“Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Hargrave.” Mr. Williams held out his hand with that charming smile. His voice was dripping with charisma, trying to impress her.
“Mr. Williams.” My mother briefly nodded her head and ignored Matt’s outstretched hand. “I was just coming over to let Vanessa know that her fiancé just called.” She turned towards me and gave me a glare, hinting that she obviously noticed Matt’s hands on my waist and saw our lips so very close. “Charles said he would be more than happy to have brunch Sunday morning to further discuss your wedding plans.” As she stated this, she eyed Matt with distaste. She stressed fiancé making sure he heard that word loud and clear before continuing. “Vanessa will be a doctor’s wife soon.” She added in for good measure.
I felt like I was twelve years old the way she was making sure to let him know about my nearing nuptials. “Mom. I…Mr. Williams doesn’t need to know all this.”
Mr. Williams picked up on my insecurity. He crossed his arms across his chest and had a stupid grin on his face as he stated, “Sure I do. Please. I’m intrigued about Ms. Hargrave’s fiancé.”
“Charles Radcliffe is going to be a cardiac surgeon,” Mom stated proudly. Her head held high as a peacock ready to display her feathers. “He’s not accompanying Vanessa to this wedding because he’s on call.” My mom glared at him daring him to say something about Charles.
Mr. Williams again seemed to pick up on that and his eyes were dancing with desire to antagonize my Mom. “Forgive me, but he can still go out when he’s on call. Beepers and cell phones are the latest craze.” His smirk was evident and I’m not sure if my mom picked up on that or if she was just appalled that I was even speaking with the likes of Mr. Williams.
“He needs to remain close to the hospital,” My mom snapped, stressing the importance of Charles’ job.
Mr. Williams’ nodded his head while pressing his lips together. He still had that look in his eyes. He was having fun. “Hmm. That does seem much more important than accompanying his,” his eyes grazed over my body while he licked his lips again, “stunning and quite beautiful fiancée to a romantic wedding in a fantasy setting. If Ms. Hargrave were my fiancée, I’d never let her attend any wedding alone.” He finished his perusing of my body, his gaze finally landed straight into mine and heat rose through my body. My cheeks flushed as I swallowed. I was flattered by his statement, but unsure if he said it to antagonize my mother or if he really believed that about me.
My mother’s expression turned dark as she snapped, “Well, thankfully, you’re not her fiancé.” She glanced back at me, pulling her chin up and said with arrogance, “Vanessa and Charles will have a much more extravagant and elegant wedding.”
Mr. Williams was clearly amused by this whole interaction. “Really? Where will that be?”
Aubrey and “Clark Kent” walked up to where we stood. Aubrey glared at my mom and I could tell she went into protective mode. “I think Dr. Hargrave was looking for you. He mentioned he received a call from the hospital.” Aubrey made sure to position her shoulder in front of my body, slightly blocking my mother. Clark seemed to pick up on the tension in the air between…well, all of us. Mr. Williams still had that smug smirk on his face, his eyes dancing with mirth.
“Vanessa, your father and I can give you a ride home,” My mom stated to me having to peer around Aubrey.
I was just about to speak when Aubrey spoke up for me. “She has a ride home with me. We drove here together.”
Clark then spoke up, wrapping his arm around Aubrey. “Yeah, I’ll be giving them both a ride.” He clearly did not mean in a car. I cringed knowing my mom would be on full alert by that comment. Hopefully, she completely missed his insinuation.
“Clearly, you need to come with us, Vanessa. It seems Aubrey plans on becoming inebriated and taking part in other,” she leered at Clark, “activities.”
Aubrey was about to speak up, when I decided that I needed to say something to my own mother. I usually try to avoid confrontation with her, but this was going to create a full fight between us if I didn’t stop it. “I’ll be fine, Mom, really. I can always take a cab home,” I told her, hoping that might diffuse the situation.
