Page 31 of I Choose You
“Ms. DeLuca, welcome home.” He flashed me a smile so perfect I wondered if he practiced in a mirror the way I had done when I was younger.
I gave him the same measured smile back. “Thank you, Leon. Is my mother home?” I had stopped trying to get him to call me Claire years ago. It was a futile effort at this point.
Leon took the overnight bag from my hands, pointing me to the den to find my mother.
“See, this is exactly why you had to get here early. Can you imagine showing up to the dinner looking like that?” my mother said as soon as I walked into the room. Melanie DeLuca was as put together sitting in her own home as she would be if she were going to a black-tie event. Makeup perfectly applied, hair styled, outfit classy but chic.
“Hi, Mom.” I gave a quick kiss to her cheek, letting her words roll off me. I was wearing a pair of black leggings and a cable-knit sweater. It clearly wasn’t appropriate attire for a pre-wedding dinner event hosted by the senator.
Speaking of senators… “Is Dad home?” I asked.
“He’s in his study, working. Let him be, will you? I don’t want you to disturb him.”
“Of course.” A tight smile pulled at my cheeks. My father could be difficult at the best of times, but ever since I dropped out of law school, he seemed to have lost any regard for his only child. My mother wasn’t wrong. If I popped into his office to say hello and let him know I was here, it would only be construed as a distraction, an annoyance. “My dress is in the car. I’ll go grab it now and start getting ready.”
“Leon will have brought it to your guest room. Go, go.” She shooed me away. I was almost to the stairs when she called out to me, “Dear, when can we expect your date to arrive?”
“As it turns out, I’m solo for the weekend,” I said, then mumbled under my breath, “Unfortunately.” Turning back around, I looked her in the eye. I needed her to hear me, just this once. “But Mother… that doesn’t mean that Will is going to be my date this weekend.”
She nodded her head like she heard me, but the twinkle in her eyes said otherwise. I stifled a groan and made my way to the guest room that was to be mine this weekend.
* * *
The restaurant was closed to the public, allowing the wedding party and guests to take over the entire space. I wore the simplest dress that I had bought to this dinner. It was a deep burgundy color with a boatneck-style top and ruching across the midsection that led to a wrap-around effect, showing a fair amount of leg but still sophisticated.
I said hello and made small talk with the people I knew, congratulating the bride and groom. Madison and Neil wereeverything my parents wanted for me and Will. Madison Howser was the daughter of Senator Mick Howser. We had run in the same circle for years now. She was a fair bit younger than me at twenty-seven. We’d never quite become friends, but there was never any animosity either. Neil Patterson was an up-and-comer from a political family out West. Whether or not they had a deep, undying love for each other was none of my business. They seemed happy enough, so I was happy for them.
I took my seat at the table, an older gentleman on my left. I smiled politely at him while I gathered my napkin in my lap. A hand brushed across my shoulder, causing me to shudder. Will leaned in close to my ear, whispering, “You look beautiful, Claire.”
My skin crawled, and I leaned back from him. “Thank you.” My manners took over for me, not allowing me to make a scene over a small gesture.
He took the seat to my right and sat down. “Will. What are you doing? I’m sure they have a seat saved for you somewhere else.”
“I like this seat better.” He winked. If he thought he was being charming, he was missing the mark. “You know we were good together, Claire. We could be good again.” Even as he said those words, his eyes were tracking a beautiful woman, roaming her body like he had X-ray vision.
“Oh yeah? And how is Summer doing?” I asked, my voice high and peppy, my smile sanguine.
His face fell flat. “That was a mistake, Claire. Are you going to hold it against me forever?”
I didn’t bother to answer him. We had already talked about this. He knew where I stood on infidelity, but like my mother,since he didn’t like my response, he was going to pretend it didn’t exist. He placed his hand on my leg, and I nearly shot out of my chair. My composure was weakening, but I would not crack. I placed my hand on top of his, squeezing with everything I had. Slowly and deliberately, I removed his hand from my leg and placed it on his own leg, my demure smile never slipping. From the corner of my eye, I saw him flex his hand a few times to fight off the bite of my grip, and I felt a small spark of joy at that.
“You do not get to place your hands on me. You lost that privilege when you put your hands on someone else.”
“Come on, babe. You have to admit, we look good together. This benefits you just as much as it does me,” he said. When I didn’t respond, he tried another tactic instead. “You’d be singing a different tune if your parents had anything to say about it.” The smug look on his face had me working overtime to stop my lip from curling in disgust.
“They don’t.”
Will just shrugged and leaned back in his chair. He refused to change seats, but he did keep his hands to himself after that. The dinner seemed to go on for ages. I glanced at my phone to check the time and saw I had a text. From Reid.
Reid: Hope you have a good time this weekend.
It had come in a few hours ago. It was almost 11:00 p.m. now, and I wasn’t sure if he would still be up. I texted him back anyway. It was thoughtful of him to reach out, and I didn’t want him to think that I was ignoring it.
Claire: Thanks. It should be a good time. As long as I can keep Will away from me! LOL.
Reid responded back to me almost instantly.
Reid: Is he bothering you?
