Page 14 of Since Always

"Oh, that's right; Cassidy was the flower girl in your wedding, wasn't she? Wow. Time flies." He turns back to Cass and the guy again before walking away. "Kid is going to have a good night."

As soon as he leaves, I push my way through the crowd, I need air—need to get away from it all. Mark, Cass—my whole sordid history. A few people call my name as I pass, but I pretend not to hear them. One drawback of my job, of my life, is that I always have to be "on."

"You can sit with us if you need a break," a velvety voice says. I have stopped next to a set of wicker couches, where the owner of the voice sits, patting the space beside her.

It's not a good idea, and I am about to decline. But then I see a group of men recognize me and I know if I don't make a move, they will descend upon me. I glance back at the woman, and she smiles. She is beautiful. Older than me by a few years, but still the kind of woman who would turn every head in a room.

I sit.

Her friends are so wrapped up in their drunken conversation, they take only passing notice of me.

"Jordan Wolf," she says, reaching over to give me her hand.

"Owen," I say.

"Oh yes, I know. Are you doing okay, Senator? You had a look on your face that I recognized there for a minute."

"What look was that?"

"Like a bird in a gilded cage."

I offer her a small smile and a nod.

"We don't have to talk," she says. "I just wanted to offer you an escape, if you needed it. You can sit here as long as you need to."

"Thank you. And I don't mind the conversation. In fact, I could use a distraction. Where are you from?"

Jordan tells me her story. She and the girls are on a trip that she was reluctant to come on. Both she and one of the other women in the group have just gone through nasty divorces. Her ex-husband back in Portland has left her for a woman twelve years younger than herself. All she wanted to do this New Years, was stay at home and throw a pity party with her children, but her friends decided that wasn't healthy.

"They're probably right," I say. "You are far too beautiful to be sitting at home alone on New Year's Eve, feeling sorry for yourself."

I am flirting now—it's instinctual. But it's not just a line—she is sexy and I am…Well, like I said, needing the distraction.

She cocks an eyebrow. "Well, thank you, Senator."

"Just Owen."

"Okay. Thank you, just Owen."

She is flirting back. I know this dance well; I have practiced the moves for the past decade. I know already that I will take Jordan back to the house. I know, from how she is looking at me, how much she wants me to ask her to leave right now. I know from what she's told me what it will be like when I do, what she will be like, feel like in bed. A woman scorned. A woman who has been with one man for years. In my arms she will come out of her shell. Come back to life.

When it comes to women, I have known them all already. The words they say before they say them and the looks they give. The sounds they make and the beautiful ways that they come undone before me. I am rarely surprised.

I don't ask her to leave yet, but instead let her keep talking. Cassidy and the boy now sitting amongst their friends. People congregate in the open space between us, making my view of her intermittent. But I watch her when I can. She is chatting with Lexi, but the boy is never far away. He keeps one hand on her at all times. Her back, her hand, her leg.

I hate myself for this. For watching. For caring. For taking my attention away from the beautiful, articulate, interesting woman beside me. For the millionth time, I try to remember her the way I used to know her. Just little Cassidy Jane.

"Owen?" Jordan says, brushing her fingers across my skin. "Are you okay?"

I take a deep breath. "I'm alright. Hey, listen; I'm going to head out, but would you want to come back to the house I’m staying at?”

She smiles, as if she wasn't expecting this. "Well, yeah, I guess so," she says.

The dance continues.

CHAPTER 5

Cassidy

---