Mom nodded, slightly taken aback that I dismissed her. “Well, don’t stay out too late. I’m sure Charles will try to visit you tonight.” She clearly said that for the guys’ sake because Charles never visits me, unless we schedule it. She knew that bit of information and it was clear to me she was making Charles out to be the good guy in this, as always. I wish I could tell her that we decided to take a break from our relationship. Unfortunately, I’d never have that type of relationship with her that I could tell her without repercussions. The thought saddened me.
Aubrey made a small choking noise, which made both guys look at her. “You’re kidding, right? Charles? Visit?”
Mr. Williams’ quirked up his eyebrow in that sexy yet annoying way. “Why would you say that?” He seemed quite amused by this whole conversation. Meanwhile, I was completely mortified that everyone was discussing my private life – in front of me. Yet all I could do was stand there, listening.
Aubrey was more than happy to clarify. “Charles never visits. He’s pretty much married to his j…”
I cut her off, “He’s just terribly busy. That’s all.” I glared at Aubrey. I was horrified that Mr. Williams had such a huge glimpse into my personal life. I’m sure that will affect how he views me at the office.
My mother glared at me. “Vanessa, may I see you for a moment, please.” I glanced quickly to Aubrey, who rolled her eyes. I stepped away from the small group as I followed my mother.
“Vanessa, I’m very concerned about who you are associating yourself with. You’ll be a doctor’s wife soon and you need to make sure your involvements aren’t with people with such…characteristics. You wanted a career and I’ve come to terms with that. But you still need to remember your place within our society.”
I took a deep breath so that I wouldn’t say anything I would regret. Anytime I’ve spoken out of turn has always come back to haunt me with her. She has a way of twisting anything I say and making me feel even more inadequate. “I understand Mom. I really do. Aubrey and I are just going to hang out for a little while and then head back home. We won’t stay too much longer. I’ll take a cab back if things get out of control.” I gave her a small smile of assurance. At the age of twenty-eight, she still had the power to make me feel like I was twelve years old. I’ve always craved her acceptance and oddly, I was still seeking it at this age.
She gave me a wary look, as if she didn’t believe me, then turned on her heel to leave. “Goodbye Mom,” I muttered under my breath.
I took another deep breath before turning back to Aubrey, Clark Kent and Mr. Williams. Honestly, I didn’t want to return to our group just yet because I knew they were probably watching me. I decided to go use the restroom to freshen up and try to gather my wits from being completely embarrassed in front of Mr. Williams.
While I was in the bathroom stall, I overheard a couple of women chatting in the lounge area. One was giggling about her fiancé and chatting incessantly about how she couldn’t wait to be married. I couldn’t help but listen to their conversation and at the same time wondering why I wasn’t so excited about marrying Charles. Why wasn’t I so thrilled and talking about him with such affection as this woman was? Why had I just asked him for a break from our relationship? What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I just enjoy such an amazing man, the man my mom had just described to Matt Williams? And…why didn’t Charles bring such excitement to me as Matt Williams had just now?
The more I thought about Charles, the more I felt like an absolute bitch. Who has the perfect man and just throws him away? Or rather takes a break from him. I should just break off our engagement so he can go about his life and meet someone who can really appreciate him.
I left the bathroom stall and stared at myself in the mirror. I glared at my reflection when the sparkle of my engagement ring
drew my eyes down to it. I continued to stare at it as I moved my hand back and forth, watching the sparkle glint throughout the room. It was such a gorgeous ring. I lifted my hand to inspect it more closely. The perfect solitaire. Perfect cut that made it sparkle…perfectly.
Tears sprang to my eyes and my chest felt tight. I don’t deserve this ring. I don’t deserve such an amazing man. I don’t deserve such a perfect future. I looked back at my reflection and only saw a fat teenager with frizzy hair. I had worked so hard to erase the memories of seeing that reflection. I worked hard to push aside those feelings of self-hatred. And here they were, popping back up because I have the perfect man in my life?
Clicking of heels on the tile floor became louder as I heard, “Vanessa?” A sudden sob choked from my throat knowing I needed Aubrey more than anything right now. I quickly wiped my tears and I rushed toward Aubrey, almost crashing into her. Aubrey briefly pushed away to look at my face. She looked relieved to find me, but her expression changed immediately when she noticed mine.
