Page 64 of Honor

Lottie

Cleo leans closer to steal a look at the card, so I make it easy on her and turn it toward her.

“You’re a maid of honor? Is the bride an old friend?”

“A new friend,” I say. “With the potential to be an old one in twenty years.”

A light laugh escapes her. “All lasting friendships have to start somewhere.”

She’s right, so I nod. “I need to get to work.”

“I need a moment with the ogre.” She glances past me to Mr. Hunt’s empty office. “Where is he?”

Hopefully, he’s no longer within speaking distance of Magnus Brewster. If all went according to plan, the two men shared a brief, yet cordial, exchange on the sidewalk outside of Pickled Dish before Mr. Hunt raced off to his meeting.

“He should be back before the end of the day,” I tell Cleo. “Do you want me to ask Mr. Hunt to call you?”

“He’s here now and won’t be taking any calls.” Mr. Hunt’s voice reaches me before he comes into view behind Cleo. “My office now, Miss Starling.”

Uh oh.

Cleo glances at me as my boss brushes past us on his way to his office. Before walking away, she leans closer to whisper, “He’s back to calling you Miss Starling. That can’t be good.”

I don’t bother to thank her for pointing out the obvious. Instead, I place the card from the flowers on my desk, smooth both palms over the skirt of my dress, and follow Reid into his office, shutting the door behind me.

CHAPTER FORTY

Reid

Evangeline slept with Brewster.

She fucked that fucking asshole.

When she took off like a rocket outside Pickled Dish, I thought it was because she was eager to get back to work.

I was dead wrong.

She raced out of sight because she saw Magnus making his way toward us, and she knew he’d bring up theirtrystor whatever the hell it was.

Magnus recognized her immediately. The first words out of his mouth when he was within shouting distance of me were, “I fucked that sweet little thing.”

I almost drove my fist into his jaw, but I somehow found the restraint to shove my hands into the front pockets of my pants as I questioned him with what I hoped sounded like a casual, “You slept with my assistant?”

Judging by the look on his face, that question came out more like an accusation because both of his hands darted into the air, and he took a full step back as he answered me with a grin. “Thatbeautiful brunette with the blue eyes you were just talking to is your assistant? Her red lipstick is killer, am I right?”

Since he was right, I stood there nodding as he kept talking, “I’d love another round with her. Maybe I’ll drop by your office sometime to talk to her.”

I changed the subject to the deal I had sealed with him months ago before I pretended that I had an incoming call even though my phone hadn’t made a sound.

That’s when I bolted after Miss Starling. By the time I rounded the corner, she was out of sight.

A quick call to Basil was all it took for me to get back here to the office mere minutes after she did, even though she had a head start.

I blame that on the cup of lemonade sitting atop her desk. It’s half full and still has ice in it, which means she made a pit stop on her way here to buy it.

I have no fucking idea how I noticed the lemonade given that there’s a huge bouquet of multi-colored roses right next to it.

If Magnus is the one who sent those to her, I think my head might explode.

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