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the city to start a family!” Marnie was saying to a stricken-looking Gray.
    Sophie couldn’t help it. She felt sorry for the guy. There were some things you protected even your worst enemy from. Marnie Dalton was one of them.
    She dug her tennis shoe into Will’s shin, trying not to think about how scrubby she must seem in comparison with Brynn’s country-club attire. At least she wasn’t wearing her hooker boots.
    Will shot her an irritated glance. What?
    Do something! She flicked her eyes obviously in Gray’s direction.
    His lip curled. No.
    Her toe hit his shin again with more force.
    He cut her a glare. You owe me.
    “So, Gray,” Will interrupted grudgingly, “how did you and Brynn meet?”
    Marnie gasped. “Of course! I didn’t even think to ask. How considerate, William.”
    Sophie rolled her eyes. Easy, Mom. Take on one dinner guest at a time. And she’d have bet her nonexistent life savings that Brynn had already told her mother exactly how they’d met. Marnie probably had an entire scrapbook dedicated to it.
    “We met at the gym, actually,” Brynn said, setting her hand on Gray’s overworked bicep. “He was at the treadmill next to me, and when I dropped my iPod, he picked it up.”
    “Naturally, I had to ask her to dinner,” Gray said with all the emotion of a cyborg.
    “Oh, naturally ,” Sophie said around a piece of bread. Her mother gave her a warning glare.
    “Honey, is dinner ready? I’m starving,” Sophie’s dad said distractedly, tearing himself away from the kitchen TV.
    “Let me just plate this chicken and we’re all set. Sophie, dear, if you could grab the wine, and, Brynn, take that salad to the table with you…”
    “May I carry anything for you?” Gray asked.
    Sophie rolled her eyes. Where were all these pretty manners when he’d left her standing like a cheap whore in a Las Vegas elevator lobby?
    Marnie’s hand fluttered to her chest. “Oh, goodness, no. You just make yourself comfortable for our cozy little family meal. Will, show Gray into the dining room, would you?”
    Sophie was so busy trying not to sit next to Gray, that she somehow ended up sitting across from him. Much worse. Now she had no way of not looking at him.
    He gave her a tense glare. She responded with a cheery smile.
    Sophie was just reaching for the salad bowl when her mother loudly cleared her throat and bowed her head. Brynn and Sophie exchanged a puzzled glance. They had never been a religious family. Marnie launched into a horribly maligned grace.
    Sophie’s mother shot Gray a pious look after she’d finished. “Thanks for humoring me, Gray. That’s a pre-meal prayer that’s been passed down from my great-great grandmother.”
    “Interesting…” Sophie said. “I wouldn’t say it’s familiar, would you guys? Brynn? Dad?”
    Brynn quickly hid a smirk behind her napkin, and even Chris seemed to be struggling not to laugh.
    Marnie studiously ignored them and gave her white napkin a snap before letting it flutter to her lap. “So, Gray, Brynn mentioned you’re from Chicago. Do you have family there?”
    Gray paused briefly before responding, and Sophie could have sworn she saw something raw flash across his face. “My brother actually lives here in Seattle. He’s in law school at the University of Washington. And my sister lives in New York.”
    “What about your parents?” Sophie asked. She realized she had yet to speak directly to Gray, and the last thing she wanted was for her family to take note of her odd behavior.
    “My parents are dead,” he replied flatly.
    Whoops. Sophie’s family glared at her and she stared guiltily at her plate. As if she’d meant to hit on a painful topic.
    “Tell me, how is it that a fine, successful fellow like yourself isn’t married yet?” Will asked with sham interest.
    The silence around the table became even more pronounced. Sophie could have strangled Will. Sure, he’d distracted everyone from her faux pas over Gray’s dead parents, but