“I can see that, and it is sad.” I pointed to the entrance of Porter Suites.
We stopped under the awning.
“Nice hotel.” His eyebrows lifted a fraction.
“My best girlfriend is marrying my best guy friend. He’s a Porter—I thought the most sensible one of the bunch, but now he’s talking craziness about getting into politics. I’m not sure he’ll keep a level head if that happens. But … I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he’s just a great guy—albeit a really rich guy—who wants to be a public servant.” I shrugged, slipping my hands back into the pockets of my jacket while blowing hair out of my mouth.
“Graham Porter.”
I twisted my lips, nose wrinkled. “How did you know?”
“No …” Ronin jerked his chin, gesturing over my shoulder. “I mean he’s coming out of the hotel.”
My head whipped around as the lovers emerged from the door held open by the doorman.
It wasn’t surprising Ronin recognized Graham and his fastidious, tabloid-worthy appearance.
“We’re going shopping. Coming, Evie?” Lila held out her hand to me, but then she stopped, letting it fall to her side as her gaze snagged on my tall, new friend. “Hello …” She smiled, showing me a quick where-are-your-manners look.
“Ronin, this is my friend Lila and her fiancé, Graham. This is Ronin. We just met over buns and bubble tea.”
Lila chuckled, reaching for Ronin’s proffered hand. “Buns and bubble tea. We’ll chat about that later, Evie. Nice to meet you, Ronin.”
“You too.” He flashed her a warm smile.
“Hi. Nice to meet you.” Graham shook Ronin’s hand too.
I waited for Graham to make some snide remark about me, just to embarrass me, but he didn’t. Grammy Graham earned extra points for being on his best behavior. Maybe his leap into politics had already matured him. He was thirty-six going on fifty.
“You should invite Ronin to dinner.” Lila looped her arm around Graham’s arm.
Ha!
There was a wedding proposal and a bit of hardcore swooning on my part, but dinner with my friends felt exponentially more intimidating than a hypothetical wedding proposal.
“Um …” I glanced up at Ronin.
“Sounds good to me.”
Lila excelled at making me think I couldn’t find dates without her expert help. She was my pimp. Just when I thought I’d found a guy all on my own, she swooped in and arranged a date. Had I not been so elated, I might have been pissed off at her.
“Me too.” I smiled at Ronin.
“Great!” Lila tipped her chin up, her grin beaming with pride.
Yeah, yeah … you’re an awesome best friend.
“What time, babe?” She tugged on Graham’s arm to get his attention.
“Six.” He glanced at his watch.
“Where?” Ronin asked.
Lila gestured toward the hotel. “The steakhouse in the hotel. Graham says it’s phenomenal.”
“I’ll be back around six.” Ronin winked at me. “Have fun shopping.”
My eyes widened, smile embarrassingly too exuberant, as I held my breath to keep from squealing like a seventeen-year-old girl who just got asked to prom by the hottest guy in school.
“See you soon!” Lila waved as Ronin stepped to the curb and slid into the back of a taxi. “Breathe! Oh my god … breathe, Evie.” She pressed her hands to my face, eyes wide with excitement for me.
“Are we shopping, ladies? If not, I have business I can do.” Graham waited at the back of the black SUV with a driver holding open the door.
“Shopping, babe.” Lila took my hand and pulled me into the back of the vehicle.
Graham rolled his eyes at me as I bit back my smile.
CHAPTER TWO
“Whoa, Evie! You are hot!” Lila flipped her champagne blond hair over her bare shoulder, looking rather hot herself in a simple black cocktail dress.
Graham was … Graham. Always in an expensive, tailored suit and freshly gelled hair. That night he chose a basic black suit. What was wrong with the one he had on earlier?
“It’s not too much?” I wrinkled my nose.
“Yes. It’s too much.” Graham smirked. “I spent way too much money on it.”
“I didn’t ask you to buy it. You just like to throw around your money so the world feels indebted to you. I’m going to give the dress to Lila after tonight, so you’ll have one less thing to hold over my head.” I sashayed to the elevator, brushing my hands over my rhubarb V-neck wrap dress with kimono sleeves. The flowing material softened my teenage-boy figure. As we stepped onto the elevator, Graham eyed my hair.
Asshole.
“I feel like the bird’s nest is no longer the trend. Am I wrong?” He cocked his head to the side.
Lila elbowed him in the ribs. “It’s a messy bun, and it always looks good on Evie.”
Once.
I had sex with Graham once in the two weeks we dated—if you could call it dating. We were under the heavy influence of alcohol. Lila knew. Hell, I called her the second I left his apartment on campus. She responded with, “Eww … come home and shower right away.”