Page 17 of Taming Her Temptations

“And now?”

Suddenly, Ruby stops cold. Our hands rip apart as I keep dancing and she freezes in place. She’s staring behind me.

I whip around to see what she’s looking at.

Fuck.

Mads told Levi they wouldn’t be here tonight. But apparently, something changed.

Because Shithead Steve is parading into the gala like he owns the place. And on his arm is not only Mads, but Mads with a tight dress that is very obviously showing off her baby bump. They’re not here attending the fundraiser, they’re here announcing the pregnancy.

Ruby’s answer to my question is staring us right in the face. Right now, her life is just about trying to get over this. And even though Mads is like a little sister, she’s really pissing me off in this moment.

I pull Ruby into me. “Keep dancing,” I whisper in her ear. “Don’t give these people the benefit of seeing you hurt.”

Ruby swallows and nods, taking my hands. We continue in silence. I’m confused by my instinct to drag her out of this place and pull her in tight to me, make her feel better. It feels like she’s submitting herself to some form of torture by being here and I’m enabling it.

Instead, I rub my thumb along the inside of her palm where our hands meet.

She looks up at me in surprise at the intimate gesture. I just raise my eyebrows at her, daring her to pull her hand away. Her cheeks flush and I take satisfaction in knowing at least I got her head out of that dark place even for a moment.

The song ends, and she takes a deep breath as she pulls herself away from me.

“You’re a really good dancer,” she sounds like she’s admitting a horrible truth.

“My mom was a good teacher,” I shrug.

Her eyes linger on me as if trying to figure me out. A laugh echoes loud and clear through the space, and we both turn to see that Shithead Steve is the source.

“I’m going to the bar,” she sighs. “You should keep working on your list.”

I open my mouth to argue, but she already has her back to me and is a few paces away.

I’ll give her space for now. Because she’s right. I’m not the person to give her comfort. Even if I was good at that kind of thing, which I’m not, she wouldn’t want it from me, anyway.

The best thing I can do for everyone is exactly what she said. Stick to the plan and take down the man who’s shrill laugh grates every nerve in my body.

I scan the wide open room filled with tables covered in white tablecloths and spot yet another skinny blonde woman headed my way.

Let’s get this over with.

CHAPTER NINE

Ruby

While it might look like I’m drowning my sorrows, my choice to post up at the bar is strategic. For one, a pregnant woman won’t be coming to a bar, so I don’t have to look at Madison. And two, there is nothing Shithead Steve hates more than a scene, so he won’t come to the bar if I’m here. Which means that he’s stuck only drinking the champagne being handed out by servers and he hates champagne.

Okay, and three, I’m also drowning my sorrows. Asher and Dean have both checked in on me and I told them that I was fine and I was just grabbing a drink. That was about half an hour ago and I don’t even care enough to scan the place looking for them. I should be by their side for the money they’re paying me. But at this point, I’m not even sure how I can do this. This won’t be the last public event we run into them at.

“We have a saying in France,” a slightly accented voice breaks through my pity party. I turn to see Odette Getty. She’s a lovely French woman in her seventies who moved to the U.S. with her financier American husband. Sadly, she was widowed about ten years ago and has been attending these events solo. She’s become a bit more eccentric with every year that passes as if she’s choosing joy to be her companion now that her husband is gone. I’ve enjoyed seeing her settle into herself over the years.

I give her a kiss on the cheek. “Hello, Odette. You’re not afraid to be seen with the scorned ex-wife?”

She clicks her tongue and shakes her head at me. “Like I said, we have a saying. It translates to something like, ‘Love is blind but infidelity restores its sight.’”

“That’s a good one.” I exhale a deep breath. “And I certainly see clearly now.”

I watch as my ex-husband spins Madison around in her tight white dress, showing her and her bump off to Claire Buckwalter and her husband Keith. Of course, Claire is gushing over Madison. Keith is not only one of Steve’s friends, but a heavy investor. Steve makes Keith money and Claire gets to spend it on things that make her feel better than people like me. In fact, most of this town has a financial relationship with Steve. I wonder if that’s why I get so many cold shoulders these days. Steve may be in the wrong, but I’ve done something even worse. I’ve stopped being valuable to them.

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