Chapter 2 #3
“Can you let go of me now?” Selene asks, still draped in my arms.
I whip my head back to her, and my face falls. “Yeah, of course.”
I lift Selene, and her grip slips away from my arms, the absence of her touch almost immediate. Smoothing her hands across the front of her silky, yellow dress, she straightens herself out before fixing her hair and sweeping it away from her face.
Her dress clings effortlessly to her body, gliding against the full curves of her hips. The front dips between her breasts, revealing the soft, supple flesh and the pale blue stone resting there.
She tilts her head to the side. “Thanks again for catching me.”
“Well, I owed it to you.” I run my hand through my hair, trying not to notice the eyes of passersby clinging to me longer than necessary. “It was me who bumped into you.”
“Right.” She smiles. “You did.”
Raking my eyes over her once more, as if I haven’t already gotten my fill, I gesture toward her. “You look beautiful tonight, by the way.”
Her cheeks flush red. Always so modest, Wallflower.
“Thank you. You two look great as well.” She gestures between Vanessa and me.
My eyebrows pinch, and I open my mouth to tell her Vanessa and I aren’t an item, that we didn’t come here together, and I sure as fuck don’t think of her like that.
I’m done with using other women as a distraction, hoping that this feeling I have for Selene will go away.
My hardened dick beneath my Armani slacks can attest to that.
She hitches her thumb over her shoulder and half turns away. “I was searching for the girls, so….” Her words are clipped, and her eyes widen. She does a double take when she eyes the man stepping out of the men’s bathroom at the end of the hall, near the entrance to the ballroom.
The man emerges, tucking in the front of his button-down white shirt before closing the single button of his bland, generic gray suit. He stops, glances up and down the hall, then looks down at his phone.
I recognize him. He’s the man Selene had her arm wrapped around the night of The Veiled Door’s re-opening just weeks ago.
A lump lodges itself in my throat, but I force myself to keep my cool and not let my inner feelings show.
“How are you, by the way?” I ask Selene, not wanting her to leave just yet. If she does, I’ll be forced to face my reality unfolding in real time.
Selene turns and looks up at me. Her expression softens. “I’m sorry, I really should get going.” She gestures over her shoulder again toward the man she’s been dating.
The fucker is still standing outside the bathroom, engrossed in whatever is on his phone screen.
Selene backs away, her lips spreading into a wide grin. “I’ll see you out there later, right?”
My grin returns. “Absolutely.”
Her gaze knocks me off my feet until she’s spinning on her heel, marching down the hall toward the ballroom.
I watch the sway of her hips as she weaves in between the countless auction attendees and guests, not looking away from her even as Vanessa says her goodbye and leaves me standing there alone.
The way Selene’s blonde hair is twisted, with tendrils resting against the base of her neck, and the silky yellow fabric shaping her silhouette makes me think I’ve seen it somewhere before. A movie, maybe.
Whatever the fuck it was. The one with Matthew McConaughey.
“How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days,” my sister’s whispering voice hits my ear.
“What?” I turn, shocked by her sudden appearance, shoulder to shoulder beside me.
“That’s where the inspiration for her dress came from. You know, the movie with Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey?”
“Oh, yeah, sure.”
A grin stretches from ear to ear. “Isn’t Massimo great?”
“Yeah.” I swallow.
“I’m just thankful she isn’t with that asshole Adam anymore.”
I try not to show how this new revelation makes me feel inside.
“She deserves someone better,” Julianna simply states, not giving me any more details.
I’m still watching Selene walk away. “She does.”
I feel my sister’s narrowed gaze, her suspicion piquing.
Shit. My honesty catches both of us off guard.
“Need I remind you of Rebec—"
“She was looking for you, by the way,” I cut in, wanting to drop this conversation faster than a burning piece of coal.
My sister doesn’t trust me when it comes to women, especially as far as her friends are concerned. Honestly, I can’t blame her. Deep down, she’s probably thankful her other two friends are spoken for. As if I was ever interested in them, anyway.
“I thought you had an auction to get underway,” I add.
Julianna takes a step forward but abruptly stops before whipping back around to me.
She’s no longer in her usual playful mood.
Clearly, she’s irritated with me. She stares my way for several beats before her body language softens slightly and she lowers the daggers she has pointed at me.
“I just wanted to tell you the rumor mill has already started around here. I’ve overheard several conversations, all with yours and Rome’s names being uttered.
I think you should heed Treena’s advice and stay under the radar tonight.
Don’t do anything you would normally do. ”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, and you know exactly what I mean.” The corner of her mouth curls. “Just try not to be Holt Capuleti tonight.”
I try not to take her comment to heart but, fuck, it’s hard not to when she’s not only said this, but she’s also bringing up my past. Clearly, my history hasn’t been forgotten around here, and now I’m afraid it’s only going to be thrust further into the limelight with this lawsuit hanging over my head.
I’m fucked.