Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
I could still feel Harley’s eyes on me as I walked back across the room, grabbed another glass of champagne, and downed it in one long gulp. Well, that had been…torture.
In the time we’d been together, as short as it had been, I had never once questioned what she was thinking. I’d known from the look in her eyes and the shift of her body and the way she could never keep her perfect mouth shut. I’d known. And now, I had pushed her away and us into uncharted territory.
Fine.
It was fine.
She was over it.
She was over it enough to not give a shit when I spoke to her.
She probably didn’t even care that I was here.
And I endeavored not to care either.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” a voice said as the familiar redhead stepped into my line of vision.
“Annie,” I said with a smile.
“Where the hell have you been, Sinclair?” She put her hands on her hips and shot me a pissed look.
“Busy,” I offered.
Avoiding the Wrights.
She poked her finger into my chest. “Don’t bullshit me. I’ve known you too long for that. You haven’t answered a single text or call. I haven’t seen your stupid face around. What’s going on?”
I shrugged. “You got married.”
“So?”
“Don’t particularly think your husband wants us conversing.” I tipped my head to the left, where Jordan was currently shooting daggers at me.
“Well, he can fucking deal with it. He doesn’t decide who I can and can’t talk to.”
“The Wrights hate me enough,” I said with a laugh. “Must you instigate their abhorrence?”
Annie snorted. “They don’t hate you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Now, who is bullshitting?”
“They just hate your family.”
“Perfect.”
She laughed and bumped into my shoulder. “Well, I don’t hate you or your family. Even if I don’t think they’ve been very kind to the Wrights.”
“I haven’t done anything to the Wrights.”
Lie.
“Uh-huh,” she said with an eye roll. “Anyway, it’s good to see you. Can we please go get Holly Hop sometime soon and talk like old times? I miss you.”
“Sure.” Definitely no. “Bring Jordan.”
She laughed again, a big guffaw, and covered her mouth. “You’re an ass.”
“He’s seething at me again,” I told her.
“Fine, fine. I’ll go deal with his emotions. But I’m not avoiding you, you know? This is all your decision.”
I rubbed my jaw. “Trying not to get punched again.”
She rolled her eyes and knocked me gently on the jaw. “Failing again, Sinclair.”
I laughed as she walked back to her husband and immediately watched her making fun of Jordan. His anger at my presence dissipated as she folded into his arms, where she belonged.
At least Annie had done me the service of taking my mind off of Harley. I needed to talk to Jensen, shake his hand, and head out of there. I didn’t even want to find my name on one of the calligraphic cards and stay for dinner. I was doing this for my dad. I didn’t have to enjoy it.
Jensen was talking to a few gentlemen my father’s age when I cut in. He welcomed me with a smile, ever the politician. He thanked me for attending and for the donation my father had already made to the campaign. I wasn’t sure how much it was, but it must have been sizable for him to know it had happened.
I decided one more drink, and then I was out of there. It was an open bar after all.
I took my whiskey and Coke out to the balcony and leaned forward against the rail. Only a few people were out there since in mid-August, it was still too hot to exist in West Texas. The temperatures were consistently in the hundreds for days on end, and there was no relief from it in the evenings right now. Usually, the semi-desert climate meant cooler evenings with nice breezes, but nope…not this summer.
“You going to dance with me?” a voice asked behind me.
I took a breath before turning to face Harley. She had champagne in her hand and looked a little tipsy. “Think I’m going to leave actually.”
She took another sip and then moved to stand next to me, close enough that we were nearly touching. “Why did you come to a Wright event anyway?”
“My dad insisted.”
“And you do everything daddy dearest says?” she asked.
“No,” I told her, my eyes memorizing the lines of her face. “But he paid the start-up for my law firm, and I kind of owe him.”
“Ah,” she said.
“Plus, he wants an in with Jensen, and”—I shrugged—“hard to say no to a handshake.”
She pursed her lips. “So, you’re here to schmooze with the mayor.”
“I think that’s why most people are here.”
“Probably. That’s kind of gross.”
“If only politics were done another way.”
She tipped her head back and sighed as if she were suffering. “Why are you here?”
“I just told you why I’m here,” I snapped. “I know you’ve clearly moved on, but…”