care of it.” She stood and took the papers off my desk. “I’ll take care of everything.”
“Thanks, Althea,” I muttered to her back as she left.
I wasn’t sure if she heard me. I wasn’t sure if the words had actually come out of my mouth. It felt like a hundred-pound weight sat directly on my chest. Like my ribs were cracking and shards of bone penetrated everything.
My heart, especially.
I hadn’t told Sophie I loved her this weekend. I’d wanted to, but something had held me back. I’d been almost ready to admit it was fear—fear of being vulnerable. Of opening myself up completely to her.
Fear of what it meant if I loved her, and was married to her, and wanted to stay that way.
But maybe it hadn’t been fear. Maybe it had been a premonition.
And maybe Sophie Abbott wasn’t the sweet girl I’d believed her to be.
31
Sophie
Steve came back to his desk, whistling a cheery tune. He sat, then adjusted a framed photo of his cat.
“You’re in a good mood,” I said.
“Sorry,” he said. “Was I whistling again?”
I smiled. “You were. What brought this on? Hot date over the weekend?”
His cheeks flushed. Oh my god, was he blushing?
“Actually, yes. I had a wonderful date.”
My eyes widened. “Steve! Are you dating someone? Who is she? How long have you been seeing her? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to say anything too soon. Her name is Flora and we met at a pet store a couple of months ago.”
I clasped my hands to my chest. “That is so cute.”
“We’ve been seeing each other a lot and things are starting to get serious. But there was one big hurdle we had to get over. Specifically, Millie and Clovis.”
“Millie, your cat? Who’s Clovis?”
“Flora’s cat. And unlike my Millie, he’s a bit bad-tempered.”
Unlike his Millie? Steve’s cat was a furry terror. I was fully convinced she spent her days while he was at work plotting his untimely demise. And Clovis was worse? Yikes.
“I suppose that would be a hurdle.”
He nodded in agreement but broke out in a smile. “We introduced them yesterday and Sophie, it couldn’t have gone better.”
“Really? They liked each other?”
“Well, liked is probably a strong word for it, but the hissing was minimal. Much better than we expected.”
“Wow. So, does that mean you and Flora can move forward?”
He smiled again and adjusted his glasses. “She’s moving in next month. We want to make a gradual transition so Millie and Clovis have time to get used to each other.”
“Aw, Steve, I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks, Sophie.”
My desk phone rang and our receptionist Nina’s name flashed on the little screen. “Hi, Nina. What’s up?”
“Mr. Calloway’s three o’clock is here.”
“Oh.” Feeling suddenly flustered, I clicked to his calendar on my laptop. I didn’t remember him having any more meetings today. The three o’clock spot was blocked off as busy, but it didn’t say anything else. And I hadn’t put that there. “Thanks, Nina. Give me one second.”
Hoping I hadn’t forgotten something, I got up and went to his office. “Excuse me, Mr. Calloway?”
He glanced up from his laptop.
“Nina says your three o’clock is here? I’m not sure who it is. It’s not clear on your calendar and I don’t remember setting anything up for today.”
“No, I did.” He stood but gestured to one of the seats on the other side of his desk. “You should be here for this.”
“Of course; no problem. Do you want me to…” I pointed vaguely toward the office lobby.
“I’ll see him in.” He walked past me and out the door.
That was weird.
I darted out to my desk to grab a notepad and pen to take notes, then sat down to wait. A moment later, Mr. Calloway came back in.
“Have a seat,” he said.
And in walked Dominic Coates.
My eyes widened. He was dressed in a suit this time, not a shiny black shirt, but there was no mistaking him. He looked at me—looked right at my face—and my heart skipped at least forty-two times. Did he recognize me? He had to remember me. I was the girl who’d taken a serving tray to the face. You didn’t forget something like that.
But if he knew who I was, he gave no hint of it. His eyes swept over me, lingering on my chest longer than necessary, then he looked away. That was it.
The jerkface didn’t remember me.
Although there was something different about him, and it wasn’t just his clothes. His eyes were clear and his movements less exaggerated. And then