Page 240 of Deep Pockets

“It’s beautiful,” I said and looked back over my shoulder.

“Not as beautiful as you.”

“Usually your pickup lines aren’t so cliché.” I smiled up at him.

“I’m not trying to pick you up. I already have you.” He squeezed my hand.

The way he said it made my body feel warm. Is that what he thought? That I was his? It had been a long time since I had felt connected to someone. That’s what I wanted. To be a part of a “we” again.

“Have you ever been here before?” I asked.

“I come every year.”

“How many years have you been coming?”

“Six, I believe.”

“So you’ve been donating to the hospital since you graduated? You’re a bad boy with a good heart, Mason Caldwell.”

“It’s a good cause.”

“Who do you usually bring to these events?”

“No one important in a long time.” He smiled down at me. “Have you ever been to this hotel?”

“What purpose would I ever have for going to The Plaza Hotel?”

“Something fancy?”

I laughed. “I haven’t done anything fancy in a long time.”

“I heard the mattresses are exceptionally comfortable here.”

I swallowed hard. I loved when he talked like that. I wanted to be witty back. “We’re pretty good without a mattress.”

“You don’t have to remind me.” He stopped outside the coat check. “Turn around, Bee.”

I turned away from him. He slowly pulled my coat off of me, tracing his fingers down my arms. The electricity shot through me even stronger than before. He pushed my hair to the side and kissed the back of my neck. “Truly breathtaking,” he whispered. The heat of his breath on the back of my neck made my skin tingle.

I turned around and watched him grab the tickets out of his pocket before handing both our jackets over to the attendant.

“The hospital thanks you for your very generous donation, Mr. Caldwell. I hope you and your lovely guest enjoy the evening. You will both be at table three.”

“Thank you.”

The man opened up the door to the ballroom for us.

I followed Mason inside. Whether or not I was breathtaking was questionable, but there was no question about this room. It was absolutely beautiful. All the decorations were adorned with gold. And the chandeliers were even more extravagant than the ones in the entranceway. There was a dance floor in the middle of the room, surrounded by ornately decorated round tables. It was like a room for a wedding reception, only way fancier than any wedding I had ever been to.

“Come with me. I want to introduce you to someone,” Mason said.

I held on to his hand. I was suddenly incredibly nervous. All the people here were rich like him. If he hadn’t bought me this dress, I definitely would have stuck out in the crowd. And not in a good way.

“James,” Mason said and stopped in front of a man I instantly recognized. He was that professor who had gotten fired from the University of New Castle. Although, I guess Mason said he had actually resigned. He hadn’t changed at all. I never had a class with him, but I had seen him around campus. He was hard not to notice. He was ridiculously good looking. And he had this air of authority around him. It almost transported me right back to school.

The two men briefly hugged and slapped each other’s backs. It was funny when guys did that. They just had to make hugging masculine too. I couldn’t help but laugh.

Someone else laughing made me look away. It was the girl standing right next to James. She was really pretty. Her long red hair looked beautiful against the green fabric of her dress. She seemed to be tickled by the fact that they had slapped each other’s backs too. She was staring up at James in the most loving way. I wasn’t sure I had ever looked at anyone like that.

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