Page 65 of Cinderella Screwed Me Over
Waiters circled the large room, handing out champagne and appetizers. Nadine walked through the crowd, up to Jake and me. “I’m glad you guys are finally here.”
“That bad, huh?” I asked.
“I’ve been introduced to two different men who are about the same age as my grandfather.”
“And how’s Barbara tonight?”
“In top form. I think she’s got her eye on a new man. She’ll probably have husband number five before I’ve even had one.”
“That’s because you and Barbara have different criteria when it comes to husbands.” I glanced up. “Here she comes.”
Barbara greeted me with a couple of air kisses. “Good evening, darling.” She raised her eyebrows as her appraising gaze ran over my date. “And who’s this handsome gentleman?”
“This is Jake Knight,” I said. “Jake, Barbara Covington.”
Jake extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Covington.”
“Call me Barbara.” She placed a hand on his forearm. “Darby, I’m going to steal your man and introduce him around the room.” She indicated a table in the corner. “My friends over there want to meet my fabulous decorators. After I showed them what you ladies are planning to do for me, several of them are thinking of remodeling, too. You should go introduce yourselves.”
Jake released my hand and followed Barbara, leaving Nadine and me standing alone.
“What now?” I asked.
“I guess we go try to land a few clients,” Nadine said. “Even though we won’t have time to do another job for months. I hate these commercial projects. Most of the year, you and I bring in our own clients and make Patricia a ton of money. The minute she gets the commercial jobs, she treats us like idiots.”
“I suppose we’ll just have to take turns working on our current projects and power through. Then we’ll get back to the fun ones.”
We put on our game faces and approached Barbara’s group of friends. Twenty minutes of talking about the many options and styles of decorating later, I started to worry about Jake. I glanced around the room and spotted him in the corner, several men and a few women around him. Barbara stood off to his left, talking to an impeccably dressed older man with a shiny bald head.
“I’m going to go reclaim my date,” I whispered to Nadine.
Nadine leaned closer. “If you see any guys under the age of forty-five, fifty, send them my way, will you?”
I think she was only half kidding. Setting my sights on Jake, I crossed the room. His back was to me as he spoke to the people around him. I squeezed my way into the group and put my hand on his elbow.
He glanced down and put his arm around me. “It was nice meeting you all.”
A couple of the men shook his hand before letting us go.
“What was that all about?” I asked, keeping a tight grip on him as we wove through the crowd. Finally we got to a fairly open space where we could stand without people bumping into us.
“When Barbara tried to feel out my financial stability, I told her I ran a taco shack,” Jake said.
I laughed. “You did not.”
“I teased her for a bit before telling her about Blue. Apparently it wasn’t impressive enough. She wanted to introduce me to a few people who might be able to help me find a better job. She said that if I wanted to be with a girl like you, I needed to get serious about providing you with all the luxuries you deserved.”
“I think she means well. I just don’t know why she insists you need to be in a relationship to be happy.”
Jake gripped the sides of my waist and drew me to him. “Well, there is something great about being with someone who knows how to cheer you up.”
I ran my fingers up his arms and hooked them behind his neck. “Or someone who will go to a boring party with you when you need him to?”
That irresistible smile of his spread across his face. “See, you’re finally getting it. Relationships aren’t all bad.” His hands moved to my back, pressing me against him. “Some of them work.”
I swallowed past my suddenly dry throat. I was having a hard time not focusing on his lips and thinking about what I wanted them to do to me. “I never said they were all bad.” My heart picked up speed, hammering against my rib cage. His gaze ran down me, burning everywhere it touched. Passion lit his eyes, leaving little question what he was thinking. It wasn’t just passion, though; there was tenderness there, too.
I could feel the threads forming, from my heart to his. Threads that would become strings, until I was all wrapped up in him and couldn’t separate myself from him without feeling like half a person.