“Are you okay, Vanessa? What’s wrong?”
I wanted to tell her, but wasn’t sure if I could get the words out. I really didn’t want to cry about Charles anymore, but all my feelings were just welling up in me and I felt like I couldn’t stop them.
“Vanessa?” I heard Aubrey repeat my name, prompting me to talk to her. My lips trembled as tears began to stream down my face.
I shook my head, feeling ashamed and stupid for my thoughts. “Charles. I was just thinking how I don’t deserve someone like him,” I choked out in between sobs.
Aubrey pulled me back by my shoulders and gave me a faint smile as she brushed my hair from my shoulders. “You’re wrong Vanessa. You deserve better. You deserve to have a man who wants to please you with more than just things. You keep telling me how perfect he is, but he’s really not if he just focuses on his apartment being clean, or his life being in order. That’s not what makes a good life, Vanessa. You deserve romance…to be swept off your feet. You deserve to enjoy life with someone instead of trying to fit into his life. That’s all this is Vanessa. He’s just an extension of your parents. Your life with him will be nothing more than them trying to continue to mold you into what they want you to be. Stop trying to fit into their world and create your own.”
She lightly took my left hand and ran her fingers over my engagement ring. She started to pull it off, but I tried to stop her. I looked into her eyes and she shook her head. “You’re broken up, for now, at least. You’re going to test it out. You’re going to be your own person. Not Charles’ fiancée.” She tugged again at the ring, slipping it off my finger. She took it in her hands and placed it into her clutch.
“Matt’s still out there. You’re going to go out there and just enjoy being a single woman, free from your parents’ hold. Free from Charles’ hold. You have nothing holding you back.”
I shook my head. “I have my work policy that says no intercompany dating.”
“You’re not at work, Vanessa. I’m pretty sure no one else is here from your job either.” Her slender hands gripped each of my shoulders and squeezed firmly. “Clark mentioned Matt needs a pick me up and you really could use one too. You don’t have to fuck him, just have fun and flirt.” I rolled my eyes as fear gripped me of attempting to seduce a man. Sexuality doesn’t usually come naturally to me. “Don’t give me that,” she continued. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you were getting hot for him. I know sexy body language when I see it and you were giving him signals too.”
“I was not!” I blurted out.
Aubrey smiled. “So don’t sleep with him, but at least have fun with him. He’s probably a great time. His friends sure seem to be.” She got behind me and turned me toward the mirror. She began to run her fingers under my hair, fluffing it to make it full and then she gently gathered it over my shoulder, making my slight curls fall down my cleavage. Then she got in front of me and began to fix my makeup, pulling my lip-gloss from my purse and applying it quickly as I continued to sniffle. She stepped back to admire her work and smiled. “God, you’re so sexy and beautiful and you don’t even realize it. Fucking annoying,” she whispered the last part as she gave me a grin.
“Alright. Fine. I’ll relax a little and have fun. You’re right.” I took a deep breath and smiled as I watched Aubrey turn back to the mirror and apply lip-gloss to her full round lips.
“Are you going for that Clark guy tonight?” As if I really had a doubt about her hooking up with him tonight.
She smiled at me through her reflection in the mirror and winked. “I’ve got to find out if his cock really is insatiable, don’t I? I owe it to women around the world.”
I laughed as she turned around and hugged me. We left the restroom and walked back over to the gathering. I stepped over to the bar and maneuvered in between the bodies of people so I could flag down the bartender.
I felt a warm body behind me and two arms caged me to the bar; large male hands on both sides of me gripped the counter firmly. My heartbeat picked up and a surge of fire swept through my body as I felt his hot breath tickle my ear.
“So now that your parents have left and your fiancé isn’t here, we can really have some fun. I am thoroughly enjoying this side of you, Vanessa. Or should I still call you Ms. Hargrave?” He teased with a husky voice. I could sense that smug smile on his face, as much as I felt his body behind me. I realized that he was completely turning me on and had not laid a finger on me. Not a single part of his body was touching me.
