Page 21 of Falling for Mr. Wright

Chapter Six

They headed into the dimly lit room that Ryan explained was the cafeteria. With its mahogany columns and gothic paintings, she’d never seen a more beautiful place for high school students to eat pizza and corndogs. Although she suspected the Westbrook Academy students were probably accustomed to a lunch menu that included filet mignon and fried cod.

She scanned the beautiful crimson-red skirted tables with their gorgeous red-and-white floral center pieces. The holidays were coming up, sure, but… “It’s very…Christmassy.”

He chuckled. “Red and white are our school colors.”

“Oh right. The dead guy in the portrait in the blazer. That makes sense.”

“What was your high school like?”

She grinned. “My tenth-year reunion took place at the Antlers Bar and Grill.”

“And I bet it was a total blast.”

“For that one,” she said, leaning in, “I wore cutoff denim shorts and cowboy boots.”

“Mmm.” He scraped his chin with his fingers. “Now that, Sarah Leonard, is an outfit I’d like to see you walk into NPH Designs wearing on casual Friday.”

She gave him a playful swat. “I don’t think it meets even the most casual dress-code criteria.”

“Damn shame.” Ryan put his hand on the small of her back and guided her into the room like a proper boyfriend. His touch—or was it the gentle way he handled her?—sent unmistakable tingles skittering throughout her body.

It had been a long time since a man had touched her. That’s all that was. Nothing more.

Ryan looked down at his seat-assignment card. “Table one,” he muttered. “Figures.”

They reached their table at the front of the room, positioned right in front of the stage. Ryan said a curt hello to a couple already seated and pulled out Sarah’s chair.

“Hi, Ryan,” the blond woman said, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. “I’m the chair of the gala committee, so I thought it only appropriate that I sit with the award recipient. And since you’re receiving the award on Logan’s behalf, I moved you and your date here.”

Oh boy.It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who the woman was. Sarah stole a peek at the fool who’d dumped Ryan. He hadn’t mentioned that his ex looked like a perfectly put-together Stepford wife with her shoulder-length, coiffed blond hair, fancy French manicure, and expensive red cocktail dress. She was probably the reason all the other women wore black, so as to not upstage the ringleader.

The sparkly diamond necklace around Melanie’s neck was a far cry from the little gold heart charm Sarah wore. She touched her necklace. It was her favorite piece of jewelry that she’d inherited after her grandmother’s passing.

Time to rescue an obviously uncomfortable Ryan.

“Hi, I’m Sarah.” She trailed her fingers down Ryan’s back, then extended the same hand to Melanie. A nice touch, she figured.

Ryan snapped out of whatever fog he was currently in. “Melanie Daniels, um…er…I mean McGee, this is Sarah Leonard. Sarah, I’d like you to meet Melanie and her husband, Jeff. Jeff and I played football together.”

“That’s right, man.” Jeff lifted his hand to fist-bump Ryan.

“It’s so nice to meet you both,” Sarah said.

After shaking hands with Melanie, then Jeff, Sarah looked between her three tablemates for a few awkward, silent seconds. Were they going to take a seat? Should she stand back up? The night was going to be painful if Ryan didn’t get with the program. She looked up at him. “Should we all sit?” she asked in a low voice.

“Uh, yeah. Let’s.” Ryan took the seat next to Sarah and immediately reached for the bottle of champagne. “Would you like a drink?”

She snorted to herself. “I’d love some.” In fact, Ryan should probably have a glass or five himself. Maybe then he’d relax and be able to handle the obvious discomfort of having to sit with his ex and the man with whom she’d cheated. If their positions had been reversed, Sarah wasn’t so sure she’d be able to get through the night without telling one or both of them off.

He filled Sarah’s flute and handed it to her. “How about you, Melanie? Champagne?”

She raised her water glass. “None for me.”

Ryan smirked. “I’ve never known you to turn down champagne.”

“Oh, I still like it.” She smiled shyly. “But I can’t drink it for the next seven months.”

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