CHAPTER ELEVEN
Cara
The Hart family’s annual ballet season kickoff party was the last place I wanted to be right now, I realized about ten minutes after I’d gotten there.
I’d much rather be at my townhouse in comfy loungewear, sitting on my couch, eating real food, and watching trash TV.
Especially after my emotionally wrenching trip down memory lane brought on by seeing Edward Ashton in the audience this evening.
Instead, here I was mingling and making small talk while Monty Hart stared at me with those oddly intense pale eyes.
He never once let me out of his sight. He was handsome, I’d give him that, but there was something about him that had always landed him firmly in the friend zone with me.
If the Harts weren’t the biggest donors to the ballet and if Nora hadn’t been such a good friend to me over the years, I definitely wouldn’t be here tonight.
Well, that and the fact that the artistic director of the Moonlight, Kelisha Kelley, expected all the dancers to be here. So, at least for now, I was stuck here.
And I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that the biggest reason I was here was to find out whether Edward Ashton would be here. And what he’d say to me after all these years.
I attempted to eat hors d’oeuvres with as much restraint as possible considering I wanted to grab an entire tray from a waiter and sit quietly in a corner while I ate them all.
I scanned the room as casually as I could, but I saw no sign of Edward.
Maybe he wasn’t here. Or maybe the large number of people walking around the ballroom was keeping him hidden.
Either way, I was disappointed, even though I didn’t want to be. After the way things had ended between us, I shouldn’t be excited at the prospect of seeing him again.
But it had been six years. And though I hated to admit it, he was still the only man I’d ever loved.
The romances I’d had since then had been few and far between.
Meeting people and carrying on a relationship were hard given how much time I spent training and performing.
That they’d all been lackluster at best had been discouraging and hadn’t exactly spurred me on to finding someone new.
The men who asked me out now did it with cards on flowers they’d send me backstage.
I’d been there and done that a couple of times—it never worked out.
They’d just wanted to date a ballet dancer.
A pretty doll. They didn’t actually care about me or want a relationship.
I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to get rid of a tingling feeling I was having.
I kept thinking someone was watching me.
Someone other than Monty. I shrugged it off at first. I knew a lot of people were looking at me.
That’s one drawback of being one of the principal dancers for the company.
People acted like I was famous and wanted to be near me because of it.
But this felt different somehow. I looked to my left and saw that Eric Hightower, Nora’s newest guy, was watching me in that strange way of his again.
I didn’t know why the Harts liked him so much.
They kept saying something about some mystery guy they were interested in for Nora, but that if he didn’t work out she could date Eric.
I didn’t think he was right for Nora, and I was almost positive she didn’t even like him.
I wasn’t so sure he was actually interested in Nora, either.
Because he kept watching me. Every time I turned around, it seemed his eyes were on me.
And I didn’t like it. It didn’t feel like romantic interest, either, which would have been uncool since he was supposed to be interested in my friend.
It would’ve made more sense than what it seemed like, though.
Because it felt like he was sizing me up.
Assessing me. But for what? I shook the feeling off—I was probably wrong.
Well, at least I’d cleared up why I had that prickly feeling of someone watching me. Even if it added to my general sense of unease about Eric Hightower.
I looked around the room a few more times, but I still didn’t see who I was looking for. I still didn’t see Edward.
And then I did.
As my eyes moved over the people in the room, they locked firmly with his.
I almost dropped my plate of food.
He was here. Edward Ashton. And we were staring at each other.
He was easily the most handsome man in the room.
He was very tall and broad shouldered and wearing an extremely ill-fitting tuxedo.
But even in his too small tuxedo, he took my breath away.
I’d always hoped that if I ever saw him again, I’d realize that I’d glamorized him in my mind over the years, made him seem more handsome than he actually was.
That was not the case. If anything, he’d become even more gorgeous over the years.
His hair had always hovered between dark blond and light brown depending on how much time he spent in the sun.
