Page 66 of City of Sin (Men of Manhattan 1)

"The hospital thanks you for your very generous donation, Mr. Caldwell. I hope you and your lovely guest enjoy the evening. You will both be at table three."

"Thank you."

The man opened up the door to the ballroom for us.

I followed Mason inside. Whether or not I was breathtaking was questionable, but there was no question about this room. It was absolutely beautiful. All the decorations were adorned with gold. And the chandeliers were even more extravagant than the ones in the entranceway. There was a dance floor in the middle of the room, surrounded by ornately decorated round tables. It was like a room for a wedding reception, only way fancier than any wedding I had ever been to.

"Come with me. I want to introduce you to someone," Mason said.

I held onto his hand. I was suddenly incredibly nervous. All the people here were rich like him. If he hadn't bought me this dress, I definitely would have stuck out in the crowd. And not in a good way.

"James," Mason said and stopped in front of a man I instantly recognized. He was that professor who had gotten fired from the University of New Castle. Although, I guess Mason said he had actually resigned. He hadn't changed at all. I never had a class with him, but I had seen him around campus. He was hard not to notice. He was ridiculously good looking. And he had this air of authority around him. It almost transported me right back to school.

The two men briefly hugged and slapped each other's backs. It was funny when guys did that. They just had to make hugging masculine too. I couldn't help but laugh.

Someone else laughing made me look away. It was the girl standing right next to James. She was really pretty. Her long red hair looked beautiful against the green fabric of her dress. She seemed to be tickled by the fact that they had slapped each other's backs too. She was staring up at James in the most loving way. I wasn't sure I had ever looked at anyone like that.

I looked back at James as Mason and him ended their hug. There was so much warmth in the smile James gave her as he wrapped his arm back around her shoulders. I had heard rumors about their relationship at school. But the horrible rumors couldn't have been true. They definitely seemed to be in love. Not that I had much to compare it to. My parent's got divorced when I was really young. And my relationship with Patrick had ended in disaster. Marie and Carter were the only real couple I knew. And they seemed perfect for each other. But even they didn't look at each other like that.

"Bee," Mason said and turned back to me. He wrapped his arm around my back so that his hand was resting on my hip. "Bee, this is James and Penny."

"Hi," I said, and nervously shook James' hand and then Penny's. I liked that Mason kept his arm around me. It was like I was his and he was excited to introduce me to his friends. I always got nervous at things like this. But I felt comfortable next to him.

"Bee actually went to the University of New Castle," Mason said.

"I thought you looked familiar. What year did you graduate?" Penny asked.

"A few years ago. In 2015."

"Oh." Penny smiled up at James. "We had some overlap, then. We moved here in 2015. Maybe we had a class together?"

"I don't know," I said. "I spent most of my time at the Sigma Pi frat house. My ex lived there. Maybe I saw you there?"

"That must be it! One of my best friends lived there too. Tyler Stevens."

"I knew Tyler!"

"Wait who was your boyfriend?" asked Penny.

"Patrick Huff."

"I don't recognize it. But I'm sure I ran into him. Although, I didn't spend that much time there. James took up most of my time." She smiled up at him again.

"Maybe we shouldn't talk so much about our exes, Penny." James said.

Penny laughed. "Sorry." She looked up at Mason. "Sorry, Mason, I didn't mean to remind your girlfriend of her ex."

"Very funny, Penny," Mason said.

I wasn't sure what was so funny. But I didn't want to dwell on it.

"What did you major in, Bee?" James asked.

"Marketing. And I had a minor in advertising."

"I'm surprised I never had you in one of my classes."

"Yeah, I always tried to get in, but your classes filled up so fast. I heard you were a great teacher."

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