Page 69
“Hi, Sugar!”
“Jace, I swear to God, if you smile at me one more time, I'm reporting your dimples to the auth... authooorities.”
“On what charges?” he asks, sounding delighted.
“Aggravated attractiveness. With intent to seduce.”
Trey slaps the bar, howling, while I attempt to regain control of a conversation that has somehow turned into a group conference call.
“And Elias! I know your big blond ass is listening, too.”
There's a low rumble of an engine, followed by Jace complaining about Elias's driving.
“I'm here, Little Doe.”
I clutch my chest. The nerve of this man, speaking in that voice when I'm trying to conduct serious business.
“Oh, that's just rude.”
“What is?”
“Your voice. You sound like you could build me a house and then tell me where to kneel in it.”
“GIRL!” Trey hollers.
I swat at his arm, miss entirely, and nearly slide off my stool trying again. He catches my elbow without interrupting his laughter.
“Stop interrupting my business meeting!”
“Business meeting?” Nate repeats.
“Yes. This is a very serious dis... dis-cussion about professional boun... boondiaries.” I straighten my shoulders, determined to recover some dignity, only to lose my train of thought when a woman walks past wearing the most gorgeous glittering platform heels I've ever seen. “Ohhh, Trey. Look at her shoes! I need to ask her where she got 'em.”
“Focus, baby girl.”
“Right!” I bring the phone back to my ear. “As I was saying, you three are a public nuisance, and I will be submitting my complaint in writing. On Monday. Maybe Tuesday. Depending on my recovery.”
My phone slips against my cheek, and I fumble to reposition it. Why does everything feel so slippery tonight? Even my fingers seem to have resigned from their responsibilities.
Nate's voice returns, impossibly controlled. “Sloane. Tell me where you are.”
I sigh. “Do you do anything besides frown? You didn't even ask about my mani-pedi.”
I can almost see Nate pushing up his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. “How was your mani-pedi?”
“Gorgeous, thank you for asking. My toes match my nails, and I have no one to enjoy them.”
"Enjoy them?" Elias questions.
"Yeah," I say with a duh tone. "Y'know women get their toes done so you can have something pretty hanging off your shoulder while your face is—"
"And that's enough of that." Trey cuts me off, taking my phone. “Listen, it's clear that my girl's brain has taken a vacation, so there will be no more phone calls tonight. M'kay.”
Whatever Nate says makes Tre roll his eyes before hanging up on him. "Nope, not doing that."
I guess that's meeting adjourned.
For approximately five glorious seconds, I enjoy the satisfaction of having won an argument with Nathaniel Blackwell. Then a very attractive man slides into the empty space beside me.