It was clear he spent a lot of time outdoors these days, probably in the orchards, because his hair was a few shades lighter than honey when the sun shone through it.
And he still had the bluest eyes I’d ever seen.
Those eyes were staring back at me. He didn’t look away, just kept them locked on me while I gazed back at him.
I looked at him across the room, in a too-tight, too-short tuxedo, and thought he had no right to look that good in such a goofy-looking outfit.
But he did. If I’d thought he was handsome at eighteen and nineteen, he was the best-looking man I’d ever seen at twenty-five.
My eyes stayed on his against my will. I saw the beginnings of a smile on his face before I forced myself to break the connection and turned to someone beside me.
I didn’t know why Edward was here, but it surely wasn’t for me. I’d made a fool of myself over him before. I was determined not to do it again.
And then he started walking over to me. I looked around desperately for an escape but was blocked in on all sides by middle-aged men and women who wanted to talk to me about the ballet, my dancing career, my personal life, and so on.
I tried to focus on them and answer their questions politely, while also looking for a way out.
But there wasn’t one. I could see his approach out of the corner of my eye. He was getting closer, and there was no avoiding him.
And then he was there, right at the same time as Garrison Hart stepped up beside me. “You looked like a damn angel out there, Cara. Good job, girl.”
I smiled politely. “Thank you.”
“I’d like to introduce you to Edward Ashton,” he said, clapping Edward on the back.
“Oh,” I interrupted him, as I avoided shaking the hand Edward offered. “Edward and I know each other, actually.”
Garrison’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?” I had the passing thought that he didn’t look pleased.
Edward sipped his drink. “Yes.” He grinned at me, his blue eyes sparkling.
I looked away, ignoring the little zing I felt whenever I made eye contact with him.
“Well, that’s amazing,” Garrison said in that way he had of acting like something was great when he really thought it wasn’t. I looked at him closely. Why would he care?
“We grew up in the same town,” I clarified.
I glanced at Edward briefly before saying, “That’s all it was.
Well, it’s nice to see you again.” I gave him a smile, a head nod, and walked away as if we barely knew each other.
I tried to pretend I hadn’t noticed that he flinched as I’d cut our relationship down to almost nothing.
I hadn’t made it three steps before he was right beside me again.
“Cara,” he said, a smile on that handsome face.
He had a light, well-trimmed beard now. It made him look even more grown up.
Distinguished. I wondered what it would feel like to kiss him.
To run my hand along his sharp jawline and feel that beard under my fingers.
I wondered if it was soft or coarse. Then I instantly banished the thoughts running through my poor, confused mind.
What was wrong with me? “I’m so glad I saw you.
Garrison said we were going to the ballet tonight, and all I could think about was if you’d be there. ”
I gave him what I hoped was a polite, disinterested nod.
“He wasn’t wrong. You did dance like an angel.
” He stepped in front of me, effectively stopping my escape.
Unless I wanted to be rude. I could dodge and swerve away from him like I was on a basketball court.
It would be hard to do in this dress, though.
“You were always so talented,” he went on, “but you were breathtaking on that stage tonight.”
“Thank you.” I gave him a tight smile and looked around fruitlessly for a distraction.
There wasn’t one. The older people who’d surrounded me since I walked through the door were suddenly gone, and I was alone in the middle of the Hart family ballroom with Edward Ashton.
“Why are you here?” I finally asked, now that we were alone.
He grinned, seeming totally oblivious to my coldness towards him. “I’m here to sign a contract to sell Ashton Orchards products at Hart Family Farmers Markets.”
“That’s nice. Congratulations. I hope you enjoy your stay in Charleston.
” Memories washed over me. Edward, looking at me with love in his eyes and telling me he was going to move to Charleston with me.
That we could be together. My eyes dragged up to his, and it was like I could still read what was on his face.
He was thinking of our past, too. I had to nip this in the bud.
I was not walking down memory lane with Edward Ashton.
It was too damn dangerous for my heart. “Well, I have people I have to see before I leave. Excuse me.”