5
I saw someone nudge Mark and point me out.
When he saw me, his smile froze and then he looked around, his gaze cold. Everyone
instantly looked down, like they were afraid to
meet his eyes.
But Amber, she walked right up to me, all
smiles.
“I invited my sister. Her birthday was the other day, and Mark didn’t do much to celebrate. So, I figured we could all celebrate again today.”
“Amber!”
When it was just the two of them, Mark would
call her “Babe,” not her full name.
Amber could tell that he was mad, but she
wasn’t worried. She grabbed his arm and
pouted.
“Mark, don’t be mad.
“”
“I invited my sister over because you forgot about her birthday. You gave her that diamond necklace, but that’s not enough. So I wanted to throw her another party today.”
“I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s a big party
and it’s a great excuse to have another
celebration, that’s why I invited her…”
The more Amber tried to explain, the more
pathetic she sounded, and Mark’s face
softened.
“I was out of line… I shouldn’t have… I’m sorry. I’ll drink to that. And I promise I’ll try to stay away from you in the future. Please don’t
be mad at me.”
99
As she reached for her drink, Mark snatched it and handed her a glass of juice instead.
“You’re not drinking. If you can’t hold your
<
liquor, you stick to the juice, got it?”
Amber gave a helpless smile and nodded.
Then she lifted the other glass of wine toward
- me.
“I’m really bad at holding my liquor. No matter how many work dinners I go to, I still can’t handle it. I guess that’s Mark taking care of me. He worries about me, and I hope that you can understand. I’m going to
apologize with this glass of juice, it’s on me.
Every word she said was designed to provoke me. I could even see a hint of smugness in
her eyes.
29
<
She wanted to make me lose my temper and
cause a scene like I always had.
But I wasn’t the old me anymore.
I wasn’t heartbroken anymore, I was just…
bored.
I didn’t take the glass of wine, and the people
around us started whispering.
“Is Bailey going to go off again?”
“I mean, let’s be real, all guys have a side piece, especially a catch like Mark. Bailey’s got zero chance of stopping him.”
<
“Yeah, but the wife being provoked like this,
it’s kind of obvious that she’s going to lose
it.”
Mark took the wine glass from Amber and gave it to me. There was no room for argument in his gaze: “I want you two to be able to get along.”
