Page 89 of Dirty Boss

“The contractor with big dreams,” Bonnie responded, smiling as she shook Vaughn’s hand. She turned to me.

Vaughn picked up right where he was supposed to, sweeping his hand down my back. “This is—Alba.” He stumbled over the introduction, evidently not knowing what to call me. His girlfriend? His employee? His image consultant?

In the end, it didn’t matter. Bonnie and I had met several times before. “Hi, Bonnie,” I said, nodding. “I love your dress.” It wasn’t a lie. She wore a long gold gown that emphasized her blond hair and goddess-like proportions. The dress flared out at the hips and shimmered under the chandeliers dangling above our heads.

Bonnie had never been catty to me. Not the way Yvette was. She was a kind woman who loved her kids and made a point to support her friends’ business ventures. Once upon a time, when Cole and I were meant to be married, I’d thought that I wouldn’t mind being her friend.

Now I braced myself for her reaction to seeing me here with Vaughn.

“Long time no see!” Bonnie said with a smile, gaze flicking between me and Vaughn. “I didn’t know you two were—I mean after—” She cleared her throat.

We both thought about the reason we hadn’t seen each other for so long. The end of my engagement to Cole. My ousting from society.

“We met at work,” I explained, which sparked curiosity in Bonnie’s gaze. It wasn’t much of an explanation; I hadn’t worked when she knew me before.

She’d just opened her mouth when a voice made us jump.

“Getout!”

The four of us turned to see a vision in black. A tall, dark-haired woman wore a figure-hugging gown with a gorgeous off-the-shoulder neckline. Her throat glittered with diamonds. She lifted her hands toward me, her stiletto nails painted a dark shade of red. Nikita Blakely, née Jordan, wife of my ex-fiancé’sbest friend, stared at me from a few feet away. Fingers of both hands spread toward me, she shook her hands in my direction. For a moment, I thought she was kicking me out and I thought,That didn’t take long. But what came out of her mouth was a shocked, “That isnota vintage Versace dress, is it?”

Relief made me wobbly. A smile trembled at the corners of my lips. “What, this old thing?” I swished the bottom of it and laughed as the dark-haired woman gasped.

“Claudia Schiffer. The Academy Awards in…I want to say 1994?”

“Close,” I replied, grinning. “’95.”

“Replica?”

“Vaughn’s tailor used to work in the Versace workrooms, apparently,” I said, patting my man’s arm as I wiggled my brows. “It’s the real deal.”

“Hold on,” Nikki said, putting her hand to her forehead. “I’m about to die of envy. I need a minute.”

Bonnie laughed. “We’re going to need to know the name of Vaughn’s tailor.”

“I’ll take it to my grave,” I teased.

“The color is divine on you,” Nikki said, reaching forward to feel the fabric of the skirt between her fingertips. “It wouldn’t work on me. Well…” She frowned, humming. “No, it really wouldn’t.”

I laughed. “I’ll let you try it on sometime.”

Nikki brightened. “No. Really?”

I shrugged. “Sure.” Smiling, I glanced at Vaughn, whose eyebrow twitched. I gave him a look that said,See? I told you it wasn’t just a dress. And he grinned back at me like he’d known all along.

This wouldn’t be so bad. Bonnie and Nikki weren’t treating me like an outcast—and why had I worried they would? My parents weren’t good people. James and Yvette weren’t either.But noteveryonein this room was awful. Maybe this wouldn’t be a big middle finger of an evening to all of them, a splash and a goodbye.

Maybe it would be a beginning.

“Babe,” Nikki mock-complained as she glanced over my shoulder, “why have you never surprised me with a vintage Versace dress worn by one of the world’s most famous supermodels?”

The false sense of ease that had begun to trickle through me turned cold. I stilled, spine stiffening.

The man behind me said, “I’m always looking for birthday ideas,” and came into view beside me. Rome Blakely, advertising guru extraordinaire, crossed to where Nikki was still admiring my dress and wrapped an arm around her waist.

But it wasn’t him that I’d sensed. It was the other man who joined our circle. Tall and dark-haired, Cole Christianson was as handsome as I’d remembered.

And he was with his new wife.