Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 96720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
“I don’t,” Sophie said quickly. “We have El-Mudad’s girls and Neil’s granddaughter, and we raise them together, but I’m not what you could describe as maternal. Oh, you can put your bag down anywhere. We can take it up to a guest room later.”
A guest room. Not the guest room. Most people I knew from my old life either had a single spare place to host overnight guests or none at all.
“Neil and El-Mudad are outside setting up lunch,” she went on as she opened one of the patio doors. We followed her onto a stone veranda with a fancy firepit and fashionable outdoor furniture that was nicer than anything I’d ever had inside my own house. A blue pool of crystal-clear water sparkled like topaz in the emerald lawn.
A pool. Right next to the ocean.
A concrete path lined with neatly clipped ornamental shrubs led around the corner of the house and behind a berm that enclosed a smaller patio. A large dining table set for five with real china, crystal, and silverware awaited us, as did a brutally attractive man standing at the grill. His clothing was ridiculous; I recognized the obnoxious print of his short-sleeved, silk button down as a designer’s hallmark, but it was paired with knee-length board shorts. Somehow, he managed to be hot despite looking like the guy you’d avoid at the club. His devastatingly sharp cheekbones and silky dark hair swept back from his face were a large part of his ridiculous beauty, and a golden tan made his brown skin almost glow. He turned to us with a dazzling smile and put down the spatula he’d been using to flip burgers.
It was his smile that triggered my memory. The banquet-slash-gangbang at Ascend Red.
I lifted my index finger in a point of recognition. “I know you.”
“Biblically, as the saying goes, but we’ve never been formally introduced.” He put his hand out. “You must be Charlotte.”
“Charlotte, this is my husband, El-Mudad,” Sophie said as he and I shook hands. “And El-Mudad, this is Charlotte and Matt.”
“We’ve met, as well,” Matt said, repeating the gesture.
The French door to the house swung open and a voice said, “Darling, you forgot the blue cheese,” in a posh English accent.
I knew this guy, too. He’d been introduced to me as Leif on the island, but here he was Neil, Sophie’s other husband. He halted at the sight of us and set the plate he carried on the table before hurrying over. “Matthew, good to see you again!”
They also shook hands, but Neil pulled Matt in for a brief hug, as well.
So, clearly Matt and Neil knew each other a little better than Matt knew the rest of them.
Even Sophie seemed taken aback by the gesture. “I was aware that you’d met, but I didn’t realize you were old friends.”
“His company has been one of Elwood and Stern’s largest advertising accounts for years now,” Neil explained.
“And I’ve taken advantage of that,” Matt joked. “Lots of very expensive dinners on Neil’s dime.”
“It’s how I earned our invitation to Ascend Red,” Neil said, adding a saucy, “One of the ways, at least.”
“Yeah, we get it, you’ve all screwed around together. We’re not talking about that kind of stuff until after lunch,” Sophie scolded. “I want to have a normal, cordial picnic with my lovely new friends before you all start talking about dirty stuff.”
Cautiously, I ventured, “Uh... I’m not sure this counts as a picnic. At least, not any picnic I’ve ever been to.”
“Get used to it. This is your tax bracket now,” Sophie said, picking up a pitcher. “Virgin mimosa?”
“It’s orange juice and Sprite,” El-Mudad said wryly.
“Hey. I’m striving for elegance here.” Sophie picked up a champagne flute and filled it, handed it to me, and filled another for Matt. Then she poured her own and held it up. “To my new friends.”
We clinked our glasses while Neil and El-Mudad shook their heads fondly at their wife. For someone as rich as she was, she was refreshingly silly, and I realized how many very serious people I’d been surrounded with lately. Everyone at the office was out to build their careers and make their fortunes climbing the ladder. That was fun, for Business Charlotte. Charlotte Classic needed someone as carefree as Sophie to break the monotony.
Not that life with Matt had grown monotonous. He was my favorite part of every single day. But there was a dynamic that only friendship—even sex friendship—could satisfy.
“I didn’t forget the blue cheese,” El-Mudad said to Neil, turning back to the grill. “It’s disgusting, so I consciously chose not to bring it out.”
“It’s delicious on burgers,” Neil protested. “Charlotte, be a pal. You like blue cheese, don’t you?”
“Not even a little. I’m on his side.”
It stunned me to see them cooking, setting the table, serving the food all by themselves. I still hadn’t gotten completely used to the servants at our apartment, but they were starting to fade into the background a little for me. Our apartment could probably fit into Sophie’s house fifteen times, but I didn’t see a single member of the staff anywhere.