All eyes fell on Sophie, and Gray was annoyed to realize that he wasn’t the only one who seemed extremely interested in her response. Jack had gone completely still and was watching her carefully.
“Um, no. Not really,” Sophie said.
Gray squinted. Was she blushing? The Sophie he knew didn’t blush, but there was a distinct pink tint to her cheeks. He wondered what caused it. Or who. Not Alistair, certainly. Jack? The two of them had been inseparable most of the evening.
A fact that depressed him more than he wanted to admit.
“I can’t believe that,” Jenna was saying. “You’re so sweet and pretty.”
Gray’s eyes narrowed in on his sister. He knew that tone. It was the same one she’d used when she’d brought three puppies home without warning. The same one she’d used when she’d wanted to borrow his car without her driver’s license. That tone meant trouble.
“What about my brother?” Jenna asked, her gray eyes all innocent curiosity.
Gray and Jack exchanged a wary glance. Both knew they should shut up their sister. But both wanted Sophie’s answer first.
“Oh, um, you mean Jack?” Sophie asked, her voice coming out on a squeak.
Gray felt a funny twist somewhere in the middle of his chest. He should have been prepared for it. Of course she’d assume that Jenna had meant Jack. Who would think of dowdy, grumpy Gray when they could have the funny, charming version?
“Ugh, not Jackie,” Jenna said with a face. “He’s still reeling from Avery.”
“Don’t,” Jack said, his voice uncharacteristically curt.
“Uh-huh—so you never see each other?” Jenna pressed.
“We’re…friends,” Jack said with narrowed eyes.
Sophie nibbled at a breadstick and watched them curiously.
“Anyway,” Jenna said, waving away her brothers’ glares. “Jack’s no good for you, Soph. I was talking about Gray.”
He froze with his beer halfway to his lips and wondered if it would be inappropriate to drag Jenna out to the parking lot by her hair and put her in a cab. He wanted to look at Sophie, but didn’t think he could bear to see what kind of amused disdain would be written all over her face.
“Gray’s my boss,” she said quietly.
A good, safe answer. A disappointing answer.
“Oh, sure, but if he weren’t, you’d go for it, right? He’s cute,” Jenna said. She leaned over to pinch his cheek, and Gray batted her hand away with a warning look. Which she ignored.
“I’m pretty sure I’m the last woman on earth your brother would be interested in.”
Gray’s eyes flew to Sophie. An interesting choice of words. Was she saying that she would be interested if she thought he was? He silently begged her to meet his eyes so he could read her expression, but she didn’t look away from Jenna.
“Huh,” Jenna said, apparently realizing that she’d pushed the conversation as far as it could go.
Gray’s shoulders had just started to relax when his sister piped up again. “Hey, Soph, you should join us for dinner on Friday.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. This was too much. He could barely handle Sophie nine-to-five during the weekdays. If he had to start seeing her on weekend evenings, he’d lose his mind.
“Oh, I couldn’t interrupt family time,” Sophie said.
“Please, you’ve seen this ‘family.’ We’re hardly the Brady Bunch. An outsider helps smooth the waters. Plus I need another girl to keep me company while the two of them argue about baseball.”
“She’s right, it’ll be fun. And Gray’s a fantastic cook,” Jack said, giving Sophie a soft elbow in the side.
Gray choked. “Who said I was cooking?”
Jack shrugged. “You’re good at it. And we all know Jenna isn’t civilized enough for any decent restaurant.”
“Hilarious, Jack,” Jenna purred. “Sophie, did you know we had a comedian in the family? But Jack’s right. Dinner at Gray’s sounds great.”
“Of course it does,” Gray muttered. “All you have to do is show up and drink my wine.”
“Exactly. So, Sophie, you in?”
Gray spared his assistant the briefest of glances. “I’m sure she has other plans on a Friday night.”
Sophie’s blue eyes locked on his. “Actually I don’t. And dinner sounds great. I’d love to come.”
Shit.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Sophie stood outside the condo building of one grumpy Grayson Gregory Wyatt and wondered at what point she’d completely lost her mind.
She also wondered what kind of uptight fool advertises a full name like Grayson Gregory on their building call box.
I’m going to kill Jenna.
Gray’s sister had only been in town for a week, but Jenna had firmly inserted herself into Sophie’s life as though they’d been lifelong friends. Shopping trips, happy hour at the local wine bar, spa day…
And now this.
She’d known exactly what Jenna was up to when she’d suggested dinner. Sophie was a little sister herself. She knew all about the set-up-the-big-sibling routine. Sophie had gone through a brief phase of matchmaker, trying to set Brynn up with the wrong men.
She knew firsthand that these things never went well.
But Gray’s eyes had been begging her to decline.