Page 61 of Her Billionaire Boss
So, clearly Matt and Neil knew each other a little better than Matt knew the rest of them.
Even Sophie seemed taken aback by the gesture.“I was aware that you’d met, but I didn’t realize you were old friends.”
“His company has been one of Elwood and Stern’s largest advertising accounts for years now,” Neil explained.
“And I’ve taken advantage of that,” Matt joked.“Lots of very expensive dinners on Neil’s dime.”
“It’s how I earned our invitation to Ascend Red,” Neil said, adding a saucy, “One of the ways, at least.”
“Yeah, we get it, you’ve all screwed around together.We’re not talking about that kind of stuff until after lunch,” Sophie scolded.“I want to have a normal, cordial picnic with my lovely new friends before you all start talking about dirty stuff.”
Cautiously, I ventured, “Uh...I’m not sure this counts as a picnic.At least, not any picnic I’ve ever been to.”
“Get used to it.This is your tax bracket now,” Sophie said, picking up a pitcher.“Virgin mimosa?”
“It’s orange juice and Sprite,” El-Mudad said wryly.
“Hey.I’m striving for elegance here.”Sophie picked up a champagne flute and filled it, handed it to me, and filled another for Matt.Then she poured her own and held it up.“To my new friends.”
We clinked our glasses while Neil and El-Mudad shook their heads fondly at their wife.For someone as rich as she was, she was refreshingly silly, and I realized how many very serious people I’d been surrounded with lately.Everyone at the office was out to build their careers and make their fortunes climbing the ladder.That was fun, for Business Charlotte.Charlotte Classic needed someone as carefree as Sophie to break the monotony.
Not that life with Matt had grown monotonous.He was my favorite part of every single day.But there was a dynamic that only friendship—even sex friendship—could satisfy.
“I didn’t forget the blue cheese,” El-Mudad said to Neil, turning back to the grill.“It’s disgusting, so I consciously chose not to bring it out.”
“It’s delicious on burgers,” Neil protested.“Charlotte, be a pal.You like blue cheese, don’t you?”
“Not even a little.I’m on his side.”
It stunned me to see them cooking, setting the table, serving the food all by themselves.I still hadn’t gotten completely used to the servants at our apartment, but they were starting to fade into the background a little for me.Our apartment could probably fit into Sophie’s house fifteen times, but I didn’t see a single member of the staff anywhere.
I wondered how long it took her to get her husbands to go along with that arrangement, because I knew for a fact that they hadn’t come with self-sufficiency pre-installed.I’d already met enough billionaires to generalize about that.
“I would ask you how you liked your burgers, but I’m not so good at guessing their level of done-ness,” El-Mudad apologized.
“In my house, it was ‘get what you get and don’t throw a fit,’ I said, laying my hands on the back of a chair.“Is this...?”
“Sit anywhere,” Sophie said, reaching to pull out one of the chairs.I noted that the head of the table had a plate.I wondered who sat there.My money—not that I had any—was on Neil.There was something so commanding about his presence; he wasn’t unusually handsome, but charisma radiated from him.I could see why he’d appealed to Matt, and I couldn’t help imagining the two of them together.
Maybe I would get to see it for myself.
Matt took a seat beside me as Neil situated himself at the head of the table, as I predicted.Matt sipped his “mimosa” and asked, “So.How did you all enjoy the island?”
Sophie blushed furiously.
“Exquisite,” Neil said, lifting a glass of ice water.“You’ve outdone yourself.”
El-Mudad brought the platter of meat from the grill and situated it between us all.“I was skeptical, at first, but it turned out to be a good way of reintroducing myself to swinging.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Matt replied.
“We were strictly exclusive for a while,” Sophie explained as she sat down.She lifted a breadbasket and passed it to us.“I didn’t know what everyone liked, so I went with brioche or pretzel buns.I hope that’s okay.”
“Fantastic,” Matt affirmed as we made our selection and handed the basket off to Neil.“About the breadand the return to experimentation.I’m glad you felt safe indulging at Ascend Red.”
“It was eye-opening, even for us,” Neil said with a chuckle.
“And otherwise opening.”Sophie covered her mouth with her hand.“I was the one who didn’t want to talk about sex.”
