"And Sophie's that girl."
"I'm not saying that. I'm just saying Celine isn't. As for my job, I'm not going to get fired over this. Roger knows I'm an asset to the company. He's not going to get rid of me because I broke up with his daughter."
"Are you sure about that? She's daddy's little girl."
"Exactly, so he wants her to be happy. She won't be happy with me. I think even Celine knows that. She's just not willing to admit it."
"When are you going to tell her?"
"I haven't decided. I wanted to do it this weekend but we're going to her friend's wedding on Saturday. She'd kill me if I didn't go with her after I told her I would."
"Then tell her on Sunday. You can't keep putting this off. It's not fair to either one of you. If this is really what you want, then end it. Don't wait."
I take a big gulp of my beer, knowing he's right but not feeling ready to tell her. I don't know why I'm waiting. I just need to do it.
My phone rings but I ignore it, assuming it's something work-related that I can deal with tomorrow. As it continues to ring, I glance down and see Sophie's name on the screen.
"Holy shit," I say, scrambling to pick up the phone. "It's her." I answer the call. "Hey, how's it going?" I say, trying to sound cool.
"Aiden? It's Sophie."
My pulse races hearing her voice. I love her voice. Soft and low. Sexy, yet sweet.
"I'm glad you called." I turn away from Pete. "I was getting worried when I didn't hear from you. I wanted to make sure you made it home safe."
"Sorry. I should've got back to you, but I wasn't sure if I should call."
"Why not?"
"Because I..." I hear her take a breath. "I didn't think it'd be right. I didn't want to upset your girlfriend."
"I told her about you. She knows we're just friends. So that's the reason you haven't returned my messages?"
"That, and I've been busy. Work has been crazy."
"Same here. It's been nonstop since I got back. So how have you been?"
"Okay. Like I said, I've been working a lot. I could really use a break. That's kind of why I'm calling."
I wait for her to explain.
"When's the next time you're meeting up with your friends?"
"We're all getting together tonight. Why?"
"Were you serious when you said you might be able to set me up with one of them?"
"Um, yeah, I guess." I turn back to Pete. "That's why you're calling? To have me set you up with someone?"
"You don't have to. I just really need a break from work and I thought maybe I should get back out there and try dating again. You said you're meeting up with your friends tonight?"
"I'm at the bar right now. My friend, Pete, is here and the other guys are joining us later."
"Would you mind if I stopped by? You can totally say no if this is a guys only thing. I don't want to mess up your guys' night."
"It's not a guys' night. A few of the guys have girlfriends. Sometimes they show up. Sometimes they don't. You're totally welcome to come if you want."
"I do. I really need to get out of my apartment. What's the name of the bar?"
I give her the name and address.
"I'll be there in about an hour."
"See you soon." I end the call, looking at Pete. "She's coming here."
"Sophie? Did she say why?"
"She wants to go on a date."
"With who?"
"With one of our friends. I told her I'd set her up." I rub my hand over my jaw. "Shit. Why did I tell her that?"
"Because they're single and you're not."
I blow out a breath. "What am I going to do? She's going to want to go out with one of them. Or maybe she'll want to go out with you."
He shrugs. "I don't know what to tell you. You got yourself into this. You have to find a way out."
"Hey." Tanner appears behind us. "Let's get a table."
Tanner's a lawyer at a nonprofit that works to keep garbage out of the ocean. I could totally see him dating someone like Sophie. He's decent looking, laid-back, and originally from a small town in Ohio. He broke it off with his girlfriend last summer when she tried to get him to take a job that pays more. He hasn't dated anyone since.
We move to a long table and three other guys show up: John, a high school history teacher; Will, an orthodontist; and Griffen, an investment banker. I have an odd assortment of friends. Some are struggling to pay rent and others have more money than they can spend. I'm in the middle. I make more than enough to pay my bills but not enough that I can throw money away like Griffen does. He buys us all at least a few rounds of drinks every time we go out.
"What's everyone doing this weekend?" Tanner asks.
We all groan, knowing what he's about to ask. Every weekend Tanner has a new clean-up event going on. Cleaning up trash on the road or in the park or along the river. We don't mind pitching in, and we've done it many times, but every weekend is too much.
"I can't this weekend," I tell him. "I need to catch up on work."
"I'm going to see my parents," Griffen says. "It's my dad's birthday."
"Your dad's birthday's in August," Tanner says.
Griffen shrugs. "Then I'm busy doing something else."
"You don't even know what I was going to ask."
We all give him the look that says we know, and we're not doing it.
"This isn't a clean-up event. I have free tickets to a new rock climbing place. I was going to ask if any of you want to go."
None of us answer.
"Seriously? It's free, and it's something to do."
"We live in New York," Will points out. "There's a million things to do."
"So nobody wants to go?"
"I would," I say, "but my weekend is full. I have to work and then Celine and I are going to a wedding."
"Take a girl," Pete says to Tanner. "Turn it into a date."
"What girl do you know who would agree to that? Find me one and I'll ask her."
We all look at each other, none of us able to come up with anyone. The girls we know want to spend their weekends at art galleries or a play or out shopping, not climbing a wall. The only girl I could think of who might do it is Sophie, but I'm not going to suggest her.
