Page 10 of Sweet Temptation

“I don’t know. I’m sure he’s around. Noah tends to do as he pleases.”

“With that kind of attitude, you’ll never catch his attention.”

“I don’t know what you expect from me. He has a girlfriend.”

“Youshould be his girlfriend,” her mother scoffed. “And you will be. You just need to get thisothergirl out of the picture.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Now, we should get back to the party. There are still many people I need to speak with. I’m yet to see that intriguing man we met yesterday—Mr. LaFleur.”

Veronica’s mother practically purred Matthew’s name. Perhaps Wes was right. Maybe the news about my secret father would be a big deal at Weybridge.

“And you must introduce me to his daughter,” Veronica’s mother continued. “I’m sure she will be an excellent friend for you to have.”

Veronica didn’t answer, but I could practically hear the steam coming out of her ears. The irony of Mrs. Cordeaux unknowingly wanting her daughter to be friends with the so-calledothergirl probably wasn’t helping.

I heard movement on the other side of the hedge and quickly kept walking so I wouldn’t be caught eavesdropping. I certainly didn’t want to meet Veronica’s mother, especially seeing as I was the girl who had, in her mind, prevented her daughter from obtaining the prestigious boyfriend she apparently needed so urgently. Veronica was calculating and mean, but it seemed like she’d inherited the traits from her mom, and I was surprised by just how strongly Veronica was being pushed toward Noah. For a moment,just a moment, I almost felt sorry for her.

I quickly used the bathroom before returning to the party, but as I was following the path back down the side of the house toward the marquee, I saw Veronica standing with her mother at the end of the path. It seemed they hadn’t got far before Mrs. Cordeaux had bumped into someone she needed to chat with. She was laughing away with two other women while Veronica did her best to feign interest and force out smiles at the right moments. I hesitated as I watched them. I didn’t want to have to speak to either one of them, but they were standing right in the middle of the path. I also didn’t want to overhear another conversation that might make me feel any more sympathy toward Weybridge’s evil queen.

Just as I was contemplating turning around and walking back the way I’d come, a hand wrapped around my arm, and I gasped as I was tugged from the path and into the bushes. My heart was racing from the shock, but it started to gallop like a bolted horse when I looked up into Noah’s eyes.

“Noah,” I gasped. “What are you doing?” He was still holding my arm, sending sparks flying across my skin, and I roughly shook him off. Despite everything he’d done last night, my body still yearned for him.

He was dressed smartly with a deep navy jacket over a crisp white shirt, but his blue tie hung loose around his neck as though he had been just as reluctant and rushed as I was this morning. His hair was a mess, like he’d only recently gotten out of bed, and there were dark bags drooping under his eyes. He looked as bad as I felt.

“I needed to talk to you.” Despite the drained look on his face, his green eyes still bore into mine. Their sparkle was missing, replaced by an emotion I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Pain, longing, anger. It could have been a mix of all three.

“So, you pulled me into the bushes?” The sounds of the party were muffled in the background, and we were completely shielded from view by the low-lying branches of the trees and shrubs surrounding us.

“I can’t be seen with you,” he said. “Especially when my grandfather’s here.”

“So, don’t be seen with me then,” I replied. “I’m going back to the party.”

He reached out and grasped my arm again. “Don’t.”

His voice was low and rough, and that one word sent a ripple of emotion pulsing through me. His word was a desperate tug, pulling me toward him with more power than if he’d yanked me with his hands. I closed my eyes for a second and breathed in as I tried to forget just how much I still wanted Noah. How even now, every part of my body hummed with energy, like his presence was the battery keeping me alive.

It felt impossible to deny my feelings for him. To pretend I wasn’t hurt. That I didn’t still care. My emotions were at war within me, but I couldn’t give in to any of them. Not if I didn’t want to completely fall to pieces. I tried to burrow my feelings away, but it felt a little like trying to squeeze them into a box that was far too small. The lid wouldn’t fit on properly, and the contents simply spilled out.

Somehow, I managed to calm myself enough, and when I opened my eyes, I had some hope my expression didn’t display the turmoil that raged inside. I looked down at his hand, which still lightly gripped my arm, and he quickly let go as though he suddenly regretted touching me.

“Look,” he stuttered. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

I let out a humorless laugh. “You pulled me into the bushes to apologize for breaking my heart?”

“You’re not the only one whose heart was broken last night.”

“I find that hard to believe. You chose to abandon our relationship the moment things got slightly difficult.”

“Slightlydifficult?” Anger flashed in his eyes, briefly overwhelming the other emotions I’d seen swirling there. “Things between us are more than slightly difficult. And I had no choice.”

“Well, I seem to remember it differently. I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t do anything other than have the wrong family. And youweregiven a choice. I watched you decide, and you chose to cast me aside.”

I’d been hurt and confused by our breakup, and the pain still radiated deep in my chest, but right now, my anguish and desire for answers was quashed by my overwhelming sense of anger. “Is this some kind of game you like to play? You reel girls in, make them fall for you, only to turn around and ditch them when you discover being with them might be more complicated than you anticipated?”

“I wasn’t playing any game.”

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