Chapter 13 #2
She peeked at Harriet, wondering if she had an interest there, then instantly dismissed it. Harriet liked this boilermaker, didn’t she? Poor girl.
Then Neil Elton drifted across her path, and her stomach tensed. He was smiling at his date, a smile that instantly slipped as he saw EJ, and he blinked, then scowled.
His date glanced at him then at EJ, which made EJ force a smile. “Hello, Neil.” She nodded to the brunette. “Hi, I’m Emma.”
“Oh! I’ve heard about you.”
Hmm, that didn’t sound promising. EJ turned to Neil. “I didn’t realise you knew James or Rachael.”
“We used to work together,” the brunette chimed in, who still hadn’t given her name.
Still, that didn’t mean EJ couldn’t introduce Harriet, so she did. “This is Harriet Smart, my PA. She lives near you in Wooten Vale.”
“Oh, really?” Harriet looked eager. “Whereabouts are you?”
Perhaps Neil didn’t hear, as he shook his head and urged his date away.
Wow. Okay. “Rude.”
“Don’t let it bother you, EJ.”
“He’s taken up with his own importance, that’s what he is,” EJ fumed. Still, poor Harriet. She didn’t deserve to be scorned just because she was a PA.
EJ tucked her hair behind her ear and forced her attention back to the dance floor, working to get her feelings under control. She didn’t need to let Neil bother her. That only meant he’d win, and she had no time for petty-minded people. This was a time of celebration, and she was here to have fun.
Aidan Quinn, another of Jordan’s flatmates, approached and asked her to dance.
He was a lawyer, so he had heaps of ambition, even if his Irish girlfriend meant he wasn’t available.
She accepted and joined the dance floor, mouthing a sorry to Jordan when he caught her glance.
He shrugged, his smile easy, like he understood, and she noticed him continue watching.
Which made her strangely self-conscious.
“I have to admit I’m more of a karaoke fan than a dancer,” Aidan confessed.
“You’re doing fine,” she encouraged, before asking him about his girlfriend.
As he shared, she noticed Harriet standing by herself. She caught Jordan’s eye and tilted her head to Harriet. He nodded, then went and asked Harriet to dance.
Satisfaction rolled through her at the sight of the two of them dancing. Except maybe the two of them looked a little too comfortable together, laughing away like old friends. Hmm.
The song finished, and she needed a drink, so she moved back to the table as Rachael was making the rounds. “Congratulations. You look beautiful, and everything has been spectacular,” EJ said sincerely.
“It’s so good to finally have things working out as I’d planned.”
“And now you and James can enjoy yourselves. Do you know where he’s taking you on a honeymoon?”
“I think I heard something about the Whitsundays, but we’ll see. But enough about me. Why aren’t you dancing with Jordan?”
She glanced across the dance floor to where he and Harriet were dancing again. Huh.
“I’ve had a bunch of people ask me if you two are dating.”
“Me and Jordan? Please. We’re friends, that’s all.”
“Right. So that’s why you’ve been going out with Eric Churchill.”
“No. That was only a business meeting. No, I’m footloose and fancy-free.
” Well, mostly fancy-free. The more time she spent with Eric the more intriguing she found him.
Not that she could tell Jordan that. He’d flip his lid, for sure.
Although what gave him the right to be so judgy about Eric, she didn’t know. What happened to loving one’s enemies?
“So, there’s definitely nothing going on between you two?”
Which two was she talking about? Oh, judging from the way Rachael kept looking at Jordan, EJ guessed she meant him. “No.”
“Good.”
Huh? “Why good?”
“I thought I’d see if I could set my cousin up with him. Even if he and Harriet look like they’re together. They’re not, are they?”
“No,” she said firmly.
“Just thought I’d ask. Jordan’s popular, but then, he’s a good value kind of guy.”
Her stomach tensed. “Yes.” He was. But that didn’t mean just any old person was allowed to go out with him.
“And quite handsome too,” Rachael continued.
She glanced back at him. Could see in this light that his face had carved shadows, giving him a more mature, sophisticated look than what she was used to seeing.
Or maybe that was the effect of the bow tie and dinner jacket he wore.
He certainly hadn’t looked like that at their end of year 12 formal, the last time she’d seen him so dressed up.
Rachael laughed. “Of course, I suppose it must be weird to talk about your best friend like that. Especially when you’re more like brother and sister.”
“We’re not like brother and sister,” she insisted, frowning on the inside as the music finished and Jordan escorted Harriet to EJ’s side.
“You two looked like you were having fun.”
“Jordan is such a good dancer.” Harriet’s cheeks were flushed. “I didn’t know you could dance so well.”
“Nor did I,” EJ murmured.
He held out a hand to her. “Well, perhaps it’s time to see if you are willing to take those fancy shoes for a spin.”
“Sure.” She clasped his hand and allowed him to draw her into the dance.
But whether it was the feelings provoked from before or the sensation of having his dressed-up self so close to her, she felt a little lightheaded.
Just as she had before. But this wasn’t due to illness.
This was something else entirely. Maybe it had something to do with the aftershave he wore that she’d never really noticed before.
She leaned a little closer, her face near his neck, and inhaled. Mmm.
“Are you okay?” he murmured.
“I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
“You looked a little worried before.”
No way was she going to say she was worried because he was a lot handsomer than she ever remembered seeing him before. That the romance of today was messing with her. So she told him what Rachael said, adding with a laugh. “I told her it’s not like we’re brother and sister.”
His eyes were intense as he looked at her. “Brother and sister? No, indeed.”