Best I've Ever Had
Page 9
“Come on, we’re going over to the table Woods said was reserved for us. We stay in here for drinks and mingling then the people from the production company will speak and so will Blaze before we exit to go to the theatre,” Bliss explained to me. I grabbed Saffron’s elbow to get her attention then nodded my head toward Nate and Bliss who were now walking to the far left of the room.
I didn’t wait for Saffron to follow me because she’d stall if I did. She was not going to want to move farther away from Blaze’s line of vision.
“Can you introduce me to him?” Saffron asked, falling into step beside me. Her heels added to her five-nine height putting her at my eye level. Which made it easier to talk to her and not need to lean down and get closer to her. I wasn’t here to get cozied up to Saffron. I knew the real reason I was here and avoiding the fact was pointless.
“Eventually,” I replied. “I need a drink and he appears busy at the moment.”
Saffron sighed a little too dramatically. “Fine. I need a drink too.”
“You’re not old enough to drink,” I replied. “She wasn’t going to get drunk at this event and leave me to deal with her.
“I’m almost twenty-one!” she said defensively.
“You’re not drinking.” The hard edge to my voice thankfully shut her up. For now at least. I knew she didn’t back down easy . . . or ever.
Nate stopped at a table and pulled out a chair for Bliss. Once Bliss was seated, I did the same for Saffron placing her beside Bliss. If anyone could put up with Saffron, it was Bliss. She had patience with Saffron. I had, once, before things had changed me. I’d lost that patience this past year. Saffron was a walking time bomb. Her father wasn’t going to be able to clean up the disaster she left in her wake forever. One day something would happen that she’d have to truly pay for. Regret would be a real word for her then. And only after she lived through that would she have the hope of changing.
“There’s Ophelia,” Bliss said cheerfully beside me.
Just her name and my spirits lifted. Fuck me. All the times I’d fought my urge to text her or call her. To show up at her place, and here I was willingly putting myself in her presence. For what? Torture possibly? I had given up on my resolve to not see her again. This opportunity gave me a chance and I took it.
I was going to look. I couldn’t not look. I was too damn weak not to look at her. Turning my head in the direction Bliss was looking, I saw her standing by the waterfall of what I thought was possibly champagne. A flute was in her hand as she smiled up at some man I didn’t know. That smile, her voice, and the way her pale blonde hair stood out like a halo against the black dress she was wearing, the combination would have any male spellbound.
Instead of the nightmares I’d endured the past six months since the night with Ophelia I’d had none. When I dreamed it was of her. Just like being in her presence soothed me, the thought of her did the same thing in my dreams. Her power over me was a weakness I couldn’t accept because I wasn’t good for her. My soul was too damaged.
Ophelia was nothing like Alice. She was honesty, light, and beauty. The darkness in Alice had been masked but not forever. By the time I saw the traces of what she was hiding underneath Alice’s outward appearance it was too late. I loved her. The darkness hadn’t been her fault. She’d suffered abuse as a young girl. It left a mark that I had stupidly thought I could heal. But the marks left on her life had made it impossible. I couldn’t save her from herself. Just like I hadn’t been able to save our child from her.
The deep sharp edge that felt like a blade ripping through my chest came with the memory. As it always did. I swallowed hard and forced my breathing to remain even. Here was not the time to think of that. But it was always there waiting to unleash its power over me. The horror that would forever haunt me. The reason why keeping my distance from Ophelia Finlay was important. I was irreparable and I knew it.
As if she could hear her name in my thoughts, her head turned. Ophelia’s gaze traveled over me as if I were invisible. Then it met Bliss’s and she smiled. No, she fucking beamed a smile so bright it made everyone else in the room dim in comparison. Ophelia returned her attention to the man in front of her and I saw him look disappointed he was losing her as she then made her way toward us.
