Page 19 of Breach of Honor

“I’m sorry? Was it something I said?” There may have been a slightly mocking tone in my voice. What just flew up her ass? If anyone should be angry it should be me, the poor schlep she’d stood up. “No need to get bent out of shape. It’s just a color. Damn.” I stepped back and returned the carafe to the buffet.

“Will, try to be helpful. If you can’t take this seriously, perhaps it’s best if you don’t attend the meetings,” my mother said. “I wouldn’t want this to be a source of tension between you and Miranda.”

“Between Miranda and me? There is no me and Miranda.” I hadn’t told her about dinner. Why would she say that? She peered over her shoulder at me, her assessing gaze confused.

Miranda sipped her water, shifting in her chair.

“Oh. But your dinner date? I thought you’d reschedule for another time.”

Miranda stilled in her chair. “Please, this is very awkward. Can we just get back to selecting the colors?”

I returned to my seat, needing to see her expression. Now that my mother called out the elephant in the room, it was game on. “What’s awkward is waiting in one of the finest restaurants in the city and your date never shows.”

A red flush crept up her neck.

“Why didn’t you show? I thought—”

“Eva said she was sick,” my mother interjected.

“Sick? How would she know that?”

“Because I told her.” A fiery glint sparked in Miranda’s eyes. “I didn’t have your number, so I called Eva to get a message to you that I was sick and wouldn’t be able to make it. But then I found out you had left the office with your wife and—”

“Wife?”

My mother placed her hand on Miranda’s shoulder, her patient expression giving me pause. “Mr. St. James has a wife. That’s me. Will St. James does not.”

“I…um…” Miranda played with her earring. “Please excuse me.” She practically ran out of the conference room.

“What is going on?” I stood.

“Sit down, Will.”

I gripped the back of my neck, confused as all get out.Married?

“Please, sit.” She flicked her eyes to the chair. I dropped into my seat. “Miranda is a lovely, intelligent,talentedwoman. I like her a lot.”

“But? I know there’s a but coming.”

“I’d be delighted with the match. Truly.However, she’s not like us.”

I furrowed my brow and opened my mouth, but Mother cut me off.

“Hear me out. There’s an innocence to Miranda; she’s trusting and has strong morals. I wouldn’t want to see her get hurt.”

“And you think I do?”

“Your track record—”

“Stop with the track record assumptions. I’m not a manwhore! And I would never hurt Miranda.”

“Not intentionally. But our lives get messy from time to time, and I don’t know if she can handle the drama. The tabloids, the lies. Maybe it’s better to not entangle her in our world.”

“Maybe she should decide for herself.” Relief washed over me as the realization hit me. It was a misunderstanding. Miranda didn’t stand me up and attempted to let me know.

“You’re right. She should decide for herself. Just be careful.”

I drummed my fingers on the table, watching the door, anxious for Miranda to return.

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