With a chuckle, Nick said, “Your sister was, um, exploring her feminine side and it took me a few minutes to tear her away.”
At Beth’s confused look, Suzy buried her elbow in his ribs and enjoyed his moan of pain as she walked away from him. Beth had opened a bottle of wine and set the table. When Suzy bit into her slice of pepperoni pizza, she closed her eyes in bliss as the vibrant flavors exploded in her mouth. This would be a perfect evening if Gray was here. She’d love to have him beside her looking out over the ocean sipping a glass of wine. Instead she was here with Nick and Beth and he was somewhere having dinner with Reva. Life had a cruel sense of humor and it truly sucked sometimes.
“Any word on when Gray will be back, sis?”
Suzy looked at Beth with a grimace. “He’s supposed to be back Friday. He wants to take me out for my birthday. Of course tonight he’s taking Reva to dinner.”
She didn’t miss the quick exchange of looks between Nick and Beth at that piece of news. Nick cleared his throat looking uncomfortable. “Suzy, don’t give up on him. I know that most women would run for the hills with something like this going on, but my brother really loves you. I still don’t believe that this is his baby.”
“It is what it is Nick, and I’m doing the best I can.”
Suzy could tell that Nick wanted to say more, but changed the subject instead. “Hey girls, lets watch a movie tonight. Whatever you two pick is fine with me.”
Suzy couldn’t resist teasing him a little. “I thought you were a ladies’ man yet here you’re home again tonight. Are the ladies here immune to your charms, Nicky? Maybe we could sign you up on one of those dating sites tonight.”
“Ha ha, you’re so funny. I’ll have you know that there is nothing wrong with the Merimon charm. Just this morning Crystal in accounting asked me out for a drink.”
Beth slammed her drink down on the table and flushed when Suzy raised an eyebrow in question. “Oh, sorry, my glass slipped.”
Both Beth and Nick seemed to be doing everything to avoid looking at each other. What in the hell was going on with these two? They had seemed to almost be friends the last few days; Suzy hoped the arguing wasn’t fixing to start back again. Maybe she should encourage Nick to go out in the evenings more to give Beth a chance for some time away from him.
Chapter Twenty
Suzy and Beth picked the movie Pretty Woman to watch and Nick reluctantly agreed. She was pretty sure he was imagining himself as Richard Gere and debating trading his mini-van in for a Lotus Esprit. That could only be a step up in her opinion. It was after ten when she finally settled into the bed. Where was Gray? He should have called by now. Surely he wasn’t still out with Reva. A stab of jealousy tore through her as she imagined the man she loved having dinner with the woman carrying his child. What had they talked about? What decisions had they made? With a tired sigh, she turned the light out and left the phone where she’d be able to hear it when Gray called.
When she woke sometime later the clock showed five in the morning and a quick check of her phone showed no missed calls or messages. What the hell? Her gut clenched as a sick feeling came over her. He’d never missed calling when he said he was going to and didn’t he understand how she’d feel knowing he was going out with Reva? It wasn’t like Gray to be this thoughtless. She knew that Nick and Beth would still be asleep so she turned on the television and watched Sports Center. The news would probably have her crying.
After what seemed like hours, it was time to get up and get ready for work. She’d never been more grateful to have somewhere to go than this morning. Nick and Beth tried their best to cheer her up during breakfast and the ride to work, but finally they gave up and just shot her concerned looks when they thought she wasn’t looking. Truthfully she just wasn’t in the mood to talk or joke about it this morning.
As soon as they arrived at work, she gave Beth some paperwork to take care of and closed herself in her office. Come on, shake it off. You can’t keep moping around like a love-struck teenager every time Gray doesn’t call. Since when have you made someone the center of your life? Remember, babe, smoke and mirrors.
Around nine her cell phone rang and she saw Gray’s name on the caller-id. She took a deep breath, trying to make sure her voice was up-beat and answered the phone.
Chills went down her spine as she heard the sexy timber of Gray’s voice on the other end. “Hey baby, how are you?”
“Um, hey there.” Suzy rolled her eyes at the sound of her breathy voice on the phone. Could you be more pathetic?
“God, I miss you so much, baby.”
Um hello, I’m waiting to hear your reason for not calling me after your date last night? Can we cut the small talk and get on with the program please? Maybe I should just throw it out there. I can’t do another minute of love talk until I know what happened.