“And what if I weren’t?” she retorted, shaking him off.
“Weston is too young for you,” Hunter said flatly.
“You don’t know, I may like older women,” Weston joked.
Blade grabbed Hunter’s arm before he could sock Weston in the jaw.
“We have a nice dinner planned. He cannot show up with a bloody face,” Blade insisted, herding everyone outside.
“Then he shouldn’t have brought my—”
“Your what?” Meghan asked sharply as she angrily wrenched the car door open before the chauffeur could hurry to do it. “You and I are not anything, so you better enjoy your underwear model.” Meg stepped into the car, and Hunter clambered in beside her.
“I don’t want to sit next to you,” Meghan said, moving over. Weston tried to insert himself between Hunter and Meg. Hunter growled.
“Fuck,” Blade muttered as he helped me into the car. “We are so losing that contract.”
30
Blade
The car pulled up in front of La Papillon,an old-school French restaurant. Meghan and Hunter were studiously ignoring each other.
“What is your problem?” I growled to Weston as I helped Avery out of the car.
“She’s the mayor of Harrogate. It’s better than bringing some arm candy to what is supposed to be a business dinner.”
“That’s Hunter’s Meghan.”
“She’s her own woman; she can do what she likes,” Weston countered.
I shook my head as we walked up to the restaurant. Weston had always been impulsive. He could also be dangerously charming and persuasive. I didn’t think anyone else could have convinced Meghan to come to Manhattan.
The Holbrooks were waiting at the bar. It seemed we had all arrived early. Grant Holbrook, head of Holbrook enterprises, didn’t even bother to pretend to be professional when he saw Hunter.
“You don’t even work at ThinkX,” he said brusquely.
Carter Holbrook stood beside his cousin, arms crossed. They had the same dark hair, ice-blue eyes, and a way of carrying themselves that screamed, “I am an asshole.”
“Svensson Investment owns a large portion of it. We are also very invested in Harrogate, which will be the new headquarters.”
“I heard,” Grant said and smirked. “Can’t hack it in Manhattan.”
“Stop,” his wife Kate ordered. She hugged Meghan. “It’s so good to see you, girlfriend.” She looked over at Svetlana. She was too posh to actually raise an eyebrow, but I could tell Kate Holbrook had the same thought we all had when we saw Svetlana.
“She could have at least covered up that tattoo,” Avery muttered under her breath. Kate politely gave a one-armed hug to Avery.
“And there’s our project manager,” Grant said as Avery’s father and her future brother-in-law, Trevor, arrived with her stepmother and sister. The bar was feeling very crowded.
Cassie, Avery’s sister, looked her up and down and scoffed, “Nice dress.” Avery glared at her.
The tension in the bar ratcheted up. Where were the Schultzes? I wanted this evening to be over as soon as possible.
“Considering she’s on the front pages of all the tabloids, she has to look the part,” Avery’s stepmother said. Avery was tense beside me.
Finally the Schultzes arrived with Stacy. She had a red-haired man with her. At least her date seemed normal.
“Oh look, everyone’s here already,” Stacy exclaimed to the Schultzes. “I told you the guys would be on time.”
