Chapter 14 The Offer #3
“Are you sure about this? I mean, the money looks good, but I’ll want certain things to happen if I come back,” Sophie said.
“For starters, a timeline to becoming a partner. None of this ‘half partner’ crap. I’ll also want to talk about a firm-run pro bono office where we can house women and their children while we take on their cases.
That poor excuse for a shelter is doing more harm than good.
It’ll kill more women than it helps from exposure alone,” she said.
She was rambling, biting off more than they could chew, but what did she have to lose?
The worst she could do is lay it all out on the table at this point and have him tell her to jump in a frozen lake.
“Read the back page before we get too far down this line of conversation,” Drew said. The corners of his lips played in a smile. She remembered why she’d first been attracted to him when she saw him like this, and though those feelings were long gone now, it was good to see the man happy.
Sophie flipped the first page over, and her eyes darted over the second, not believing what she was seeing.
“Are you kidding?” she asked, her voice a whisper almost lost in the wind. He shook his head, no. “Really, are you kidding me with this?”
Drew shook his head more emphatically this time, his smile reaching all the way to his eyes in a way Sophie had never seen. He looked ten years younger. She closed the gap between them and hugged him hard, the papers in her hand crunching against his back.
“So, you really mean this?” she asked him, her voice soft against his chest. She was afraid she might start sobbing again.
“I do. We all do. It was unanimous, Soph. The board wouldn’t even think about asking you back unless you came in as an equal partner from the start.
Plus, if you look closely, you’ll see you have a dedicated budget for projects just like the one you described.
It’s all yours, Soph, if you just agree to give me a second chance as your boss. Partner, I mean. Your partner.”
Sophie laughed, a couple stray tears leaking out from the corners of her eyes. She dabbed at them, nodding fervently.
“Of course. How can I pass this up?” She waved the papers around and Drew hugged her once more. She had everything she’d ever wanted in a career in her hands, and in perfect timing, since she was about to read her new boutique firm the riot act before she gave her notice there.
“You were really great up there, Sophie. I’ve always known it, but I promise I’ll be better about saying it, okay?”
“I won’t complain one bit. But one more thing, Drew, and this one is a deal breaker for me.”
His smile didn’t completely disappear, but Sophie saw the lawyer in Drew sneak back up to the surface. He was all business, which she appreciated.
“You have to promise me this offer is strictly professional, Drew. I, um, I met someone, and while I cherish what you and I—” Drew held his hand up to her, silencing her.
She stuck out her bottom lip, this not-so-sweet trait of his flooding her memory.
Every time she was about to explain why she’d been eating ice cream before dinner, or why she wasn’t ready for their very important luncheon yet, Drew would hold up that traffic-signaling hand, directing her to shut up.
She always felt like a chastised schoolgirl when he did that.
“Drew,” she began, but this time was met with a head shake and the hand. Ugh. He was so infuriating. He grinned ear to ear like he enjoyed every moment.
“Sophie, I’m dating someone, too,” he said.
Nothing he could have told her would have surprised her more. She stood there with her head tilted, mouth agape, staring at him like he had monkeys coming out from behind his ears. That would have been less of a shock to her system.
“You, what?” she asked. She was fully aware she must look ridiculous.
“I’ve been seeing this amazing woman, Marjorie, for a few weeks now. She and I met at one of those dinners you used to despise. We talked all night, and well, it’s getting pretty serious. That doesn’t bother you, does it?”
Sophie let out a brief laugh.
“Not at all! I’m not going to lie, Drew, this whole thing, from the start of the evening with you to now has thrown me for a loop, but none of it in a bad way. I’m happy for you. Is she a lawyer?”
“No, surprisingly enough. She’s the head of a foundation that helps place kids into forever homes.
She raises money, and I’m not ashamed to admit she took quite a chunk out of my retirement when she asked me to donate at the dinner.
