Page 16 of All That Glitters
Taking her would hurt him. Not on the same level, but on one a lot more personal.
I knew there was something flawed in my thought process, in the logic I was twisting, but I wasn’t sure I cared. That wreck took from me, he took from me. Accident or not. On purpose or not.
It was time for me to take something from him.
“Is there anything else?” Hale asked, drawing my attention back to him.
“Not right now.”
“Then maybe it’s a good time for you to go home.”
I was sure the tight, forced smile that floated across my lips conveyed just what he could do with his suggestion, but he was right. I needed to leave.
I inclined my head toward him, and when Helen stood and locked gazes with me again, my insides turned feral, wild and uncontrolled. I didn’t say anything, but the way she took half a step back before she caught herself told me she knew.
“It was good to see you, Helen.”
That was good enough for now.
4
Helen
Clasping the earring to my ear, I felt it’s weight, like so many other things, settle against my shoulder. It had been a struggle, and a failed one at that, to get the parting look from Ashton out of my mind.
My stomach had been in ever tightening and ever multiplying knots. There were bigger things to focus on, to give my mental attention to, but I couldn’t seem to redirect all that energy.
The words died on my tongue each time I started to tell Hale that I wasn’t going to dinner at the Glitterati’s, but I knew he still didn’t want to go, either. If I didn’t, he wouldn’t and he needed to. He needed to get out of the house and back around other people in a casual setting. He needed to relax. This dinner would accomplish that. There would be enough people to distract him.
I wasn’t in a socializing mood. I wasn’t interested in small talk. I didn’t want to see Ashton any more than Hale did, especially after…
My feelings for him kind of snuck up on me one summer and I buried them as far down as I possibly could. I had to hope Ashton never picked up on it the way Hale had.
There was a knock on my bedroom door, then Hale poked his head in. “Are you almost ready?”
I nodded. “I’ll be down in a minute.”
He stared at me for a moment longer, then retreated and closed the door again. I turned to the mirror one last time. Everything about my make-up was flawless and there wasn’t a single dark hair out of place on my head. The self-styled up-do was nothing short of miraculous and as long as a gust of wind didn’t hit me in just the wrong way, it should stay in place.
The black and white block patterned pantsuit rested against my skin with its soft, flowing fabric. The look was simple, but stylish and that’s how I felt. On the outside.
On the inside? I was a damn mess.
My hands were clammy.
My heart beat double time.
My stomach was uneasy.
And nothing, absolutely nothing about this was normal for me.
I handled business with unshakeable professionalism. It didn’t matter if it was in the form of a meeting, a dinner, or a party.
I would usually look at a gathering like tonight as both a social and business function. Part of me represented Troye, LTD. Another part of me was the sister of a driver and the friend of several others.
But the anticipation of seeing Ashton had me off my game and I was afraid it would land me right in the middle of his if I didn’t pull myself together.
Hale stood at the windows in the front room, the very one Ashton’s presence had overpowered a few days ago. The sun had nearly set, but there was enough light to give definition to the low foliage and dunes that were visible beyond the front gate and across the highway.