“What can I get you?” The young blonde male bartender stood in front of me and seemed amused the way Mr. Williams was standing so close to me. I wondered how many girls he had watched Mr. Williams do the same thing to.
“Merlot, please,” I managed to squeak out and sound somewhat pulled together. I tried to push myself closer to the bar to try to distance myself from his body, but if I went any further, I would be climbing up onto the bar. The bartender nodded, acknowledging my order and then looked at Mr. Williams.
“Matt, whatcha havin’?” He asked, still with that same amused smile.
“Another Red Bull and vodka, Tim,” Mr. Williams’ gave his order with slightly less huskiness to it. Maybe his voice is just so deep and sexy to begin with and the alcohol is making it even sexier.
Tim the bartender, nodded and turned to make our drinks. I continued to stare straight ahead, hoping Mr. Williams might pull away from me, maybe moving to a more respectable distance next to me. He didn’t. He continued his stance right behind me, continuing to cage me. I looked to either side of me, realizing how tight a squeeze it was at the bar as everyone else was trying to get their drinks too.
Suddenly, Mr. Williams’ pressed his body forcefully against my back, slamming me into the bar.
“Z! What the hell was that?” Mr. Williams yelled from behind me.
“Are you alright, Vanessa?” His hand wrapped around my waist, turning me around so he could see my face. He was clearly and honestly concerned as he stared into my eyes. He still held his hand firmly on my hip and, dear God, his hand felt amazing wrapped around me.
“It’s my fault! Don’t blame Z!” An incredibly gorgeous blonde woman with the most amazing blue eyes I’ve ever seen, exclaimed to Mr. Williams as she stumbled toward him. She wrapped her arms around Mr. Williams and gave him a huge warm hug. His hand left my waist to return her affections. A pang of jealousy filled the pit of my stomach and I was angry it was there – again. He’s not my boyfriend, not even a friend.
Mr. Williams’ chuckled, looking down at the beautiful woman. “You know you can knock into me anytime, Iz. It’s just that I slammed into my friend here,” he told her as he glanced over to me.
“Oh my God! I’m soooo sorry,” she slurred. She held out her hand. “I’m Izzy, Matt’s sister-in-law.” Then she gestured toward her bridesmaid’s dress, “Matron of honor,” she said with a British accent before continuing, “and –“she was interrupted by the man Mr. Williams just blamed.
>
“And my beautiful wife,” the man said as he adoringly gazed at Izzy. She wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled as the man continued to gaze at her, while he kissed her. The love they shared was obvious and very sweet. Something so far from how Charles and I had ever acted towards each other.
They all looked at me and I was just about to introduce myself when Mr. Williams did it for me. “This is Ms. Vanessa Hargrave. She’s the HR Director at my company.” I noticed expressions of recognition on both their faces, as if he had already told them about me. All eyes turned towards me as I gave a slight wave of my hand to say hello.
Z reached over and offered his hand, introducing himself, “I’m Matt’s brother, Z.”
I took a deep breath as I shook his hand. “It’s very nice to meet you both.”
The bartender yelled behind me, “Drinks are ready.” I turned to grab my drink and watched as Mr. Williams grabbed both of our drinks, handing my wine to me.
He gave me a small smile as he said, “Ms. Hargrave.” It felt silly to be at an event like this and not be a little more informal.
“Thank you.” I cleared my throat and said, “I suppose for the duration of the party, you could call me Vanessa. Once we’re back at the office, we should probably return to proper name salutations.”
He quirked up that left eyebrow and my stomach filled with butterflies as I watched the corner of his mouth follow suit with that half smile. He leaned in slightly, I felt his hot breath tickle my ear again before he whispered, “Well then, Vanessa, why don’t we just ignore the fact that we work together for just tonight and let our hair down.”
I realized that would probably be a mistake on both our parts. Being so casual at a wedding and then returning to work on Monday might make it difficult to keep our relationship professional. Not to mention, I didn’t forget that Ms. Leonard would be entertaining him at the office. I really needed to keep my guard up and not become too friendly.
Romantic Promises (Alluring Promises Series, #2) Page 14