On the inside, each word made me recoil while on the outside there was barely a ripple on the surface, the flush on my face and neck thankfully hidden by the shadows in the cab of the pickup.
“Look, Scott…if you really can’t handle it––”
“I can handle it,” he shot back acidly.
I’d given him an out and he seemed even more incensed by it. No good deed…
“I’ll be in Manhattan for New Year’s,” I started after another uncomfortable pause. New Year’s? The hell was I thinking. My mouth had gotten ahead of me and backtracking was going to be tricky. “I usually go by your parents’ place for cocktails before going to my friend’s house for dinner.” That wasn’t entirely true, but he needn’t know how truly lacking my life was.
Scott put the truck in drive and let it idle. “You can have Manhattan. Tell my parents I said hello.”
After giving him a quick nod in understanding, I slid out of the pickup and watched him drive away. There was a bitterness to him I didn’t quite understand. He’d changed and not entirely for the better.
A minute later I was striding barefoot across the lobby of the hotel. My ruined sneakers in one hand, the other dialing my cell. Passing a trashcan, I dropped them in and continued to the elevators.
“Miller?” I whisper-hissed into my cell.
“The one and only,” my snarky assistant chirped without missing a beat. Miller was insolent to the nth degree. He was also the best assistant I’d ever had, and that was saying a lot since I had gone through one every three months until Miller Smith applied for the job five years ago. He was also the closest thing to a friend I had. Neither of us had ever come out and said it, but both of us knew that half the time we spent together was personal rather than work-related.
“I’m in Wyoming.”
“Somebody finally grew a pair of legs and walked away from her desk. Good for you.”
“Get real, I’m here for Frank.”
A heavy sigh filtered through the phone, then a dry, “Of course, you are.”
“I need you to go to my apartment, pack up a bunch of my stuff, and FedEx––actually, I need you to bring it to me.”
“Sydney, I’m on vacation…in Miami. You remember that, right?”
“It’s an emergency.”
This time the sigh that blasted through my phone was a touch more dramatic. “Remember when you said, ‘Miller, you’ve been a model employee, completely indispensable. Therefore, not only can you finally take a fucking vacation, but after all the years you’ve served me tirelessly while I took advantage of your impeccable work ethic, I’ll even pay for it.’ Member when you said that?”
“I don’t have time for drama. I’m sending out an SOS.” I couldn’t be bothered to hide my agitation. It was finally sinking in that I was really doing this––marrying a man I barely knew. Not to mention, the little I did know I didn’t like. And it goes without saying that he definitely did not like me.
“Paul will officially divorce me if I tell him I need to get back to New York.”
“Which is why I’m going to offer you two first class tickets to Jackson Hole and a three-night stay at the Four Seasons.”
“Hmm. I don’t know…”
“I’ll throw in one of those freaking wine tasting thingies you guys like!” An older couple waiting for the elevator glowered.
“And a couples’ massage.”
“Fine.” My molars were getting a workout.
“Done. See you in a few days.”
“I’ll email you a list of things I need you to bring.”
“What’s the emergency, anyway?”
“I’m getting married,” I told him, matter-of-fact, after which a meaningful moment of silence ensued. No point in acting like a victim. I knew what I was doing when I practically challenged Scott to call it off: baiting his larger-than-life ego. It had been way too deliciously easy to pass up.
“Are you kidding?”
“I’ll explain when I see you.”
Chapter Five
Scott
“I’ve been calling you all morning,” I barked as soon as my sister answered. If anyone could talk some sense into my father, it was Devyn.
“I’ve got a major crisis on my hands right now, Scott. Chocolate Chip and Cheddar Cheese are missing! Hold on…Fallon, did you look in the pantry? Okay, keep looking.” In the background, I could hear my nieces shouting.
I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to know who or what the fuck “Chocolate Chip” and “Cheddar Cheese” were but I really needed her help, so halting the mare I was