Correction, made her way toward Bliss and Nate. It was clear she was not acknowledging me. Her eyes looked through me as if I weren’t here at all. My seat might as well have been vacant. Bliss stood up to greet her and Ophelia hugged her then did the same to her brother who had yet to sit down as he was standing talking to a man I didn’t know. The man greeted her and she smiled at him too.
“You look stunning,” Bliss said to her.
“Thank you and as always you are gorgeous,” Ophelia replied graciously.
Bliss then introduced Saffron saying she wasn’t sure if they had met before.
Ophelia gave Saffron that same bright smile and said she remembered her from the wedding, but they hadn’t officially met. I watched it all take place in front of me as I was ignored. She didn’t glance my way or act like I was sitting here. Bliss had no reason to mention my presence because there was no introduction needed. Ophelia then noticed someone in the direction of the entrance and that fucking smile returned.
“I’ll come back later, I need to go say hello. Y’all be sure to go get some of that champagne. It’s delicious,” she added then flashed Saffron one last smile to let her know she was included in that comment before walking away with the slight sway to her hips as if she owned the world. I didn’t doubt for a second that she just might, in fact, own it all.
Once she was gone, I felt Bliss’s eyes on me. She’d not acted differently when Ophelia was standing here, but she’d noticed the slight in my direction from her. I could go get something to drink or deal with Bliss now. I had a feeling this evening was going to go on with Ophelia pretending I wasn’t here, so I went ahead and faced Bliss. Her curiosity would get the best of her eventually and she’d demand an answer.
I swung my gaze to meet Bliss’s. She was frowning as she studied me. I just stared at her waiting. She’d ask me after she was done trying to figure it out herself.
“What did you do?” she asked me finally.
There were so many answers to that. I could ask her to be more specific, but we’d been best friends since the nursery. There was no point dragging this out.
“I can honestly tell you I’m not exactly sure. But I’ll find out before we leave.”
That was as close to the truth as I could give her. Because to be honest, the way we had left things seemed as if she was good with it. The way she’d just blatantly ignored me said otherwise.
Bliss glared at me then. “Oh, you know. I don’t believe that for a second.” The disapproval in her didn’t go unnoticed. Saffron who had been preoccupied eye stalking Blaze snapped her attention back to the table.
“What happened?” she asked, suddenly interested in something other than the movie star.
Bliss looked at Saffron and changed her angry warning scowl she’d sent me to a smile. “Apparently, nothing,” she told Saffron. Bliss may be mad at me for unknown reasons to both of us but a lifetime of being two against the rest of the Sea Breeze offspring remained in effect.
Saffron was not easily swayed though. She turned to look at me. “Is it about the way Ophelia ignored you?” she asked.
I shot Bliss my own annoyed glance this time. If she’d not said anything, then Saffron wouldn’t have heard her.
Bliss looked slightly sorry but not enough so that she was letting this go. She was mad at me for Ophelia’s sake. Even if she didn’t know why. Women.
Nate turned to Bliss, his conversation over. “Do you want a drink?” he asked her.
She swung her glare from me to her husband who she gazed at lovingly. “Champagne would be great,” she told him.
He bent to kiss her then straightened up. I thought he was going to leave to go get the drink when he turned his gaze to me. “Whatever
you did, good luck. You’re gonna need it. My sister shows no mercy.” The pleased gleam in his eyes was as close to a warning as I was going to get from him. Then he left to go get Bliss’s drink.
I didn’t meet Bliss’s gaze again.
“So you did make Ophelia mad!” Saffron said as if this were juicy gossip. “Oh, wait, there he goes. I’ll be back,” she then added with a waggle of her eyebrows jumping up and strutting off in the direction of Blaze Kerrington.
At least she was over talking about Ophelia. I wouldn’t have to escape just yet. I stood to go get myself a drink. I sure as hell needed one. With a sideways glance in the direction Ophelia had gone, I found her easily enough since she made others pale in comparison when she entered a room. She was talking with yet another man I didn’t know and the grin she was giving him had his rapt attention. I doubted he knew what had hit him.
