“Ellie!” Todd hissed from behind me. “Smile, walk forward, and wave at the cameras. Rick and I will flank you.” I stepped forward one step.
Todd and Rick placed hands on the small of my back, moving me forward. I pasted the most convincing smile I could muster on my face while Todd spoke to the press. He told them the designer of my dress, purse, and shoes, and even who made my jewelry. By the time he ran through everything I wore, we made it inside.
“Why didn’t you tell them who made my underwear?” I asked with a laugh as I gave them both a side hug. “Thank you for talking for me and for protecting me.”
“That’s a secret we’ll keep between you, me, and Victoria,” he said and pulled me further inside the lobby. “Let’s go up to the restaurant and meet the guys. The limo driver is driving them around to a service entrance.”
I was taken aback. “Why in the world would they go that way?”
“They said even though they were perfectly allowed to be out with you, they’d prefer not have their faces in the society columns if possible. It takes away from their serious image.”
“Okay, I can understand that. Hopefully, by the time this trial is done, the press will forget about me and go back to the socialites. Anyway, I got distracted by the press, but I know where we’re going. I’ve always wanted to eat here!”
“We’ve been trying to get reservations for ages. We were about to ask you to use your last name to get us some,” said Rick.
“Why didn’t you ask me before? I rarely use my name, might as well throw it around for you two.”
I freshened my lipstick on the long ride to the fiftieth floor. My hair still looked amazing. I was sure by the end of the night it wouldn’t be perfect, but it would be proof of a night of fun.
We stepped off of the elevator to a gorgeous view of the rotating restaurant. Even from our vantage point in the entryway, we could see the phenomenal view. The city lit up as twilight fell. I’d lived here all my life and still loved to watch it come alive at night.
Todd gave my last name to the hostess, and she took us to a large table on the edge of the rotunda, closest to the window. We settled in to wait for my sort-of dates. They walked in as the waitress filled our water glasses.
“That didn’t take long,” I said by way of greeting.
“We caught all green lights going around the building,” said Arch. I smiled at him, glad to be back in their company.
We perused the menu and put in our orders. I settled on the calamari. Gray bought a bottle of wine for the table, and by the time we all poured a glass, it was gone. Wes bought the next bottle. Conversation was stilted and awkward, and the guys gulped their wine.
“What’s going on, guys? You’re acting strangely.” They’d never seemed so uncomfortable around me.
“We want to talk to you,” said Wes.
“Rick, darling,” Todd cut in, “why don’t we go to the bar and enjoy the view from there for a moment.” Rick didn’t question, and they excused themselves, leaving me alone to my apparently serious conversation.
“Okay, guys. Let me have it,” I said, miserable. They didn’t want to be around me anymore, I knew it.
“We’re all three beginning to care for you,” Arch blurted out. “We’ve allowed becoming friends with you to grow to something more, which we didn’t mean to do.”
I didn’t understand. He meant they never wanted to flirt with me? Why did they, then?
“You intrigued all three of us. We figured out we all wanted to get to know you and decided we’d like to become friends with you. We agreed to try to keep it platonic, at least until you gave some indication of which one, if any of us, you’d like to date,” Gray’s voice pleaded with me. He wanted me to understand. “I know I, at least, have failed miserably at the friendship-only thing.”
“How do I respond to that? I care about you, too, but I care aboutallthreeof you. I don’t know what to do.” Misery flooded my heart. Learning more about each of them was supposed to make it easier to choose, but it was getting harder.
“Don’t worry about it for now,” Wes urged and grabbed my hand. “We’re with you through the trial. Until you’ve gotten that worry off of your mind, we’re your friends who care about you and happen to be attracted to you. We’ll figure out the rest when your life isn’t in such turmoil.”
“We’ll worry about it tomorrow,” I mulled. “Several tomorrows from now, actually.”
“That’s the grand plan we’ve come up with thus far,” Arch’s said in a dry voice.
“Okay. If my friendship is important to you, and you’re willing to wait until I win my case, then I’m in. Your friendships have become important to me, also.” One thing I knew for sure was I didn’t want to lose them. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t ignore the agony of the upcoming choice, but I also couldn’t face the three of them walking out of my life. The idea of it made me want to hyperventilate and cry.
Our food began to arrive, carried by waiters dressed to the nines. Todd and Rick returned to the table and soon we dug into the delectable cuisine instead of brooding on the conversation. Todd flashed me a questioning look at one point, and I shook my head. I’d fill him in later. He accepted it and returned to his conversation with Gray.
Dinner passed in a blur of city views and friendly banter. Before I knew it, we headed down to the waiting limo. We decided to exit the restaurant together. “If we’re going to be your friends, we aren’t going to hide it,” said Wes as we walked toward the doors.
I took Gray and Arch’s arms as we faced the society reporters. This time, I sent them a triumphant smile, instead of forced. I knew my stepmother would see the pictures of me with what she assumed were my lawyers on the front society page in the morning. And she couldn’t do a single thing about it.
