There were a lot of the trappings of this life I hadn’t bought into before, and I wasn’t going to start now. Rather ironically considering the man had started an aviation company, my grandfather’s motto had always been to stay down-to-earth. I planned on living that motto as my own.
The event was being held in the ballroom of one of the hotels downtown. It was one of my mother’s favorites to throw parties at, and I recognized the place immediately. Although it had been a while since the last one, I’d been to so many events here I’d lost count of them all.
As I walked in, my mother was tucked close to my side, but Brittany was front and center in my mind. She had been my date to at least 99 percent of the events I’d attended in this very ballroom. It used to be her on my arm as we followed closely on my parents’ heels.
My heart gave a pang when we passed the fountain outside the doors where we used to sit and talk while waiting for the parental unit to finish schmoozing. When I caught sight of the door of a storeroom in my periphery, I almost got hard at the flood of memories about what we’d gotten up to in there.
Since no one wanted to be thinking about that when they had their mothers beside them, I shook myself out of it and focused on the here and now. The ballroom looked great—as always. Selena wouldn’t have spared any expense knowing that the Ramsey name would be attached to the event.
People surrounded us from the minute they saw her, and she wasted no time in starting to introduce me around. There was a good mix of people here, some in expensive clothing and belonging to the best country clubs. Others seemed to be from more modest means, and I assumed they were the ones who worked for the school.
Those were the people I was interested in talking to, but my mother kept a vise grip on my arm as we joined a cluster of people in the center of the room. She smiled before gracefully exchanging greetings with her high-society friends.
“Tristin, it’s so good to see you,” one of my parents’ oldest friends, Mr. McDonald, said as he pumped my hand enthusiastically. “Welcome home. Luke was delighted when he told me you were back.”
“It’s good to see you too,” I lied smoothly.
McDonald wasn’t only a friend of my dad’s, but also someone we did business with. A tie I would be severing soon since I’d gotten a look at the inflated prices he charged us, but this wasn’t the time or place to do it.
Other people joined us, and the first ones moved along. It was one of my mom’s old tricks, though. Let them come to you.
She held court in the center of the room like a queen, but I’d had just about enough of it. After making small talk with yet another business associate, I excused myself to go to the bar. About halfway there, I stopped dead in my tracks.
Right there, standing in front of one of the tables where the items that would be going up on the silent auction were displayed, was a familiar face that rooted my feet to the spot. I blinked. Hard.
Surely, it can’t be her. It had to be my imagination playing tricks on me, but she looked so much like…
The blonde shifted on her low heels and tucked her hair behind her ears. My heart lurched. It was her. It didn’t matter how long it had been. I’d still have been able to pick her out of a crowd of thousands.
Her mannerisms were exactly the same. She stuck the tip of her thumbnail between her teeth as she surveyed the table in front of her. Her other hand alternated between being planted on her hip and sweeping across her stomach. She scrunched up her face as if she was deep in thought; then a soft smile spread across her lips, and she nodded slightly.
Yep. Definitely her. No doubt about it.
Brittany Cleaver. Holy fuck.
Without even having to think about it, I changed course and headed right for her. She was as curvy as ever, a pale blue dress hugging her luscious figure. Her hair was half-up, half-down, framing her heart-shaped face in golden curls. Coincidentally, the color of her dress was an exact match for my pocket square.
Seems we still think alike.
As I went to stand behind her, I caught a whiff of spicy berries and came very close to groaning out loud. Shit. I can’t believe she’s still wearing that perfume.
It was the scent of some of the hottest memories of my life. I’d bought her a bottle of that perfume for her sixteenth birthday, and she’d used it so sparingly that she’d even had it on for our prom night.
“Oh, excuse me,” she said as she turned around slowly. “I didn’t mean to hog the tabl—”
She cut herself off when she completed the turn and looked up at me, her eyes opening so wide that I could see white all the way around the beautiful blue. “Tristin?”
Her jaw slackened as she stared at me as if she believed she was hallucinating and I’d disappear at any moment. “Is that really you?”
“It’s really me.” An awkward beat of silence passed between us, but that didn’t put me off.
She was more beautiful than ever. It physically hurt to think that she broke up with me, but hope springs eternal and all that. I wanted to pull her into my arms, crush my mouth down on hers, and never let her go again, but I didn’t think that’d go over well.
So instead of listening to my baser, more primal instincts, I smiled as my gaze drank in every inch of her beautiful face.
“How’ve you been, Brit? What are you doing here?”
4
BRITTANY
“What am I doing here?” I repeated after him, still not entirely convinced that I wasn’t speaking to a figment of my imagination.
I couldn’t believe he was here, and apparently, my disbelief was making me stupid. Especially when he looked at me like I was the only thing he could see. We were surrounded by nearly a hundred people, but they all faded into the background when our eyes locked.
My mouth dried up. I couldn’t get my gaze to move away from his face, raking over the strong, shadowed lines of his jaw and the high cheekbones that anyone would kill for. Hell, my palms even got all kinds of sweaty.
Wrecked. One look and a few simple sentences, and I’m wrecked. How crazy is that? Certifiable. That was how crazy it was, but that didn’t change the facts.
