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“Me, too,” I assure him and he smiles.
THE FOOD IS DELICIOUS. I go for the chicken, and Hardin chooses the steak. They set things up in a buffet line to keep it casual, but the food is anything but. I drag a piece of chicken through the creamy sauce and bring the fork to my mouth—but Hardin snatches it from me, smiling as he chews the bite. He coughs a little, trying to master chewing and laughing at once.
“That’s what you get for stealing my food,” I tease him, popping a new piece into my mouth before he can grab it.
He laughs, leaning into my shoulder, and I catch the woman across from us staring. Her expression isn’t amused as she watches Hardin press his lips against my shoulder. I stare back at her equally harshly and she looks away.
“Do you want me to get you another plate?” I ask Hardin, loud enough for the rude woman to hear my offer. She looks over at the man next to her and raises a brow. He doesn’t seem to be paying attention to her, which annoys her further. I smile and place my hand over Hardin’s. He’s as oblivious as the man across the table, and I’m glad.
“Uh, yeah, sure. Thank you.”
I lean down to kiss his cheek and make my way back to the line for food.
“Tessa?” a familiar voice calls. I look over to see Mr. Vance and Trevor standing a few feet away.
“Hello.” I smile.
“You look breathtaking,” Trevor says, and I thank him quietly.
“How are you enjoying your weekend?” Mr. Vance asks me.
“It’s great. I’ve been enjoying my weeks of late as well,” I assure him.
“Oh, sure.” He laughs and grabs himself a plate.
“No red meat!” Kimberly says from behind him. He pretends to shoot himself in the temple, and she blows him a kiss. Kimberly and Mr. Vance? Who would have thought? I will have to press her for details on Monday.
“Women,” he teases and fills her plate as I do Hardin’s.
“I’ll see you in a few.” He smiles and walks back to his date. She waves at me and gets the young boy on her lap to do the same. I wave back, wondering suddenly if she has a child.
Trevor leans in and answers my thoughts. “It’s his son.”
“Oh,” I say and look away from Kimberly.
Trevor keeps his eyes on Mr. Vance. “His wife passed away five years ago, right after he was born. He hasn’t dated anyone until Kim, and they’ve only been seeing each other for a few months, but he is head over heels for her.” He turns to me and smiles.
“Well, now I know who to hit up for all the office gossip,” I joke and we both laugh.
“Babe . . .” Hardin says and wraps his arm around my waist, clearly in an attempt to claim his territory.
“Nice to see you. Hardin, is it?” Trevor asks.
“Yeah,” Hardin answers shortly. “We better get back to our seats; Landon is looking for you.” He pulls me closer to him, silently dismissing Trevor.
“I’ll see you later, Trevor!” I smile politely and hand Hardin his plate of food as we walk back to the table.
Chapter ninety-four
Where’s Landon?” I ask Hardin when we take our seats.
He takes a bite of a croissant. “I don’t know.”
“Um, you said he was looking for me?”
“He was, but I don’t know where he is now.”
“Hardin, you shouldn’t talk with your mouth full.” His grandmother appears behind him.
I notice him take a deep breath before he turns to her. “Sorry,” he mumbles.
“I wanted to see you before I go—God knows when I will see you again. Can you save a dance for your gammy?” she asks oh so adorably, but he shakes his head. “Why not?” she asks him with a smile.
I realize now that it wasn’t just shock that had Hardin rattled before. There’s a tension between them that I can’t quite put my finger on.
“I am on my way to get Tessa a drink,” he lies and leaves the table.
His grandmother laughs uncomfortably. “Well, he’s something, isn’t he?” I am not sure what to say; my first instinct is to defend him, but it seems she is joking.
She turns to me sharply. “Is he still drinking?”
“What? N-no,” I stutter, completely caught off guard. “Well, he only drinks every once in a while,” I clarify as I see him walking toward us with two flutes full of pink liquid.
He hands me one and I smile and lift it to my lips. It smells sweet when I tip the glass back to take a drink, and the bubbles spritz lightly, tickling my nose. It tastes just as sweet as it smells.
“Champagne,” he informs me and I thank him.
“Tessa!” Karen practically shouts right before she wraps her arms around me. She has changed out of her wedding dress and into a white knee-length wrap dress, not that she looks any less stunning. “I am so thrilled that you two came! How was it?” she asks. Karen is the only person who would ask how her own wedding was; she is too kind.
“It was so lovely; it was beautiful.” I smile.
Hardin puts his hand on the small of my back and I lean into him. I can sense how uncomfortable he is between his grandmother and Karen, and now Ken is making his way over to us.
“Thank you for coming,” Ken says to Hardin and holds out his hand to shake.
Hardin obliges and quickly shakes his father’s hand. I notice Ken start to lift his arm up to hug Hardin, but he lowers it before following through. Still, Ken’s face is full of excitement and joy.
“Tessa, you look beautiful, dear.” He hugs me and then eagerly asks, “Are you enjoying yourselves?”