I check my phone for the time. Sophie will be here soon. I wonder if she'll leave when she sees there aren't any other women here.
"Is your girlfriend stopping by?" I ask Griffen.
"That ended last weekend. I thought I told you."
"No. What happened?"
"She moved. Took a job in Sweden."
"Just like that? She's already gone?"
"She left on Monday. She might be back. It's a contract job, only for six months. We didn't want to do the long distance thing so we ended it."
"What about you?" I say to Will. "Is Heidi coming?"
He sets his drink down as he shakes his head. "We're taking a break."
"Which means it's over," Tanner says.
"Pretty much." Will leans back in his chair. "It wasn't going anywhere. It's time to move on."
"So everyone's single?" I ask. "This is a first."
"Everyone but you," Will says. "Is Celine showing up tonight?"
"I don't know. She wasn't sure."
The guys look at each other, like they're all thinking the same thing, that they hope Celine doesn't show up. She can be kind of intense, meaning she talks nonstop and yells at the staff if the service doesn't meet her standards. It makes everyone feel uptight, which is the last thing we want when we come here to relax after a long day.
Pete looks past me. "Looks like we have our answer."
I follow his eyes to the door and see Celine walking in, wearing a camel-colored trench coat and large sunglasses, and holding one of her many designer purses. Her blond hair hangs in a soft waves around her narrow face and swings when she walks. She's a beautiful woman, the type that makes guys stop and stare, but then they meet her and see that her personality isn't so beautiful.
<
br /> I've thought about ending things with her since last summer but kept holding out hope things would get better between us. We've even talked about breaking up, but it never happened. I need to stop putting it off and just end it. There's a chance her father will fire me but I doubt it'll happen. He values me too much to lose me, and he knows his daughter and I haven't been getting along.
"Hey, babe," she says, coming up beside me and kissing my cheek. "Move, please," she says to Griffen, who's next to me.
He lets out a sigh as he moves to the other side of the table, giving the guys a look of annoyance. They should be more understanding. It's not like they haven't dated girls the rest of us didn't like.
"I had the worst day," Celine says as she takes a seat. "The caterer I hired for the firm's client dinner cancelled and now I have to search for a new one. You know how impossible it is to find someone this late?"
"The dinner isn't for weeks," I say.
"Yes, but it's on a Saturday when every caterer in the city is busy with weddings and other events. Daddy's going to be furious when he finds out."
Celine and I both work for her father's investment firm but she's more of an on-call employee who gets paid a full time salary. When we have an event or need something catered, she arranges it or manages someone else who arranges it. She says she likes doing it and yet she complains about it constantly, saying how stressful it is, even though she only works a few hours a week.
"I'm sure you'll find someone else," I tell her. "How do you like being back at school?" I ask John, since he hasn't said much tonight.
"It's okay. A lot of drama with the administration. I might start looking for another job."
Celine looks at him like he's the most boring person on the planet. She's easily bored. It's hard to keep her attention.
"Where are you thinking of looking?"
Before he can answer, Celine says, "Could one of you boys flag down the waitress for me? I'm dying for a glass of wine."
"I'll get it," I tell her, getting up to go to the bar. "Chardonnay?"
"Yes. Thanks, babe." She gives me the smile that says I did a good job. I hate that smile. It's so condescending, and one of the many reasons we need to break up. I should love my girlfriend's smile, not be annoyed by it.
When I return with her glass of wine, I stop in my tracks when I see someone walking in. We lock eyes and I smile at her. She smiles back. She has a beautiful smile. I can't imagine ever being annoyed by that smile, or ever being tired of seeing it. I've been wanting to see it for weeks now, since the last time I saw her.
My heart's beating out of my chest seeing her there, just a few feet away. I wasn't sure I'd ever see her again, but now that I have, all those feelings are flooding back. Feelings I've tried to deny, knowing I'm with someone else.
"Aiden, what's taking so long?" Celine says, startling me. "Why are you just standing there?"
I look back at her, noticing the stark contrast between my girlfriend and Sophie. They're both beautiful women but only one makes my heart beat out of my chest. Only one sparks something in me I can't put into words. It's an energy, an excitement, a feeling that the thing I've been looking for is finally right here in front of me. Something I didn't even know I wanted.
Continuing to the table, I set down the glass of wine then walk swiftly to the front of the bar where Sophie is standing.
I look her in the eye and smile. "Hi. I'm glad you came."
Chapter Seven
Sophie
My stomach's doing flip-flops and my heart's banging against my chest seeing Aiden again. I've thought about him nonstop since that night at the inn when he said goodbye to me at my door. I almost called him every day since, but stopped myself before I did, knowing it's wrong. Knowing he has someone else.
"Hi, Aiden," I say. "It's good to see you."
"Good to see you too. What have you been up to?"
"Just working a lot. Sorry I didn't get back to you."
"I understand," he says in a way that makes me think he actually does. I wonder if that means he knows how much I like him, and how returning his calls and texts would've been wrong.
