Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 75553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Our entrees arrived and I’d never smelled anything so delicious in my life before! The rich, luxurious taste of each component of the meal beat my usual Ben and Jerry’s easily. It seemed that being Griff’s girlfriend would mean more food like this and I couldn’t stop myself from being excited by the thought. There seemed to be no downsides to being with Griff--real or not.
“Did you hear about Green Mats stock prices, Griff? They’re a sorry sight these days,” Mr. Washington commented over his cappellini.
“I didn’t catch them actually, I’ve been--”
“Gentlemen,” Kelly interrupted with a smile and a wave of her wine glass. “As interesting as this topic is, don’t you think we should steer away from the shop talk for a little while? Our other companions can hardly join in the conversation now, can they?” She paused and turned her gaze in my direction. “Poor Remy’s hardly spoken a single word all evening.”
Everyone turned to look at me and I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. I hated being the center of attention and it was even worse because anything I might say could get Griff in trouble. I could feel anxiety bubbling inside me and I felt like a kettle boiling with nowhere to let the steam out.
“I’m fine, honestly,” I said instead with a fake smile as I tried to shift the attention away from me.
“Not just you, Remy,” Kelly replied with a tut. “What about you, Mrs. Washington? Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?”
The older woman smiled at Kelly. “Of course. Where should I start?”
“Well, why don’t you tell us how long you’ve been married?” Kelly suggested with a mischievous glance in my direction. I gulped. I could tell I’d be on the end of Kelly’s investigative questioning soon enough.
“Oh, well, Arnold and I have been married for fifteen years in July!” she declared with a big smile and reached out to tap her husband’s arm. “We’ve been so happy. I always say the secret to a happy marriage is never going to bed angry.”
“Isn’t that lovely,” Isaac commented as he took a sip of his drink. “I’ll have to remember that.”
“Yes, lovely,” Kelly agreed. “What about kids?”
Mrs. Washington chuckled. “Two children, James and John. They’re eleven and nine.”
“That’s a lot of testosterone for one household,” Griff chimed in.
“Oh, it is, but I do feel very, very blessed,” Mrs. Washington told him before taking another bite of her linguini.
“It’s always good to know that our clients have the same family values at heart as we do,” Kelly said to Mrs. Washington before turning in her seat and facing me. “I guess it’s your turn, Remy. How long have you and Griff been dating?”
All eyes turned to me again and I could feel the heat from Kelly’s intense glare. It felt like she was going to melt me if she stared any longer. “Um,” I said awkwardly before lifting my glass and taking a quick sip as my brain tried to come up with something to say. Shit, shit, shit, Griff and I never talked about this!
“It’s been a few months now,” Griff said, coming to my rescue. I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled over at him gratefully.
“Yes, a few months now,” I echoed.
“We were keeping it quiet at first just to make sure things were serious, but now, everybody knows we’re a couple and we’re both quite happy, aren’t we, Remy?” Griff turned his gaze to me and I didn’t need to fake just how happy I was to be near him.
“Yeah, really happy.”
When I finally dragged my eyes away from Griff, I noticed that Kelly was watching us with narrowed eyes. She was definitely testing us and I just had to hope that we managed to satisfy her. If I’d learned anything about Kelly Sinclair over the last few days, however, it was that she was never satisfied.
“That’s great for you two!” Kelly said with a beaming smile in our direction. “You have to tell us what your first date was like!” Her tone made it sound like a question, but the look on her face showed that there was no room for arguments. What Kelly wanted, she got.
I began to feel a little uncomfortable. I began to wish that Griff and I had prepped a little more before this evening’s grilling. I turned to him, preparing myself to beg him for help, when I realized he was already taking care of the situation.
“As you might have noticed, both Remy and I care a lot about our work,” Griff began, leaning forward as he spoke. “So, one night we both happened to be staying late to catch up on some paperwork when I realized I was really hungry. I asked Remy if she wanted to grab a bite to eat afterward since I guessed she’d be hungry too. She agreed and so we went to a little pizza place just around the corner from the office. The food wasn’t great and the venue was a little run down, but I eventually realized that I was having such a fun time that I didn’t want to go home. It had nothing to do with the food or the place, it was Remy.”