Chapter Twenty
An hour later, Tessa felt warm despite the temperature.
A combination of delicious themed drinks, dances with friends, and a number of large strategically placed rooftop heaters made sure of it.
All around them, influencers posed and snapped pictures or went live as streams of color-changing LED lights pulsed in time with the music.
“Water!” Hallie yelled above the beat. “Food!”
Kate gave a dramatic thumbs-up, then headed away from the gyrating crowd. Tessa and Hallie easily followed.
Cool air touched Tessa’s cheeks as they emerged from the group of dancers, and her sweat-slicked skin pebbled in response. They filled plates from a buffet, grabbed bottles of water from tubs of ice, and found a small table near the windows dividing the rooftop and interior bar.
Hallie finished her food first and returned to her feet. “I’m going to see if they’ll make me another soda like the one I had last time we came here.”
Tessa’s thoughts returned to work, and she forced herself not to check her phone.
Had any of her coworkers called to see if she was okay?
Or get details about what had happened? Surely the news had spread like wildfire.
Would Millie want to offer comfort? Would Nina or Josephine want her to know they stood with her?
Had Xavier called to apologize or ask her to reconsider?
Would she reconsider if he called?
Kate’s cool palm clamped over Tessa’s forearm, snatching her back to the moment, grip tight enough to raise alarm.
“Whoa!” Tessa’s eyes jumped to her friend, but Kate’s attention was somewhere else.
“What’s wrong?” Tessa asked, wiggling her arm to loosen the vise around it, and following Kate’s line of sight in search of the problem.
Hallie stood a few yards away, speaking with a man in linen pants and a white dress shirt. His thick brown hair and casual stance seemed vaguely familiar.
“Who is that?” Tessa asked.
“It’s Sam.” The words had barely left Kate’s lips before the man’s cool-gray eyes found them.
“Who?” Tessa squinted, willing her memory to place the man.
“The bartender I gave my number to five seconds before he told me my autograph was for his girlfriend,” she whispered.
Tessa mouthed the word Oh as the memory returned with a cringe. “That Sam.”
Kate inhaled sharply. “Remind me why I wanted to come to this ball, because I suddenly cannot recall.”
Hallie waved enthusiastically as she led him in their direction.
“Oh my God, he’s coming over here,” Kate said. “I’ve been dancing and sweating for an hour,” she hissed. “How do I look?”
Tessa frowned. Kate’s words and tone conveyed sheer panic. Her posture and demeanor, though, were proper and relaxed. They might’ve been seated on her back porch swing instead of at a massive and very important party where, thanks to the number of cell phone cameras, the world might be watching.
Sam paused and spoke briefly to a passing woman with a tray, then continued onward without dropping his eye contact with Kate.
“Oh my,” Tessa whispered. “That man is smoldering. This doesn’t bode well for Vera.” That was the name he’d given Kate on the night he’d asked for an autograph, wasn’t it? Immediately after he’d unwittingly received her phone number on the napkin.
“Shh,” Kate hushed her. “Is she bringing him to us?”
“I think she’s bringing him to you,” Tessa corrected. She nudged Kate’s hand when she finally released her arm.
“Hey!” Hallie bobbed into place before them. “Look who I found!”
“Sam,” Kate said, her voice breathless and betraying her calm.
Tessa stifled a grin.
He stood a little taller, head tipping slightly. “You remember me?”
Kate nodded.
Hallie beamed. “Sam just ordered a specialty soda for me,” she said. “If it’s as good as the last one I had here, I’m going to need to see your recipe index.”
“Deal.” Sam spoke with quiet confidence, his attention still fixed on Kate’s eyes. “Hi,” he said.
“Hi.”
Tessa made a goofy face at Hallie, who smirked.
“It’s nice to see you again,” he said.
“Thank you. Enjoying the party?” Kate asked, slipping seamlessly out of her trance and back to her contagiously charming self.
“I am now.”
Hallie rolled her eyes. Not that Kate or Sam noticed. Tessa’s smile widened.
The silent staring continued a moment longer before Kate wet her lips and leaned a little in his direction. “How’s Vera doing?”
Sam blinked, spell broken. His gaze abandoned Kate to dart around the crowded space. “You met my sister?”
Kate’s closed-lip smile opened. “Your sister?”
“Ohhh,” Hallie and Tessa said in near unison.
Sam looked from face to face around the trio. “What am I missing?”
Kate folded her hands on the tabletop. “You asked me to sign a napkin to her the last time we met.”
He blushed, then scrubbed a palm against his jawline. “Right.” He chuckled. “Do I lose points if I admit to only saying that because I wanted to sound less like a stalker and more like a good brother?”
