Chapter 9
PHOEBE
“On the beach,” Griffin answered smoothly.
I took a bite of my slice of bread to hide my surprise. The green spread was a delicious olive paste.
“I was jogging, and she was just strolling through the water. She caught my attention, and I immediately flirted with her. She told me off.”
My face opened up in a huge smile. Well, I could actually see that happening in my mind’s eye: the water lapping at my feet and Griffin jogging.
Was he one of those guys who only wore shorts and nothing on top?
Oh, I hoped he was. Then I thought of something to add to his story.
“But I was just playing hard to get. He looked very attractive. In fact, so attractive that I’d been convinced he’d just come to jog shirtless to pick someone up. Like that was his motive.”
Jude laughed. “That sounds like the Griffin I’ve heard about.”
“He can be very cocky sometimes. But I adore it,” I continued, deciding to tease him.
Griffin smiled, bringing his chair closer to mine and putting an arm around my shoulders. “I like to call it persuasive.”
“That too,” I agreed, licking my lips and shimmying slightly in my seat. I didn’t even have to pretend this part. The man had an uncanny effect on me. My body temperature seemed to rise a few degrees whenever he was close.
Goodness, this was so unlike me! I’d never felt like this with Marshall, even in the beginning.
“What do you do for work, Phoebe?” Emma asked me, effectively slicing through the tension.
Griffin looked briefly at my lips before returning his attention to the table.
“I used to work in a doctor’s office, managing the day-to-day business. Now I’m looking for something else.”
I kept my fingers crossed that they wouldn’t prod too much.
“I’m sure you’ll find something great,” Emma said.
My shoulders sank with relief. Just then, our appetizers arrived. My hunger had subsided a little bit from the bread with olive paste, and the conversation picked up once again.
“Phoebe,” Jude said once our starter plates were empty, “did Griffin tell you about my business?”
“Yes, he did.” I was grateful that the conversation wasn’t about me or about us this time.
I was starting to feel guilty for lying to Jude and Emma, as they seemed really nice.
“I think it would complement his portfolio very well. I mean, he’s a whiz with digital companies.
” I might not know a lot about Griffin, but I was 100 percent sure that I was right.
“Hmm,” Jude said, clearly sounding unconvinced.
I chanced a glance at Griffin. I’d expected him to go into business mode, but he seemed remarkably relaxed, leaning back in his chair.
“Thank you, love, for singing my praises.” He took my hand, kissing the back of it. Goose bumps broke out on my skin, and he looked at my arm, seemingly perplexed for a few seconds. No one could fake goose bumps. “But Jude is right. Our visions have to align for this to work out.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jude straightening up. Was this some sort of reverse psychology that Griffin was employing?
“And you think they don’t?” Jude asked. His voice was tighter than it had been all evening.
“Not sure.” Griffin was goading him. Genius. He shrugged and then took another slice of bread, putting sundried tomato paste on it. “You said yourself that the mission statement is something you care deeply about, and you figured I didn’t quite understand it.”
Jude put one hand on the table, drumming his fingers on the surface. “I might have jumped to conclusions. I believed all the rumors circulating about you, but now I realize that might have been a mistake.”
Yes. God, yes. I wanted to chant, “Victory!” Could it really be this easy?
“But we can meet again and discuss the business. I don’t know why I brought it up. It’s not a good subject for dinner,” Jude finished.
“Oh, good,” Emma said. “I respect your work, darling, but you know I don’t like to spend my meals talking about it.”
“Of course, dear,” Jude replied, and my heart all but melted.
“How long have you two been together?” I blurted.
“We got married twenty-nine years ago, but this September, we’ll celebrate our thirty-second anniversary since our first date. Let me tell you,” Emma said in a conspiratorial tone, “it was quite a challenge to keep this one hidden and then to get my dad’s blessing.”
“And why is that?” Griffin asked, sounding thoroughly amused.
Jude glowered at his wife, but it was all pretense. “Her dad thought I wasn’t going to amount to much. That I couldn’t take care of his precious daughter.”
“But then Dad completely fell for you,” she said with a dreamy expression, “just like I did.”
As the main course arrived, Emma and Jude regaled us with stories regarding their grown children. I was thoroughly relaxed, and so was Griffin. We’d gotten past the hard part. Besides, if Jude’s previous reaction was any indication, Griffin’s deal was safe too.
