You’d be crazy to let it pass. Callie didn’t say the words, yet Lauren read between the lines.
“I just don’t know.” The war between her head and heart continued to rage despite her heart-to-heart with Callie.
“How about you forget about it for a little while? Stay here tonight and relax. Sleep on it. Nothing will change between now and tomorrow morning.”
A few years earlier Lauren would have said yes without any hesitation. “You have company.” Callie’s family never treated her like an outsider, but she still occasionally felt like one.
Callie rolled her eyes. “Please, it’s just family. You’re practically my sister, too.”
Stay there surrounded by friends or return home alone with nothing to do but dwell on her relationship problems? It wasn’t even a fair contest. “Okay, you twisted my arm. You’ve got yourself another house guest for the night, girlfriend.”
***
“I say, let the guys stay here and we go out,” Sara said. “Maybe dinner and a movie.”
Everyone was gathered in the entertainment room enjoying each other’s company, while Jake and Christopher played a video game on the television. The sight of the two men so engrossed in the game amused Lauren to no end. Thanks to the media and the way it portrayed the two men, few would ever believe that international playboy Jake Sherbrooke and billionaire genius Christopher Hall spent their time playing video games. But while it might have surprised others, it didn’t shock her. Despite their social status, both men were down-to-earth and enjoyed the same activities as other men their age. Lauren knew firsthand that even grown men still enjoyed their video games, at least both her brother and brother-in-law did.
Most likely Nate still does, too. She’d locked all thoughts of Nate away for the night, or she had tried to. Even with her best efforts, the image materialized of Nate playing a game just as Jake and Christopher were. For as long as she could remember, he’d enjoyed playing video games. She remembered him saving his allowance just so he could buy the newest releases when they hit the shelves. And she had to admit she occasionally liked playing as well. Not the type that Jake and Christopher were playing now, but rather car racing ones. As teenagers, she and Nate would sometimes play video games like that for hours.
What about Kevin? She didn’t see him in front of screen with a game controller in his hand. She pictured him more in front of a chess board. Not that there was anything wrong with that. She played chess, although not well. She’d never had the patience necessary to learn all the strategies involved. But Kevin was probably fantastic at the game.
“I’m in,” Charlie said, breaking into Lauren’s thoughts.
“Me, too,” Lauren added, locking her thoughts of Nate and Kevin away.
“Is there anything good playing?” Callie asked.
“Always A Bridesmaid came out yesterday,” Sara answered referring to Mia Troy’s newest romantic comedy.
“Oh, that sounds like a winner,” Christopher called out.
Lauren laughed when Sara shot him a dirty look. Even after months of getting to know Sara, the transformation she’d made since falling in love with Christopher Hall amazed her. Before that, Sara came across as cold and distant. A real snob with no personality. Now Lauren considered Sara a friend.
“I wouldn’t talk. You thought Gateway 3000 was a good movie.”
She cringed at the mention of the new sci-fi movie. She’d seen it herself with a friend. “Tell me she’s joking,” Lauren pleaded. “That was a horrible movie. The only thing it had going for it was Anderson Brady.”
“He made it almost worth watching,” Sara said with a wink toward the women in the room.
Christopher began a retort, but Jake cut him off. “Unless you want to find yourself on the floor tonight, better keep your mouth shut.”
Christopher focused back on the game and shot the enemy solider on the screen. “Enjoy the movies.”
With their plans set for the evening, Lauren along with Callie, Sara, and Charlie headed out for a girls-only evening, which started with dinner at an Italian restaurant. Like just about everything in and around Greenwich, the restaurant catered to society’s elite and it showed. The name of the restaurant wasn’t lit up in bold neon colors. A canopy led from the sidewalk, where a valet took the car, right up to the carved wooden door. Inside, a maître d’ in a three-piece suit greeted them by name and escorted them to a table in a corner of the restaurant. Fine linen tablecloths covered each table in the dimly lit establishment. Fresh flowers in crystal vases graced each table, along with long slender candles in silver candelabras, providing an intimate atmosphere. If all that wasn’t enough to make Lauren aware of how out of place she was, each place setting at the table had enough utensils to fill her silverware draw at home.