Page 41 of The Billionaire and I

And then, in typical-me fashion, I distracted myself by thinking of hockey plays until I finally fell asleep.

CHAPTER 20

Cole

The morningof the wedding dawned. It was another sunny and lovely day, prolonging an almost unheard-of streak of nice weather in Boston. While Jenny was still asleep, I turned my phone back on. There were five messages from Kevin and one from Shirley.

I opened the one from Shirley first.

The Forbes shoot went well. Do you need me to do any more shopping?

Even though it was six a.m., I called her. “Jenny and I are going to the Caribbean tomorrow with the wedding party.”

“Oh, Mr. Bryson—that’s wonderful news!” Shirley sounded alert and fully caffeinated. I could picture her, already dressed for the day, entirely made up and ready to go. “Did you have fun at the party? I saw some of the pictures online. Jenny looked so pretty in that dress?—”

“Yes, thank you,” I interrupted. “Can you shop for some resort wear for her? And bikinis. I want lots of bikinis.Thongbikinis.”

“Yes, Mr. Bryson!” Shirley said gleefully. “I’ll get right on it!”

“And what about the other thing? The present?” I’d almost forgotten I’d asked Shirley to pick up something else for Jenny.

“Oooh, I got it!” She sounded beside herself with excitement. “Amari had your picker-upper put the gift in your dresser. It’s all wrapped and everything!”

“Thanks, Shirley. You’re the best.”

“Thankyou, Mr. Bryson. Have a great day!” She hung up on me faster than she ever had before, probably eager to begin her next round of Jenny-related shopping.

I poured myself a cup of coffee before I read Kevin’s texts.

Your father already called me this morning

He said he knows about the girl. He didn’t say more, but that you’d know what he meant

He asked if you could meet him at the club for breakfast

He knows the wedding is today

But apparently, he doesn’t care

Fuck.Kevin must’ve been stressed. He rarely texted without punctuation.

I’ll head to the club.

Leaving now. Tell him to wait.

Then take a break, Kev. I’m sure you need one.

It did occur to me after I put my phone down that I’d similarly abused Shirley that morning. Like my father, I’d texted my assistant at the crack of dawn. At least Shirley seemed excited about going shopping again.

You’re not your father,said the voice in my head.

FFS, I hoped not.

I scrawled out a quick note to Jenny.

Good Morning!

Happy Todd-and-Evie wedding day.

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