We held eyes for a heartbeat, her chocolate orbs with amber flecks drawing me in deeper. If I didn’t leave now, I might never leave. I escaped into the cool night air, lungs tight.
As I drove away, I scolded myself in the rearview mirror. “You fucking dick. It’s for the best, and you know it.” Then why did her lingering laugh, tangled up with golden fur, whisper in my chest that I might regret this one day?
ZOMBIES AND TEARS
Penny
“I cannot believewe’re at the Zombie Ball. I’ve heard about this event before, but never been,” I whispered as if speaking too loud would cause an avalanche of crystal chandeliers raining down upon our heads at the Plaza Hotel ballroom.
“Considering the tickets are three hundred each, I would never have ventured to attend myself. We have Westley to thank for getting us in.” Aunt Brier fussed with the shoulder of her little black dress. “Look at all these costumes. They go overboard, don’t they?”
‘They’being some of New York’s elite, wealthy, celebs and socialites, none of which Brier and I were. We waded through the crowd at the annual event, billed as New York’s Ultimate Halloween Bash, all benefitting the fight against lung cancer. And sponsored by the Buchanan family.
I’d heard about the family once from Brianne. She was always enamored with their wealth, pleasing her to no end when Archer would get invited to occasional parties in the Hamptons and take her as his date.
Brianne’s life seemed so glamours at the time, but nowadays, Archer wouldn’t have to invitemeto events like that. A simplephone call or text or another chance to see him again would be nice.
Brier nagged me daily for the past two weeks about this being the modern ages and how I should text him and invite him out again. I practically kept my phone hidden from her so she wouldn’t text him for me. What she didn’t know was that he’d been on my mind too often since the golden hour playdate, but I subscribed to the idea that if a man was interested, he’d make the effort.
The spacious room filled fast with people in ballgowns and tuxedos, sequins and masks, and enough glittering conversation to make my head spin. In my simple black tulle-skirted short gown and with my face painted like the Bride of Frankenstein, complete with a silver streak through my hair, this small-town girl crashed the big-city party.
We drifted toward the art auction room, where sculptures were on display along with paintings lining velvet-draped walls, each strategically lit by spotlights overhead. Masterpieces stared back at us, from landscapes of the country and portraits of noble people, to abstracts I didn’t understand but pretended I did.
As we exited the display, Brier’s smile flickered, nerves showing through, eyes always searching the crowd for one man. “Westley is here somewhere. His company handles the artwork security each year. He said he’d find me, but among all these people?”
“You’re suddenly nervous about meeting the man you’ve been talking to for two decades, aren’t you?”
She brushed back a lock of hair behind her ear. She went with a black velvet dress and a velvet pillbox hat, the netting halfway covering her face. I had complained about it not exactly being a costume before we left home tonight; she countered she was going for Shy Widowed Countess. I helped her with hermakeup and curled her dark hair, ensuring she was ready to meet her prince.
“Photos and video calls aren’t the same. What if when I see him I’m not attracted to…”
Her words dissolved on an exhale when the crowd parted like the Red Sea, letting a giant walk through. This had to be Westley.
My God—he was enormous. At least a foot and a half taller than Brier, his shoulder muscles and arms so brawny, they blocked out the light behind him.
I feared he might break her if he ever landed on top of her.
Dressed in a sleek black suit, no mask on his face, but a perfectly manicured amount of scruff along his jaw and upper lip, his steady blue eyes locked on Brier as if she were the only woman in the room.
“Told you I would find you,” he said, voice like smoke and velvet. “It’s finally you.”
My aunt—at five-foot-one—swayed on her heels, her head falling back, eyes flittering up at him, the exact picture of a woman physically swooning if I ever saw one.
“Westley?” With the breathy way she spoke, you’d think she’d been holding it in for years and only now remembered how to let it go.
He smiled, slow and certain. “In the flesh, Brier Rose.”
“Um, th-this is my niece, Penny,” she stammered, tugging me forward.
He shook my hand firmly and politely. “I understand I have you to thank for finally getting her to meet me in person?”
“Nice to meet you,” I managed before he turned right back to her.
“You look exactly how I pictured. Only better.” He knew how to make a woman blush. Brier’s cheeks couldn’t be more pink. Their eyes met and held for several seconds. I thought maybethey’d never speak again, inventing a whole new language entirely with their orbs.
I broke their spell. “Brier said you’re here working.”
“As the boss, I’m only backup tonight. My team has it covered. They’re a top-notch group of ex–Navy SEALs, like me. You’ll spot them if you look closely, each dressed in black suits and Phantom of the Opera masks.”
