She shook her head with a smile.
“Charlotte!”
We turned to see Sophie exiting the elevator.“I’m sorry I’m late!Traffic.”
“I thought you took the helicopter,” Charlotte said, giving and receiving air kisses from her friend.
“Air traffic,” Sophie clarified.
“Neil and El-Mudad didn’t come?”I was a bit disappointed.I wanted their reactions to the place.
“No, I told them this was for employees only.”Her eyes brightened.“But we’re not going to miss the soft launch.”
“We are, I’m afraid,” I said with an apologetic wince.
“You can’t.”Sophie looked between the two of us.“You’re the owners.”
“Wedding,” Charlotte said, her shoulders sagging in disappointment.
That only intensified Sophie’s visible confusion.“Wait… you guys didn’t like, not invite me to your wedding, right?Because last I knew, you hadn’t even set a date.”
“We haven’t,” Charlotte said quickly.“It’s my brother’s wedding.”
“And my sister’s.”It didn’t sound any less incestuous no matter how many times I said it, but I took asmall amount of comfort in knowing that Scott and Catherine would be going through the same thing.
“Okay.”Sophie frowned and shook a finger at both of us.“But hurry up, you two.I love free cake.”
“You’ll be the first to know,” Charlotte promised with a laugh.
“I’m going to go check this place out,” Sophie said, giving us a little wave.“I need to make sure they used the sofas we fought about for the third floor.”
Charlotte giggled and watched her friend head up the stairs before turning back to me.Her expression fell.“You’re not disappointed that we haven’t set the date yet, are you?”
I shook my head.“Not anymore.We’ve been engaged for a year.I don’t think you’re going to run away at this point.And if you plan to, let me know so I can shackle you to the wall.”
Despite her “no PDA” rule, she put her arms around my neck and rose up on her tiptoes for a quick kiss.“Is that a threat?”
She giggled and her nose wrinkled.Even with her polished new wardrobe, sleek hair, and flawless makeup, she was still the woman I’d met at my best friend’s first, disastrous wedding.
I’d written “no bears” on the RSVP card to his next one.
“Oh, it’s a promise, my princess,” I answered, nipping at her bottom lip.
She didn’t twist out of my embrace this time but laid her hands flat on my chest and gazed up into my eyes.
“That’s exactly what I was hoping you’d say.My dragon.”
