Page 30 of The Wrong Husband

Tough crowd, but I’m glad her friends are protective of her. I fold myself into the chair.

It’s like a trigger for her friends to excuse themselves.

"Uh, I think I have somewhere to be." Zoey rises to her feet.

"But we haven’t even started talking about our newest book,” Harper protests.

"Let’s postpone it to our next book club meeting…" Grace sends her a warning look, then grabs her bag and hooks it over her shoulder. She pushes her chair back and holds out her hand. "I’d say it’s good to meet you, Connor, but that’s going to depend on whether you’re able to convince Phe about your intentions.”

Harper seems to finally get the message that the other women have been trying to signal to her. She pushes her chair back, rises to her feet, and grabs her handbag. "It’s so lovely that you made it, Phoenix. I hope you’ll make it to our next book club meeting.”

"I don’t think I’ll have time to read a book in advance," Phoenix warns.

"The book club is only an excuse. It’s more a chance for us to meet and catch up. I promise, we won’t spoil any of them for you." Zoey squeezes her shoulder.

"You can spoil them. It’s the only way I’ll find out what they’re about." She hugs Zoey, then Harper and Grace. "I’m so glad I made it today, you guys."

Zoey signals that she’s watching me.

With a chorus of goodbyes, a wink from Harper, a speculative glance from Grace, and a final warning look from Zoey—which I interpret asdon’t mess with our friend—the three women leave.

“I’ll be in my office tallying the proceeds,” Skylar says, giving me a long, unreadable look before heading to the front door.

Yeah. Message received. My sister-in-law just made it very clear, Phoenix isn’t alone.

I try to convey—wordlessly—that she has nothing to fear from me. Skylar just widens her gaze, her expression cool and cautious. She’s reserving judgment.

She flips the sign to Closed and locks the door. “You can unlatch it when you leave. I’ll hear the bell and come out to lock up.”

Then she disappears behind the counter and through the kitchen door, leaving us alone.

Silence descends.

Phe turns to me. “Of all the ERs in London; you walked into mine. Were you already following me?” Her gaze narrows. “Is that why you were there at the very moment the cat needed to be rescued.”

Woman’s smart. Sooner or later, she’s going to put things together and figure out how I came to be here. It’s best I keep ahead of her.

I pull out my phone and message James to let him know that I’m about to share everything with his sister.

If I want her to really see me, I can no longer keep her in the dark.

Then I pocket my device, take a deep breath and tell her "You're right. I've been following you."

11

Phoenix

What the—? He confessed that he followed me. Hadn’t expected to hear that from him.Or perhaps, I had?

Perhaps, my hindbrain was alerted the moment he walked into the coffee shop that, surely, I wasn’t likely to see this man who made such an impact on me so soon again?

Perhaps, it's my subconscious that feels there's more here than meets the eye. But asking him is one thing.

And him confessing that he orchestrated our meeting in the ER is…not what I’d bargained for.

"I… I’m not sure I understand." I clear my throat.

"I don’t mean any harm." He raises his hands in a gesture that’s meant to reassure me.