Page 55 of Without a Hitch
“Angie, yourtemporaryassistant, just told me you’ve gone through six replacement assistants in three weeks. Seven, by the look of the girl sitting beside her out there.”
“What can I do for you, Nova?” I repeat, though my tone is growing icy against my will.
She burrows into my chest, wrapping me in an embrace that makes me go stiff with worry. “Are you okay?” I ask, attempting to pull her from my body.
“Geez, Lochness, I’m fine. I just thought you could use a hug.” Sometimes I swear she should have been born into my friend Colton’s family. I’m confident that he is the only one on the planet who hugs more than my sister.
I pat her head uncomfortably. “Why would I need a hug, Nono?” Her childhood nickname always slips when she appears vulnerable.
“Because you’re sad, and you’re taking it out on everyone like an asshole.”
Now I do push her away. “I’m not sad,” I mutter, putting some space between us by returning to my desk. She flops sideways into the chair opposite me, her legs swinging over the armrest.
“You are sad. What’s going on with Abby?” Her eyebrows raise, and her dimples cause her entire face to light up.
“Nothing.”
I shake the mouse on my desk to wake up my computer and am glad the screen faces away from her. I quickly close out of one wedding website after another.
“You know what’s funny about dreary days in New York?”
I don’t like that tone.
“What?” I almost shout, but because she’s Nova, my pain in the ass little sister, it only comes out slightly irritated.
“It causes the windows behind you to become reflective.” She laughs. She giggles so hard she snorts, then laughs harder. “How’s The Knot treating you these days? Lots of research for weddings you don’t allow in your hotels?”
“Our hotels,” I grumble as I click out of The Wedding Wire website with lightning speed.
“Your hotels,” she counters. “Tell me again why nothing is going on between you and Abby?”
“It was a one- or two-night thing. That’s it.”
“So, you wouldn’t want to get in touch with her then?” She messes with her nails like she’s bored, and my jaw clicks with the effort to remain calm.
How do I tell heryes, I want her number more than my last breathwithout admitting that Abby is, in fact, the reason I’m a growling maniac who cursed so loudly in the gym this morning they asked me to leave?
“Abby’s a funny character, that one,” Nova says. “All these weddings. She’s like a fixer, and I’m so intrigued.”
She just gave me an in and doesn’t even realize it. “Two weddings do not make her a ‘fixer,’ Nova.”
“No, but the Cartwright wedding in Boston this weekend might.” She purses her lips, obviously pissed I tricked her. I feel marginally better. “Damnit, Loch.”
My thumb drums the desk before me with impatience. I love my sister dearly, but the sooner she gets out of here, the sooner I can Google the Cartwright wedding. I need Abby now more than ever. The thought does funny things to my stomach. Funny things I don’t bloody like.
“I’m guessing she didn’t show up in your searches because they only have her listed as AC on the wedding website,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Does Abby have a reason to hide from you, Loch? What did you do?”
Nova swings her short legs impatiently over the arm of my chair like a pendulum. Back and forth. Tick tock.Sisters.
“I didn’t do anything. I can’t help it if she wants something that isn’t real.”
Her gaze softens as she takes in my expression. “What’s that, Loch?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing, Nono. I have a lot of work to get done. Is everything okay?”
“With me? Everything’s great. Sam has been an amazing help. I hate to admit you were right. A personal assistant has helped everything run more smoothly.”
I knew it would. After I had him thoroughly vetted by a security firm, I put him through six rounds of interviews myself.
