Page 39 of Nothing to Tell

The whole place was abuzz.People dancing, drinking, smiling, laughing.Waiters circulated with champagne flutes and waitresses carried canapés.

How many drinks had she already had?Alcohol was her friend.Weighing the merits of drinking on an empty stomach, she didn’t give much weight to the con side.If nothing else, it would help her to blend in.She snatched a flute of champagne from the next tray that passed.

Sipping the alcohol, she scanned the surrounding faces.None of them were looking at her.Nope.Roxie and Zairn attracted a lot of attention, maybe they weren’t the best escorts after all.

Locate Bastian.Right.Yes.Where was he?There were so many people, and the space was so large, she could spend hours looking at the ever-moving crowd and never lay eyes on him.She’d be lost in the snow.Alone surrounded by white noise.Ensconced in the mist of bodies.

People came closer.Roxie hurried in front of Zairn, stopping him while addressing Harper.

“Do you want to dance with Zairn?”Because she should take first shift?That wasn’t right.“He’s good.”

“No, thank you,” she said, sort of afraid to look up at the husband the wife was offering.“You go ahead.”

“It gives people a chance to adjust to his presence,” Roxie said.“Sure you’ll be okay?Just for a couple of minutes.”

With the way the newlyweds looked at each other, touched each other, absorbed each other, she could almost divine their need to be close.Apparently, the post-wedding sex didn’t quench their thirst.And, damn, that kind of lust was enviable.

As the couple headed for the dance floor, she slunk through various bodies and groups to stop on the edge of the room.Maybe she should go back upstairs.It would be easier to observe from the mezzanine above.Though spotting him and reaching him couldn’t coincide if she was way up there No way would she jump up and down or call out to him.No, the point was to save him from embarrassment not cause it.

“You look lost,” an unfamiliar masculine voice materialized at her side.

Turning to the source, a broad gentleman reeking with confidence smiled at her.

“No,” she said.“I was just looking for my friend.”

“We can’t have a beautiful woman without a companion, can we?”

FIFTEEN

Bastian

BASTIAN LOOKED AT his watch for the tenth time in as many minutes.

“Relax, son,” his mom said.“Stop scowling.”

Much as he didn’t want to sound like a teenager, he groaned.“I’ve written a check, Mom.I don’t understand why I can’t leave.Dad’s around here somewhere, he’ll entertain you.”

This ball supported one of his mom’s many, many charities.He didn’t have the same quota of time to spend with her bunch of non-profits.

“Your father is dancing with your sister,” Carolyn said.“We’re all here together, Bastian.This is family time.”

That was the card she played when she wanted to guilt him into quieting down.Her parents, his grandparents, believed business was more important than anything.Any time he displayed similar tendencies, his mom slapped him into line.Fast.Figuratively speaking.

“There are two or three hundred other people here,” he said.“It’s not the best time for us to bond.”

Cynicism didn’t infect his mom.Never did.He’d never been able to manipulate Carolyn like she could manipulate him, his father, and his sister without breaking a sweat.His mom might not have been a career woman, but she was the smartest Hunt by far.

“You promised your sister you would be here.”

Citing Keely was another choice maneuver.Another point to Mom.So far, he had no points.Unless the check counted.

“I didn’t say I would stay.”Semantics were his final line of defense.“I’m here, aren’t I?Can I leave now?”

His mom sighed.“How do you expect to settle down when you don’t take the time to look around?You never know what beauties you might stumble across.”

Stifling the urge to groan again, he should’ve known this was about more than “family” time.

“Is that what this is about?”Bastian asked.“You want me to find Princess Charming?”