Page 28 of Fake Wife
“What can I say?” I shrug. “Sometimes a little rear-ending ends up making a girl happy.”
He laughs at my joke, and instead of releasing my hand, he yanks me out of Corbin’s hold and hugs me. “Beautiful. I like you. You ever want to hit something else, I can help you.”
Corbin whisks me back to his side like I’ve become the new toy.
Caitlin’s hand lands on Trey’s chest, smacking him against what I can only imagine is one perfect and hard chest. “Shut up, you moron.”
“Back to the dick jokes,” Corbin says. “Do you ever grow up?”
“God, I hope not.” Trey takes a large drink from his glass, beer I assume, which is surprising. In a room filled with the richest of the rich in Portland, I wouldn’t think beer would be on the menu. Trey doesn’t look like he gives a shit, either. Dressed in a black suit, white shirt, and pink tie, he’s one of the few men not in a tux. I have a feeling Trey enjoys dancing to the beat of music only he can hear. “Adulting is for losers.”
Caitlin snorts, shoving him again. “Yeah, us folks that have to work real jobs for a living to pay our bills are so worthless.”
“Hey, I work.”
“Yeah, in your pajamas and from your bed.”
“Make more than you do.”
She sticks out her tongue, making a face at Trey, and turns to me. “Don’t let either of these guys get away with crap. I’ve known them long enough to know their egos are too big.”
“Along with other parts of me.”
“God, Trey.” She rolls her eyes, but keeps her attention on me. “Trust me, their egos are bigger than their dicks. I’ve seen them after they get out of the water.” She jerks her thumb back. “Especially this guy’s.”
She turns to the bar as Trey’s jaw drops. Completely defiant, he argues, “Hey! The river was cold. Haven’t you ever heard of the shrinkage factor?” His eyes snap to me. “Trust me. That water was fucking cold. Don’t listen to a single word she says.” He leans in, and his voice drops to a whisper. “She’s a witch. I swear it. All that bright red hair makes her evil, evil, evil.”
I’m way too far lost in the conversation to follow. Are they together? Friends? Related? Enemies? Frenemies? My mind is spinning. I’m jolted by Corbin’s body shaking against mine as he roars with laughter.
I look at him and he grins at me. “Don’t listen to either of them. They both suck.”
“Blowing’s more my thing,” Caitlin says. “And trust me, Teagan. You stay with this guy you’ll need all the friends you can get. Anything you want to know about him, I’m your girl. With the dirt I have on them that hasn’t hit the headlines, I could make more millions than either of them have combined.”
“Yeah, that’s why you’re still our friend, shrimp,” Corbin teases. “Because of the blackmail factor.”
If she’s offended by the shrimp comment—and she is quite petite, at least several inches shorter than I am—she doesn’t show it. She makes a face at Corbin and swigs back the rest of her champagne. “Whatever. You both love me and you know it.” A serious expression settles on her face and she turns to me again. “But honestly, these guys are good people. Better than most. And if you have questions, ask. Sometimes it’s difficult navigating the minefields of the bitchy women we’ve all known since our nannies were getting drunk during playdates before we started grammar school. You have questions, ask me. In fact, give me your phone. I’ll give you my number. We should do lunch.”
For someone so small, she has quite the powerful presence. I pull my phone out of my clutch and hand it to her without thinking. Perhaps Trey is correct and she is a witch. I don’t need any bad voodoo magic going on in my life right now.
With perfectly manicured fingers, a bright red that matches her hair and complements her silver dress perfectly, she taps wildly on my phone before handing it back to me.
“I’ve entered my name and number and texted myself so I have yours. I’ll call you tomorrow and we’ll do lunch. Have a girls’ day. Oh! I’ll take you shopping!”
“Um—”
I glance at Corbin for help. This girl really is a bulldozer, and I’m not sure lunch without him is so great yet. He saves me. “I think we’re busy tomorrow, and Sunday we have dinner with my mom.”
Caitlin’s nose scrunches. “Bummer. I hate shopping alone. No matter, we’ll set it up and I’ll call you. Do you work?”
It’s an innocent question, one I wish I could answer honestly. Instead, the answer could easily give them a really bad impression of me even if they’ve been kind so far. “Until last week I worked at the Portland Library, downtown location, but I was laid off.”
“Oh.” Her mouth opens and her gaze flickers to Trey before turning back to me. Like I expect, it doesn’t sound good. Not if they know I’ve moved in with Corbin.
Fortunately, Corbin’s hand slides to my lower back as he says, “Dinner’s starting. Let’s grab our seats, shall we?”
“You got it,” Trey says. “I never miss an opportunity to shove my face full of something sweet and delicious.”
“Gross,” Caitlin mutters, but she walks with him and we follow.
