CHAPTER ELEVEN
“I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
The limo hits a bump and Grant’s champagne swirls around his glass. “Of course it is. Now that you’ve decided we’re dating you’ll be seeing a lot of these people. It’s good to get to know them.”
That’s what I was afraid of.
It’s surreal. I’m riding in a limo drinking champagne on the way to a ten-thousand-dollar-per-plate dinner. Honestly the whole thing is a bit disgusting. At first I refused when Grant told me how much each plate cost, but he talked me into it by promising he’d already paid. Plus the money is going to charity. But it still feels wrong… like I don’t belong here. I haven’t run the math, but I could eat for years on what he spent on one plate, charity or not.
There’s also no guarantee I won’t freak out in the middle of dinner and have a Britney Spears circa 2007 breakdown while calling out the rich people. I warned Grant of this possibility, but he said he’d take the risk.
“You should have let me buy you a new dress,” Grant says adjusting one of the cufflinks to his three-piece suit. I’ve never noticed how the third piece in a suit sets it apart from other suits, but it does. That little vest is enough to make me consider taking him back home later. People can make all the penguin jokes they want. Grant looks hot in black and white.
I pull on the top of the green sparkly dress, the same one I wore for the charity gambling event we held in April to raise money for the center. “Do you not like this one?”
“No, I love it. It brings back good memories. But it’s a new event, so you should have a new outfit.”
His reasoning sounds like something his mother concocted to get his dad to spend more money on clothes. No one who lives in the real world buys a new dress every time they go to a party. Of course, most of my party experience is sitting around a game room with beer and a sports game.
Even the charity event in April was more fun and laid back than the night I’m expecting now. Grant fussed over every little detail. It’s obvious he’s nervous about tonight and wants me to make a good impression. What he doesn’t understand is that’s never going to happen. They will spot me as poor a mile away.
The limo slows and stops. Grant finishes his champagne in one large gulp. I’d finished mine within the first three minutes of our ride. Let’s hope there’s more inside.
“Will Aspen and Finn be here?” I ask. A friendly face beside me would be nice.
“No.” The door opens from the other side and Grant steps out.
He waits for me to release a deep breath and silently promise it will be over soon before I allow him to guide me to the front doors like a proper gentleman. Tonight’s swanky event is happening in one of the city’s mansions.
We make it halfway across the marble entryway before someone calls Grant’s name. He’s a man about Grant’s age dressed in a black suit with his hair gelled back perfectly and a deep blue tie. It’s like he stepped off aGQcover.
“Grant, it’s so good to see you. I heard you bought Del Fray, but you must make more time to get out of the office. You haven’t stepped foot in the club in weeks.”
My ears perk up at the mention of Grant belonging to a club. I can’t imagine he means the dance club. We are in a busy city based on a peninsula. Where are the people hiding a country club? It’s probably hidden away on top of a tall building since they like heights so much.
“You’re involved in Del Fray?” I ask before Grant has a chance to answer the other man’s questions.
He gives me a questioning look and pats me on the hand. “Yes, we bought it.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“You’ve never been interested.” Grant does this weird condescending chuckle and turns back to his conversation like he’s done with me.
The man standing across from us tracks me from head to toe with his eyes and then shakes his head. “Or is it you’ve been busy with other things?”
My mouth drops open. Can he not see I’m standing right here?
Fifty minutes pass… or three. I’m not sure. But a long damn time goes by before Grant turns to me. “This is Clare. She runs the city youth center.”
Grant’s friend reaches out to shake my hand. “It’s so good to meet you. It’s always nice to meet someone who’s devoted their life to giving back to the needy.” It’s said with a lilt on the words that leads me to believe he doesn’t mean any of it.
“Yes, some of us find that important.”
Grant tugs on my hands a fraction, but it’s enough to make me see red. Rather than tell him and the whole room off like I want, I stand quietly beside him with a small smile even though it practically kills me.
When he turns back to me he has his stupid goofy grin I normally find cute plastered all over his face. He’s clueless he’s done anything wrong. He wraps his arm back around mine like we’re now attached to one another. “Clare, this is Jeffrey. We went to school together.”
Probably a rich stuck-up prep school. I can’t see good old Jeffrey surviving San Francisco public.