Tristin had somehow managed to become even more gorgeous after he’d left here, and that shouldn’t have been possible. His dark colored hair was shorter now, not even brushing the tops of his ears, but it wasn’t a buzz cut either. It was just long enough to tangle my fingers in. If I was noticing those sorts of things about him, but I’m not. Of course.
Those golden eyes I’d been peering into in my dreams all week were as vibrantly golden and captivating as I remembered. They were still framed by thick black eyelashes that shouldn’t have been achievable without mascara, and it still felt like he saw into the deepest recesses of my soul.
Yep. Definitely certifiable. I wondered if there was a psychiatric hospital that specialized in treating the aftereffects of seeing one’s long-lost love. I’ll have to look into that.
One thing that had changed about him was that he’d filled out over the years. Tristin had always been well-built, but the way that tux fitted him hinted that he now had the body of a man and not the lanky, lean physique of a teenager who was still growing into his limbs.
“You look amazing,” I blurted out before I could help myself.
Heat attacked my cheeks like I was standing out in the blazing hot sun, but Tristin didn’t laugh at me or call me out for complimenting him like that after I’d broken up with him. But he never had been the petty or vengeful type.
The smile on his full lips spread a touch wider, and he inclined his head toward me. “You look beautiful, Brit. Stunning, even. But that doesn’t tell me what you’re doing here.”
My ears rang, and I had to swallow past my nerves before I could give him a real answer. “Oh. That. Right. I’m a teacher at Raleigh Elementary now. I donated that cake to the auction, but I came over to try and spruce it up. It looks a little juvenile next to the jewelry, and the wine, and the gift baskets.”
H
e finally released me from the spell of those eyes when he lifted them to look over my shoulder. “It’s not juvenile. It looks delicious. I’m willing to bet it tastes as good as it looks. You used to make the best baked goods in town.”
Someone called his name, reminding me that even though I’d been sucked into his bubble, we were very much not alone. A frown passed over his brow, and I saw the apology in his eyes before he even said anything.
“It was great to see you,” he said. “I really hope I run into you again later tonight, but I’ve got to go. Duty calls.”
“Of course.” Duty was always calling Tristin Ramsey. His so-called duty was the reason we weren’t together anymore.
With a final smile, he left me with the feeling that he wanted to say something more. As he strode away, the hold he’d had on my insides finally broke. I sagged and gasped for breath.
Did he really just come up to me, or was that a dream?
It felt like a dream, and yet there was no mistaking that I was, in fact, staring at Tristin’s back as he walked away. He moved differently now, but it was definitely him. There wasn’t anyone else who carried themselves the way he did.
He was the very embodiment of the point of convergence between confidence, grace, and dominance. I’d always thought so, but it was so much more noticeable now. Like those characteristics have grown up just like he has.
I was staring at him so intently that I didn’t even notice Shelley sidling up next to me. My friend appeared at my side out of nowhere, like a fiery-haired ninja who suddenly poked me in the ribs.
“Who was that?” she asked breathlessly, bringing her hand up to her face to fan herself. “Whoever he is, I call dibs. Did you see that ass?” She frowned when she noticed my expression. “What’s wrong? Did he say something mean about your cake?”
Regardless of how she’d ogled him only a second ago, she looked about ready to pull his hair out if he’d offended me. I smiled as I slung my arm around her shoulders, leaning my head closer to hers as I pointed discreetly in his direction.
“That, my friend, is Tristin Ramsey.”
I felt her body stiffen, and when I glanced at her, I saw her jaw drop. She took one swift step out from under my arm to stare at me. “Tristin? The Tristin?” Her voice lowered to a furious whisper. “Are you saying that you’ve actually seen that ass in the flesh?”
She pretended to go weak at the knees and slammed the back of her hand to her forehead. “You have got to be joking. No way that guy was your high school sweetheart.”
I laughed, lifting one shoulder in a shrug before I bit my lip and nodded. “I’m not joking. Yes, I have seen that ass naked, and yes, that guy was my high school sweetheart.”
“No way,” she said again, jerking her gaze away from mine to find him again. “I really thought you were being dramatic when you told me about him, but nope. He really is one tasty treat, isn’t he?”
“Yep.” My friend was the size of a pixie with the personality of a giant. She sure had a way of saying things exactly like she saw them.
Her round green eyes came back to mine. “How are you feeling? Are you okay? Did you know he was coming?”
“No, I had no idea he was going to be here. I didn’t even know he was back in town,” I admitted. “As for how I’m feeling, I don’t know. Think I can ask the audience?”
“Uh, nope.” She shot a pointed look at our table. “Seeing as how that audience includes Beckett, you’d better not ask them. You don’t have to phone a friend either. She’s right here, and she thinks you’re feeling overwhelmed.”
“I think she’s right.” I grinned as I shook my head at her. “Also, why are we referring to you in the third person now?”
“I don’t know. It worked in the moment.” She shrugged, then made her red eyebrows dance at me. “What’re you going to do? Go after the beautiful ex and jump his bones in the storage closet? The friend you don’t have to call votes for that option.”