I want to ask him why he kept texting and calling me but I'm not sure I want the answer. Was he just calling to check on me as a friend? Part of me is hoping it was more than that, but again, I know that's wrong, which is why I've been avoiding him.
I went back and forth about coming here tonight. But then I decided it was time to stop obsessing over Aiden and focus on finding someone new. Aiden offered to let me meet his friends, and I figured I'd take him up on it. If his friends are anything like him, I might actually hit it off with one of them.
"Come sit down," he says, motioning me to the table. There are four guys sitting there, all very good-looking, although not as good-looking as Aiden. There's also a woman at the table, a very attractive woman around my age with blond hair and soft blue eyes, wearing a sleek black dress.
"And who is this?" she asks Aiden, her eyes zeroed in on me.
"This is Sophie," he says. "The woman I met in Vermont."
The guy next to me laughs. "The one you got arrested?" He shakes my hand. "Nice to finally meet you."
"Thank you." I glance around the table. "Does everyone know that story?"
"They all know," Aiden says, pulling out a chair for me.
I sit down. "I don't normally litter. In fact, I didn't even know I did it. The bottle must've fallen out of the car."
"There's no need to lie," Celine says, sticking her chest out as she rests her elbows on the table. "We've all done it. It's just a shame you got caught."
"No, really. I didn't do it on purpose," I say, insulted she doesn't believe me.
"Enough about that," Aiden says. "Let me introduce you. The guy next to you is Griffen. Investment banker on Wall Street."
"Meaning I'm richer than shit." He smiles and shakes my hand.
"Which means he always buys us at least two rounds," Aiden says. "And this is Tanner," he says, pointing to the guy on the other side of me. "He's a lawyer."
"Hey." Tanner shakes my hand. He's cute, with wavy dark hair, olive skin and a big bright smile. "Don't be turned off by the lawyer thing. I work for a nonprofit."
"Which he'll talk about forever if you don't shut him up," Aiden kids.
"What the hell?" Tanner says, sounding offended.
"What?" Griffen says. "It's true. You'd talk about that shit all day if we let you."
"What kind of nonprofit is it?" I ask.
"Don't get him started," the guy across from him mutters.
"It's an environmental group," Tanner says. "We're working to clean up the oceans."
"That's great! I'm always hearing about how much plastic is in the ocean."
"It's more than just plastic. It's all kinds of trash. Our oceans have become a landfill for trash."
"Here we go," Griffen says. "Someone please stop him before this gets out of control."
"Across from Tanner," Aiden says, "is Pete, one of my friends from back home. He's a writer for a biking magazine. If you have any questions about cycling, he's your guy."
"Do you bike?" Pete asks.
"I haven't for a long time," I say, "but I used to like it."
"I'm Celine," the woman next to Pete says. She holds her hand out to me, her eyes locked on mine. "I'm Aiden's girlfriend."
"Hi," I say, noticing how firmly she grips my hand as we shake, almost like she's warning me to stay away from Aiden. Does she think something happened when we were in Vermont? I wonder what he told her about that weekend.
"Next to Celine is John," Aiden says. "He's a high school history teacher."
"More like a babysitter on most days," he says with a laugh.
"It's nice meeting you all," I say. "I hope I didn't intrude on your night."
"Not at all," Tanner says, turning to me. "So what do you do?"
"I'm an event planner. Well, assistant event planner. I'm hoping to get a promotion soon."
"What kind of events?" Celine asks.
"Mostly corporate functions. We set up parties, client meetings, sales conferences. We also do the occasional wedding or baby shower but mostly we work for businesses."
Celine looks at Aiden, who is now sitting beside her. "Do you think we could use her for the client dinner?"
Aiden glances at me. "I think you should probably stick to someone you've used before. You know how your father doesn't like change."
"He won't know who's planning it, and he wouldn't care. All he cares about is it being a success, which he knows it will be if I'm handling it."
"Are you looking for an event planner?" I ask Celine.
"In a way, yes. The location is already set. I just need someone to find us a caterer. The one we had just cancelled and now I'm scrambling to find someone else. The dinner's in a few weeks and everyone I know is booked."
"We could probably find you one," I say. "My boss has a lot of connections. Would you like her card?"
"Yes, and yours as well, if you don't mind," she says, her thin red lips turning up.
"Not at all." I take the cards from my purse and hand them to her, feeling Aiden's eyes on me as I do. I get the feeling he doesn't want me working with her but I don't know why he cares. I may not even be involved. Bianca is in charge of events. I'm just there to help when she needs it.
I'm actually excited about this. If Celine hires us, I'll get a bonus for bringing in new business. It won't be much but at least it's something.
I still haven't paid my rent. I used what little money I had to pay my cell phone bill and buy groceries. I need to talk to Bianca about bumping up the timeline for my promotion. I've run out of savings and my paychecks can't even cover the basics.
"I'll call her first thing in the morning," Celine says. "It'd be a miracle if she could find someone this late."
"Trust me, she'll find someone. If anyone can pull off a miracle, it's Bianca."
"So where are you from?" Tanner asks me.
"Kansas. I grew up in a small college town."
"No kidding?" He turns to me smiling. "I grew up in a small town in Ohio."
I smile back. "I bet mine was smaller."
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