Page 39 of Selfish Suit

“No way!” My father smiles. “What a small world. Does Ivy know what you do? Are you hiring?”

He doesn’t give Dominic a chance to answer.

“We’re here because we’re worried and we know she’s lying about things, but maybe you know more than we do.”

“I don’t think so,” Dominic says, looking at me. “I actually came here to go over meeting notes with her. She’s one of the marketing executives at my company, and she’s on the verge of helping us secure what I hope will be a two-hundred-million-dollar marketing contract.”

My father’s jaw drops. My mother and sisters gasp in unison.

“My apologies for interrupting your family time, Miss Locke. Would you like to do this some other time, or maybe I can take your parents on a quick city tour while you get ready?”

I mouth ‘thank you’ before nodding. “I’m not sure they’d want a tour.”

“Of course we’d want a tour of Manhattan, especially a free one from someone who lives here!” my mother says, then she looks at me. “I had no idea you were doing so well, honey. I would’ve never…”

“Next time I see Nolan, my fists have some unfinished business,” my dad says, walking over to me. He hugs me, but the words he said before still hold weight; they still hurt.

“I’ll be back in a few hours if that’s all right with you, Miss Locke?” Dominic is being way too chill and understanding about this, but I don’t turn down the chance to catch a break from my family.

“Sounds good,” I say. “I’ll be ready for work when you return.”

My family follows him out the door, and I let out a huge breath.

I’ve definitely lost the right to call him selfish for a while now…

I refresh my inbox repeatedly in the evening, hoping for updates from anyone, but there’s nothing.

It’s not until Mitchell comes up to the suite to give me a warm weighted blanket that I finally burst at the seams.

“Do you know when Dominic will be back?” I ask. “Do you know where he went?”

“I believe he’s leaving a Broadway show with your parents,” he says. “They did a relatively quick tour and he treated them to a Michelin-star dinner.” He tilts his head. “This is the first time I’ve ever seen Mr. Sutton try to make an impression on his girlfriend’s parents…”

“Oh, no. I’m not his girlfriend.”

“Okay, Miss Locke.” He smiles.

“I’m serious.” I shake my head. “I’m sure his timeline on meeting his girlfriend’s parents is still whatever it is.”

He stares at me, saying nothing.

“What is his normal timeline for meeting girlfriends’ parents?”

“Never.” He places a glass of water on the coffee table. “He never makes time to get close to anyone.”

“Oh…”

“Except you, of course.” He tips his hat. “Goodnight, Miss Locke.”

“Goodnight.” I remain on the couch, waiting and trying not to let my heart get ahead of itself.

This was just a sweet gesture. It doesn’t mean anything.

It doesn’t mean anything...

Later that night, the sound of shoes hitting the marble makes me roll over on the couch.

The lights slowly brighten, and I sit up as Dominic shuts the door.

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