“Right. Then, I’ll owe you for the dress. How is that better?”
His eyes gleamed, and his lips twitched. “Because I know exactly how you can pay me back.”
Carli laughed. “Why do I think your way doesn’t actually include the dress.”
Grinning, he winked. “Now, you’re catching on.”
“You’re making me blush,” Mercedes said, fanning her face. “And totally envious. Now, go and have fun. I won’t wait up.”
Carli sat silently during the ride, and occasionally Blake reached over to pat her hand. As the valet drove off with the car and they entered the hotel, Blake put his arm around her and guided her in.
“Promise me you’ll tell me if I’m doing something wrong or embarrassing. Especially if your mother’s nearby.”
Blake stopped and faced her, his hands warm on her bare shoulders, since she’d relinquished her shawl to the coat attendant. “Don’t worry about my mother. Avoid her if she makes you nervous. I want you to have a good time tonight and enjoy yourself.”
“Right. With all the department heads and doctors who work in the same hospital that I do. That’s so relaxing.”
He kissed her head. “You’ll be brilliant.”
They made their way up to the ballroom, and in the elevator, Blake mentioned he’d bought a charger for her processor batteries to keep at his house.
“So you won’t have the same problem you did during the blizzard,” he said. “You’ll never be without.”
That was so sweet of him, though her memory of the blizzard didn’t include any problem except no power. They seemed to have managed quite well without. Keeping each other warm had been the highlight of the week.
When they entered the ballroom, Carli gasped. The room was enormous and decorated like a palace. An elegant, expensive palace. Everything was black, white and silver. Duh, Annie had mentioned the dress code. Why wouldn’t the decor match? Carli’s lack of knowledge about these kinds of events was obvious.
Glancing around, she tried not to seem overwhelmed and panicked. The high ceilings rose to enormous glass skylights. Just what she needed. A veritable echo chamber ready to have fun with her CIs. The band played chamber music as throngs of people chattered and laughed. This was worse than the wedding they’d gone to last month for Blake’s friend. At least there the band had been super loud, and no one expected anyone to hear anything.
As Blake walked around greeting other doctors and leaders of the community, Carli held his elbow and practiced her most endearing smile.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Those words rolled off her tongue again and again. Hopefully, no one would give her a test on who she’d met and their professions, because half of the introductions had been done amid backslapping or laughter with heads turned away. And not a single time did Blake use sign language.
Okay, he fingerspelled slower than a sloth, but did he not realize she wasn’t understanding a good deal of what was said? Apparently not. Or it wasn’t important that she remember who they were talking to. Or maybe she wasn’t important?Stop.He wanted her here or he wouldn’t have invited her.
Finally, she saw Annie and Harrison across the room, and a weight lifted from her shoulders. A friend. Annie glanced her way, immediately gave a tiny wave, and detached from her husband’s arm to head in their direction. Her black dress was a Grecian style with silver cord crisscrossed below her chest and around her waist. Her blonde hair was pulled into a fancy updo with clips that matched the cord.
“Hi,” Annie signed as she got closer. “Did Blake like the dress?”
“He loved it so much he was almost speechless.” She wouldn’t tell Annie he was keenly interested in removing it.
Two of the men Blake chatted with gave them a strange look. Because they were signing? Had Blake even noticed?
Annie interrupted to give him a quick kiss. “I’m stealing your date. You can have her back later.”
The question in his eyes was apparent. Was she okay? Her quick nod assured him, and he resumed his previous conversation. The night was about business. She shouldn’t be upset.
“Don’t take it too hard when they’re all about the fundraiser.” Annie led her to the side of the room and plucked a few glasses of champagne from a passing waiter, then handed one to her. “Have a few of these and you’ll be fine.”
“So what do you do at these events?”
“Dinner will be in about a half hour. There’ll be a few speeches, though Audrey makes sure no one talks too long. The donors get antsy if they get bored. Then, dancing for some while others try and convince donors to open their wallets wide.”
Carli and Annie chatted for a while, then Blake came looking for her to find their assigned seats. Wending their way through the tables, they came to one that was next to the one his parents were at.
“I figured we’d be sitting with them.” Not that she wanted to. They made her nervous.
Once seated, he faced her and pulled her close. “I managed to convince my mother we should be at different tables in order to work more of the crowd for donations.”
