CHAPTER FORTY #2
I narrowed my eyes at him and interrupted him.
“Oh, I think it’s exactly what you meant, Reynolds.
Well, maybe I’ve decided that you’re not good enough for me.
There’s a lot more than social standing and manners that determine who a person is.
I might not be from a rich family or have much of an education, but I’m a good person.
I would never intentionally hurt someone.
I would never make someone feel like I was looking down at them.
Like I thought I was better than them. I would never lie to someone I claimed to love, or treat them like they weren’t as important as my job or what people thought of me.
And I think that matters a lot more than knowing which damn fork to use at a dinner party. ”
I pulled out of his grasp. “I’m done with you, Reynolds.
I will never get back together with you.
I want to make that clear. But I forgive you.
I know that we’ll see each other around West Bay, and I don’t want it to be awkward and awful for everyone around us.
I don’t ever want to be friends with you.
But I don’t want to hate you, either. Eventually, we’ll just be acquaintances.
People who had a brief history together and moved on. That’s all we’ll ever be.”
“Nadine, you can’t mean that…”
“Goodbye, Reynolds.” I turned on my heel and walked away from him, fighting back the tears I hadn’t wanted him to see.
“Please, Nadine!”
I kept walking as people stopped on the sidewalk to stare at the two of us.
And I didn’t look back.
***
Madeline had come up with a plan so that I wouldn’t sit around my house and eat a tub of ice cream and drink a couple of bottles of wine on the night of the Mayor’s Ball. It was a devious plan. I was still unsure about it, but I’d let her talk me into it.
It had led to me standing outside West Bay’s oldest country club in the beautiful dress I’d bought for the ball. Leo Salazar stood next to me looking very debonair in his tux.
“Are you ready to go in, Nadine?” he asked as he adjusted his tie.
“I guess so,” I nodded. I was so nervous.
“Hey—I’ve got you. This is going to be a fun night, okay?”
I smiled. “Thanks again for bringing me.” I linked my arm through his as we walked into the ballroom.
“Seriously? I’ve been asking you out every day since you and Reynolds broke up, Nadine. I just wish you’d let me take you on an actual date.” He reached into his tuxedo jacket and pulled out his invitation.
A man was standing there to take it from him and announce us as we came in as if we were at some Bridgerton-era society function.
“Mr. Leo Salazar and Ms. Nadine Walker,” he intoned, his voice seeming to boom throughout the packed ballroom.
“How’d he know my name?” I whispered to Leo.
He pulled me a little closer and grinned down at me. “I wrote it on the invitation. That’s what you do in situations like that.”
“Oh.” I looked around nervously. I wasn’t ready to see Reynolds with Whitney yet. I didn’t think I could take it.
“You look gorgeous tonight, Nadine. I mean, you do every night. But tonight, you’re extra hot.”
“Thanks,” I smiled at him. “You’re sweet.”
He laughed. “Surely you’ve known me long enough to know that’s completely untrue.”
I started to protest to be polite but caught myself. It would be an obvious lie. “Well, yeah,” I admitted. “You’re not sweet. So… thank you for the compliment. Also, I’m not sleeping with you tonight.”
He sighed. “I figured. I can still hold out hope, though.” He grabbed two champagne flutes from a passing waiter and handed me one. “I could try to get you drunk.” He winked at me.
I giggled. “Carmen would be pissed at you, and you know it.”
He took a swig of his champagne. “Carmen’s been pissed at me since I was about twenty-one, and I started fucking her employees.” He waggled his eyebrows at me.
“Oh, Leo. You’re a mess.”
“Wouldn’t you love to be the one to straighten me out?” he asked, and for once I didn’t think he was joking. He pulled me closer to him and stared down at me with soulful eyes. “Not every man is like Reynolds, Nadine. I’d want you just the way you are.”
I laughed. “You like me the way I am now. I’m not so sure you would’ve been interested before Lonnie’s etiquette lessons and Madeline’s help with my appearance.”
He grinned. “I liked you just fine the way you were. Before they smoothed down your rough edges.”
I didn’t want to hurt Leo’s feelings. He was handsome, sexy, and interested.
But I just didn’t feel the same way about him.
Plus, I’d seen him flirt with dozens of women.
I wasn’t sure he was as ready to settle down as he was implying.
