Page 2 of Accidentally, Scandalously Yours

No, I’ve just decided I’m going home. I’m not putting up with Jeremy’s bullshit and I’m absolutely not giving him a blowjob here.

I leave the bathroom and make my way back to the ballroom to let him know I’m leaving.

“Where did you go?” he asks, wrapping his arm around my waist and resting his hand on my ass.

“I went to the bathroom while you ignored me in favor of Susie.”

Displeasure flashes across his face and he lets me go. “Fuck, you’re really going to do this now?”

“If you mean, am I going to refuse to suck your dick and then acknowledge that you’ve been an asshole ever since I did that, then yes, this is exactly what I’m going to do. I don’t appreciate you openly checking out another woman while ignoring me during a sulk.”

“I wasn’t sulking.”

“You were, and I’m not impressed with it, so I’m going home.”

The displeasure on his face intensifies. “Yeah, you should go. I’m not interested in spending the rest of the night listening to your insecurities over me supposedly checking some other woman out.”

I stare at the guy I’ve been dating for half a year, wondering how I missed this side of him. But then, a tiny voice pops up. The voice I do my best to never hear because she always turns out to be right when I desperately want her to be wrong.You didn’t miss this side of him. You chose not to see it.

“There was no ‘supposedly’ going on tonight, Jeremy, and you know it. Be a man and own your actions. And yeah, I know I have insecurities, but they had nothing to do with any of this.”

With that, I turn and walk away from him.

What a dick.

A dick I think I’m done with.

My mother will have to change her expectations of this relationship. She almost peed herself when I began dating Jeremy. His family is the perfect family as far as she’s concerned. He comes from old money. His family has all the right connections and are well respected.A match made in heaven.Those were her exact words about a month ago when she casually dropped over some bridal magazines for me to peruse. Actually, scratch the word “casually.” Nothing my mother ever does is casual when it concerns a potential husband.

I’m in the middle of thinking about my mother changing her expectations and what that will mean for me (read: a fresh round ofattend this gala,wear this dress, andyou should really consider a date with so and so) when I exit the ballroom and come across a sign that tells me there’s a Moonlight Soirée on the rooftop of this building.

I love the stars and could happily spend an entire evening staring up at them, getting lost in my thoughts. New York isn’t the place for stargazing, but since I could really do with some thinking time tonight, I make the spontaneous decision to join the soirée.

A few minutes later, I step out of the elevator onto the rooftop and into a magical party that’s filled with laughter, candles, beautiful floral decorations, and twinkle lights strung everywhere. Music plays at just the right volume and I smile as I weave through the crowd to an old song I love, “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None The Richer.

I head for a corner and when I reach it, I rest my arms on the railing and gaze up at the night sky. I don’t know what it is about the sky, but it never fails to help me pause. To help me sort through the layers of thoughts I often feel trapped under.

I close my eyes for a moment and inhale a long breath. I filter out the noise of the party, of my brain, of life, and try to justbe.

The minutes pass. I’m not sure how many, but enough for me to get lost in just being. Enough for the tension in my body to ease to a much more acceptable level.

I’m in my bubble of peace when a smooth, deep voice comes from beside me. “Have you ever spent a night stargazing in the Hamptons?”

I open my eyes and look at the owner of the sexiest voice I’ve ever heard.

Bradford Black.

We’ve never met, but I know all about him. Everyone in New York does. The Black family is synonymous with power and the kind of old money that needs no introduction.

“I have. It’s amazing.” I smile as I let my gaze slowly cover every inch of his face. I take more time with it than I’ve ever taken with a face.

Bradford is breathtakingly handsome. I could imagine him gracing magazine covers or the silver screen with his tanned skin, strong jaw, full lips, and thick dark hair that begs to know fingers. And those blue eyes of his. They’re deep, expressive, unfathomable. I get the sense I could spend hours staring into his eyes and still not reach the depths of him.

He angles his body so he’s facing me and rests his arm on the railing. “You ditched the ball too?”

I glance down at my dress that is more suited to a ball than this party. It’s likely the giveaway that I came for the ball. Just like his tuxedo gives him away. “I did. I had to.”

He leans in a little closer. “Hadto?”

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