“Sent me to a damn conference in Florida. Told me it ended yesterday. Wrong. The keynote speech was today.”

“Couldn’t you have politely bailed, saying you had a rather important thing you had to attend?” Claire asked, pointing at Audrey’s clearly bridal-esque ensemble.

“I was giving the keynote,” Clarke said. “Something my dad conveniently forgot to mention. I had zero chance of catching my original flight and barely got on standby for the flight I did.”

Audrey laughed. “Oh dear. Your parents really don’t want you to marry me, huh?”

“They just don’t want me to do anything that wasn’t their idea. My mother, however, did make a rather crucial mistake.”

“Shoulder pads? Please tell me she’s not one of those women who wears shoulder pads,” Naomi pleaded.

“Not anymore,” Audrey reassured her. “Now she just rocks a lot of pantsuits.”

“Okay, but what was her mistake?” Claire asked Clarke.

“Well, no doubt they hoped I’d show up haggard without a chance to get ready. But if that were the case, she shouldn’t have thrown this shindig at a hotel.” He jiggled the garment bag that was slung over his shoulder.

“Brilliant,” Claire said. “You can get a room and turn into your usual James Bond self.”

“Actually, I don’t think James Bond would even need a room. I’m pretty sure he could have managed to change and shave in the Uber…” Audrey said.

Clarke gave her a look. “Remind me again why I agreed to marry you?”

She blew him a playful kiss. “Okay, you go get ready. We’ll hold down the fort.”

“Uh-uh,” Naomi said, already shaking her head. “Claire and I will hold down the fort. You will go off with Clarke. If you two want to sell this, you’ve got to show up at the party together.”

“She’s right.” Claire nodded. “Audrey walking in with her two friends and Clarke showing up later is going to look strange.”

“All right, Dree, you’re with me,” he said, already heading across the lobby toward the front desk to check in.

Audrey hesitated. “I thought you guys said I couldn’t be fashionably late to my own engagement party.”

“Generally, no. But being fashionably late because you and your fiancé just came from a hotel room together? Deliciously scandalous.”

Audrey wrinkled her nose. “Eww. Everyone will think we were doing it.”

“Audrey, you’re supposed to be marrying the man. Everyone should think you’re doing it.”

“Right, right. Okay. You guys can make polite excuses for us?”

“Absolutely,” Claire assured her. “Plus, Oliver and Scott are meeting us up there. Nobody does charming upper-crust chitchat like Oliver.”

“You do realize that Oliver’s there as my date. You’re married to Scott,” Naomi said, bemused.