Jane shook her head, but as she did so, her eyes caught Lacey’s. They weren’t super close, but seeing as she was Mack’s wife, it was inevitable that they’d become friends. They’d spent more time together lately since Jane had started seeing Noah.
Her gut twisted the longer she stared at Lacey. Was she aware of Noah’s wealth? Were all the Reese men wealthy, and they just hid it well? What was the point in hiding that sort of thing?
Her eyes narrowed on Lacey the second that Paige was out of the room. She burned to ask the woman how much she was aware of, but she wouldn’t. Jane couldn’t trust anyone at this point—especially not someone who was married to Noah’s brother.
“Are you okay?” Lacey asked quietly. She actually sounded concerned.
“I don’t know,” Jane muttered. It was the most honest thing she could have said at the moment. She didn’t want to air her dirty laundry in front of this woman. It would only get back to Noah, and he’d end up figuring out a way to talk himself out of the trouble he’d found himself in. She moved to a nearby console table and placed the near-empty glass of water atop it.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to find Noah?”
“I’m sure.” Jane smoothed her hands down her dress and turned her attention to the floor. “Tonight’s really stressful. It just got the better of me. This event is a really big deal. There are a lot of people here who will be taking note of how it’s been handled. I don’t want it to appear as though Noah and I…” Her voice cracked, and she shook her head. “All eyes will be on him, and he can’t have his…” She nearly said girlfriend but thought better of it. “He can’t be seen with the person who organized the whole thing.”
“Why not?” Lacey scoffed. “It’s reasonable to assume you two would have been working together.”
“But not dating,” Jane seethed. She immediately felt bad about how she’d said that. None of this was Lacey’s fault. It wasn’t even Mack’s fault.
No, there was only one person who had been dishonest with her, and he was the one who deserved her sharp tongue.
Just not right now.
Gathering the skirt of her gown in her hands, Jane flashed Lacey a smile. “I had better get out there and make sure it’s not falling apart.”
Lacey nodded. Noah’s family had been invited to the event at Jane’s request. She’d wanted to have some familiar faces in the crowd. Now she was regretting that decision, and there was no taking it back.
She brushed past Lacey and headed out into the fray. The second the crowd came into view, she could tell where Noah was. There was a group gathered around him made up of donors and journalists. Everyone had swarmed him, making it difficult for him to see much beyond the crowds.
Good. That would keep him busy enough that she wouldn’t have to deal with him—at least not until she could wrap her head around everything he’d done.
Her hands clenched and flexed as she tracked down her second in command. She’d been working with a gal named Tracy, but she’d gotten sick, and now Jane had to count on a young man whose name was Brandt.
He was good at anticipating her needs, which was even more apparent when he materialized in front of her with the clipboard she’d entrusted him with.
“According to the guys out front, ninety-eight percent of the guests who RSVP’d have arrived. The caterers are ready to serve the food. As you can see, the live entertainment is right on track with the music. All you have to do is head up to the podium and welcome everyone before you introduce our main speaker.”
Her gut clenched painfully. When she’d agreed to introduce the speakers for tonight’s event, she hadn’t known one of them would be the man she’d fallen in love with—the man who had lied to her about who he was.
Jane nodded then cleared her throat as her eyes darted to the crowd that was currently dispersing. People were heading to their tables. It was as if they knew instinctively that the event was officially underway. “Would you mind introducing—” Her words stuck in her throat as her eyes snagged on the one person she knew she wouldn’t be able to speak to without completely falling apart.
“Ma’am?”
She shook her head, taking the clipboard. “Nevervmind. I’ll do it.” She wasn’t fast enough. It took mere seconds for Noah to fall into step beside her.
“Jane, we should talk?—”
“I’m working, Noah. Or should I say,Mr. Reese?” she hissed.
His warm hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling her to a stop. There was a flash of irritation in his sad eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?”
She ripped her hand free and shook her head as she stormed toward the podium. “I’m not going to fight with you. I have a job to do. I know you think this is some big joke, but?—”
“Jane,” he snapped, “will you just stop for a second and?—”
“No.” Picking up her pace, she hurried forward. There were eyes on them now. She could feel every prickle of attention they offered her. Of course they’d stare. Noah was now the most eligible bachelor in the state. He was the head of one of the most generous charities, which would make him a target for half of the women at this event alone.
She left Noah behind her. As far as she was concerned, he wasn’t here as her boyfriend. He wasn’t here to support her. Noah Reese was the new face of The Wounded Heroes Project, and he would need to weather that storm all on his own. For all she knew, there were policies prohibiting her from even dating him. It would be best for her to distance herself from him, as much as that broke her heart. It wasn’t fair that this had come out tonight of all nights. He could have done her the courtesy of telling her beforehand, but he hadn’t. With everything going on, she didn’t have the mental bandwidth to deal with this news and run the event as well.
The rest of the evening continued with much of the same. Any spare second that Noah had away from his new fan club, he attempted to track her down.
