“I told her organized crime. She made her own assumptions,” I sigh.
A grin spreads across Art’s face. “You told your friend about me.” He brings his hand up from my waist to play with one of my curls.
“I didn’t want to lie to my best friend. It’s not a big deal.”
I shrug away from him, but it does nothing to eradicate the stupid smile from his face. There’s no way I’m going through this event being introduced to people as Art’s date, especially not while we’rewearing matching outfits.
He doesn’t own me, and he needs to learn that. I don’t want everyone in our workplace to think I’m sleeping with the boss.
I drag Lily away with me.
“Are you fucking him?” she asks me, the second we’re out of Art’s earshot.
I neck back the glass of champagne and ignore her question. Then I grab a fresh glass from the waiter.
“Do you want to dance?” I call loudly over the music.
“So you are.” She puts her hands on her hips and tosses her hair. “Getting back with your ex is rarely a good idea, Nina. Trust me, I’ve been there.”
I just shake my head and pretend it’s too loud to hear as I pull Lily onto the dance floor. It’s way too early to start dancing at an event like this, but I’m tipsy. There’s enough nervous energy coursing through me to power this entire hotel.
I still don’t know what Art wants. But I love the waythat even now, as I scream the lyrics to pop songs with Lily and bounce around the empty dance floor with her, I can feel Art’s eyes on me. He’s keeping tabs on me.
I should hate it. But I don’t. Some secret part of me likes that he’s unable to tear his eyes away even when I’m just dancing with my best friend.
Daniel joins us on the dance floor, and we pull him into a group hug. As the only three residents at Middlefield, we do have a special bond. This night is taking me back to college, right before everything happened with Art. When I could just be a normal student at a partywith my friends instead of a single mom trying to balance full-time study.
The small group of us dancing together attracts a crowd. Pretty soon, Lily is swept away by a tattooed guy with a scar on his face who looks just like the guy she was eyeing at the bar, on that night when Art insisted on driving me home. It feels like an eternity ago.
Daniel extends his hand to me.
On instinct, I look up and find Art’s gaze immediately. Searing and thunderous all at once.
Good. One kiss doesn’t make me his. One night doesn’t make me his. And he’s gonna learn that.
I smile at Daniel and take his hand. I shift my focus to him, where he’s smiling a little too widely. His hands drop to my waist, pulling me closer to him.
The only thing that stops me from shoving Daniel away is imagining the look on Art’s face.
He can buy the hospital where I work, he can try to worm his way back into my life, but Art cannot stop me from dancing with my friend at a party.
He pauses whatever conversation he’s having, with a donor or a business partner of the hospital, and fixes his full attention on me as I loop my arms around Daniel’s neck.
His face darkens with the wrath of a vengeful God, and I get a chill of pleasure out of it. I don’t know what he’s going to do, but he will not let this continue for long.
I spin around and press myself closer to Daniel, just to see his reaction, but when I look up, Art is headed out of the ballroom.
Disappointment courses through me.
Maybe I was imagining the anger painted across his face. After five years apart, I’m sure Art has been with a ton of other women. I’m probably fooling myself into thinking he still feels anything towards me.
Then Daniel‘s phone starts ringing midway through our next dance. His face falls as he answers, nodding seriously.
Just from his facial expression, I think I can guess who’s on the other end of the call.
He steps away from me, dropping his hands from my waist and pushing his hair back from his forehead.
“I’m gonna have to head to the hospital. Sorry Nina,” he says with genuine sadness, looking like a wounded puppy. “There’s been some kind of emergency.”
