Grace wasn’t like Addison. Grace worked for one thing, not just at a job but at a company she helped build.
Chris:Do you think Grace is trying to trap me for my money?
Eric:I think all women are trying to trap all men.
Josh:Eric just had a bad breakup. Don’t listen to him.
Josh:A number of our brothers have found very nice women.
Eric:Divorce her and move on. As soon as the six weeks are up, I’m sending the paperwork in to be filed.
Chris:Maybe this is my grandfather trying to send me a message. You know, from the beyond.
Josh:*Sigh.* Then you can start dating Grace after your money is secure.
Chris:What if I want to date her now?
Eric:Then you’re playing fast and loose with a ten-billion-dollar bonfire.
Josh:Look. You need to keep this marriage on a good note. Just be your usual charming self.
Chris:I think I might have fucked that up.
Josh:Fuck. OK, just go out there, be an adult, and apologize.
Eric:As much as I need you to get this divorce, I more so need you to divorce without Grace taking half your shit. So play nice. Don’t make her love you, but keep it in the neutral friends-with-benefits zone. You can date her a bit after then ghost her.
But I didn’t want to ghost her. I wanted Grace in my life forever.
But I might have already blown it.
Grace was in the living room, working on her laptop. Her glasses were perched on the bridge of her nose, and she made notes on a pad while she talked into her microphone to a bride.
She looked up and signaled to me, and I stood there awkwardly for a moment, feeling dumb. Of course Grace didn’t have it out for me. She worked too hard. If she had actually been trying to play me, she would be trying to ply me with wine or sex or a teary-eyed apology.
She ended the call, took off her headset, and sighed.
“Look, Chris…”
“Just let me,” I said in a rush. “I’m sorry, I just—” I shrugged helplessly. “Addison brings out the worst in me. I shouldn’t have stormed in there yelling. You were trying to have a business meeting. I’m sorry. I should have just left it alone.”
Grace stood up and tugged down the hem of her black shirt.
“I’m sorry too,” she said. “They never should have been here. Of course you don’t want your ex-girlfriend and her lackey in your home. The meeting was scheduled to be at my office later today. She’s a bridezilla and completely self-absorbed. I keep telling Ivy we need a bridezilla deposit. If the bride is a nutcase, she doesn’t get that money back.”
She crossed the room to take my hands. I laced our fingers together.
“You’ve had a hard day,” she said. “Let me buy you a drink.”
“That’s my line,” I growled playfully, wrapping my arms around her waist and kissing her, satisfied with the soft whimper she gave me.
“Besides,” I murmured to her. “I think I owe you a drink, no?”
* * *
“Is this place okay?”I asked Grace as the maître d' led us to a secluded corner of the busy Italian restaurant.
Grace gave me a guilty look.
