Page 13 of Accidental Fiancé

Slow dancing should not cause my body to become this hot.

“Um, I think I need a drink.”

“Right now?”

I bobbed my head, too entranced to trust my voice.

He drew back and I couldn’t read him anymore. “Then let’s get you a drink.” We worked our way through the crowd and stood silently in line for the bar. I had no clue what he was thinking, but my thoughts grew lascivious.

It’s the loneliness, Maggie. Get your mind out of the gutter.

His warm hand on the small of my back did not help to clean up my dirty mind. We ordered cocktails and found a table on the edge of the dance floor still well within the sight of the Evil Three. They remained near the memory wall, gossiping with or about whomever came along. I wondered whether we were still the topic of conversation or if they’d moved on yet.

Julian smiled, drawing my attention back to him. “They really got to you, didn’t they?”

“You witnessed the last five minutes of the conversation but it felt like I was there for an eternity.”

“I’m surprised you’re here alone.”

“Nora Skinner was supposed to come with me. Actually, let me check on her. One sec.” I pulled out my phone to see a text from her.

Got stuck at work. I’m so sorry. Be there soon.

I grimaced. I shouldn’t be surprised, her work causes her to miss out on things often. “She must have another big case. I don’t think she’s coming.”

“She’s a lawyer, right?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“She was involved in a class-action suit that Black-Aster brought against Novonly last year. A rival company,” he explained. “I didn’t have much to do with it, but I recognized her name on some documents. I meant to give her a call but as usual, life got in the way.” He shrugged but then turned pointedly casual. “I understand you had a professional setback not too long ago.”

“If you don't mind, I don't want to talk about that right now.”

“We can talk about whatever you'd like, Maggie.”

I thought it might be weird to make small talk with Julian. But tapping into the memories of our shared history felt natural. “How is your mother doing these days? She was always so sweet to me.”

“Aside from running the country club like her own private revenge empire, she's doing great. Your folks?”

“We finally figured out what happened with Dad. Remember how we all said that he was crazy for leaving my mom?”

“Definitely. Your mom's great.”

I lifted a shoulder. “Turned out he actually went crazy.”

Julian choked on his whiskey and I patted his back for a moment. “He did?”

“Well, he had a stroke. A mini stroke. It happened in the part of the brain that controls personality changes.”

“The frontal lobe?”

“Yes. It didn't cause much other disability other than a little aphasia. But we didn't notice right away because he had moved out. It took about nine months for us to find out that there was actually something medically wrong with him, and by that point, the divorce had gone through.”

Julian’s eyes widened. “I am so sorry, that's terrible.”

“It is, and it isn’t.”

“How’s that?”

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