Ophelia may have acted like she thought nothing of our night together, but she’d thought something. It was clear she was angry with me. I hadn’t called and she was not okay with that. She’d expected me to. I wanted to. God how I’d wanted to.
Coming tonight had been a bad idea.
JUNE 07 / 9:41 PM
Ophelia Finlay
BEFORE THE CREDITS began to roll, I slipped out the back door to the theatre. I was done with pretending like I was happy to be here and that I enjoyed flirting with all the men I’d spoken to. The movie had been a reprieve from that but now it was over, I was afraid a couple of the guys I’d talked to might want to talk some more. I knew them all, of course. Once Bay Howington had even been my boyfriend in the eighth grade. I’d broken up with him at thirteen and wasn’t interested in going down that road again.
They were guys I chose strategically because I knew Eli wouldn’t know them and because I felt comfortable enough to talk to them. I hadn’t counted on a couple getting the wrong idea. Regardless, I had been a manipulative jealous bitch and now I needed to get out of here before it got worse.
Just as I opened the door leading to the stairs that went back up to the main level, a hand touched my elbow and I jumped with a squeal of surprise. The dimly lit hallway had been empty and everyone else was still inside the theatre. Spinning around to see who had touched me, my words of scolding for scaring me half to death I saw Bay attempting a charming smile. He may possibly consider it sexy. I deserved this.
He was close and I hadn’t been expecting to see him or anyone else during my escape. “Jesus, Bay! What are you doing out here lurking in the hallway?” I snapped, moving back away from him. I wasn’t in the mood to pretend to flirt anymore. Bay needed to go back inside and forget my earlier friendliness.
“I didn’t mean to startle you. I just saw you leave and figured if I wanted to catch you before you left. Maybe we could go get drinks or something.” The way he said “something” made me inwardly cringe. I’d chosen poorly when I’d picked Bay as one of the men to give extra attention to tonight. I deserved this. I really did. However, it still annoyed me. My asking about his mother and listening to him go on about his very brief marriage hadn’t exactly been romantic conversation.
“I’m tired and ready to go home,” I replied, hoping he left it at that. He shifted his arrogant stance and it moved him a few inches closer to me. I, in return, back up just as much. We weren’t going to get cozy out here. I was trying to leave. Surely, that was obvious.
“Maybe tomorrow evening then? I’d like to reconnect. It’s been too long.” He had dropped his voice an octave. I would not be rude and roll my eyes no matter how badly I wanted to. This was the Bay from high school. The one who thought he was king. He hadn’t changed at all. Not even when his wife left him for another man. His ego was still going strong.
“No, I don’t think so. I’m busy and not looking to connect with anyone.” That was blunt. I could have been softer with my refusal, but I doubted Bay would allow me to be anything but blunt to shake him loose.
He leaned in with a creepy smile. “Sure didn’t seem that way earlier.”
No, it hadn’t. Because I’d been busy acting like a jealous female. Ignoring Eli would have been sufficient. Why had I decided to flirt?
“Bay, I was just being friendly. I want to go now, so if you’ll excuse me,” I said and started to turn when he reached out and took my hand in his. I tried to snatch it back, but he held firm.
“She said she was leaving. Let go of her hand.” Eli’s deep voice wasn’t loud, but the threat in it was clear. I swung my glare from Bay to Eli.
He was standing there with his hands in his pockets and his eyes on me.
“Who the fuck are you?” Bay asked annoyed and suddenly sounding less sure of himself.
Eli didn’t spare him a glance. He continued to look at me.
“Thanks, Eli. But I have this under control.” I was annoyed that he thought he needed to rescue me. I tugged again at my hand and this time it was released. I didn’t need to stand here and speak to either of the two men. Turning, I headed back to the stairs without another word.
“I’ll call you,” Bay said as if he had my phone number. I knew he did not. I didn’t respond.
