“Oh, I just had a wonderful idea!” Martha, Rose, or whatever the hell her name was, said excitedly. “Robert’s here. Why don’t we invite him to join us? You know how fond he is of Haley.”
Who the hell was Robert? Jason wondered as he followed Mr. Blaine’s gaze to the table they’d passed earlier and landed on the blond bastard who’d smiled at Haley. He had perfect blonde hair, an average face, and wore an expensively tailored suit that probably cost more than Jason’s car. When the man sent a warm smile in Haley’s direction, Jason decided that he hated the bastard.
“Let me get a server to ask him to join us,” Mr. Blaine said, already gesturing for a waiter.
Judging by Robert’s smug smile, he knew exactly what was happening.
“No, Dad, that’s okay,” Haley said, all humor gone as terror took over. “He looks busy.”
“Nonsense,” Mrs. Blaine said. “You know Robert always makes time for you. He’s such a sweet man. For the life of me, I don’t understand why you ended things with him.”
“If you’d listened to me years ago, you’d be married and already settled and not wasting your time on foolish pursuits,” Mrs. Blaine added, making Jason’s jaw clench.
“She’ll never do better than Robert, that’s for certain,” Martha said, sending him a bored glance before turning her attention back to Robert.
“I’m not interested in Robert,” Haley said quickly, watching as the waiter walked towards her father. “Dad, I-”
Mr. Blaine waved off her concerns. “I think this is the best thing for you, Haley,” he said before giving the waiter a message for Robert.
Jason realized that Haley really didn’t want Robert to join them. That knowledge appeased him. Somewhat. These people were the biggest snobs he’d ever met in his life and not just because they’d looked down their noses at him, but because of the way that they treated Haley. She didn’t deserve any of this.
“Dad, I wish you hadn’t done that,” Haley said as the waiter walked away. “I’m not interested in Robert. I’ve told you that before.”
“It wouldn’t hurt you to give him another chance, sweetheart,” Mrs. Blaine said dismissively.
Seriously, did any of them even consider that he was Haley’s date? Not that he was, but still, it was fucking insulting. If Haley wasn’t one of his best friends, he’d consider telling her family off, but she was and he couldn’t, or she’d stop cooking for him and he wasn’t risking that. What his little grasshopper could do with a chocolate chip cookie...
Telling her family off might not be a choice, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t rescue his little grasshopper. He took her hand in his as he stood up, not missing the dirty looks her family sent their entwined hands, and gently pulled Haley to her feet.
“Dance with me?” he asked softly, nodding towards the small dance floor filled with a half-dozen couples.
Her eyes darted back to her family and widened when she spotted Robert heading their way.
“I’d love to,” she said, practically dragging him away from the table.
When Jason pulled her into his arms, she felt herself relax for the first time since her grandmother called this morning.
“You want to tell me about him?” Jason asked, expertly maneuvering them around the other couples on the small dance floor.
Chewing her bottom lip nervously, she watched Robert take Jason’s vacated seat. He said something to her father as both men watched them.
“He was my high school boyfriend. We broke up senior year.”
“And he wants to pick up where you left off?” Jason guessed.
“No,” Haley said, absently drumming her fingertips against his shoulder, “he wants to perfect his record.”
At Jason’s frown, she shrugged. “I refused to sleep with him.”
She felt the muscles in Jason’s shoulder go tight as he narrowed his eyes on her before shifting his glare to Robert.
“How can you be sure that’s all he wants?”
“He told me,” Haley said with a shrug. “He’s not interested in anything more than adding another notch to his belt.”
“What an asshole,” Jason muttered, earning a few gasps from the women around him. She could tell that he was just barely holding back an eye roll.
As much as she hated being here tonight, and God, did she hate being here, she had to admit that it was nice not having to do this alone for once. Having Jason with her made the night almost tolerable. He’d even managed to make her laugh, not on purpose, of course, but-
