Page 13 of Her Embarrassed Bear Mate

Sitting under a commercial space heater,Alix couldn't quite comprehend how much money Dirk was spending on this party and she felt bad about how many expensive cocktails she was drinking. If it were up to her, she would've stopped at two but every time Dirk saw her without a drink in her hand, he encouraged her to the bar.

It made her wonder exactly how rich he was and whether he was using his money to buy his way into her mother's heart. This whole party certainly felt extravagant but she didn't know if this was a regular occurrence or if he was splurging to impress. Whicheverit was, Alix could tell her mum was lapping it up.

She should never have let her mum guilt-trip her into coming.

As if summoned by her thoughts, her mum showed up with Dirk glued to her side. Both of them looked tipsy and happy.

Her mum gave her an affectionate pat on the cheek. "Alix, why are you sitting here all by yourself?"

Alix swallowed her real answer: that she didn't know anyone or had no reason to socialise. Instead, she just smiled. "I'm just getting some fresh air."

"It is warm inside," her mum agreed. "I have good news. Dirk invited us all to join him on their family holiday! They have a holiday home in Whitby. Fun, right?"

"Umm..." Alix didn't know what to say. "When is this?"

"In a few weeks. You'll be able to get time off, right?"

"Potentially, but I was saving my vacation days because we said we were going to visit Bruges over the winter holidays. If I use them up now, I won't have any left," Alix pointed out, frustration pooling in her stomach.

Her mum just laughed. "Oh, that's okay. We'll go to Bruges another time! Plus, Trixie is going to love the seaside a lot more than a city trip."

Alix was still not convinced but this didn't seem the time or place to argue about it. Mostly, she wanted to get out of here so she didn't have to look at her mum stroking Dirk's chest lovingly. Luckily, someone called for Dirk's attention and the two of them moved on.

Frustrated at the whole thing, Alix got herself another cocktail and sat back down on the half wall near the heater. She kept drinking and ignored everyone while she scrolled on her phone and gave her friends a play-by-play of this theatre.

Someone sat down next to her. "What number drink are you on?"

Alix felt herself smile. As awkward as it was that she and Veronica had almost slept together, Alix couldn't deny being glad that she had at least one person who also saw how insane this all was.

"I lost count a while ago," she said. "You?"

"No clue. Not enough, that's for sure."

"Ha, now you're speaking my language," Alix said as they clinked their glasses together and shared a conspiring smile.

Veronica stretched out her legs, groaning. "Oh, it feels good to be off my feet. My heels are killing me."

It was unclear if this was an invitation to look but Alix couldn't help herself. She admired Veronica's shapely legs and couldn't help remember what it was like to have them wrapped around her. The only thing that could make this whole situation more of a mess was if she didn't get her pounding heart under control.

She composed herself. "I forgot to ask earlier but are all your family parties like this?"

Veronica let out a scoff. "Not quite like this. My family likes big parties, yes, but usually it's all family and family friends. I don't know who half these people are. Heck, I don't know more than ninety percent of the people here."

"That's still ninety percent more than me," Alix pointed out. "I know my mum and... you, I suppose."

Amusement shimmered in Veronica's eyes. "I thought we were pretending that never happened."

Heat rushed up to the shells of Alix's ears. "I meant from that awkward dinner but sure."

"Do you regret it? That night we're pretending never happened?" Veronica asked, conveniently looking anywhere but Alix.

"Hmm..." Alix searched her feelings. "No. I wasfeeling really low and down but you helped me forget that. I had so much fun that night and I really liked you. I wish I didn’t black out on you, that was so embarrassing.”

“Oh, it wasn’t so bad.”

“It was bad. Top ten most embarrassing moments of my life,” Alix said, cringing when she thought back to that night.

Veronica’s eyes shimmered. “Really? Top ten? What else is up there then?”

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