“I guess,” Brynn said, not taking her eyes off her glass. “Just a little headache.”
Sophie eyed Brynn’s champagne. Alcohol surely wasn’t going to help a headache, but she didn’t say anything. Bossy, judgmental comments were Brynn’s territory, not Sophie’s.
“Are you sure you really want to date Gray?” Sophie asked, trying to keep her voice gentle.
Brynn nodded enthusiastically, but her eyes looked a little…numb.
Good lord, it’s like she’s a Stepford girlfriend, Sophie realized in horror.
“I think things could be great!” Brynn said woodenly. “Did he tell you I bought him a tie? He said he wore it today.”
Sophie’s heart twisted, but she pasted a smile on her face. Maybe things were more serious than she’d realized. Then again, Gray hadn’t mentioned it, and Sophie certainly hadn’t noticed anything special about today’s tie.
She seemed to vaguely recall monochromatic stripes that looked like every other tie he owned.
This is your sister, she reminded herself firmly. Be supportive.
“Totally. It was just Gray’s style,” she said, patting Brynn’s hand reassuringly.
“What was just my style?”
Sophie’s head snapped up as she stared at her boss in confusion. “What are you doing here?”
Both he and Sophie glanced at Brynn, who was suddenly extremely preoccupied with her phone.
“You didn’t tell them?” Gray asked, looking unbearably awkward.
Oh, Brynny, what did you do?
“No, no, of course we were expecting you!” Sophie lied, taking pity on him and patting the chair between herself and Brynn.
Gray sat, looking stiff as usual. Despite the fact that they were in a grubby little pub, he hadn’t bothered to change out of his suit and looked painfully out of place.
“Look, if the double-date thing is uncomfortable, we can call it off,” Gray said, glancing at Sophie.
“No, no. Not at all. It’ll be nice to get to know each other better,” she said lamely.
He looked vaguely queasy at the notion. “I’ll need a drink,” Gray said, glancing desperately at the bar.
He walked away and Sophie dug her nails into her sister’s arm. “You seem to have neglected to mention that the double date was tonight.”
Brynn’s pale blue eyes pleaded with her. “A tiny omission, and only because I knew you’d say no. Please? I just thought that maybe he might loosen up a bit more around you and Will. When it’s just the two of us, he’s always so…guarded.”
Sophie didn’t have the heart to tell Brynn that “guarded” was simply who Gray was. Barbara Walters could take a shot at him and he wouldn’t crack.
“Where’s Will?” Gray asked, returning to the table with a beer.
“Oh, you know…he’s over there,” Sophie said, waving her hand over her shoulder.
She winced as Gray’s eyes found her “date.” She didn’t have to turn around to know that her best friend probably had his hand on some twenty-year-old’s thigh.
“I probably should have told you that Sophie and Will aren’t exactly together,” Brynn said hurriedly.
“I know. Sophie already told me.”
Brynn’s head snapped back slightly and her forehead showed the briefest ripple before resuming its usual smooth perfection.
Sophie felt a wince of sympathy for her sister. Gray was a workaholic, which meant that no matter how many flowers Brynn received, Sophie was still the one who would be spending more time with him. Not a fact that control-freak Brynn would take kindly to.
Still, Sophie’s sympathy had limits. After all, this entire mess was Brynn’s own fault. If she hadn’t gone meddling in Sophie’s unemployment status, then they wouldn’t be in this awkward situation.
Sophie noticed that Brynn had barely touched her second glass of champagne, and was pressing her fingers into her temple. Apparently her little headache wasn’t so little.
“Are you all right?” Gray asked, putting a hand gently on Brynn’s shoulder.
Brynn gave a pathetic excuse for a smile and shook her head. “Just a sinus headache or something. I’m thinking maybe you all were right. This wasn’t my best idea.”
“You think?” Sophie said under her breath.
“I’m sorry about this,” Brynn said weakly. “Maybe we should call it a night?”
Sophie glanced at her almost-full gin and tonic. “You guys go ahead. I’ll stay and finish my drink. Plus I’ll need to be Will’s second if one of those girls’ daddies comes after him with a shotgun.”
“Let’s get you into a cab,” Gray said to Brynn, helping her to her feet. “You shouldn’t be driving if your headache’s that bad.”
“You don’t have your car?” she asked.
Gray shook his head. “I walked. I only live two blocks away.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize,” Brynn murmured before shooting a nervous glance at Sophie.
Sophie pretended fascination with the football game on TV, trying not to react to what Brynn had just given away.