I wanted to impress her, and, well, I guess it worked, but we laugh about it now—she says we’ll have to give up the honeymoon if I follow through on the donation. ”
He chuckled, his smile reaching all the way to his eyes. There was a gaiety in the way he talked about Marjorie that she’d never felt when she was with him. It made her think of Brad, of his admission, of how he’d almost kissed her, of how close she was to getting everything she ever wanted.
“Alright, here’s the deal, Drew. I accept your offer.
I’ll be over Monday to sign whatever papers you need me to sign, and don’t think for a minute I’m going to let you off the hook about the ‘honeymoon’ you mentioned.
But there’s a perfectly lovely man I left at the party that I’d like to get back to now. ”
“Of course, the author. Can I drop you back there? I need to talk to him, actually.”
“About?” Sophie asked, cautious again.
“He’s up against a pretty serious injunction that has the potential to stop all contracts on his books. Movies, too.”
Sophie gasped. How hadn’t she known about any of this? Jackie and Steve probably knew, but neither of them had so much as mentioned Brad to her in a week. Though she had no one to blame but herself.
“Who would do that? And why?”
“It looks like a jealous ex who is trying to claim his main character is a little too similar to her. It won’t stick, these things never do, but it’ll put him through the ringer in the meantime.
What a shame. I like the guy’s writing, and if I was the ex, I’d never publicly admit I was anything like the main character.
She’s a pretty harrowing woman. Anyway, want that ride? ”
Sophie forced a smile. So Julia had slapped Brad with an injunction because he’d turned her down at the wedding.
More and more of the pieces were falling into place.
It was looking like Brad’s story was crazy, but true.
She needed to get back to him, and soon.
God knew how it must have looked when she left the party with Drew.
“Yes, please, and on the way maybe we can sneak in a few juicy details about the new woman in your life?” she asked, hoping to deflect the conversation away from Brad while she thought about how to handle that particular situation.
Drew chuckled again, seemingly comfortable with the whole showing-emotion-in-public thing all of a sudden.
“If that’ll make you happy,” he replied.
As soon as the warm air from the Mercedes hit her and she began to thaw out, Sophie realized how cold she was. She’d been so wrapped up in the conversation with Drew that she hadn’t realized the temperature was still middle-of-winter Montanan and she was dressed like a spring breaker in Cancun.
The conversation was as warm as the air, and for the first time since she’d met Drew, Sophie caught glimpses of a sense of humor hidden beneath all his posturing and tough exterior.
When they got back to Steve’s, Sophie stepped out of the car feeling better than any amount of champagne could have done.
Finally, life was taking a turn for the better.
She was worried about Brad’s lawsuit, but if he had Drew in his corner, it would be okay.
That didn’t mean if she saw Julia stranded on the side of the road she would do more than find the nearest puddle to douse her, though.
That woman grew more onerous in her mind the more Sophie became aware of her treachery.
Drew grabbed her hand before she could shut the door to the car. “Thanks, Sophie, for everything. Especially tonight. You showed me this offer is the best business decision I’ve made yet. Happy New Year.”
“You, too, Drew. See you Monday.”
Sophie tried to turn the handle to Steve’s apartment, confused about why it was locked.
A few steps back onto the sidewalk confirmed that all the windows were dark.
Did she have the right house? She looked at her watch, the answer staring her in the face, though she didn’t believe it. It was five in the morning. Five!
She’d been with Drew all night, and now she only had a few hours until the sun rose on a new, and what promised to be a fantastic, year.
There was no way she could wait to talk to Brad, to finish the kiss they’d started, to tell him she loved him in return. She picked up the phone and called Jackie, waiting for a light to come on, but nothing stirred above her and the call went to voicemail.
Disappointed but not willing to give up, Sophie decided to go home and call Jackie to get Brad’s number in the morning.
As soon as she saw the nest of self-pity she’d built the night before, her eyes grew heavy and she nestled in, not even caring that she still wore her dress and makeup.
She let her mind wander to how good a reunion kiss with Brad would feel, now that they were finally both ready to try this thing out for real, but was asleep before she could get past sliding her hands under Brad’s shirt and moving the kisses to his chest.