“Duly noted,” he says. “Now, what is this I hear that you are on a dating app?”
I put my head back and groan. “I am never telling Mom anything again.”
“Your mother knew?” he shouts, and I roll my lips. “Hazel!” he yells her name. “Why didn’t you tell me Sofia was on a dating app?”
“Who told you?” I hear my mother ask, and then I sit up.
“Is my phone tapped?” I ask, shocked that I never even thought about it.
“You tapped her phone?” my mother yells.
“Goodbye,” I say, disconnecting the call and then calling the one person I know made it happen.
“If it isn’t my favorite first grandchild,” he greets, and I can even picture him smiling. I press the camera button, and his face fills the screen a couple of seconds later.
“Hey there, gorgeous.” He smiles at the phone. I know he’s in the war room when I see all the screens behind him.
“Oh, don’t you gorgeous me.” I glare at the phone, and he leans back in his chair. “I’m going to ask you something, Pops.” I say the nickname I gave him when I was seven. “Did you or did you not put a tracker on my phone?”
I stare into his eyes, and I don’t know why I’m surprised that he gives away nothing. This is the same guy who trained with the Navy SEALs for fun. “I think I’m going to need a little bit more context than that.”
“Don’t you even try to lie about it. Dad just got caught,” I inform him, my eyebrows rising.
“I’m not confirming nor denying anything,” he deflects, picking up his cup of coffee. “The question is, why the hell do you think you need to be on a dating app?”
“Pops!” I shout and smack my desk. “This is the biggest invasion of privacy.” He rolls his eyes. “What if I was sending nudes to a man, and you had one of your men going through my stuff?”
It’s his turn to glare at me. “Once those pictures are in the universe, it’s forever.”
“Take it off my phone now,” I threaten between clenched teeth, “or I’m telling Grandma Olivia.”
He stares at me, wondering if I’m bluffing. “Good, then that means you are going to come home for a visit because she will force you.”
“And Grandma Charlotte.” I play my last card, and he just glares at me. “I’m not kidding. I swear this feels like I’m in college all over again when you put all those trackers in my purse without me knowing.”
“Sofia,” he murmurs my name softly, “how was I supposed to know that you wouldn’t be sex trafficked or kidnapped?”
“Three hundred and forty-seven trackers!” I shout. “I’m surprised I wasn’t followed by the FBI.”
He laughs. “Please, my guys are way better than the FBI.”
“Okay, I’m going to go now and get myself a new phone and not give you the number,” I tell him. “Then I’m going to go on ten blind dates, and you’ll never know.”
“Okay, okay, fine,” he concedes, holding up his hand and then turning to click two things on his keyboard. “There, done.” He looks at me. “Now, when are you coming home?”
“Never.” I side-eye him, trying to ignore him.
“Your horse misses you,” he says softly. He knows that I’ll do anything for Peaches.
“I’ll come home sometime next week, but it’ll probably be just a day trip,” I inform him. “Now, I have to go. I love you even though you are you.”
He laughs. “I love you more, Sunshine.” He uses my nickname, and I suddenly miss home.
“Bye.” I reach out to press the red button, not waiting for him to say goodbye.
I turn my computer on, checking the emails. I reply to the ones I can respond to and then send the ones that need to be looked at to Shelby.
“Are you ready for today?” Clarabella walks into my office a couple of hours later. She is wearing slacks and a sleeveless shirt with sneakers. She sits in one of the chairs.
I look up from the notes I made yesterday with another couple. “No,” I immediately tell her, leaning back in my chair.
“What are you two discussing?” Presley asks, walking into the room with the baby in her baby Bjorn strapped to her chest.
“If she is ready for today,” Clarabella replies and Presley just raises her eyebrows.
“What are you wearing?” Presley asks, and I stand and walk around the desk.
“Damn, girl, look at that ass,” Clarabella declares. “That is the best revenge outfit I ever saw.”
“It’s not a revenge outfit,” I try to tell them. “It’s more of an I am doing fine without you.”
“Well, whatever it is, it’s working,” Clarabella says.
“And,” I tell them, walking back around my desk, “I have a date.”
They gasp at me, the baby jumps in front of Presley, so she moves side to side to not wake her. “What do you mean?” she asks in a whisper.
“It means that I connected with someone on the app,” I tell them of the date that I made while I was three glasses into my white wine the other day.
“Let’s see his picture,” Presley says. I grab my phone, pulling up the app, and turning to show her the picture.
“He looks cute,” Clarabella states and I look at the phone when she gives it back to me. I look at the man who is dressed in a polo shirt. He has curly black hair and wears glasses—not someone I would typically go out with, but this is about changing things up.
“He likes walks in the forest,” I tell them as I look at them and Clarabella grimaces. “What?” I ask.
“That sounds like, sketchy to me,” she warns. “Walks in the forest. You better bring mace with you.”
“And a Taser for sure,” Presley adds, still moving from side to side. “You are going to have to share your location with us.”
I’m about to tell them something when the bell rings, alerting us someone has come in. “Shit, is that them?” I look at my watch to see they are five minutes early.
“Oh my God.” Clarabella jumps out of her chair and rushes out of the door. “Dibs.”
“Wait until I call you,” Presley says in a whisper as I see Shelby rush down the hall also.
“Is this show-and-tell?” I whisper-hiss.
“If it’s show-and-tell,” Presley teases, “how big is the eggplant?”
“Go away.” I walk over to my heels and slip my feet inside them. I can secretly hear them weep as I walk over to the desk and grab my phone and the manila folder that is the couple’s. I sit down in the chair trying to steady the way my heart is speeding up, knowing he’s out there.
“You can do this,” I say to myself, “it’s going to be fine. You are going to go out there and you are going to give them the best service you can.”
I hear the speaker turn on. “Sofia.” Clarabella’s voice now fills my office. “Your…” I close my eyes hoping to hell she doesn’t say your ex-love is here. “…appointment is here.”
“Showtime,” I say, getting up and stopping by the mirror before I go out. I smooth down the skirt a bit before walking out.
The hallway seems to be shorter than it’s ever been, and right before I walk into the open area, I put on my game face. I smile as soon as I walk into the room.
My eyes find his staring at me, making me hate that the first thing I looked at was him. His blue eyes look straight at me, and I can see the vein in his jaw pulse as he bites down hard. My eyes quickly look away, going to Helena. “Helena,” I greet her first, “so nice to see you again.” I hold out my hand to shake hers.
“Sofia,” she says my name and I look to see she is wearing pants and a button-down shirt with heels. Her hand is holding her black Chanel while the other hand holds on to Matthew. “You remember my fiancé, Matthew Petrov.”
“I do.” I turn my focus to Matthew and see that he’s dressed up today, minus the jacket. “Matty, nice to meet you again.” I use the nickname everyone calls him, everyone but me that is. I regret reaching for his hand the minute it slips into mine. I swear to God a tingle runs right through me like an electric shock. Pushing it away quickly, I pull my hand out of his. “Shall we get started?”
matthew