Page 43 of Honey, Honey
“I did.”
“Well done, lovely girl.”
I flushed under the praise, even if it was for something so minor as having a glass of champagne. “I didn’t do anything, though…”
“You followed directions,” she said, with a shrug. “It doesn’t matter the task. You know that, Honey.”
She was right. I did.
“What was it about company for tonight?” I asked, choosing to follow that thread.
“Ah, yes, that.” She pushed up from the bar and stood taller, turning her head to scan the crowds.
“Yes, that, what do you mean by that?”
“It’s not a that,but a him,” she told me and then tutted, clicking her tongue against her teeth. “He hasn’t arrived yet, I’m afraid, so you’ll have to make do with little old me until then.”
A him. What the fuck did she mean by that?
“Sorry?” I asked, leaning towards her. I was dimly aware that Stephan had returned and placed my drink in front of me with probably a drop dead gorgeous smile on his handsome face, but I wasn’t here for that. I wanted answers and Connie had them. “What do you mean a him?”
“For your company tonight, Honey,” she said, glancing towards the bar and reaching past me to slide the Cosmo my way. “Thank you, Stephan. This looks lovely.” She inclined her head in a way that was very clear. Move on. A second later Stephan glided away, but I still didn’t turn my head to look, nor did I take stock of the cocktail Connie was placing in front of me.
I shook my head still not understanding. “But when you sent the letter I thought-”
She moved so that her front was to the bar and her side was to me. “What? That it was me that would keep you company tonight?” She asked, turning her head to the side, tilting it just enough to give me a little smile.
I blushed hot and snapped my mouth shut. “I-I, it’s just that…” I was stammering. I sounded foolish, I knew this, but it was hard not to when Connie was expectantly looking at me for an answer to such a loaded question.
“It’s alright if you did. I would be honored,” she said, when I only managed the semblance of a sentence that sort of came out as a breathy ‘no, no, not that. Sorry.’
I dropped my eyes to the bar at her answer. I was still looking down at the bar when she slid the drink next to my hand. “Drink up, darling.”
“I don’t know if I should…”
“You’ll have eyes on you and a chaperone, so to speak. There’s no worries about what might or might not happen.”
I lifted my head and stared at her. “What do you mean a chaperone? I thought you said it was company.”
She raised her hands in a placating gesture. “It is, it is.”
I felt a finger of apprehension slide down my spine and I picked up the cocktail, eyeballing the contents warily. “Why do I feel like something is going on and you’re trying to keep me out of the know?”
“I would do no such thing,” Connie replied, lifting one hand to her chest and giving me what I supposed she thought was a look of honesty. It wasn’t. She wasn’t fooling anyone. The woman was far too steeped in the foundation of the Cairn to play innocent. I was right, but what the hell was going on? I had thought it was her, but now that I knew it wasn’t my earlier anxiety began to flood in around me.
“And speaking of your esteemed company for the night, I see him now.”
I whirled, the cocktail in my hand, the contents spilling over the side as I did so, splashing my toes when it hit the ground. I winced at the messy gesture. I lowered my eyes when I saw the club members milling about us had also seen it. Fuck. A man leaned in to whisper to his partner about it, eyes on my feet. A woman dressed head to toe in leather pursed her lips at the wasted liquor and turned, walking away with her partner who gave me a reproachful glance.
They thought I was drunk.
I wasn’t drunk, I wanted to scream. I was nervous. I was a ball of anxiety and barely holding it together because I knew that somewhere out there my stalker ex boyfriend and Dom was waiting for me. But not only that, I was nervous as hell because Connie had a plan sprung and I was the idiot that had walked right into it. I had to admit that my plan to pay the price for a night of luxury had made a lot more sense when it was just me and a balcony eating fruit like a hedonist.
But now that I was smack dab in the Great Room and Connie was talking abouta himand there didn’t seem to be a pair of eyes that hadn’t moved my way and lingered at some point in the handful of minutes I’d been here, I wasn’t so sure. It no longer felt like I was being gifted a beautiful evening, but that I was a pawn in someone else’s game.
I didn’t like it one bit. Not even a little half of a bit.
“Connie look, I can handle myself tonight. I promise you won’t need to-” I began while scanning the room again, the sticky cold feel of the spilled Cosmo coating my fingers when I took a hasty sip, because I had no other idea what to do with the damn thing now that I was holding it.
