knows? We might even decide we like each other so much we’ll get married.”
I laughed giddily.
“I don’t know if I can have a second marriage to you,” I joked. “That sounds excessive.”
“You deserve the big wedding,” he insisted.
I wrinkled my nose. “Going down to the courthouse and then all-you-can-eat barbecue is more my style!”
“Oh my God!” Amy squealed after I regaled the group with the tale of my epic trip with Chris from my perch on the office kitchen island, using my ice cream spoon to punctuate the high parts of the story.
“You’re getting a divorce but keeping the guy.”
“I know!” I said, pressing my hands against my cheeks. “I can’t believe it! I heard him at the party tell me he loved me. Then I was super freaked out when he handed me the papers. I had to lie and lie about wanting an annulment. Thank goodness he believed me. It would have ruined everything.”
“Guys are so dumb,” Elsie said with a snicker.
“But now you’re going to have everything you wanted,” Brea said, “a happily ever after! And maybe he’ll buy your grandmother a new place so you guys don’t have to shack up with her right next door.”
“That’s the dream,” I joked. “A house for me, a house for her, and one for the parrot.”
“He’s got your mouth wrapped around his cock.” Sophie cackled. “I’m sure he’d give you anything you wanted!”
“Girls,” Ivy said loudly from around the corner. “We have one of our lovely brides here to see us!”
We all scrambled to the seating area. There had not been a meeting on the schedule.
Addison gave me an annoyed look when she saw me.
Of course Addison just crashed the party.
“I wanted to make sure that we were all on the same page on this wedding. It is eight months out, and I am concerned that you all are not taking it very seriously. Especially her.” Addison pointed at me. “I heard Grace was out gallivanting in DC instead of working. During the workweek, no less.”
She glared at me. “Do you even care about my wedding?”
Customer-service mask firmly in place, I proceeded to fluff up Addison’s ego while she preened.
“Don’t you worry,” I assured Addison. “We’re going to make sure your wedding is the best ever. And I have some excellent ideas for your engagement party photos that will make all your friends envious.”
Sucking up to Addison didn’t bother me, though. Because no matter what she did, I had Chris.
55
Chris
“Done!” I crowed when I walked into the Svensson & Svensson offices. “Signed, sealed, and notarized by my butler in DC.”
“Sweet!” Josh said, flipping through the divorce papers. “And no shenanigans with Grace?”
“Nope, she’s totally on board.”
“Hopefully she doesn’t go home, talk to her friends, and let them convince her to hire her own lawyer and contest,” Eric said.
“You were gentle to her, right?” Josh asked.
“Better,” I assured him. “I told her I wanted to date her after this is all over.”
“Good.” Eric nodded. “That should keep her on your side while we wait for the six-week mark and give this divorce time to work its way through the court system.”
I was so close to that inheritance!
“You have to do something crazy with the money when it hits your account,” Josh said. “A big chuck of cash like that requires a celebration.”
“Vegas?” Eric suggested.
“Maybe skydiving,” I said.
“That sounds dangerous.”
“Grace does it,” I remarked. “She could come with. Wait a minute.” I laughed. “No she can’t. She can’t know about the inheritance. She’d have my balls.”
“She’s gonna find out,” Eric said, incredulous. “Once the money hits your hedge fund, it’s going to be public knowledge.”
I froze.
“No,” I said, horrified. “She’ll find out about the marriage stipulation on the money. She’s not stupid, far from it. She’ll put two and two together and realize I strung her along for a divorce.”
“And at that point,” Josh suggested, “you can offer her a cool million for her pain and suffering.”
“I can’t,” I said, panicking. “She didn’t want to be divorced. She started sobbing when she saw the papers then went on and on about how being divorced was going to ruin her life and her chance at true love and make it hard for her to do business. She wanted an annulment. She’s going to hate me for ruining her life when she finds out. Shit. I’m going to lose her!”
“That’s probably a good thing.”
I looked over my shoulder to see my father standing in the doorway of Eric’s office.
“Your secretary let me in,”