I can’t help the snort of laughter that slips past my lips. These hats are serious business. Judging by the roll of her eyes and the shake of her head, Rachel seems to be the only one who agrees this party is ridiculous.
They continue to break down everyone here, and I realize I can use this to my advantage. If James Bernard was an old friend of Ryan’s, then he was an old friend of theirs too.
I just need an opening.
“Oh!” Allison squeaks. “Can you believe Jeana Kilburn had the nerve to show her face here?”
“Where is she?” Beth asks.
Allison points to a short, round, blond woman nearby who is wearing way too much jewelry. She’s hammered. I noticed her earlier when she was walking from the buffet line to a table and almost wobbled right off those high heels of hers.
“I swear, I’ll never understand men,” Sara says. “If they’re going to cheat, why do it with someone as tragic as Jeana?”
Once they’ve just finished speculating who Jeana’s next victim will be, I say, “Ryan ran into an old friend he hasn’t seen in years... James Bernard. He seemed excited to see him.”
All four women whip their heads in my direction.
“He’s here?” Beth asks, her mouth hanging slightly open as if she’s in awe of my news.
I nod and survey the rest of them and find they all are exhibiting varying degrees of shock and confusion. Except Rachel. This is not news to Rachel.
“He’s here with a woman.” I don’t say her name. I can’t bring myself to say her name. My name.
Allison, Beth, and Sara all turn around and scan the crowd, hoping for a glimpse of them, but Rachel looks at me.
Beth swings back around and says, “I can’t believe he’d show up here. He must need money.”
I take a slow drink from my cup like I’ve got all the time in the world before lowering it, then ask, “Why do you say that?” My calm and controlled outer shell that is usually locked down tight quivers and threatens to crumble in a million pieces.
“He’s trouble,” Allison adds. “Nearly bankrupted his parents with his gambling. They bailed him out more times than they should have. No one knows where he’s even been the last few years.”
“How did he look? Bad?” Beth asks. “I bet he looked bad. And honestly I’m shocked he found a date. She must be a train wreck too.”
I don’t mention that his date was far from a train wreck.
“I’m surprised he had the nerve to talk to Ryan,” Sara says.
As casually as I can, I ask, “Why?”
Allison answers for her instead. “Ryan tried to help him out a year ago. Gave him a job, set him up with a place to live, everything. James screwed him over so bad. Stole some money from him or something. Ryan was super pissed.”
“Yeah, but we all know if anyone is going to forgive him, it’s Ryan. Wonder who the girl is?” Sara rattles the ice around in her empty cup. A few more of those and Ray will be carrying her out of here.
I’m even more worried now. James’s return isn’t welcome, and his appearance here, with her, concerns me. I need to consider the possibility that the woman with my name and my background is using James to get close to me.
Rachel is quiet. Enough so that I’m sure she could answer every question they have.
One for the Honey, the longshot, won the race more than an hour ago and Ryan has been on cloud nine since he won a nice chunk of change on him.
We’ve circled the crowd several times, but we haven’t run across James and the woman again. And from the girls’ talk, they haven’t seen him either. My mentioning him and his companion whetted their appetite and they were greedy for a look at them both.
Ryan leans in close and whispers in my ear, “You know, the best way to spend these winnings would be to head straight for the airport and not stop until we’re on a beach in Mexico somewhere.”
I turn to face him, wrapping Ryan’s tie around my right hand and pulling him close. “I like the sound of that.” The words come out in a purr as I step closer so we’re touching from top to bottom. Evie Porter has a lot of things, but a passport isn’t one of them. Ryan has refilled his silver monogrammed cup several times, and I don’t think there is any danger these plans would become a reality—plus, he would never leave without making arrangements at work first. It’s fun to play along, though. More importantly, a girlfriend like me wouldn’t hesitate to escape to the beach.
“I’ve been dreaming about you in that pink bikini you unpacked last week.” His head dips until his lips are pressed against the side of my neck. We’re very close to causing a scene, because this is not the type of party where PDA goes unnoticed.
This is the first time I’ve seen him drink this much. He’s a happy drunk. Handsy. His feelings for me stretch across his beautiful face like an open book, and everyone here gets a peek. “We don’t have to be on the beach for me to show you that pink bikini.” A quick glance around our immediate area tells me we’re already the subject of several whispered conversations. We linger like this a few more minutes, because my goal today was to solidify myself as Ryan’s girlfriend, and all anyone will talk about was how he was all over me.
