“No.” I took a mouthful of champagne.
She kept her gaze fixed on me. I saw a flash of amusement. She said, as if she’d discovered some great secret, “Argh, now I see.”
“You don’t see anything,” I insisted, flustered.
She laughed. “But I think I do. And you’d never make it as an actress.”
“Can we just change the subject?” I whined.
She laughed again and looked down to the heads below.
“Oh shit,” she muttered, the smile falling from her face. I looked over to the object of her displeasure, the Robinsons stood with a tall, youngish-looking man in a suit. “I have been beckoned. Do you want to come?”
I shook my head and laughed at her dismay. The young man was not exactly handsome, branch thin, with a cap of brown hair, a little nerdy-looking. “Tempting, but you can have him all to yourself,” I teased.
“Fuck me,” she breathed, “my life would be so different if I wasn’t an only child.” She stood up, sculled one glass down in four large gulps. “I won’t be long,” she sighed, heading down the stairs. I watched with faint amusement as her parents introduced them. His eager smile. Her fake one.
The Robinsons, it quickly became apparent, had an exaggerated opinion of themselves. Wait staff offering drinks got no recognition, obviously they were not wealthy and importantenough, but as Cole came over to them the handshakes were firm, the smiles genuine for him. They spoke with an ease that indicated they’d met before. I wondered if they were the lawyers for the development. I glanced around the room, stopping on Ethan. The girl had her hand rested on Ethan’s arm. She was smiling at him like a girl at prom. He spoke. She chuckled and ran her fingers up and down his forearm.
I feel a pang of something heavy in my stomach. I attributed it to a sense of deprivation. I missed being held. I missed the warm glow when someone I loved walked into the room. I missed late nights up talking and early morning cuddles. I missed feeling like an important part of someone’s life. Anyone’s life.
I dragged my eyes away and scanned the room below. Mike Bowden was standing by the bar, engrossed in conversation. Gone was the cheap, ill-fitting suit. Tonight he wore a neat, navy, expensive looking one, and a new gold watch glinted on his wrist. Seemed his latest stories paid well.
I saw that Georgie had arrived, dressed in a bright blue gown, little curls trailing out from her swept up hair, her hand latched onto Jeff’s arm. They were over on the other side of the room, talking to a large group.
I found myself thinking of Karson. I didn’t know what it was about him, but I felt like I was a teenage girl again with a massive crush on the hot boy at school. Only the hot boy wasn’t aware I existed. Or he was, but he was repelled in a physical sense. The rejection in the forest, still scorched.
I downed another champagne. Three glasses in, I was still sitting on my own. God, I hated these events. Jodie had looked up once and mouthed, ‘sorry.’ Now, she was no longer with her parents. I scanned the room and spotted her on the dance floor. Her arms were wrapped around the neck of a tall dark-haired man. He leaned in whispering something in her ear, she threwher head back and laughed. It wasn’t the young man her parents had introduced her to. This guy was taller and broader. They swung around. My stomach dropped.
Shit.
It was Michael.
“Jesus, Jodie,” I murmured, standing. My eyes locked with Karson’s. My heart fluttered and a bolt of excitement shot up my stomach, but not enough to drown my concern. I knew where Michael was, Monique would be. I found her at the bar, and at the other end was Dahlia. What the hell were they all doing here? I had to get Jodie away from Michael as quickly as I could. He was completely charming—if I was perfectly honest, captivating—and I knew most definitely she would adore him. She had no clue of the danger she was in.
I walked as quickly as I could down the stairs to the dance floor. I skirted around an older couple doing an old-fashioned waltz that didn’t match the song. They would’ve been in their late seventies, they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Any other time I would have thought it really sweet, but now they were in my way. I had to get to Jodie.
“Excuse me,” I said, a little too bluntly, as the gentleman swung in front, blocking my way. He threw me a dirty look, displeased I dared disrupt his dance moves. He twirled the lady out of my way. I took two steps before Karson had me in his arms, spinning me in the opposite direction.
“You look ravishing tonight, Amelia,” he crooned. His eyes were filled were with a dark desire that left nothing to my imagination and sent my heart tapping against the bones in my chest like a woodpecker against a tree.
I did look nice tonight, probably because I looked different, I felt like an imposter in my own skin. But I was pleased, no, ecstatic, that he’d noticed. I took a deep breath, steeling myself against being drawn in. My back stiffened.
“Karson, let me go before I cause a scene and everyone turns to look at us.”
“Do you think I care if people turn to look at us?”
I knew he didn’t, it would be me who cared. I sighed, defeated. “I need to get Jodie away from Michael.”
“They are only dancing, he’s unlikely to hurt her here, if you dance with me I will ensure his teeth remain away from her neck.”
‘Unlikely to’ was hardly reassuring. I twisted my head over toward Jodie, she seemed blissfully happy, smiling like a schoolgirl at prom. Of course she was, why wouldn’t she be? What could I do really, drag her away and make up some lame excuse?
“Are you bribing me to dance with you?” I asked, mildly amused.
He reached out and moved a hair that had fallen against my forehead back. “I like to think it’s a little more like a pleasant, mutually-beneficial enticement.”
Celine Dion’s melodically blessed voice floated through the room. Without any more need for persuasion, I placed my arms around his neck, resting my head gently on on his shoulder. His arms swept around my back. I relaxed against him as we moved slowly together. I was intensely aware of the feel of his chest against mine, his breath skimming my neck. My nerves came alive. His hands, placed around my back, were warm and soft. I almost sighed as I melted into him.
