He hugged me, and I nodded at him before we both moved in separate directions. I saw another familiar face, and she smiled, waved at me, but before we reached each other, somebody cut her off.
“Who is that?” Tao asked, sipping from the mug of craft beer somebody had given him earlier.
“Liz Carter. She runs a sign language class through the library system. It’s the one I help out with when I’m not being worked into the ground,” I added dryly. I studied the crowd around her. “We’ll catch up with her later.”
As we moved off into the crowd, Tao shot me a look, clearly amused. “Look at you. All hobnobbing with the rich and…” He frowned. “You know, the rich and elite just doesn’t sound quite as good as the rich and famous, does it?”
I rolled my eyes at him.
“How many other mega impressive personages do you know?” he asked.
“Does your big ego count?”
“We can count my ego if we can also count my…” He wagged his eyebrows at me.
“Would you hush?” Laughing, I leaned and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth. “You are incorrigible, I swear!”
As I hooked my arm through his, some of the tension in my body fell away. Everything was going fine. Nothing to be nervous about, nothing to worry about, right?
But when I began to scan the crowd again, everything changed.
I looked right past her at first, but her eyes brought me back. She was staring dead at me like she could just will me off the face of the planet. I stumbled a little, thrown off track. No, that was a lie. It felt like the entire world had been thrown off track, not just me.
“Allie?” No humor existed in Tao’s voice now. He knew me so well. He steadied me, his hand immediately moving to my waist.
Tearing my eyes away from the woman across the room, I swallowed and made myself look at Tao.
“Are you okay?” He touched my cheek. “You look like you’ve been stabbed with a hot poker or something.”
“Worse,” I said wanly. Needing a few moments of privacy, I tugged him off to the side, hoping the crowd – or the floor – would swallow us up. Why was she here?
“What’s wrong? You see him? If you did…well, honey, you should have expected–”
“It’s not him.” Well, not just him. Because I had seen Jal too. Standing next to her.
He’d seen me too.
Both of them had.
Jal’s light blue eyes had lit up.
The woman with him had looked like…I didn’t even know how to describe the look on her face, but it didn’t fall anywhere near the realm of pleasant. She’d recovered quickly though.
No surprise, really. After all, Diamond Hedges knew how to hide what she was feeling.
She wouldn’t dare to be caught off stride, not by something insignificant as seeing her husband’s bastard at a gala with her friends.
I swallowed the panicked laugh bubbling in my throat as Tao stroked a hand up my arm. “Tell me what’s wrong, honey.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw her moving off into the crowd, away from me.
“Kendrick Hedges,” I managed stiffly.
Tao jerked as if I’d stabbed him. “What? He’s here? Your dad?”
I didn’t point out that he wasn’t really my father. Not in any way that truly mattered. Even the time he'd spent with me as a child, any money he'd sent, all of it came from curiosity and guilt. But it didn’t matter right now. Shaking my head, I glanced back toward the direction where I’d seen Diamond.
“No. Worse.” I cleared my throat and managed to speak with some strength. “It’s his wife – and she hates my guts.
4
Jal
She wasn’t here yet.
A little voice in my head suggested that maybe she wasn't coming at all.
Like hell. She’d come.
She had to. I went to a lot of work to get her here.
Even as I thought it, I hated myself for it. How fucking arrogant was I?
As one of the guests – I think his name was George Spieth – stepped up and held out his hand, I shot another look at the door. For all I knew, she’d looked at the invitation and tore it into confetti. Or she might have already come and gone, slipped in while I was making the rounds and left just as quickly. I couldn’t exactly watch the door nonstop when I was hosting this gala.
Maybe I should've thought this out a little more.
“Your fiancée shared with me the happy news–”
I jerked my head around and stared at George. Shit. “She did?”
“About the engagement.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “She’s a lovely one, that Paisley. Hope to hear news about the wedding soon.”
I gave him a strained smile. Paisley had been showing her damn ring off all night. It seemed that my request for time and space had fallen on deaf ears. She was cooing about wedding plans and a honeymoon cruise that would take us halfway around the damn world.
At the moment, she was standing across the room with her mother. They glanced my way, and I had no doubt what the subject of the discussion was or perhaps I should say who.
Of course, the look on Diamond’s face was pure ice.
When George caught sight of her moving our way, he chuckled. “It’s the mother-in-law...I’ll be upfront, son. I don’t pity you on that front.” He clapped me once more on the shoulder and passed me a card. “Let me know what your people think of that proposal.”
Proposal – I didn’t even remember him talking about one, but I was sure he must have. I gave a vague answer. “Just get the information to my team.”
As he moved off, Diamond took his place.
I pushed the card into my pocket and gave another casual look around the ballroom. No such–
Son of a bitch. She was here.
I let my gaze devour her while Diamond started to talk.
“Hello, Jal.” The cool tone barely made an impact as I took in the lush curves of Allie's body, the pearls around her neck…the guy standing with her?
Son of a bitch! She’d brought a date? I ground my teeth.
“What in the world?” Diamond said in a low voice. I hardly noticed. No doubt she was pissed off at me for not paying attention to her.
