Page 4 of Champagne Nights

“Damn, Charlotte. You’re always turning me down.”

“You two have fun and tell Penelope that I said congratulations.”

“We will.” I kissed her on the cheek.

“Are you ready to go, Madame?” Ian asked.

“I’m very ready.” I hooked my arm in his, and we walked out the door.

Ethan

The last place I wanted to go tonight was an art exhibition. But I promised my friend, Charles, that I would go with him since his girlfriend, Lexi, was out of town visiting her parents. He was an art fanatic and always looking for something new.

“Will you relax, Ethan?” Charles spoke as he placed his hand on my shoulder.

“I’m fine, Charles. I just had a bad day at the office. Everything that could go wrong did, and I lost a lot of money.”

“What did you lose? A million or two? That’s chump change, my friend.” He smirked.

“Money is money.” I sighed.

“By the way, Lexi wanted me to tell you that when she returns, she’s introducing you to her friend, Greta. She wants us to double date.”

“Tell her no thanks. I’m not interested.”

“She’s smoking hot, man. Tall, toned, long dark brown hair, exotic eyes. She looks like she just stepped out of a Playboy magazine. I’d fuck her if I weren’t with Lexi.”

“I have plenty of women I fuck. I don’t need to get involved with a friend of Lexi’s. That’s just asking for trouble.”

“Doesn’t matter. Lexi already thinks you’re a douchebag.” He smiled. “Ethan, it’s been?—”

“Don’t, Charles. You know exactly where I stand. Now change the subject, or I’m leaving.” I scowled.

“Fine. It’s your life. Be miserable.”

“I’m not miserable. I live my life the way I want, and nobody will change that.”

He rolled his eyes at me and sighed. “Let’s go look at some art.”

I grabbed a glass of champagne from the waiter as he passed by and decided to look at what this new artist had to offer. Since I was here, I might as well make use of my time. I left Charles standing there as he was looking and went over to the other side of the gallery, where a few more paintings were displayed. As I was standing there looking at a specific painting, I heard Charles call my name from across the gallery. When I turned around, I accidentally bumped into a woman standing close behind me.

“Oh, excuse me.” I lightly touched her arm and could not take my eyes off her.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been standing so close,” her innocent voice spoke as she looked down.

“Please, don’t apologize. I shouldn’t have turned around so quickly.”

She was stunning, absolutely gorgeous, and absolutely fuckable. She stood about five foot eight, had beautiful long blonde hair, emerald eyes, and, from what I could see in that dress, the body of a goddess.

“Ethan!” Charles shouted again as he waved his hand in the air.

“Again, I’m sorry.” I walked away and headed over to where Charles was.

“What were you doing over there? Who was that woman?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I practically knocked her over when I turned around to see what the hell you wanted.”

“Oh. Sorry about that. Look at this painting. Isn’t it beautiful? Do you think Lexi would like it?”

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