Once again, my cheeks went up in flames. “Nah, the storage closet here doesn’t lock properly, and it’s too narrow. The shelving digs into your back.”
Her eyes flew wide open, and her mouth followed suit. “What? You can’t possibly mean…”
I risked another glance at Tristin, feeling heat infiltrating other parts of my body when I remembered the noises he’d coaxed from me despite the shelves digging into my back. “That’s exactly what I mean, but it was a long time ago.”
“You had sex in the storage closet?” She was whispering again, but it was more of a stage whisper. “Here? At the Hutton?”
“We didn’t have sex,” I protested, drawing a few curious glances my way that made me turn bright pink. Lowering my own voice, I leaned in closer to her. “It was way before that. Can we drop it? We shouldn’t be talking about this, least of all here.”
She let out a dramatic sigh. “Fine, but I want all the details later.”
“You’re not getting them,” I said. “It was ages ago. You don’t hear me drilling you for details about the guys you were with in high school.”
“That’s because they didn’t look like that.” She darted another look at him. “Plus, trust me when I say that my experiences definitely weren’t good enough that they still make me blush. I barely even remember any of my gentleman suitors from that time.”
“Maybe it’s because you think of them as your gentleman suitors,” I teased but then caught Beckett shaking his head as he watched us. “I’d better go. The principal doesn’t approve of the two of us just standing around.”
“He wants us mingling and firing people up for the auction items,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Your cake looks divine, by the way. Well done.”
“Thanks.” I gave her a wave as we parted ways, me heading toward Beckett to join him at our table and her going to chat up a storm to people examining the brochures for a trip that had been donated.
“There you are,” Beckett said when I slid into my seat beside him. “I was wondering where you’d run off to. Dinner is being served shortly.”
“I’m right here.” I smiled and settled in, but as soon as I was seated, my eyes sought Tristin out again of their own accord, watching as he made his rounds.
He looked so damn amazing. Better than he had in high school even. There was something authoritative about him now. Something so commanding that I couldn’t keep my gaze off him for long before I found myself staring at him again.
It shouldn’t have been so surprising, considering that he’d spent the last decade and a half in the Air Force. Or at least, I thought that was where he’d been. I knew he’d joined up right after I’d broken up with him, but it was possible that he hadn’t stayed in the service for all this time.
There were so many questions suddenly swirling around in my head about my ex, but I didn’t know if I’d ever get any answers. I didn’t even know if I really deserved them.
I was vaguely aware of conversation being made around me as dinner was served, but I wouldn’t have been able to tell what we had eaten after. Beckett didn’t seem to notice that my attention wasn’t on him, too busy boasting to the donors at our table about the changes he’d made since being appointed as the principal.
“My goal is to teach the children to be seen and not heard,” he was saying when I caught a snippet of the conversation, and I promptly tuned him out again.
Children weren’t robots. Being seen and not heard might be his goal, but none of the rest of us agreed.
The emcee got up on stage after our plates had been cleared and tapped the microphone. “If I may have your attention, please. It’s time to announce the winners of the silent auction this evening.”
A hush fell over the crowd as a smattering of applause went up. He started by reminding people again what the funds we had raised would be used for, then dove right in.
The tips of my ears burned at the thought of my cake. A lot of the more luxurious donations had gone for thousands of dollars. Even some of the other smaller
items had fetched hundreds.
When he announced the lot number that had been assigned to my cake, I ducked my head. This is going to be so embarrassing.
“Twenty thousand dollars,” the emcee exclaimed. “Give it up for Mr. Tristin Ramsey, ladies and gentlemen.”
I froze. Twenty thousand dollars? For a cake?
My head snapped up, and my gaze found his instantly. There was the tiniest hint of a smile on his face as he lifted his glass and tipped it in my direction. Despite the distance between us, I could see the satisfaction burning in his eyes as they bored into mine.
Well, fuck.
Tristin had just turned my cake into the highest-ticket item of them all. The man was a billionaire, so I didn’t feel bad about what he’d paid, but twenty thousand dollars for a cake seemed extreme.
Not that he’d really paid it for the cake. He’d paid it for the library and was getting the cake, but still.
He held me captive in his gaze, and time seemed momentarily suspended as I stared at him, wondering why he’d done that. If he’d wanted to make such a substantial contribution to the renovations, he could’ve bid that amount for the trip to the Grand Canyon. He’d have won it too.
But he hadn’t. He’d placed that bid on my cake for a reason, and that reason had to do with me. It had to have been.
A shiver zapped down my spine. Considering how things had ended between us, it could either be a very good thing that he’d wanted to get my attention, or it could be very, very bad.
Beckett’s voice crashed into me from the side, effectively breaking off the staring contest Tristin and I had been engaged in. “What is that all about?”
“Excuse me?” I turned in my seat to face him, frowning when I realized he looked angry for some reason. He cocked a dark eyebrow at me, letting me know he knew I’d heard him and was waiting for my answer.
My heart pounded in my chest, slamming itself against my ribs as I shrugged. “Maybe the guy has a sweet tooth.”
Bad For You Page 3