Page 70 of Love and Other Champagne Problems

“Oh, well, here and there, I suppose,” my mother tried to cover. “But she knows when to dress up.”

They were speaking about me as if I wasn’t standing two feet from them, eyeing me like a painting that hung in a museum. It only heightened the urge to laugh, and the one thing keeping me from doing so was how sick to my stomach I felt.

“I will say, Margot,” Aaron said, returning his attention to me. His eyes roamed me in a polite way, but I was suddenly all too aware of how much of my skin was on display in this dress. “You’re much more beautiful up close than you were from afar.”

If I hadn’t been fully knocked off-kilter, I might’ve had a comeback for his words. Here or California, there was no escaping the flowery, empty compliments that came with the rich. But I stood there staring at the man who’d been an ominous figure in my head for the past few months, feeling as though I’d woken from a dream.

Aaron’s eyes slid from me, who struggled to find her words, to the equally silent man at my side. “Hopefully you aren’t her date,” Aaron said to Sumner in greeting, his voice a forced sort of light; I could hear it immediately. Aaron stepped closer,offering his hand out once more. “That would make things very awkward. Good to meet you.”

It seemed to take a whole beat for Sumner to draw his hand from his side and take Aaron’s—enough of a hesitation that I caught it. Sumner didn’t look him in the eye, but inclined his head. “Sumner Pennington.”

The sound of his voice caused something in me to tighten. Sumner… There was no way he hadn’t known, right? Thinking back, it was obvious. My mother gifted him a suitcase of ties. Told him to get a suit tailored. Asked him to keep me on my best behavior for tonight. He’d known, and he’d let me walk into the ambush.

My mother looked between the two of them, clearly wondering if Sumner’s presence was preventing the sparks from flying. Everyone in our group—in the room—seemed to await my move.Would she lash out with her impulsivity and ruin everything?my mother’s eyes seemed to question as she watched me.Or will she step into the role I’ve lured her into?

Looking at Aaron now caused something in me to flatline. It was thatwhat ifbubble—it had burst apart the second he’d spoken his name, and all the barest hints of hope withered with those pieces.

I gave one more humorless chuckle before lifting my chin. “Go fetch me a drink, would you?” I told Sumner while barely turning my head toward him. My voice was bitter, the way it would’ve been if I’d spoken to any other staff member. I focused on Aaron, my full attention on his ordinary face. “You asked to dance?”

Aaron resumed his beam, offering his hand once more to me. This time, with no hesitation, Itook it.

He, thankfully, led us away from my mother and Sumner, toward the middle of the dancefloor instead of the outskirts. As I left them behind, I built a wall around me, lifting my chin and squaring my shoulders. This was no different than any of the other times I went to a gala or a dinner. Aaron Astor was just another person in the realm I wanted nothing to do with.I can do this.

He halted us just underneath the grand chandelier light, picking my body into his arms much like Sumner had, with his hand at my back and his other grasping mine.

“You truly are more stunning in person,” he gushed. Close to him like this, I could smell his spiced cologne, a scent that didn’t seem to mix well with his body’s natural odor. At least, it didn’t interest me. Not in the way—stop. “The first time I saw you, it was only a glimpse, but to see you now—the glimpse didn’t do you justice, darling.”

Darling. The endearment made him sound old. Seeing Aaron in real life, putting a face to the elusive creature who’d been ruling my mind, somewhat took away the fear of it all. He certainly wasn’t ugly. Certainly, wasn’t anything like how I imagined him. He at least had hair. He was shorter, maybe an inch shorter than me, but nothing about him was horrifying enough to warrant removing all traces of himself from the internet. “I do look better under chandelier light,” I said graciously.

“Indeed.” His eyes did a slow cast back to where we’d walked over from, though I refused to follow. “I really do hope that man wasn’t your date.”

“And why’s that?”

“He’s quite handsome.” He hadn’t managed to keep the worry from his voice.

It was interesting to see a man as rich and affluential as Aaron Astor, with pockets as deep as the Pacific Ocean, be intimated by someone like Sumner, who bought his shirts from the local supermarket. “He’s my secretary.”

“Interesting,” he mused instead, seeming to absorb the words and mull them over in his head. “So, are you close with him?”

“Why?”

“Just trying to see how I should go about this, that’s all. If I have any competition.”

I readjusted my fingers and how they laid on his stiff suit jacket. The embrace alone was far different than it’d been with Sumner. We stood close, but no magnetic energy lured me in nearer. “You think you have to compete with mystaff?”

“Only him.” Aaron gave a small, almost boyish smile. “Though if all your staff is as handsome as he is, I’m in trouble.”

A corner of my lips rose, and instead of fighting it back, I allowed the small smile to remain. “A little competition is healthy now and again, isn’t it?”

Aaron’s dark eyes dipped to my mouth. “And here I heard it was difficult to make you smile.”

“Who told you that? My mother?” It didn’t quite seem like an endearing quality for her to brag about.

Aaron gave his head a small shake. “I have little birds everywhere.”

He’d said it in a playful tone, but it left me irritatingly curious over who had been telling him things about me.What sort of gossip chain reached him all the way into California? And then I realized. “Annalise?”

“You’re a quick one,” he said with affection. “Yes, I know her through her fiancé. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you, but he and I have been friends since childhood. I’m his best man. I may have asked her a thing or two about you. I hope that doesn’t bother you too much.”

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