Page 67 of Vengeful Seduction
The drinks were flowing freely and I couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, Angela and Brent would want to get to know each other better. They certainly seemed to be talking intently about something, though the music was far too loud for me to be clear on what it was.
After awhile, Angela broke away from Brent and grabbed herself a fresh drink. She came to sit down on the couch with me, and I smiled at her. She wanted to talk to me, obviously, and I thought I might have some idea why.
What she said, however, was not something I expected.
“What’s Brent’s deal?”
I frowned. What did she mean? I arched an eyebrow, encouraging her to continue. “What do you mean, what’s his deal?” I really had no idea what she could mean. They seemed to be hitting it off so well.
“I mean, what’s his obsession with you? Is he in love with you or something? David must be pissed off about that.” Her words dropped my heart into my feet.
Was Brent really in love with me?
And why the hell would he be? Why would he do that kind of thing to his best friend?
Blushing, I shook my head. Angela didn’t know what she was talking about, that was all it was. Once, I might have thought she was right, but I’d had a really good talk with him and I thought I had made myself quite clear about where we stood.
“No way,” I insisted, and Angela gave me a deeply knowing look, one that irritated me immensely.
“He does. He has a thing for you. He wouldn’t stop talking about you and asking about you …” Angela smirked at me. “You have yourself a problem, pretty lady. Married lady. Wow, two completely hot men have fallen in love with you right at the same time. What are the chances of that happening?”
I had no idea what those chances might be. But I did know one thing for absolute certain: I loved David. I loved my husband. Brent was not going to derail our marriage, no matter how he felt about me.
I bit my lower lip and looked over at Brent. He was looking over at us and he did seem to have a somewhat besotted look on his face. He could have been looking at Angela, though.
“You’re crazy,” I told her affectionately, and she grinned at me and shrugged a little, as though to concede the point. But I wasn’t thinking she was the crazy one. It was probably Brent who was the nutty one.
“Maybe. But it’s probably good David’s not here anyway. He strikes me as a bit of the jealous type.” She frowned and looked around. “Where is your Prince Charming, anyway?”
I bit back a sigh, covering it with a bright smile. No need to let her see how upset I would be if I let myself. It bugged me, though I would try to hide it. My husband couldn’t even be bothered to show up for our first party.
“He’s just busy. He’s upstairs, doing work stuff.” I kept the smile pasted onto my lips instead of giving in to the frown trying to take over. I got it. David was obsessed with work and with making his company into a big deal. But so was Brent, and Brent was right there across the room, having a good time, and putting work to the side for a little while.
Why couldn’t David do that too?
“Huh.” Angela turned her gaze to me, and I wanted to shy away from her knowing eyes. She always did see too much, but I’d never had much I wanted to hide from her before. “Don’t you think that’s a little …well …strange?”
I sighed softly. Truth be told, I did. It’s what I got for being married to someone who was so career-focused, though. I had known it wouldn’t always be easy. But I didn’t want anyone to think badly about my new husband. “No, it’s not weird for David. He’s a driven man. That’s what you get when you marry a man like him. I don’t mind it—really, I don’t.”
Our conversation was interrupted, making me look up in surprise. “Hey! Kaye, Angela, are you in?” At some point, while we were talking, Brent had walked over to us. I had been so wrapped up in the conversation with my friend, I hadn’t even noticed.
The man was stealthy, I had to give him that.
“Are we in for what?” Angela pulled herself together before I did and even managed a slightly flirtatious smile for the handsome man. She always had enjoyed the sight of a beautiful male, and even I could see that Brent fell into that category. I wasn’t interested, but I had eyes. I wasn’t blind to how attractive he was. But David captivated me. Brent was merely nice to look at, and most of the time, nice to be around too. But my heart truly belonged to my husband. Of that, there was no doubt.
“One of my favorite bars is just a ten minute or so drive away.” Brent grinned at us impishly. “They have karaoke there and we’re all just drunk enough to find it fun. Wanna come?”
I’d had just enough to drink to make it sound like a lot of fun. It had been a long time since I’d done something just because it sounded like a silly, fun, good time, but I knew I couldn’t go.
“You guys go ahead.” I smiled at Angela. It was easy to tell she wanted to go. We were surrounded by people from work, and she was bound to have a good time. I couldn’t claim not to be at least a little bit envious though.
“Are you sure?” Angela asked, and she leaned over and hugged me when I nodded firmly. Yes, I was sure. It sort of sucked, but it was the right thing to do.
“Yeah, I’m sure. When David gets done with his work, we’ll catch up with you guys, maybe.” I smiled at both of them and watched as people trailed out of the house, off to the next fun thing.
As everyone else filed out, I turned off the music. Silence ruled in the house and I let out a soft sigh to release some of the tension I was feeling.
“Hey, you okay?” Brent asked, and I turned around, surprised. I had thought he’d left already, but there he was, standing a completely proper distance away from me and looking worried.