A date.
Why in the hell had she brought a date? Her gaze flicked my way in just that moment, although she didn’t seem to look straight at me. Her eyes widened, her lips parted. Before I could do anything, her date put his hand on her arm, the gesture clearly protective. And she didn't shake off his touch.
Oh, hell, no.
“The nerve of that–”
“Yes,” I said to Diamond, not really understanding a word coming out of her mouth. “Absolutely. We’ll talk later, of course.”
I moved, straight toward Allie – and her date.
If Diamond bitched, I’d just tell her I had to greet people. And I did. The one person I wanted to talk to was over there, and I had to talk to her. Courtesy dictated I say something to the asshole with her, so I’d say hi, then fantasize about ripping his balls off. After, of course, I made sure he understood that Allie was off limits.
As I crossed the floor, I nodded and waved and greeted the people who stood like tuxedoed and formally-gowned obstacles, but I wasn’t exactly greeting them. I had no desire to talk to anybody, save for Allie. She was the only one I saw now.
I sure as hell wasn't going to let her know that though.
I nodded at a few people standing between me and Allie as I strode straight to her. I tried not to stare too intently, but it was hard. She looked beautiful. Elegant and refined, her dress looked like it'd been made for her, and the strand of pearls around her neck completed the look.
Her eyes came to mine, and a smile that was both reluctant and pleased curled her lips. “Hello, Jal.”
I hoped nothing more than friendship showed when I returned her smile. “Allie. How are you? Enjoying yourself?”
“Well…yes. I suppose.” She laughed and the sound was…strained. The life
I had come to associate with…well, everything about her seemed dampened.
I glanced over at the man standing with her, unable to do a very good job at hiding my curiosity. Curiosity – the word seemed so mild for what I was feeling. It really didn’t touch on this overwhelming urge I had to shove him aside and take over the space he had at her side.
His lips twitched, like he knew exactly what I was thinking. A moment later, he leaned over and murmured something in her ear, his lips brushing against her skin. Another rip of envy tore through me and again, his lips twitched like he was following my line of thought.
Asshole, I decided. He was an arrogant asshole.
Whatever he said had her cheeks flushing a pale shade of pink, and she averted her gaze for a moment, shaking her head. Then she looked over at me and nodded. “Jal, this is my date for the evening, Tao. Tao, this is Jal.”
“For the evening,” I echoed. There was no denying the edge in my voice. It was too pointed and obvious. I held out a hand, and he cocked an eyebrow before slowly accepting it. It was a total dick move, but I didn’t care. I squeezed his hand as I stared into his eyes.
Except he didn’t look impressed or intimidated. He just squeezed right back, and the look in his eyes was as clear as day.
He was laughing at me.
Son of a bitch.
Tugging my hand free, I looked back at Allie. “Would your…date mind if we had a dance?”
“I doubt he would.” She slanted a look over at him.
Tao leaned in and kissed her cheek, murmured something else that made her blush, and she shook her head at him.
I held out a hand, and she accepted. Her gaze slid past me, lingering for a few seconds. It was long enough to tempt me to look back and see what it was she was looking at. Was it whoever had her less…her today?
Whoever it was, I wanted to make them go away. They could disappear from the face of the planet for all I cared. First, though, I needed to know who it was.
But before I could look, her gaze came back to mine, and I was more interested in her than anything else. Leading her out onto the dance floor, I guided her hand to my shoulder and folded the other in mine.
I was about to mention something about the waltz and how she could just follow me when she started to move.
“You never cease to amaze me,” I said.
“Why?” She smiled up at me. It was still strained, but she wasn't pulling away from me, so I counted it as a win. “Because I can waltz?”
“Where did you learn?”
Canting her head to the side, she replied, “Where did you?”
“Point taken.”
I had one hand on her waist, and I wanted to tug her closer. Wanted to pull her up against me and move until our hearts beat together. But I stayed...platonic and guided her to the music. As I swept her around on a turn, she smiled, and some of the shadows fell from her eyes.
“You look beautiful tonight. I’m glad you came.”
“Why did you invite me?” She held my gaze.
“You left.” My body heated at the memory of what had preceded her leaving. Then the negative emotion followed. While the word pissed wasn’t exactly the right word, I was…irritated. “You just left. I wanted to talk to you.”
“Why?” She turned her head, staring out over the dance floor, although I doubted she saw anything. “What was there to talk about really? We didn’t have anything left to say. We’d agreed it was a mistake. We’d agreed we shouldn’t have done it. What was there to talk about?”
“When did we agree on any of that?” I had my hand resting on the small of her back, and I was holding her closer than I should. I heard her words, but all I could think was how wrong her words sounded, and how right she felt in my arms. How easily we moved together, like we were made for each other.
“Before we even got started, we agreed it was a mistake,” Allie said, smiling at me, but it wasn't a nice smile. She gave a slow shake of her head.
“I don’t regret it.” I never should have said those words, never should have given her that truth. And I knew it. But it was another thing I didn’t regret. She deserved to know.
