Page 37 of Nothing to the Wedding

“Women.I have limits.And that didn’t fly with you the other day.”

“Today it does.I’m returning ownership.”

“Rouge don’t accept returns.”

“I’m in my cooling off period, you have to,” she said.“It’s the law.”

He snickered, enjoying her in his faithful way.“Where exactly is it the law?”

“In England,” she declared, triumphant, because ha!“Which is where I picked up Tripp.”

Not that she remembered the salient details of that encounter.Didn’t need to with them plastered across the internet and all.She and Tripp met the night of the Logan Lowe dirty dancing incident.A long time ago.Long, long, couldn’t be too long, or too far away, a time ago.

“Tripp knows, huh?”

“He has his ways.”Which they both knew.She unzipped her dress.“Why am I on the nightstand?Where are you?”

“I’m here.”

“Yeah, your voice,” she said and sat up in the middle of the bed.“Casanova?”

“What’s wrong?”She was scooped up to show his face on the screen.“Lo?Baby?”

“There you are.”

Her expression responded to the joy of him.The vision was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.Still, this view always smacked her between the eyes… and between her legs, in a different way.

“Babe…?”

“Hey, handsome.”

“What happened?”

Oh, so serious.“What do you mean what happened?”she asked, slipping off the straps of her dress.“I like looking at you.”

All concern, the way he tipped his head to intensify his scrutiny, betrayed he wasn’t sure whether to believe her.

“Mm hmm.”

“And I’m about to get naked.You’d have to give up your playboy status if you voluntarily missed that.Don’t you like looking at me, Scroogey?”

“The more skin the better.”

“Good boy.”Time for a change of subject.“How are things going with the legacy board?”

“Lo—”

“I’m fine.Talk to me about Gramercy’s legacy board.”

On an exhale, he sat on their bed.“We’re making headway, but it’s precarious.One gives, which relies on another doing the same.Everybody’s jockeying.Men we thought were—that doesn’t matter.Lola, talk to me.”

“Did Kinloch arrive?”

“He’ll show up, eventually.”

“You’re never worried about him.He disappears for weeks and months at a time—we should spend more time with him.I want to know him better.”

“You’re a woman who likes indoor plumbing, remember?”