That melting sensation I often got with her was back.
I didn't like it.
Nonetheless,I ran a short cost/benefit analysis and decided to give in if it meant avoiding any further conflict with Sunny. These last two weeks had been…I struggled to put it into words. Better than I’d expected. Much, much better.
Sunny wasn’t just sexy. She was interesting. Pleasant and challenging at the same time in ways that not only kept me coming back for more but also made it hard for me to spend as much time at the office as I used to because I knew she was waiting for me in the penthouse.
I found myself not wishing to disturb the equilibrium we’d established over the last few weeks.
So that was how I ended up having dinner with Nora and the woman I was pretending was my fiancée in order to keep my grandmother from giving her shares to my brother.
But my resignation to eating dinner with the relative I could barely stand to look at these days turned into feeling like luck was truly on my side when Nora came shuffling into the high-end Japanese steak restaurant slightly stooped over.
“Sorry I’m late, luvs,”she called out as she approached us.“Max showed up just as I was leaving. He’s a terrible one for arriving on your doorstep without any notice.”
“Nora!”Sunny said, her eyes filled with worry.
We both stood up. I did so because Nora had raised me to at least act like a gentleman when she joined me at a table, and Sunny did so in a rush to take Nora by the arm and help her into the booth.
“We could postpone if you're...”Sunny threw me a wretched look.“Having a bad day.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,”Nora insisted.“Just a little tight around the edges. Besides, I’ve never missed a first Tuesday of the month with my Benton Girls yet, and I’m not going to let a little pain keep me away from my fun—or my old fashioneds!”
Right on cue, a waiter showed up and set one of the Glendaver bourbon cocktails my grandmother favored down in front of her with a smile and a warm greeting for Nora.
I was aware that“tight around the edges”meant Nora was recovering from yet another cosmetic procedure. But Sunny didn’t have to know that.
Talk about an opportunity.
“You should probably lay off the booze tonight, Grandma."I stretched an arm over Sunny's shoulder. "No accounting for how it might react with your other medications.”
"You called me Grandma!"Nora beamed at me over her tumbler of alcohol. Then turned to Sunny and repeated,“He called me Grandma! He never calls me that—only Nora, like I'm one of his employees.”
Nora squeezed Sunny’s arm.“See there, Iknewyou would be a good influence on him! Didn't I say that?—Yo, you there!"
The effect of Nora's happy words was somewhat negated when she flagged down a passing waiter and instructed him to"tell that other one to put in an order for another of these beauties. I want to make sure I've got at least two of them in me before the start of my show!"
Sunny fretted her hands. "Nora, I think Cole is right about?—"
"Aw, now don't you go trying to tell me what to do, too, like this grandson of mine,"Nora countered with a raise of her drink before Sunny could finish agreeing with me."Only got so much time left on this Earth, and I'll do as I wish—Oh, here's the good fella now with our appetizer. It's almost enough to make you not mind about Coley always making us put in our orders ahead of time, just like his grandfather."
She touched the waiter's arm as he set a bowl of carrot and ginger soup down in front of her. "Now, I have an extremely important question. Did the other fella give you my drink order?"
Nora turned back to Sunny after being assured her second old fashioned was on its way."I can tell by how unnecessarily close the two of you are sitting that things are going quite well in the sex department! Does The Third get off on trying to boss you around, like his grandfather? Especially in bed? I can tell you're a sweet little kitten in bed, but listen to me close, Sunny darling, make sure you reverse those positions at least once or twice a season. Neither Coleridge would ever admit it, but they need a little dominatrix action after a big day of telling everybody else what to do...."
"Nora..."Sunny chided, covering her cheeks and ducking her head. "Can we please, please,pleasechange the subject?”
Shecould barely keep the distressed look off her face.
And I could barely keep the sly smile off mine.
Ethical or not, my plan was falling into place perfectly, and I was getting everything I wanted.
* * *
“What the hell, Cole?”Sunny's voice came blaring out of my speakerphone the next day when Agnes patched her through to my office.“Why’d you take away my car privileges?”
As I turned down the volume on my phone, I considered giving her the number to my personal line. Again.
