“Thank you for being here.”
She smiled, running her hand down his back to settle at his waist. Her fingers wrapped around his hip and pulled him tight against her side as she let her head rest against his arm. “As though I’d want to be anywhere else. I’ve been as excited about tonight as you have. This is a big moment for you and the foundation.”
She meant it to be encouraging, but a heaviness settled into his chest at the thought of what tonight meant for both of them. That included what it would mean if he failed.
“You’re worrying again.”
“If you keep reading my mind, you’re going to learn some things you might prefer not to know, madam.”
Her laugh was as light and silky as the dress clinging to her slender body. “If you think you can shock me, you’re in for a surprise, my darling. Though I welcome you to try.”
“I learned the hard way not to play that game with you. I’m already struggling to recover.”
“If you’d like to try hypnotism at your next appointment, let me know and I’ll pass the info along to Nala.”
“So they can make me squawk like a chicken whenever someone saysprofit margin? I will pass, thank you.”
Olivia’s laughter echoed through the quiet banquet hall. The doors would open shortly, bringing the usual chaos of banter and bluster that accompanied all gatherings of people whose self-importance outweighed their etiquette.
“Nala would never do such a thing. Were youmypatient, however…”
With a pat on his shoulder, she slunk back toward the stairs,intent upon being there to greet Isabella when she arrived. Isabella and her plus one.
Evan swallowed what felt like an avocado pit in his throat. He knew who her date would be. Olivia had offered to ensure it, but he’d declined her influence. He wanted it to be as organic as possible, if only to keep the heat off the lovely women who’d kept him sane over the last eight months.
Leaving Stout Rock had fully untied the few threads still holding him together. He’d stood outside the porch door for damn near twenty minutes trying to convince himself to go in and… he wasn’t even sure. Beg, probably. Whatever it took to change his mind.
In the end, he was glad he hadn’t, because now he knew just how fucked up he really was. No different from the cancer that had taken over his mother’s body, the unresolved trauma he’d allowed to poison every aspect of his life was eating him alive, but he was incapable of widening the lens. His focus was stuck on the narrow path he’d been obsessed with for decades.
He’d had no business trying to become part of anyone else’s life. Not before he’d figured his own shit out. That was still a work in progress, and Olivia would remind him it wouldalwaysbe that way, but his patience was at its end. He wanted Heath back in his life, in whatever form he could get.
He ran his fingers through his hair, then cursed when he remembered Olivia had already scolded him for messing it up. She’d accused him of attempting to appear rakish. In his mind, he’d do whatever it took to bring in the money. If donors wanted a striptease, he would happily comply.
The trust he’d founded in his mother’s name had worked tirelessly behind the scenes at hospitals and cancer wards around the country for a decade, but as a small, silent partner. His epiphany had included realizing he had the ability to do so much more with it, if he’d only cut the shit and direct his obsession toward something besides petty revenge.
Tonight was the crowning moment of eight months’ work. All the hobnobbing and shmoozing and pushing himself into the circles he’d always avoided because he didn’t want his father to think he was using the Westin name, was about to pay off.
Turned out, he’d worried for nothing. In reminding him that not all members of the posh social classes were tyrants and harbingers of hell—most, but not all—Liv and Izzy had given him the courage to reach out to some of the people he remembered had been kind to him, despite his associations. Through them, he’d gained a network of entrepreneurs, self-made philanthropes, and the children of old money who weren’t interested in tripling or quadrupling their assets every quarter. Instead, they wanted their good fortune in the birth lottery to go toward making things better for everyone, not just themselves.
It was a startling discovery, finding these people hiding amidst the groups he’d previously written off. Startling and fortuitous, because he’d caught them right at the beginning of the summer doldrums and the end of the second fiscal quarter.
“Well, aren’t you a stunning couple?”
Olivia wasn’t exactly a wallflower, but he knew she’d raised her voice deliberately to get his attention, and she had it.
Or rather, he did.
Heath looked… Jesus, he looked amazing. Just seeing him again at all was enough to take him out at the knees, but in black tie?
“Spare no expense, but don’t make him uncomfortable,” had been his instructions, and they’d knocked it out of the park with a three-piece from Charles Tyrwhitt, a London shop known for classic quality.
The fit on Heath was perfect, and the midnight navy looked made for him. So dark you’d think it was black. Evan only knew it wasn’t because they’d shown him pictures, and he’d requested something that would complement Heath’s eyes. Hecould only hope to get them to that shade before the evening was out.
He could do this. Everyone attending from the foundation had their assignments. His entire purpose was to be a figurehead working the floor, so that’s what he would do. He would walk down there and greet his guests. Simple and uncomplicated. So there was absolutely no reason to be breathing like a fully grown pachyderm was lying on his ribs.
Except he was, because this was possibly the most nervous he’d ever been.
Heath hadn’t reached out since they’d parted. Not even a third-party check-in with Liv or Izzy, or so they’d assured him.
