Page 69 of So Much More


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I hold my hands up in surrender. “You drive a hard bargain, Leslie Beckett.”

She shrugs. “How do you think I keep a loose cannon like Diego Sanchez in line?”

thirty

“Iknow exactly where we can go,” I say to Leslie when she stops by my office on her way out of work to talk to me about the girls’ weekend. “My aunt and uncle have a vacation home on Lake Geneva. There’s a small private beach, a dock with a boat and a couple of WaveRunners, and the house is amazing. The girls will love it.”

“That sounds perfect,” Leslie says, “but your aunt and uncle might be using it themselves next weekend.”

“Doubtful. They only go a few times a year. I don’t understand it, because if I owned that house, I’d be there every weekend. In fact, I think I spend more time there than they do. And if they’re planning to be there, the house is plenty big for all of us, and they’d get a kick out of hosting us. I’ll give Aunt Bonnie a call when I get home and get it all set up.” I tap my fingers on my desk. “What if we invite Melissa to go with us, too?”

“Ooo, yes, let’s. I want to get to know her better, and she’s already met the Hamilton sisters, and they like her. But we need to make sure not to say anything to her about the divorce. Ash said they don’t want anyone else to know yet, including Tonya and Sonya.”

“Got it. I’ll call Melissa when I get home tonight, too.” I flip open my day planner and check my work schedule. “I can take off at noon next Friday. If you can, too, that’ll give us plenty of time to pick up the girls and head out of the city before traffic gets crazy.”

“I can leave at noon. And I’ll make sure the girls can, too, but I’m guessing so, because they said they don’t have any plans. They said they’ll get their mom to drive them to another part of town to meet us, so hopefully nobody they know will see us with them.”

“Do you feel like we’re living in a soap opera, with all the drama and clandestine meetings surrounding the super-rich, powerful family of the men we’re dating?”

“Okay, first of all, you implied you and Randall are dating, which will need to be discussed. And second, yes, I do feel like I’m living in an alternate universe at times. The Hamilton world is so far removed from my own that it’s often mind boggling. But I wouldn’t trade Ash for anything, no matter how crazy things get with his family. Now, let’s talk about whether you and Randall are dating. Are you?”

“No.” I briefly close my eyes. “I don’t know. We’re saying we’re friends, but when I was with him Monday night, it didn’t feel much different from before. I’ll admit I’ve kind of been avoiding him at work since then, though.”

“That’s understandable, but you can’t do that forever.”

“I know. I’m just not sure how to act around him with an audience—especially withthisaudience.”

“I get that, but you’re going to have to figure it out.”

“I will. Keep reminding me of that, please.”

“Will do. Also, have you thought about when you’re going to call Andrea?” she asks.

“Oh! I forgot to tell you I talked to her the other night.” I tell her about the conversation.

“I’m glad you two hit it off. Do you think you’ll try to meet her soon?”

“I haven’t had much time to think about it, but yeah, probably in the next month or two.”

“If you want to go to Little Rock, I can go with you,” she says. “We can stay at Shannon’s place. He has an extra bedroom.”

“That would be great. I’d like to go there instead of meeting her somewhere else, because I’d like to meet Emily, too, if Andrea decides she’s ready for that.”

Leslie smiles at me. “You have a niece.”

I smile right back. “Awesome, right?”

“I’ll talk to my brother this week and see if there’s any weekends that wouldn’t be good for him, and then when you’re ready, we’ll start making plans.”

“Perfect.”

“What’s perfect?” Randall asks from the doorway. “Me?”

“Hardly.” Leslie rolls her eyes.

“Okay,” he concedes as he leans against the doorframe, “I can see how neither of you would think I’m perfect at the moment. But I want to try to fix that. How about the four of us go out Saturday night and have some fun? I’ll be on my best behavior. I promise.”

Butterflies take up residence in my belly, and I move my gaze from his eyes to Leslie’s. She quirks an eyebrow at me and gives a slight nod, giving me the green light for her and Ash while letting me make the decision. I return my focus to Randall, who wears an earnest and hopeful expression.