Elsie:At the wedding last week, one of the bridesmaids who had had too much to drink on an empty stomach said that Addison actually despised her fiancé and was constantly trash-talking him and saying how small he was compared to her last fiancé.
Sophie:There’s no way she fires us. Then she wouldn’t have a direct line to Chris through Grace.
Grace:Chris cannot be a sacrificial lamb for our wedding business.
Amy:Guy with a dong that big and thick isn’t a lamb in any sense of the word.
Ivy:Besides, technically in this scenario Grace is the sacrificial lamb!
I was concerned though. Chris had seemed stressed out just dealing with his parents. Once we divorced and I wasn’t there to run interference, what if Addison made a move on him and he fell back in her clutches?
Not your problem, I reminded myself as I turned back to my computer. But I couldn’t concentrate. The thing was, against my better judgment, I cared about Chris. I didn’t want to see him hurt. And I didn’t want him to be saddled to Addison or someone equally as horrible for the rest of his life.
It would be better if he were with me.
“Nope!” I said aloud, jumping up to pace around the office. “We are not going down that road. Chris and I are not meant to be together. It was due to a horrible twist of fate that we’re together now.”
But I liked being with him.
“Ugh, this is why we should have just got an annulment!” I complained, flopping on the couch. Everything was too complicated.
Besides, if Addison and Linneah did for some reason tell Chris about what had happened my freshman year of college, he would sprain something trying to hightail it out of the marriage.
“It’s best to just let the relationship die,” I told myself. But as I sat in front of the blank Word document on my computer, I was hit with a wave of sadness at the prospect of not having Chris as a fixture in my life. What would I do without him? Chris had quickly become a huge part of my life. To suddenly not have him…I practically couldn’t even imagine it.
The elevator dinged, and I sniffled, hastily wiping at my eyes. If Addison had returned, I could not show any weakness.
But it was Chris standing there, with that sexy, brilliant smile.
I smiled back at him, mad at myself for being so happy to see him but also filled with a warm feeling that was too close to love for comfort as he wrapped me in his strong arms.
“I missed you,” he murmured into my hair.
“I missed you too,” I said into his chest, breathing in his scent and relaxing.
Chris tipped my chin up and kissed me.
“Am I interrupting?”
“Nope,” I said, stupidly grateful for the excuse not to have to try to work on my article. “I needed a break anyway.”
53
Chris
“Iguess I should have clarified. I meant, are you busy for the next forty-eight hours?” I said to Grace as the car pulled up at the private airport.
She turned to me and propped her sunglasses on her head.
“I suppose I can take some time off,” she said, “but only because you’re so adorable!”
“Adorable?” I complained as she hopped out of the car. “I was named as one of the most attractive billionaires in the world. And adorable was not what was in the write-up about me.”
Grace paused a few steps above me on the plane steps. She leaned down and kissed me lightly.
“Nope. You’re adorable! I could just tie you up in a bow!”
I greeted the pilot and the flight attendants once on board the plane then sat in one of the plush leather chairs. Grace plopped down across from me. After the plane took off and we were up in the air, I waited expectantly for her to start telling me how amazing being in a private jet was and taking a bunch of selfies.