“Emma, I agree with you,” I said as I gobbled down my fish. “I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever had. Pity it’s so overpriced.”
I caught Griffin watching me with a strange smile before he shook his head lightly as he focused on his steak.
“Penny for your thoughts,” I whispered, leaning into him.
He brought his mouth to my ear. “Later.”
His breath tickled me, and I giggled. When I looked up, I realized that Jude was looking at us intently. This was going well!
After we cleaned our plates, we ordered a mix of desserts and split them. I was about to burst at the seams, but dessert was even more delicious than either the appetizer or the main course.
Just as Emma was eating the last of the tiramisu, Jude leaned into her, asking something in a whisper. Griffin frowned. Emma nodded, and then Jude looked at us with a huge grin.
“I have an invitation for you two,” he said.
Griffin turned rigid but casually replied, “Okay.”
“Two Saturdays from now, Emma and I are going to our weekend home overnight. We’d love for you to join us if you don’t have other plans.”
Crap. Of course this couldn’t be so easy.
“We wouldn’t want to intrude on your personal time away,” I hedged.
“Nonsense, we’d love to have you over,” Emma said. “Phoebe, I would love to get to know you better.”
Come on, Griffin. Come up with something smart to get us out of this.
“Thank you for the invitation,” he said in a measured tone. “Love.” Oh my God, he has to stop calling me that. Here I go again with the goose bumps. I couldn’t understand why that one word affected me like this. “Didn’t you say you had that birthday party the weekend after next?”
“We can push it to another weekend,” Emma said quickly.
My shoulders slumped. I realized that even if we found an excuse for the next five weekends, they’d just invite us for another time.
Griffin caught my gaze, and I suspected that he’d reached the exact same conclusion. I pushed a strand of hair behind my ear, buying myself time.
“Let me check my calendar,” I said. “And maybe you should do the same.”
I wanted to send him a text so we were on the same page. I took out my phone and went directly to type a message.
Phoebe: I don’t think we can get out of it.
He replied right away.
Griffin: I know.
“All right, let’s see my calendar,” he said slowly, pretending to be reviewing his commitments.
We were both holding our phones in our laps so no one could see if we were typing or not.
Phoebe: Then let’s go.
Griffin: Are you sure?
Phoebe: Yes.
“No, the party’s this week,” I said, looking up.
“Excellent!” Emma exclaimed. “Then that’s settled. It’s going to be wonderful.”
“Just the four of us?” Griffin asked.
“Yes,” Jude replied. “Maybe we’ll talk some more about the deal during that time.”
“Nonsense,” Emma said, playfully pushing him away. “They’re our guests.”
“I’ll have my assistant arrange everything, and I’ll drop you an email with the details,” Jude added.
“I look forward to it,” Griffin said.
“All right. You youngsters probably want to continue your evening, but it’s getting late for these two old birds, so we’re going to head out. I already took care of the bill.”
“Jude,” Griffin protested.
“No, I won’t hear of it. I’m the one who suggested this restaurant.”
“I’ll pick up the tab next time.” Griffin stood, then pulled back my chair, taking my hand as I rose to my feet.
He was constantly touching me, and I liked it more than I wanted to admit.
Secretly, I was happy that we’d get to do this all over again.
Then it dawned on me that we’d have to spend the night there too. In the same room, presumably.
Shit, this was going to be more involved than I’d thought.
I tensed, and Griffin splayed his palm on the bare part of my back. I instantly relaxed into his touch. We walked side by side, right behind Jude and Emma. Once we stepped out of the restaurant, I noticed that Griffin’s car was already waiting for us, and Jude’s was here as well.
“It was great meeting you, Phoebe,” Emma said and kissed my cheek, giving me a half hug that I returned. Guilt slammed into me once more.
Jude shook my hand. “I can’t wait to see the two of you again.”
“Likewise,” Griffin replied.
After they went to their car, we headed to the Range Rover.
Once inside, Griffin asked, “Are you okay?”
I put on my seat belt, shimmying in my seat. “Yes. It went better than I expected. Although, I didn’t count on having to do it again.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I looked at him as he drove off. “What do you mean? We agreed to go to their house.”
“There was no way to say no to their faces. They would have just kept insisting.”
“Exactly,” I said slowly.
“But sometime this week, I’ll find an excuse. An urgent business matter or something else. And then when they invite us the next time, I’ll find another excuse, and so on.”
“How is that going to help your business deal?”