“She didn’t ask you to follow her.” Eli’s tone had darkened. I could keep going and ignore this, but I didn’t. I paused and glanced back. Bay had, in fact, started to follow me. Seriously? Was he that desperate?
I turned my focus to Eli. “Thank you, but I told you I had this under control.”
“So you can see me now?” he asked as he lifted one eyebrow in a mocking way that pissed me off.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I said with a haughty lift of my shoulders then shot Bay an annoyed glare. “I am not interested. Leave me alone, Bay.” That seemed to get through his thick skull or at least hit his ego hard enough that he didn’t say more. Instead he gave me an annoyed glare of his own before heading back to the theatre.
I waited until the door closed behind him before I spun around and headed back up the stairs. I hoped that Eli would say something more or at least try to stop me because I was weak when it came to him. He said nothing and I was instantly let down even if I didn’t want to care as I climbed the stairs. It was about the fifth step that I realized he may not have tried to stop me, but he was following me.
I managed to glare at him over my shoulder. “Where are you going?”
He looked behind him as if I were talking to someone else then looked back at me. I was not amused. He pointed at his chest. “Are you speaking to me?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes and returned to my escape up the stairs. He continued with following me. Once I reached the main floor, I made sure to walk with purpose but give a good sway to my hips while I was at it. Might as well give him something to look at.
I could only hear the clicking of my heels on the marble floor and when I was close to the door that led back out to the valet, I chanced a look over my shoulder. He was there several steps behind me but following me still. I was happy about it and that made me a complete loser. Where was my pride? He had left my house after sex and I’d not heard a word from him since. Then he had shown up with Saffron Corbin tonight! He knew I’d be here. Yet he brought her.
“What do you want?” I demanded. He had no reason to be following me even if a large part of me was happy that he was doing so.
“To talk to you,” he said simply.
Damn him. Why now? Because of Bay? I shouldn’t allow him to talk. Not now. Maybe a couple weeks ago that would have been a nice idea. But he didn’t want to talk to me then. He shouldn’t get to talk to me now. What could he say to fix things? Nothing. He had said enough when he said nothing at all. I was about to say that then snapped my mouth shut and sighed with enough force behind it to cause a dramatic rise and fall of my shoulders.
“What do you want to talk about?” I asked him. Although we were the only people here right now, that would soon change and we both knew it. I wasn’t going to offer to go to a more private location. His time was limited.
“That’s what you want to talk about?” I asked then spun around to leave again. I had hoped he had some groveling, explaining, anything else in mind than acting like I had no reason to ignore him.
“Ophelia, wait. I’m trying to figure out what I’ve done.” His words were so freaking sincere, I paused. I should go outside, ask for my car, and leave. I’d accomplished what I’d set out to do tonight. He had been ignored and he didn’t like it. Good for me. It was time to leave. But I didn’t.
“Where’s your date?” I snapped at him. Then decided to rub that in. “Oh, wait, she’s with Blaze.” I’d seen Saffron use all her flirting skills on Blaze tonight and I’d give it to her, she handled him like a pro. There was no man on earth that loved himself more than Blaze. The way Saffron had worked him was impressive.
Eli smirked then. “Yeah, she is. I owe him a great deal of gratitude for relieving me of her.”
I frowned, annoyed with his reply. I’d used that one on him in my head about five times tonight while sitting watching the movie and imagining a confrontation like this one. Eli would look embarrassed and apologize. I wouldn’t forgive him. He was messing up my scenario. He shouldn’t be happy his date dumped him.
“You wanted your date to leave you for another man?” I asked him incredulously. That was doubtful.
He nodded slowly. “Have you ever spent a few minutes in Saffron’s company?” he shot back at me.
I hadn’t. Not really. I shook my head.
“You’d understand if you had.”
That confused me which only added to more confusion he’d left in his wake since last I’d seen him. All Eli Hardy seemed to do was confuse me. About everything. I didn’t like being confused. I wish I didn’t like him. Damn him.
“Why did you bring her if she annoys you?” I wanted something to make sense.