Her pale, soft gaze slid away. Whatever – no, whoever – it was that had her so upset caught her attention again. I knew it because her spine stiffened. Immediately, she forced herself to relax, but the tension that filled her sweet body was undeniable.
“What is it?” I asked, leaning down and murmuring the question next to her ear. Tell me and I’ll fix it.
“Nothing.” She gave me a tight smile.
“You’re not acting like yourself.”
“I’m fine, Jal.”
“No, you’re not.”
But that shuttered look in her eyes made it clear that she wasn’t going to share anything with me. It pissed me off. My gaze landed on the man standing on the edge of the dance floor. Tao. The date she’d brought with her. There was a closeness between them. A connection I couldn’t overlook. Jealousy bubbled inside me, and I nodded toward him.
“What’s the matter, did you and your boyfriend have a fight?”
“My boyfriend.” The words were cool, almost remote, reminding me how much of a hypocrite I was.
Somewhere over in the grand ballroom, Paisley was showing off the damn rock I bought her. I’d told her I needed time, but I hadn’t technically ended it, had I?
And I was angry because she’d come with a guy.
“My boyfriend.” She repeated the words again as she tipped her head back, staring up at the ceiling overhead. It exposed the delicate arch of her neck, the pearls against her warm, dusky skin.
Damn. I wanted to see her naked, wearing nothing but those pearls.
“No, Tao and I didn’t have a fight. We never fight, Jal. We might disagree on a few things – whether or not we’re getting popcorn or nachos at a movie or whether we’ll see some drippy drama – Tao loves them – or an action flick – my preference. But we don’t fight.”
“How long have you two been together?” I couldn’t resist the challenge in my voice.
“Tao? Oh, man…let me think.” Her forehead furrowed for a moment. “We’ve known each other almost our entire lives.”
The music came to an end, and she stepped away.
“Wait,” I said, reaching out a hand.
“You’ve got to go mingle.” She glanced back over her shoulder for Tao, then smiled at me. “It was…nice seeing you, Jal. But you’ve got your thing to do. I’m just here to eat, drink and dance. You go do your thing.”
“We haven’t talked.”
“We’ve talked as much as we need to.” She inclined her head. “You’re engaged. Your world…it isn’t mine. We already established this. There's no need to go over it again.”
As she turned away, I bit back a couple of ugly words – okay, a couple dozen. I didn’t want to go do my thing. I wanted to follow Allie, find some place private to talk to her. I wanted to make her understand that the only world I cared about was one with her in it.
But I couldn't shirk my responsibilities, either. And Paisley had a very big responsibility growing inside her right now.
5
Jal
Moving off the dance floor, I fought the urge to look back, to catch one more glimpse of Allie.
I might have done it if it I hadn’t crashed into a petite blonde. The tipsy socialite shot me a beaming smile as I caught her arms, steadying her.
“Hi, Melanie.” I managed to keep the annoyance out of my voice.
“Jal!” She flung her arms around me and pulled me down for a sloppy kiss. “I’m sooooo happy for you and Paisley.”
She giggled and pulled away, stumbling again and forcing me to steady her once more. Fortunately, her fiancé emerged from the crowd just as I got Melanie onto her own two feet, and I was able to release her.
“Melanie, there you are, sweetheart.” He slid an arm around her waist and nodded to me.
“Evening, Jared.”
He nodded at me. “
Hello, Jal. Great party. Have your office get in touch. I’ll make a donation.”
“Yes. Get in touch.” Melanie giggled and reached out, grabbing my hand. “I saw Paisley’s rock, it’s amazing.”
“Come on, Melanie.” He offered me an apologetic look. “She’s not feeling very well.”
“Of course.” In our circle, “not feeling well” commonly translated to “drunk off her ass.” Not that I really needed an explanation. I'd known Melanie for years, and she always overindulged at events like this. Fortunately, she was at least a charming drunk. “Would you like a car…?”
Jared smiled. “No. I’ve already arranged for mine to be brought around.”
We parted ways, but I hadn’t even taken five steps before I was cut off again. This time, instead of a pair of random guests, it was by a very irate Diamond Hedges. Paisley’s mother stood in front of me, her cheeks pale, save for two flags of color high on her cheeks. Her ash gray eyes glinted as bright and hard as her name, while her mouth was compressed into a thin line. She stared down her nose at me, which she somehow managed in spite of the height difference, an imperious look on her face.
“Jal.” She spoke in icy tones.
“Is there a problem, Diamond?” I gave a polite smile and worked to keep my tone just as cordial. People were all around us, and more than a few slid discreet glances our way. I had no doubt everyone was curious about what the future mother-in-law wanted to say.
Normally, that would have given her pause, made her carefully choose every word she said, guard her expression.
But whatever it was that had her so worked up had changed the circumstances from normal to…whatever this was. She sniffed as though there was something foul in the air.
“Just who were you dancing with?” Her tone was icy, accusing.
I was tempted to walk around her without answering. Maybe if Paisley had been there, I’d give her an answer. Paisley…well, yeah. I owed her an explanation. I'd been an ass to her.
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