Page 2 of Four Fiances & I

His face lights up as he almost skips around the counter, holding up a finger.

“How about I show you a few options, and you can decide if any would match what you are looking for,” he declares, walking over to a cabinet.

“That sounds like a great idea,” I reply, hoping he will have something to fit the bill and show my men just how important they are.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, all wedding gifts are picked and ordered, and Christian's Christmas gift is hidden safely in my bag. I look out the door to see if Layton is back, but he’s nowhere to be seen. But I spot two people I haven’t seen in a very long time, and my heart jumps into my throat. My old best friends Sophia and Amber sit on a bench giggling together. I have conflicting feelings seeing them. Part of me wants to hide away, remembering the last time we saw each other, but another is desperate to make peace whilst we can. I don’t know if it's because I’m missing Verity so much or if it’s because I still think of the girls regularly, when I decide to speak to them and put the past behind us.

“I’m going to wait for Layton outside,” I declare as I walk to the door. Trent quickly rushes out from behind the counter and places a hand on the handle as if to stop me.

“I think you should wait here until your security comes back,” he says nervously, looking around.

“I promise I will be fine. Layton is probably just waiting in the queue at the coffee shop and will be here any minute,” I reassure him. Sometimes the whole ‘save the little lady’ attitude pisses me off.

“Then please let me stay with you until he returns.” He doesn’t realise that I am better equipped to defend myself out of the two of us. Sean has trained me every other day since I was recused.

I open my mouth to point this out but am interrupted by someone calling my name. I turn to see Amber and Sophia walking towards me, both smiling. I wave and turn back to Trent.

“My friends are here and will wait with me. But thank you for everything, and I look forward to coming to collect the other gifts when they’re delivered.” Before he can reply, I step away from the shop and hug my old friend.

“Where the hell have you been? We haven’t seen you in months!” Sophia yells as she hugs me tight.

“Here and there, you know how life is,” I answer with a smile. I know I should be pissed with them; they abandoned me when I needed them the most. But I've changed, and I’m sure they have, too.

“Did you just come out of that jewellers? Do they sell anything in there for less than a grand?” Amber asks.

“Yeah, it’s not cheap. I think I just spent a huge chunk of my savings,” I start but stop myself from saying any more. I don’t know how much of my life I want them to know right now. I also don’t miss the way they smile at each other. “What are you two doing with yourselves?” I ask, hoping to change the topic of money.

“Nothing much; going out, enjoying life, same old,” Amber smiles before looking me up and down and then at the shop I had just walked out of. She has noticed that my outfit is designer, as Jason only buys what he classifies as ‘the best’ for me.

“We should go out and catch up. You can tell us all about what you’ve been up to.”

“Definitely, it's been so long since we had a night out like we used to,” Sophia chimes in. “We were just saying the other day how much we missed you and how much fun we used to have on weekends together.”

I’m nodding in agreement when I hear someone shouting.

“Jasmine! What the hell did I tell you!”

I spin around and see Layton storming towards me, holding a take-out cup of coffee. He doesn’t pay any attention to the girls, but I notice the girls are paying plenty of attention to him.

“I told you to stay inside the shop until I got back!” he snaps, stopping in front of me and thrusting the coffee cup into my hands.

“I’m fine. Don’t get your panties in a twist,” I sigh, rolling my eyes.

“Is this your boyfriend?” Amber asks, checking Layton out.

“What? Hell no!” Layton and I respond in unison. If it wasn’t Layton, I would probably take the look of disgust personally. But with him, the feeling is mutual.

“Good to know,” Amber grins with that look in her eye, which she gets when she sees something or someone she likes. “Hi, I’m Amber. Single and always up for a bit of fun,” she declares, holding her hand out for him to shake.

Layton looks at her for a moment and obviously thinks better of commenting as he rolls his eyes and turns back to me. Sucking my lips between my teeth, I attempt to ignore the look of disappointment on her face.

“Maximus just called to see if you had finished. He said he would meet us here.”

“What? Already?” He’s meant to check out a new property for a potential club. He had asked me to go with him, but Christian gave him a list of things to do first. I was expecting it to take him the majority of the day.

“Your stepbrother?” Sophia asks excitedly. I’d forgotten how obsessed she was with Maximus. She was determined to have at least one night with him and would throw herself in his direction whenever she had the chance. I hated it then, but now it leaves me feeling protective as well as jealous. Layton looks from me to her and back again.

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