Page 61 of Ugly Duckling
“Sure you aren’t,” she snorted and turned to me. “You ready for this? Where’s your fiancée?”
“Fiancée?” Audric whispered under his breath.
“Long story short, Sutton’s my fiancée for the time being,” I repeated lowly. “Text your wife and tell her not to act surprised.”
Audric shook his head, his eyes glittering with mirth. “She’ll be so excited to have a new friend. She’s always referring to herself as the oddball out with the club wives.”
“Searcy, Aella, Silver, and Baker aren’t welcoming?”
“They’re welcoming. But the rest of them have been here for a lot longer than she has, and she sometimes just feels a little bit alone,” he admitted. “I’m glad that you’ll have someone to help her.”
“Sutton’s really great,” I said.
“That’s so nice of you, future hubby.”
I looked to my back to see her coming out of the bathroom.
“When did you get here?” I asked.
“About ten minutes ago,” she answered. “My second client for the day had to be rescheduled because she wasn’t finished being embalmed yet.”
“Um, what?” Audric asked at the same time Malone replied, “What, exactly, do you do again?”
Sutton beamed. “I’m a nail technician. But I only see clients who are deceased. I work part-time, however, because I’m currently in training for the next Olympics.”
“You run?” Malone asked. “Which distance?”
“The 1500,” she answered. “Well, for the Olympics. I just started running marathons and find that I really like that distance as well.”
“I’ve always wanted to become a runner.”
“You should do it,” Sutton said to Malone. “It’s awesome.”
Malone nodded once. “Maybe you can share your number with me. I’d love some tips.”
Her phone beeped before she could say anything more, and Malone cursed. “Come on. Let’s go. This judge is a douche if you’re late.”
We all filed into the courtroom, but Audric waited to go in with me before saying, “What’s with that look you keep giving her? You look like you’re really into her.”
I was.
Which was honestly quite scary.
“She’s a good friend,” I whispered back.
“Sure,” he murmured. “There’s my girl.”
Creole came rushing in with her flight attendant uniform on and caught up to Audric.
The two of them sat in the back.
I sat in the front on the left side with Malone, opposite of the Combs, and Sutton pulled up a chair directly behind me.
The judge came into the chambers just a few short moments later.
“All rise!”
I stood up, smoothing the tie that Malone had urged me to wear despite wanting nothing to do with it.
