Page 34 of The Grump I Loathe (The Lockhart Brothers #3)
CONNOR
“ W hiskey on the rocks,” I said to the bartender at the wedding reception.
“Wanna make it a double?”
I shook my head. I was taking things slow.
One, because it was my job to be Grace’s dance partner tonight.
Two, because I’d rather not be hungover when I had to get us back to San Francisco tomorrow.
And three, I needed to have my head in the game should any of Ali’s industry guests want to talk shop.
I took my glass and sipped the amber liquor, watching Leigh spin Grace around on the dance floor.
I wasn’t having an awful time, but I certainly wasn’t enjoying spending my night at my ex’s wedding.
Frankly, I’d rather be hanging out with Eddie and Grace in the hotel room, watching some crappy reality TV and eating our way through a king-sized bag of M&M’s.
Speaking of Eddie…I tried to find her in the crowd. I’d been as careful as I could not to let my gaze linger too long, not to give an yone reason to question what might be going on between us, but it hadn’t been easy to look away from her when she was so gorgeous.
The glittery, midnight-blue dress she wore clung to her hips in a way that demanded attention. My attention. I wanted to run my hands over her curves and pull her close and inhale the sweetness of her skin as I twirled her around the dance floor.
I frowned. What the hell was I thinking? What the hell was I doing? Letting my eyes linger in the hopes of getting a glimpse of our secret little spy signal?
I turned away, leaning against the bar as I pulled my phone out, scanning my emails. I opened one from my lawyer that had arrived fifteen minutes ago—that man never slept.
We can try to get Ali to agree to a more formal custody arrangement , Ben wrote, but we’d probably have to go back to court. If you’re prepared to start that process again, I’ll draw up the paperwork this week.
I sighed. I didn’t want to turn this into that kind of spectacle, but I didn’t see any other way forward.
I responded. Let’s go ahead with it.
I stuffed my phone away, trying to put that drama from my mind for the night.
My focus for the evening was keeping Grace happy, which included letting her at the massive chocolate fountain Ali had ordered for the dessert table.
A strange bout of frustration overwhelmed me as I glanced around, taking in the sheer lavishness of the event.
When Ali and I did this, it had been in a courthouse.
I’d worn a goddamn tuxedo shirt Finn had laying around.
It hadn’t had any of this…spectacle. Frankly, we hadn’t seen the need for it.
We both knew it wasn’t a fairy-tale marriage, but we’d been okay with that.
We’d ma de promises to each other for Grace’s sake.
Maybe I’d been an idiot for ever thinking that would be enough.
Grace had disappeared from my side, and I scanned the floor again.
My gaze drifted back and forth, finally spotting her at Ali’s table, tugging on her dress to get her attention.
Ali shook her head, brushing her off, completely absorbed in catching up with some out-of-town friends.
Grace made a disgruntled face, then slumped away, head down.
Anger gathered in my chest, burning as I downed my whiskey. I pulled out my phone again, messaging my lawyer. The sooner the better .
If I couldn’t convince Ali to prioritize Grace, maybe the law could.
I returned to the floor and caught Grace by the arm, giving her a big smile as I swept her into another dance.
Eddie had made her way to the floor, and we spun past her several times.
Each time she was in the arms of a different LockMill employee, grinning and laughing and having fun she should have been having with me .
That thought sent a spike of jealousy shooting through me.
“Can I get a snack?” Grace asked as the song ended.
I nodded. “Just go easy on the fondue station.”
She gave me a devilish grin. I snapped a photo, sending it off to Mom. I knew it was the middle of the night in Italy, but I’d hardly heard from her since they’d landed, nothing but a single picture from her this morning—Mom posed in front of a beautiful Italian vista.
Early morning on set with X.
She’d sent nothing since.
An hour later, I was back at the bar when Sawyer cornered me. He smelled overwhelmingly of woody aftershave, wore his blond hair slicked back, and had had a drink in his hand since the moment the minister finished talking.
He clapped me on the shoulder, fingers tightening in a way that had me straightening, my eyes narrowing. “Take your hand off me,” I said, an edge to my voice.
He held onto his smile, but there was nothing friendly about it. “Care to explain why Ali’s lawyer is calling her in the middle of her wedding?”
Shit . My hand automatically went to reach for my phone.
When I’d said “the sooner the better,” I should have specified to my lawyer to wait until after tonight .
Okay, that was on me. I’d crossed a line.
But nursing my third drink of the night, I was starting to think that maybe this was the wakeup call Ali needed.
“Did you really have to ruin things?” Sawyer said, his face shifting, revealing how pissed he was.
“Look,” I said. I had no intention of apologizing to him .
“I’ve been good about this for months, giving Ali the space to figure things out, plan her wedding, drop virtually all parental responsibility for Grace.
But the wedding is sorted, and Grace misses her.
And your ‘not-stepdad material’ bullshit is making Ali throw Grace under the bus. ”
Sawyer shook his head. “Grace has a father. She isn’t looking to me for that.”
“She also has a mother , and it’s bullshit that you’re getting in the way of that relationship,” I growled.
Sawyer prodded me in the chest. “You just don’t like that she’s moved on.”
“Back off,” I warned .
“Get over it, Lockhart. Get over her .”
I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. Did he really think that was what this was about?
“I could not give less of a shit about who Ali is with. I don’t want her to be my wife.
I don’t want her to be my girlfriend. With the way she’s acting lately, I don’t even want her to be my friend .
But whether we like it or not, she is Grace’s mother, and it’s damn well time she got back to acting like it. ”
Sawyer didn’t even hear me. He was like a bull who just couldn’t stop charging at the red flag. “I’m here to make sure Ali gets what’s best for her. And that’s not communication from her goddamn lawyer tonight of all nights.”
“Well, it’ll give her something to think about during the honeymoon.”
Sawyer’s eyes narrowed. “Call off the lawyer, Lockhart. At least until we get back from our honeymoon.”
“No,” I growled. I wasn’t going to be pushed around by this guy.
“If you do,” he reasoned, “maybe I won’t feel so compelled to have a talk with the head of that lovely distribution company you’re signing with tomorrow.”
“Talk about what?” I said, my hackles rising.
“About the way you and that woman with the teal hair keep eye-fucking each other. Was I not supposed to notice? Half of the wedding has figured out that you’re screwing each other.
Her name’s Eddie, right? One of your employees at LockMill, isn’t she?
LockMill, where you have that new no-dating policy? ”
What the fuck did he just say? I blinked like I’d heard him wrong.
“I’m sure Mr. Singh would be really interested to know that the CEO of LockMill likes to screw his employees,” Sawyer said lightly .
I swallowed hard, my hand clenching around my glass as I glared at him. “Don’t ever threaten me again, Sawyer. You won’t like the results.”
I couldn’t afford to lose this distribution deal when we were a month from shipping the game. If Pavilion backed out, we’d have nothing but a whole lot of code and wasted time. No Juni Protocol. No nothing. But I wasn’t going to put up with his shit, either.
Anger burned in my chest, but my words were drowned out by the emcee.
“And now!” he thundered. “I want to welcome Grace and Ali to the floor for a special mother-daughter dance!”
“Call off the lawyer,” Sawyer said, grabbing the lapel of my jacket.
“No.” I shoved him off. Shadow be damned. Grace had to come first. She would always come first. Ali might let herself get distracted, but I’d never choose a game over my daughter. I opened my mouth to tell Sawyer my lawyer expected a prompt response, but then?—
Crash!