Hallie raised a finger in protest. “We don’t throw the S word around at an influencer party.”
Sam laughed, then frowned, considering. “Shit. Sorry. I didn’t mean that either.”
“You’re doing great,” Hallie deadpanned. “Really hoping that soda is good.”
He shot her an amused smile. “Me too. I could use the win.”
“So you’re the fan?” Tessa asked. “You recognized her and asked for the autograph.”
He worked his jaw, cheeks tinged pink once more.
Or perhaps it was the reflection of LED lighting.
“I came across your account while looking for a birthday gift for my mother about two years ago,” he said.
“I searched for Birmingham gifts or something like that. We’re from the other one of those, in England. You’re from Alabama?”
“My grandparents on my daddy’s side. I grew up in Georgia.”
He nodded. “Mother loved the silk scarf you wore in the post. I paired it with a copy of her favorite book and coordinated a bouquet from her local florist with the delivery. I dare say I gained a point or two with her from that.”
“Glad I could help,” Kate said.
Tessa gave Sam a closer look. “Are you close with your mother?”
He smiled. “I am. Well, as close as I can be from the States,” he amended. “We make a point of visiting regularly.”
“Do you miss your home?” Kate asked.
Grant pressed into Tessa’s mind as she watched Kate and Sam get to know one another. Not that Tessa thought of Grant that way. He was a client, after all— She winced. No, he wasn’t her client any longer. Sadly, that truth didn’t feel like a relief. It felt like a knife wound.
She needed to reach out to him, and all the shop owners she represented, as soon as possible.
They needed to hear the news from her, and they deserved an explanation.
Too bad she had no idea how to communicate what had happened.
Xavier had yelled. She’d quit. She didn’t want to repeat any of that to anyone else.
Ever. And it wasn’t appropriate to speak negatively about her former workplace.
She wouldn’t do that. So what would she say?
“Hey.” Hallie shoved Tessa’s hand, where it rested on the table. “You look like someone kicked your puppy.”
She forced a tight smile. “I’m fine.” She cleared her throat and thanked the stars above for a moment of reprieve when a member of the staff paused to offer fizzy pastel-colored drinks to the table.
Kate tossed a mile of blond waves over one shoulder and smiled demurely. “Are you working tonight?” she asked.
It was a good question. He wasn’t wearing his bartending attire. No suspender or vest.
Sam chuckled. “I’m not sure how to answer. Vera is responsible for all this. Not the planning or execution, but us being the chosen venue.”
Kate furrowed her perfectly sculpted brows. “How so?”
“Nepotism,” he joked. “She’s a corporate attorney and got wind of this event happening in the area, so she pitched my place to a client, who made it happen.”
Kate’s brows rose. “So your sister is a goddess who controls my world. Got it.”
He laughed, and Kate joined him. “Please don’t call her a goddess to her face,” he said. “Her ego is already big enough.”
A server delivered Hallie’s drink, and she pumped the straw a few times before tasting. The group watched and waited as she sipped and savored, expression temporarily unreadable. When she nodded and took a much longer drink, Sam visibly relaxed.
Tessa refocused on the bomb Sam had dropped. “Your sister represents one of the entities hosting this event?” Who are they? she wondered. Then, casting her gaze around the rooftop, Are they here?
Sam squinted, considering. “I’m not sure, but if I’m being honest, I didn’t ask questions.
I was too thrilled for the business. Now that I know it brought Kate back around, I’m sending Big Sister free lunches for the rest of the year.
” He tore his attention from Kate and scanned the area.
“We’ve been spotted,” he warned. “She’s like Beetlejuice.
You can’t say her name too often, or she’ll appear. ”
A tall brunette in a black satin jumper strode into view, stopping only when she reached Sam’s side. “Hello, Brother.” She smiled, and the resemblance was uncanny. Each with their long, lean bodies, eyes the color of raindrops, and hard, sharply angled faces.
“Vera,” he said. “This is Kate, and her friends—” He looked up, helplessly, and the color flamed again in his cheeks. “I’m so sorry. I don’t recall—”
“Hallie,” Kate supplied, pointing at Hallie. “And Tessa. My closest, dearest friends.”
Vera offered polite nods to all, before giving her brother a close appraisal. Satisfied with what she saw, she turned to Kate. “Has he told you he’s your biggest fan?”
Sam slid his eyes in his sister’s direction. “Thank you for that. Do you want her to think I’m one of those S words?”
“A shithead?” she guessed.
Their proper British accents added another level of humor to the exchange, and Tessa laughed.
Kate looked shyly away, and Tessa scrambled to redirect the conversation for her friend’s sake.