His own mother had warned me off him a few months ago. I didn’t think she was wrong, either.
“Leo, you’re wonderful. And so handsome. And you’re going to fall hard for a woman for real someday. But I don’t think we’re right for each other.”
I’d rarely seen his face without a smile on it, but that’s how it was now. “Why not?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t know. I just know I fell hard for Reynolds.
” I shrugged. “Now, it’s going to be awhile before I think I’m ready to be with another man.
And even then?” I touched his face, and he leaned into my palm.
His blue eyes were darker than they usually were.
“Even then I’m afraid I won’t ever trust a man again. ”
He didn’t need to know my whole trust backstory.
I wasn’t going to stand here and catalog how my father had walked out on Mama and me, my long-time boyfriend had shocked me by marrying someone else, and…
what Reynolds did. His actions hurt me the most. The thought of him laughing with Whitney about how embarrassed he’d be to be seen with me here—that crushed me.
I didn’t believe him when he’d said that had never happened.
And once again I was left wondering how he could have been so needlessly cruel.
If he hadn’t wanted me, all he’d had to do was let the contract run out and say goodbye. No harm, no foul.
But for whatever reason, he’d felt the need to demolish my heart instead.
I’d packed away the jewelry he’d given me that magical Christmas day.
I didn’t think I’d ever be able to wear it again, but I wasn’t quite ready to part with it.
I’d sold the car, though, and put the money right in my bank account.
It would be ready and waiting when the day came for me to pick out my own car.
One that didn’t come with tainted memories.
That Christmas would live forever in my memory, I was afraid, as my best one and my worst one.
Knowing that he told me he loved me, that he gave me all those beautiful, thoughtful gifts, and then lied to my face as he walked out the door to take the woman he truly loved out that night—well, it was something I wasn’t sure I’d ever get over. Not really.
Music started, and before I could protest, Leo pulled me into his arms and swept us out onto the dance floor. “Well, if we can’t be together now, maybe we will be in the future,” he said, staring into my eyes as he held me close and we danced.
Leo twirled me, and I faced the opposite direction when he pulled me back to him.
And that’s when I saw Reynolds.
He was standing to the side of the dance floor, leaning against a wall, with a glass of whiskey in his hand. The other hand was in the pocket of his tuxedo. He stood there looking gorgeous and almost gave the appearance of being carefree.
But I could tell he wasn’t. His eyes were on me. His jaw was clenched. And his fingers were wrapped so tightly around his glass that they’d turned white. His nostrils flared a little, and I saw the anger in his eyes that he was working hard to keep off his perfect face.
Leo twirled me again, and I lost sight of Reynolds.
But how he looked was burned into my brain.
His dark blond hair was still longer than normal, his scruff a little thicker, and I thought he looked more muscular.
He’d always been lean, but his jaw stood out a little more, the angles of his face were a bit sharper, and his tux jacket seemed tighter across his muscles.
“Reynolds is looking fit,” Leo said, confirming my suspicions. “He should. Nico said he’s taken up boxing over the past month.”
“He always boxed,” I protested.
“Not like this. Now he’s at the gym all the time.” Leo’s eyes were fixed over my shoulder, and I knew he was staring at Reynolds. Leo had a smug look on his face, and, while I was happy to let Reynolds think I’d moved on, I didn’t want to ruin his inaugural ball.
“Quit looking at him.” I put my hand on his cheek to get him to look at me.
“I guess he has to work off all his extra energy since he’s not fucking anyone at Cayenne.”
I frowned. “He’s not?”
He shook his head. “Hasn’t been there since you left, and he went there trying to get any of us to talk to him. Before that? No one can even remember. He hasn’t been to Sugar, either.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s not fucking someone at all, Nadine. He’s just not doing it at Sugar or Cayenne.”
I nodded. I wasn’t stupid. He was probably intimate with Whitney Masters.
“May I cut in?” Leo and I turned to see who was talking.
Enzo Salazar stood next to us looking smooth as usual.
“What if I say no?” Leo asked.
Enzo gave him a look and pulled me away from his little brother easily. He was even better on the dance floor, and I wondered how many ballroom dance lessons he’d had to endure growing up.
“How are you holding up?” he asked, his bright blue eyes full of concern.
“I’m doing okay.”