Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 88456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Caine answers right away.
Caine: We are ALL going to be professional.
I know I have him to back me up, which makes me feel better, but my parents were not thrilled with the news I got married to someone they didn’t know. They were especially not thrilled I did it in the way I did. They let me know it, in all the ways a parent can tell you, even to the point where they asked if I had lost my ever-loving fucking mind.
“Nash,” she shouts my name, “are you coming?”
“I wish.” I put the phone in the inside pocket of my suit when I walk out and see she made the bed. I hear the sound of her heels going down the stairs, and five minutes later, we’re walking out of the house hand in hand.
“I’m so nervous,” she admits when we park the car and she gets out. “Do you think they know?”
“Zoey, I left for two weeks, and the whole time, I’ve been posting us on my Instagram. They know.”
I open the door for her as she steps in. “Good morning, Nash,” Lulu says, smiling big. “Good morning, Zoey.”
“Morning, Lulu,” Zoey returns, walking toward the conference room. I see her setting up her workstation as I make my way into my own office to deal with a couple of things I put off while I was away.
The phone beeps from inside my pocket, and I expect it to be my parents, but instead, I see it’s from Zoey.
Zoey: Have a great first day back at the office.
I smile when the next one comes in.
Zoey: Picturing you naked right now.
I can’t help but throw my head back and laugh.
Me: Should we go home for lunch? And by lunch, I mean should we go home and not come back?
Zoey: We were gone for two weeks. You can last until tonight.
I make a few phone calls, and it’s almost after lunch when I look around. I walk out of my office and see Zoey talking to Cecelia and Becky, who deal with the client portfolios. They are getting up when I walk into the conference room. “Hey,” I say as they walk out, and they both smile at me. “Did you have lunch?” I ask when I get next to her chair and prop myself on the table as she puts her hand on her stomach and leans back in the chair. “How is your day?”
She doesn’t have a chance to answer me before I hear a male voice. “There he is.” Zoey looks over at the door. “The groom himself.” He laughs, coming around the table. I stand to greet him as he walks to me and slaps me on the shoulder before he squeezes it.
“Hey, man.” I look over at Zoey, who is watching the exchange. “Zoey, this is Derek,” I say of the man, “one of my closest friends.”
“Zoey.” He extends his hand to shake hers. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Derek works in the merger department,” I explain, putting my hands in my pockets instead of around her waist, knowing she would kill me.
“Mrs. Griffin.” He laughs. “Never thought I would see the day that you settle down.” He claps his hands like it’s a joke. “Especially since I know you like to play the field and keep all options open.”
The minute he says the words, I can see Zoey’s shield come up. “Well, when you find the one—” I start to say.
“Maybe when he’s out of town,” Derek says to Zoey, “we can go out and get to know each other.” If we weren’t in the office, I think I would punch him in the face.
“That sounds good,” she replies, but even by her tone, I know it’s never, ever going to happen. I also know that as soon as Derek is out of this office, we will be having words. “I’ll let you know.” She looks at him and then at me, and I don’t have a chance to do that because Lulu comes in with a brown take-out bag, and then Kailyn walks in, telling me I have a call with my parents in thirty minutes.
Derek and Kailyn start to chat when the phone rings from beside Zoey’s computer, and I look down in time to see it’s Josh. His name is on the top of the screen with a red heart beside it and the picture of the two of them together. Zoey steps forward and presses the side of the phone and turns it over, pissing me off. The whole thing from the time Derek opened his mouth to now seeing Josh call her and she turned it over, not sure if she was hiding it or not, I don’t even know. I’m feeling like I’m at the edge of the cliff, and someone just pushed me off.