As the meeting adjourned and we all started piling out of the office, I realized rather belatedly just how late it was getting outside. The idea of going home was torture for me right now, but at this point, I didn't see how Sadie or I had any other option so I just bit my own tongue and went to grab Sadie by the arm.
"I don't guess you're ready to go?" I asked uncertainly as Sadie stared at me a moment before throwing an evil look in Tom Quincy's direction..
"Why don't you go ask our new Mr. Sugar Daddy if he'd like to come see his new piece of property?" Sadie asked in a biting tone as I raised my eyebrows at her sardonically. Bitter much?
"Sades, now is not the time to go all 'I hate my ex boyfriend' on me, okay? I mean, hell, forget about the studio. We need to go home and do some familial damage control." I said with an edge to my tone as Sadie looked over at me a moment before nodding as if saying 'whatever.' I knew it must be double hard on her—having lost mom out of the blue and dealing with the fact that my producer and her ex boyfriend had just bought our house. Hell, I was still having a hard time with it. But now was not the time to regress. Tom ambled over to us slowly with a look that pleaded for civility.
"Be at the studio at eight a.m. in the morning, Jude. The auction is scheduled for the day after tomorrow and Portia wants to fit you for a couple of dresses before we get started on the new demo." Tom said quietly while glancing uneasily at the two of us. I couldn't help sympathizing. I think I'd have that 'mouse caught between the cat's paw' look too if I were him. Then it hit me.
"Dresses?" I asked with a curious inclination of my head. Tom grinned.
"We have a cocktail party we have to attend tomorrow evening to promote the auction. I guess you could say it's a 'parade the meat in front of the noses of the customers before they actually get a chance to sample it' event." Tom said in a wry tone as I chuckled at his casual way of putting it delicately. Sadie just glared at me. Geez, get over it already. Okay, in all honesty, that isn't fair of me. I was still tripping over what happened between Tom and I on the day of my birthday, and I was supposed to be involved with someone else. How screwed up is that? Speaking of. Spied chose that moment to sidle up to us almost as if he were afraid that he was missing something important by not being involved. Hated to burst his bubble, but the only heat emanating in this little circle was the kind screaming off of Sadie's skin. Tom capitulated under the pressure.
"Just don't forget to get here on time, Jude." He said again before glancing once more at us uneasily before turning on his heel to walk away. Sadie's eyes narrowed as she followed his progress across the room before turning to me.
"Is your daddy done with you now, or do you have any more curfews we need to know about?" Sadie asked derisively as I placed both my hands on my hips in an 'okay you've finally done it' kind of gesture.
"Sadie…" I began caustically until I remembered that Spied had joined our little ménage a trios, and somehow I didn't think Tommy would appreciate it if I aired his financial investments out in the public. Besides, I had a feeling I would be starting a feud between the two if I did—the kind you see in old western flicks where the men proceed to see which guys can draw their guns faster. Nope, just wasn't going there. So I did the next sensible thing. I grabbed Sadie's keys and began walking purposely toward the exit knowing that Sadie would follow hurriedly after me. I mean, if you had ever seen me drive, you'd be finding a definitive way to stop me too. Hey, failing three driving tests is normal, right? It's not like I didn't pass it the fourth time. Even if the man who had been riding with me was hiding under the dashboard so afraid that he would have to give the test over to me again that he just signed off on the paper. A little fear goes a long way, let me tell ya.
And just as I predicted, Sadie's hand suddenly gripped me by the shoulder before leaning over to grab my hand, pulling the keys out of my grasp with little effort before stomping off in front of me. I shrugged at Spied as he sidled up next to me.
"What's her problem?" I asked teasingly as he raised a brow at me in mock horror.
"Jude, it's called survivor's instinct. You travel with you and you might as well sell your life away to the "Crash Test Dummy" industry." Spied said on a chuckle as I shrugged in a 'what can you possibly mean?' kind of gesture. Spied just smiled as he walked me to the door before stooping down to kiss me.
"It's one of the things I love about you, Jude—that wonderful ability of yours to make mistakes and laugh about it." He said with a laugh as I looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"Driving is not a mistake." I said pointedly as Spied laughed again.
"Honey, for you it is." He said before gently pushing me out of the door with his foot. I turned around to stick my tongue out at him childishly, but found myself staring into Tommy Q's blue gaze over Spied's shoulder instead. And I found I couldn't do anything but stare back at him before shaking my head quickly to remind myself what I was doing. Now, would be a good time to exit gracefully, especially once I realized that Spied was very aware of what had attracted my gaze so I just smiled tightly before running toward the car. I had other problems to worry about. Like the home situation and, lord knows, the auction.