring with her better connections, more money, be an even better advocate for his upward climb than the socialite now eating a vegan patty melt that looked pretty good. I couldn’t imagine a better partner than Sienna—she looked like the whole package to me. Smart, funny, and beautiful was a winning combination.
“Do you have a question?” Damien asked stiffly, his gaze on me.
“Oh, no, sorry,” I said, smiling. “My mind drifted. I apologize.”
He nodded and went back to his Reuben as my phone, which I’d put on the table, went off with a picture of Rais Solano, one of the guys I worked with.
“Wow,” Ash said, grinning. “Who’s that?”
I squinted at him. “I’m sorry?”
He picked up my phone and turned it to Sienna. “Look at this man.”
She coughed and then swallowed the bite she’d been chewing. “Oh yeah,” she said with a chuckle, smiling sheepishly. “I—what’s his… How do you pronounce his first name?”
“None of your business,” I growled, and everyone laughed but Damien.
“Let me see the—oh,” Bentley whispered.
Snatching my phone back from Ash, I got up and walked away from the noisy table before I answered. “What?”