Page 42 of The Charade

She put her hands together. "So, now that you've met the old guy at our house, would you like to see the pool and the pool house?"

Glancing at Carter briefly and wondering what he'd been about to say, I said, ”Um, yes.”

"Why didn't you show us those when we first got here?" Elyse added.

Cambrielle laughed. "I figured I'd save the best for last."

And then we were all off again.

16

Carter

I was just aboutto head downstairs for the party my siblings were making me throw with them when Nash knocked on my door.

"Hey." He leaned against the door frame. "I just wanted to let you know that the first people have arrived for the party."

"Okay." I slipped my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. "Let's go be social."

But as I started to move to follow him down to the main floor where the party would be taking place, Nash set a hand on my chest to stop me. "Hold on," he said. "The reason why I actually came up here was to give you a heads up."

"A heads up?" I frowned. Needing a heads up was never a good sign.

"Yeah, I figured you'd want to know who just arrived so that you're prepared."

A feeling of dread filled my chest because I knew who he was talking about.

"Sofia?" I asked.

"Yeah." He nodded. "And Simon."

Simon?

What the heck was he doing here?

Didn't he have some royal duties to take care of across the pond?

"Well…" I stepped back and grabbed the edge of my door, making ready to shut it. "I hope you enjoy the barbecue."

I hadn't really wanted to be social tonight, anyway.

I was about to retreat into the solitude of my room when Nash followed me inside.

"Don't let her ruin your night," he said, slipping his hands into his pockets.

"I'm trying not to," I said. "Hence the reason why I'm going to stay up here."

"That's not what I mean. Just…" He paused, seeming to think for a moment. "She knows you live here. So if you're not downstairs, she'll know that you're avoiding her. And she knows you well enough to understand that the only reason why you wouldn't attend a party at your own house was if you were avoiding someone."

"Just tell her I got a sudden case of food poisoning." I shrugged.

"You really want to pull the sick card?" Nash shook his head. "Why not get a little revenge of your own? Why not show her you've moved on, too? With someone more interesting and fun."

"Someone more interesting and fun?" I asked, because there was no one else coming tonight who I found interesting enough to be interested in.

Nash just looked at me like I was dumb. "Do I really have to spell this out for you? Didn't you just set up something with Ava to take care of this very thing?"

"Oh…"

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