Page 131 of Grumpy Boss of the Year

"I mean, would he feel any differently if he knew the truth about this?"

"I don't know," she says, "but come on, we're nearly at the bar. Lila, Marie, and Juniper are waiting on us."

"Oh?"

"Marie is coming, as well, yeah. She may be pregnant, but she still wants to have fun. She just can't drink."

"Do you think it's a good idea that she's working for Gabe? I heard that they're already, like, arguing and having issues. I mean, I don't know either one of them very well, but it seems to me that there's going to be drama because I know that Max doesn't even really want her working. He just wants to take care of her.

"And I know that Lila is trying to talk to Max and convince him that she needs to be her own independent woman, especially now that she's becoming a mom, but you know how some men can be. He's going all protective big brother on her."

"I mean, I think that's kinda nice. Romeo went all protective brother on Liam, and I thought it was cute. I mean, not that he would actually do anything, but I like how he called Liam out."

"Romeo loves you and would do anything for you.” She smiles at me. “So your dad still doesn’t know that you know that Liam is gonna be the man you’re marrying?”

“Nope. In fact, I haven’t heard from my dad in a couple of days. I guess he got the money and all of a sudden, he's wheeling and dealing again."

I let out a deep sigh. "I'm trying not to think about my father and how disappointed I am in him, but I can't help it."

"Hey, cheer up, buttercup. Your dad's not the worst man in the world. He just isn't really…" She pauses.

"What were you gonna say?"

"I guess I was gonna say he just isn't really the sort of father that we all wish and hope for."

She grabs my hands. "But we're not thinking about that tonight. Tonight, we're gonna have fun."

"Oh, yeah? And what are we gonna do to have fun?"

"I don't know, but Lila's come up with some games." Hey, there's the bar," she says. "Come on."

She starts running, and I giggle.

“I can’t run fast in these heels.”

“Yes, you can!”

We get to the bar, and I’m pleased to see that no one is waiting to card us, but I suppose it’s still only 5:00 p.m. on a Friday evening. We’re starting early.

"Hey, there they are!" Skye says as she looks around. Juniper, Lila, and Marie are sitting in a booth in the corner, and all of them are wearing princess crowns.

Lila jumps up with a huge smile on her face and a tiara and sash in her hands.

"Oh my gosh, what does she have?"

"What? You're the bride-to-be. It’s your bachelorette party. Of course, we're gonna have fun."

"I suppose." I let Lila come up to me and give me a huge grin.

"Hi, darling. You're looking absolutely stunning."

"Hi! What is that?" I say, pointing at the tiara.

"It's for you because we're all princesses for a night, but you're the queen."

"Oh my gosh."

"And here, you have to wear this. It reads,Tonight's my last night to have fun."

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