She didn’t answer and laughed, nervously, it seemed.

“So, on second thought, maybe you could wear the red one. Save the yellow one for me, and only me, to see you in,” she continued. She was more than half-serious. “Or maybe ditch the whole bikini thing, altogether …”

I was still more than a little deflated.

“But they’re your friends,” I continued to argue unreasonably. Philip and Daisy had been more than warm and welcoming. But …

“You don’t have to go, of course,” she answered in a soothing voice. “Although, I should tell you Philip himself popped his head into my office to ask if you were free to join the boat ride. He said it was originally going to be just the wedding party, but Annie had asked for some adjustments, especially since I’d told her last night that I wouldn’t be able to go. Plus Philip and Daisy do like you, baby, and really respected your parents, so they’d like to host you for something…”

“Baby,” this time. I’m really liking all these names. Like tiny shots of caffeine every time she calls me one.

I blew out a breath. C’mon, Aerin. Didn’t you just tell her that you would work hard to deserve to be worthy of this love? Maybe this is important for other things, with regard to her situation in the law firm. And Philip did communicate the message himself, dropping by her office in person to ask. He could have just passed the message on through an assistant or some other means. But he hadn’t.

Based on what he’d said last night, this sounded like a crucial period in the process to determine who the senior partners would offer the open partner slot to. Yeah, he was working behind the scenes to make sure Harley would be the one the senior partners would select, but, it sounded like there was some work to be done still …

“I’m being stupid, Harley. Forgive me,” I cut in. “Sorry, I whined a bit earlier. Of course I’m going. And I’m wearing a one piece.”

She blew me an audible kiss through the phone.

“What can I say? You’re about to entrust your heart to a child,” I quipped. “But I’ll need a real kiss from you when we I see you after the boat ride, ok?”