Page 6 of Not Mine to Keep

“You forgot his name, and you don’t want to ask for it?” Imani smiled and set aside whatever papers she’d been holding inside the staff room.

“Exactly. I think if I peek at the names, it’ll come back to me.” I shifted the skirt of my dress to the side, and her gaze swept over the gown as she handed me a clipboard with the guest names on it.

“I still can’t get over that dress.” She twirled her finger like the fairy godmother inCinderelladoing her thing, turning me into ... “A fairy-tale princess,” she finished my line of thought, then pointed to the mirror on the wall by the lockers as if I had no clue I’d made such a transformation from the typical khakis I wore at school to a ball gown. “It’s an absolute showstopper.”

I held the clipboard at my side and followed her request by facing the full-length mirror to take in the sight of the silver dress. The sparkle-dusted floral embroidered lace top had a plunging neckline and flared ball skirt with a sexy front slit. “Remember that designer I found on Instagram last month, Ella McAdams?”

“Oh, that’s right. The one down near Birmingham?”

I nodded. “It’s her design. So if you ever need anything, I highly recommend her.”

“I’ll double-check to see if I remembered to follow her on Insta.” Imani didn’t waste time and went for her phone from her locker, and I took the chance to peruse the guest list. “Was that big donor the same hot guy I saw you talking to at the bar—you know, while Braden was shooting daggers at him?”

A shiver rolled over my skin, because yeah, guilty as charged. But wait, Braden was giving him the evil eye?Really?“Braden and I are just friends.” I deflected from conversation about Alessandro. I had to know whether he was another “suitor” my father was trying to plant in my life in the hope that I’d fall in love and get married to someone of his choosing.The psychopath.I nearly vomited at the fact it was now the second time tonight I’d referred to him as myfather. Not the norm for me.

“There’s no such thing as ‘just friends’ when you look like you ... and Braden looks like he does.”

Alessandro kind of said the same thing.

“You know ... I heard rumors that Braden’s you-know-what is pierced.”

I nearly dropped the clipboard as she painted that image, though it wasn’t because of Braden’s rumored piercing—I’d spotted a last-minute name scribbled at the end of the list with a note next to it.

Alessandro Costa—no plus one.

“Jackpot. Found him.”

“And I found Ella on Insta, and I’m now following her. Damn, the woman has style.” Imani set her phone down when I offered her the clipboard back. “So are you going out there to talk to this handsome donor? Make Braden’s head explode with jealousy?”

I went to my locker in search of my phone so I could google Alessandro. “First of all, Braden doesn’t see me like that, and I don’t want him to. And secondly ...” No clue where I was going with that. Snatching my phone, I faced the small room, thankful we were stillalone. “Anywayyyy.” That was my master deflection strategy: drag out a word and hope she changed the subject. Just genius.

A subtle smirk flew across her lips before she nodded, letting me know she’d “let it go” and moved on. “Soooo,” she teasingly mimicked my ridiculousness. “You must be ecstatic to be on summer break.” She put her phone back in her purse, then closed her locker three doors down from mine.

“Technically, I have one more day. I need to proctor an exam on Monday for the kids who missed the test last week. But yeah, I could use a break.”

She rested her back against her locker and peered my way, her big brown eyes still holding a touch of curiosity about Braden, or maybe Mr. Big Donor. And something told me he was big everywhere, based on those hands of his. I’d done my best not to stare at them while he’d sipped his $300 glass of tequila. Nice tipper, at least.

Still holding my phone like some sort of security blanket, anxious to look up Alessandro, I added, “I need to do my best to land as many gigs this summer as I can. And Broadway ... Can you imagine if I could play there?” Broadway here in Nashville was as big of a deal as Broadway in New York. Heck, maybe bigger for us country singers looking for our big break.

“You’ll get there. Don’t worry.” She tipped her head, signaling toward the door. “I should get back out there. I need to make sure these donors remember to empty their pockets before they drink too much and either bid more than they can afford or forget to bid at all.”

I laughed. “I’ll be right behind you.”

“Sounds good.” She pushed away from the locker, and the train of her black satin dress swished behind her as she made her exit.

Once I was alone, my fingers flew over my phone as I researched Alessandro. He was easy to find, given his family pretty much ran an empire and Alessandro had been dubbed one of New York’s sexiest and wealthiest bachelors for the last five years in a row by multiple magazines and newspapers.

Five years andstilleligible?Talk about a red flag.No mention of any girlfriends, but there were plenty of photos of him online with different gorgeous women.Notthat I was interested in his love life; I just needed to know whether my father had sent him. Or had I simply made a fool of myself and accused him of such?

“Calliope, what are you doing back here?”

I looked up to see Braden in the doorway, and I fumbled my phone. It fell to the tiled floor, and cursing, I tried to bend to snatch it. But the dress fit a bit too well, and it made bending over without giving Braden an eyeful of my breasts a challenge.

“I’ve got it.” He hurried through the room, dodging the obstacles of bins and random carts to get to me. He picked it up, and my eyes flew to his crotch. I slapped a hand over them at the realization I’d just wondered whether he was, in fact, pierced. I truly had no desire to find out, but the intrusive thought ran through my head on its own.

“Cracked,” he said, handing it to me. “Sorry.”

“Not your fault.” I checked the corner edge of the phone, peeling the screen protector back a touch, confirming the good news. “Just damaged the screen protector. Phone is okay.”

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