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He groaned. “We’d better. Come on.”
“See you later.” I smiled at James, and he nodded, raising his hand in a goodbye wave as he leaned on the bar to order a drink, and Weston steered me towards a group of women.
Hours passed. Long, dull hours. The evening was a blur of introductions and watching and waiting for everyone to get drunker and drunker, interspersed with periods of dancing and making polite (and not-so-polite) conversation. I’d wanted to discreetly keep an eye on my mother, but she’d disappeared around an hour into the party, and I hadn’t seen her since.
When she finally re-entered the room, making a beeline for a tall, blonde woman standing by the windows who was waving to get her attention, I turned to Weston. “I want to talk to my mother quickly. I’ll come and find you later?”
“Are you sure you want me to leave you with her?” Weston eyed me doubtfully.
“I’m sure.”
“Okay.” He sca
I nodded, and he headed towards the doors, leaving me to face my mother. Taking a deep breath, I made my way to where she stood, glass of champagne in hand.
“Mother.” I pasted a smile on my face, and she returned my smile, equally as false. Guess we had something in common, after all. She introduced me to the woman she was standing with, who I promptly forgot the name of, and we made polite small talk, discussing such scintillating topics as the weather and a couture dress my mother was having flown in from Paris. My mother’s friend excused herself partway through the dress conversation, and my mother turned to me.
“I trust you’ve settled in at university?” Even as she asked the question, her gaze flitted over my head, her attention already elsewhere.
“Yes, thank you. Maybe you’d like to come and visit the campus, sometime?” I suggested tentatively.
“No, thank you. I’ll talk to Arlo, and maybe we can arrange a get-together soon.” Taking a step back, she placed her now-empty champagne flute on the windowsill. “Excuse me. I must catch up with Estella before she leaves.” Before I could say anything else, she was gone, leaving me alone.
I guess that was as good as I was going to get. While I hadn’t spoken to her for long, I was confident that I was gaining some headway with her. Part of my rough plan for the evening was complete; now, all that remained to do was try and explore some of the rest of the house, preferably without attracting any attention. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for, but if I could find anything that would co
Before I could make a move, an arm slid around my waist, and I looked up to see James gri
Meeting his gaze, I returned his grin with a wry smile. “Not quite. Caiden’s over there.” I stared over at the bar where he still stood, now with Portia hanging off him. Ugh. I took a step closer to James, placing my hand on his arm. “Anyway, enough about them. Are you having a good night?”
“I am, now.” He winked at me, and I rolled my eyes.
“James. Please.”
“Sorry. You are the most beautiful woman in the room, though.”
“Uh, sure, if you say so,” I laughed. “Thanks for those links you sent me, by the way. I’m feeling pretty confident about my essay grade now.”
“You’re welcome. It helps that I have co
Where to explore first? I turned left and headed down a long corridor, past another velvet rope marking the area as out of bounds. There was a suit of armour standing next to a door. An actual suit of armour. I idly wondered if it was my mother or Arlo who had purchased it. It was a little creepy, to be perfectly honest.
I peered around the suit of armour to look through the door that was slightly ajar and wished I hadn’t.
I sucked in a shocked breath.
What. The. Fuck.