Page 138

“I only wish I hadn’t invited Elaine and Dana. I know you like Dana, so I thought you’d want her here.” She shrugged. “And, fine, I may have wanted to rub Elaine’s nose in your engagement. Sue me.”

“Mother! I’m shocked.”

“See what it gets me? They’re making a scene. James is sulking. And Dana’s father is drinking all of Thomas’ good scotch.”

“At least it’s been entertaining.”

“Well, yes, there is that.” She smiled mischievously. “Speaking of, we should get back so we don’t miss anything.”

“I’ll meet you in a few.” I gestured with my head towards the bathroom.

Now that Jake and I were engaged, Mom had put her foot down about meeting him. This meant throwing us a small engagement party with her and Thomas’ friends.

How she’d managed to throw it all together in two weeks, I had no clue.

Though Jake wasn’t a big fan of my boring dress or my pulled back hair, he was being his usual charming, bossy self. It was no surprise that the women were gawking at him with a mixture of fear and lust in their eyes.

Is that how I look at him?

The worst, by far, was Dana and her mother. Dana was there with James, though they’d hardly said a word to each other. Elaine was blatantly flirting with Jake, and her husband wasn’t paying attention since his eyes were glued to whatever legs or chest were in his line of sight.

Mother had told me that Elaine didn’t treat James like he was a potential son-in-law. She was also more than friendly with her pool boy and gardener. Then there were the tennis lessons she took, though no one ever saw her play.

With overly processed blond hair, big, fake, stripper boobs, and a baseball mitt tan, she was a walking cliché.

I’d felt bad for Dana until she’d begun hitting on Jake so overtly it made her mom look demure.

I opened the bathroom door to go rescue my fiancé from whatever fresh hell he was facing when I was pushed back into the bathroom and a mouth was on mine.

I jerked away and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “James! What’re you doing?”

“Just a friend, Piper? Then you were just casually seeing him? And now you’re marrying him?Him?” James threw his arm out towards the door, his brows lowered and his expression filled with both confusion and contempt.

“Yeah, that’s kinda the way relationships progress.”

“Don’t be stupid. You see the way he’s flirting with all those women out there. You want that life? A man like that who’s going to fuck around on you and use you for your money?”

“First of all, Jake hasn’t done anything wrong. If I were you, I’d be looking at Dana’s behavior because he isn’t encouraging shit. The fact she didn’t sit her naked ass on his dinner plate is surprising. It certainly would’ve been subtler.”

“Don’t be vulgar.”

“If you think that’s vulgar, it’s a good thing we never got together. I’d like to get back to my fiancé. I’d suggest you get Dana and leave, or I might have to talk to Thomas about what just happened. Which means in addition to finding a new woman, you’ll be finding a new job. Don’t pull that shit again, James.”

Disgusted, I stormed out, leaving James in the bathroom as I went to find my man.

*******

“Babe, it ain’t gonna happen, so get it outta your head now.”

“What the hell, Jake? You’re being ridiculous!”

“Think what you want, but you aren’t doin’ it.”

“Yeah, I am.”

“There’s no way I’m lettin’ you spend time with Blake fuckin’ Green,” Jake spat out, crossing his arms over his chest.

I matched the gesture by putting my hands on my hips and mustering up all the attitude I could. “First of all, you don’tletme do anything.”