Accidental Tryst (Charleston #1)(60)

We shake hands and my uncle heads out the exit.

I look at my watch.

"You late for something?" Beau asks, his eyebrows raised.

I shake my head. "Nah. I think Emmy might be coming back today, and I need to make a plan to switch phones with her." Something shifts unpleasantly inside me. It feels like disappointment. And I'm not sure, but it feels like I'm disappointed in myself. I have this feeling like I'm on the brink of something that's about to disappear unless I'm careful, and part of me feels like it's already too late.

"Do you think you'll ask her out?"

I exhale. "I don't know," I answer honestly. The thought of not asking her out is ludicrous, after everything we've shared. But on the other hand it also feels like the very reason I shouldn't. I'm so conflicted. "Anyway, I'm headed back up to New York."

"How long for?"

"At least until the sale of my business goes through. But I'm not sure I'm ready to leave New York. I'll have to be here often, of course. But moving here?" I shake my head.

"From what little you've shared, it seems like she's not the one-and-done type of girl."

"You've got that right. She's in a different category, but I'm not sure I know what that is."

"Maybe just friends?"

I think of what that could be like. We could still talk to each other. I'd tell her about my life and my dates, she could tell me if she was having any luck finding normal guys on the dating apps. My stomach turns. No. I can't hear about Emmy dating other men. Imagining those little sounds and gasps she makes when she comes . . . happening with someone else? Fuck no. I close my eyes. "Definitely not just friends." Shit. I think I really complicated things. But I don't know her in real life. That's probably what's making it feel different. So confusing.

"Question," Beau starts. "Do you think it would be better for me to marry a friend or a stranger?"

"Wow, hit me with a big one, why don't you?" I laugh, and we walk outside onto Liberty Street.

"Ha. Well, it's pretty big. I want to build boats. It's all I've ever wanted to do. Now I get a chance to do it, but only if I get married. I have a good friend. Not sure if you remember Gwen from when we were growing up?"

I wrack my brain, searching into the memory banks of the two summers I'd spent here, but come up empty. "No, sorry."

"Okay, well. We're friends. Good friends."

"Ever anything more?"

"Never. I mean, don't get me wrong, when we were teenagers I thought maybe we could have a thing, but she never really gave me that vibe, and I was too shy to push it. So it kind of morphed into a friendship. I'd even say she's one of my best friends. So it makes me think . . . should I just ask her to marry me, knowing we get along great but it means she misses out on her chance to find someone? Or do I find a stranger and have a neatly drawn up business arrangement?"

I discard my empty water bottle in a nearby recycling can and stuff my hands into my dark jeans pockets. "I'm about as far from the best person to advise you on this, having never been, nor ever planning, to be married."

"I know. But I thought maybe if you were me for a second . . . what would you do?"

"If it were me, I'd keep it as clean as possible. No room for misunderstandings. I'd still be able to date without worrying about confusing anyone."

"So . . . marry a stranger?"

"You asked what I would do." I shrug. "I also know I've been pretty relentless about keeping my distance from women's feelings." Even as the words come out of my mouth, I think of Emmy. But knowing someone over a phone, and hearing them cry and cheering them up, is different. "But you're you," I tell Beau.

He frowns. "I'd have to pick someone Gwen got along with though. I don't plan on losing her or any of my friends because they don't like my business wife."

"Yeah, definitely be careful. You'd have to find someone for whom the arrangement was equally beneficial. How long do you have to stay married?"

"I have no idea. The stipulation is I have to get married. It doesn't say stay married."

I shake my head again at my grandfather's perverse sense of humor. "He was a real piece of work."

"Grandfather? Yeah, he was. But Suzy and I were talking about it. Look at us. Here you are in Charleston. Grandmother is trying to make nice, which she never did before. And planning a wedding? Two weddings? That's going to require everyone to talk to each other. He might have been a sadistic son of a bitch, but he sure knew how to get us all in a room together to sort all our shit out."

"True."

We hit Broad Street and Beau points left. "Let's swing into the office."



* * *



At the Montgomery offices I see the two accountants I've already met and also meet some other support staff. Then after an hour I say my goodbyes to Beau and walk back to Emmy's. If I ever move to Charleston, I'll definitely look at living in the French Quarter. I love this part of the city. Ha, city, not town. I catch myself. With a smile, I pull the silent phone out of my back pocket even though I know it hasn't buzzed just as it vibrates.

My pulse spikes.