Marrying Mr. Wrong (Dirty Martini Running Club #3) - Claire Kingsley Page 0,43
mask. Was she going to argue with me? It could go either way with her.
As if she’d come to a decision, she picked up the paper and stood. “All right. It’s your decision. I’ll let Drew know. But for the record, I think this is a mistake.”
“Duly noted.”
Oliver came in carrying a silver tea tray. He and Althea cast each other quick glares.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said and swept out of my office.
“Pity she’s not staying for tea.” Oliver set the tray down and poured.
“Yeah, I’m sure you’re all broken up about that.” I took the teacup from him and grabbed a finger sandwich.
He sat in the chair Althea had vacated and swiped his phone screen. “Will you be in the office tomorrow?”
“I planned on it.”
“Good. You have a one o’clock finance meeting and a two o’clock with marketing.”
“Got it.”
“And don’t forget you have that dinner on Friday.”
I opened my calendar to see what he was talking about. It was being hosted by Irene Prager and her husband—one of my remaining Skyline investors. Definitely couldn’t miss that.
“Right. I’ll be there.” I sipped my tea.
“Is it on Sophie’s calendar, or do you need me to call her?”
“Why would it need to be on Sophie’s calendar?”
“Is that a serious question?”
“Sometimes I don’t know why I put up with you.”
“Because I can put up with you,” he said. “Everyone else at that dinner will be there with their spouse. If you want to avoid awkward questions, you should bring her.”
Leaning back in my chair, I groaned. “She’s not exactly happy with me right now.”
“Is the honeymoon over already? What’d you do?”
“Why do you assume it’s my fault?”
He raised his eyebrows and brought his teacup to his lips.
“Fine. I made an error in judgment. She called me out on it.”
“Good for her.”
“Whose side are you on?”
“Sophie’s, obviously.”
“Fuckin’ traitor.”
“I said you didn’t know what you were getting into.”
I pressed the tips of my fingers together. “What makes you the expert on my Sophie? For a guy who’s hardly spoken to her, you think you know her pretty well.”
“I just know she’s not like any woman you’ve dated since I’ve known you. And I don’t think she’s fooled by…” He paused and gestured to all of me. “All this.”
“I’m not fooling anyone. I am who I am.”
“She’s not awed by you, then. You’re used to women hanging off your arm, totally enamored with you. She’s not.”
He was right about that. Women usually loved me, and I didn’t have to try very hard. Having money helped, but even when I’d been a poor kid driving a beat-up pickup truck, I’d never had trouble with the ladies.
Was that why this was bothering me so much? I didn’t like striking out?
But Oliver had a point about this dinner party. I did need to bring Sophie. We were staying married so my investors didn’t balk again. If I didn’t bring my wife, they’d wonder why. Best to avoid those questions for now.
“Do you want me to call her?” Oliver asked. “She’s not mad at me.”
That was a tempting solution. Oliver could probably sweet talk her into it. Take care of the problem for me.
But I didn’t want to play it like that. It was up to me to talk to her.
“Nah. She’s my wife. I’ll call her.”
He chuckled. “You like calling her that. Don’t even pretend you don’t.”
I grunted noncommittally. “Get out of here. I don’t want an audience if she shoots me down again.”
“Fair enough.” He put down his teacup and left so I could make the call.
I brought up her office number and hit send.
“Mr. Calloway’s office. This is Sophie.”
That sweet, cheerful voice washed over me, refreshing as a cool drink on a hot day. “Hey there, sugar.”
“Oh. Hi, Cox.”
“Listen, I’m sorry about crashing yesterday. It was out of line.”
She paused for a second and I heard her intake of breath, like my apology surprised her.
Hell, it surprised me. I hadn’t thought about what I’d say. It had just come out.
“Thanks. It’s okay.”
“All right. Good.” A surprising surge of relief poured through me. “I was wondering if you’d come to a dinner party with me on Friday night.”
“This Friday?”
“Yeah. One of my investors is hosting and, I’ll just be up-front with you, it’ll look a bit odd if I show up alone.”
“Oh, I see. So you need me to pretend… Right, that makes sense.” She paused again and I wondered if she was trying to come up with an excuse to say no. “Sure, I can come