I put him out of his misery and plastered a smile on my face. “Wynona, what a surprise to see you here.”
After all, “Politeness is a sign of dignity, not subservience,” as Theodore Roosevelt said. And I was trying my hardest to be polite and not kick her in the shin and then drag Grayson out with me.
Remember, Rayna, dignity.
She still looked at Grayson when she responded, making me want to roll my eyes. “Susan and Richard invited me.”
So she was on a first-name basis with his parents now? Wasn’t that convenient.
Grayson shot a tight-lipped smile at his parents. “I’m sorry to cut this short, but we are on our way to settle my debt. I made a few purchases tonight.”
Wynona held on to his arm, and I was ready to bite it off. But since that was frowned upon in polite society, I refrained from acting on my impulse. She batted her fake eyelashes at him, and visions of me tearing them off invaded my brain. “I thought we could catch up.”
“Since we work together, I’m sure I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turned to me and kissed my hand. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we have a few things to collect.”
I wanted to high-five Grayson, then pull him in for a kiss. I did neither, settling for a smirk at Wynona instead—a bitchy but satisfying move—and then let Grayson lead me to the side of the room. The auction items sat on a table, a guard watching over them.
He handed over his credit card and received three wrapped items in return. Curious, I tried to peek between the gaps in the wrapping. “What did you buy?”
“It’s a surprise. I’ll show you at home.”
He navigated his way through the throngs of people to a back door. “If you’d paid more attention to the auction and not to me, you’d know what I bought.”
And here I’d been so sure my staring had gone unnoticed. “I wanted to look my fill before I leave.” It was meant as a joke, but the reality of our situation came crashing into me. I’d be leaving tomorrow; I couldn’t put it off any longer. And the more time I spent with Grayson, the harder it would be to leave.
Grayson put the packages down by the wall and kissed my cheek. “Wait here. I’ll get our coats.”
We were in a back hallway of the restaurant, and there was hardly anyone around. I liked that he was going to leave through a back door, sparing us another round of photographers who most likely wondered what I was doing on his arm.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t as invisible as I’d thought, and his mom came down the hallway in a flurry of skirts and silk.
I braced myself for impact but didn’t put up enough armor to shield myself from her venom. “Cease this right now,” she hissed, her eyes flitting around the hallway, making sure nobody was within earshot.
“Cease what?” I was curious what she was accusing me of this time. Last time she’d called me a gold digger.
“You are an unsuitable match for Grayson. He’s meant for great things. And you’ll hold him back. I thought we made ourselves clear last time.”
Oh yes, they had made themselves crystal clear. But my need to be with Grayson seemed to have caused temporary memory loss. Or maybe I’d been in denial and thought things could work out between us this time.
“You did.”
I didn’t elaborate and had no intention of arguing with her. It was pointless and would only lead to me feeling worthless.
“Then why are you here?” Her voice dripped disdain, and I shrank back.
How long does it take to get a coat?“Grayson invited me.”
“Then you better walk right the other way. Wynona is much better suited for him. They actually have things in common, and she knows how to behave in our circles.”
The implied “and you don’t” hung in the air, making my eyes narrow. “I’m sorry you feel that way. But if you’ll excuse me, we were on our way out.”
She huffed but recognized the defiance in my eyes for what it was. I was no longer an easy target.
“Mom, what are you doing here?”
I nearly threw myself at him when he came back, ending the awkward—and unpleasant—encounter.
“Just keeping Rayna company.” She turned her cheek for a kiss. “I’ll see you on Sunday.”
