LUCAS
“We should go the other way,” Aster said. If she thought I hadn’t noticed that she’d just slipped her arm through mine, she was dead wrong.
But all I could think about were those piercing blue eyes across the room pinning me with their electric hold. And the way my body reacted immediately to knowing she was so near.
“Lucas,” Aster repeated when I didn’t . . . couldn’t say anything.
“Fuck,” I finally groaned.
“Language.” Aster’s strident voice was like sandpaper raking a chalkboard. “Where are you going?” she demanded when I shook her off her suggestion.
“You can go the other way, if you want. I need to take care of something,” I called back to her.
She could go home for all I cared. Seeing Em here, it must be a sign. This was my chance to straighten things out with her.
If I expected Em to run off when she saw me heading her way, I should have known better. That wasn’t her style. Her only outward reaction was a long, slow blink as she inhaled hard. “What? Are you following me now? I thought I made it pretty clear when I said it was over.”
That’s when Seth’s meaty paw slammed hard into my chest, and I realized Em wasn’t here alone. “No means no, pal. Didn’t anyone explain the perils of stalking to you?”
“Jesus. No. I’m not . . .” I shoved his hand off me. “For Chrissake, I’m not stalking her.” Then to Emerson, “I didn’t even know you’d be here.”
The look she gave me said she definitely wasn’t buying it. “Uh-huh. So this was just a coincidence then, you showing up at the same place as me? At the exact same time? She eyed me warily. “If you didn’t know, then what are you doing here?” She glanced over my shoulder as her full lips compressed into a hard line. “What is she doing here?”
Aster’s voice piped up from behind me. “That’s really none of your beeswax.”
Somehow Seth managed to forget he was supposed to be defending his sister’s honor. Suddenly, he had something new to focus on, as he stepped around me not bothering to pretend he wasn’t scoping out Aster.
I ignored them both, turning my focus on Emerson instead. “Aster and I came strictly to try to persuade the Beach Club to reconsider. We’re running out of options.” The truth was beginning to wear me down and I could hear it in my voice.
Frowning, Emerson asked, “This is where you’re planning to have the gala?”
“Was,” Aster interjected. Again, not helpful.
Emerson let out a heavy sigh. “Well,” she said, her stance loosening. “What are your other options?”
“As of right now . . . ,” I started.
But Aster beat me to the punch. “None. As of this moment, we have no other options.”
“Wow.” Seth decided this was his chance to weigh in. “You’re really somethin’, aren’t ya, darlin’?” He slid closer to Aster, his hand settling on her lower back as he leaned close to her ear. “You and I might oughta grab us a drink in private. Give these two lovebirds a few minutes alone to sort things out.”
The Aster I knew would have shot someone like Seth down, the way she always did whenever guys hit on her. Aster was one of the few girls who’d managed to avoid dropping her panties for some of the best manwhores I knew . . . including Raph.
She was the definition of straightlaced. It had taken over a year of dating before we’d finally slept together, and even then, it had been a by-the-book, missionary-only affair. Mechanical. An errand to mark off her to-do list.
Seeing her reaction to Seth was strange. A flush crept over her cheeks and spread all the way down her neck. In the two years she and I had been together, I’d never seen Aster blush . . . at least not for the same reason she was now.
But that wasn’t what was bothering me.
Suddenly, I wasn’t interested in staying here another second, even if it was my chance to convince Em things had changed between us. I didn’t deserve to be alone with her right now. Not after hearing Aster’s abrupt assessment of our situation.
We had no venue. It was time for me to face facts—the gala was beyond saving.
My mother’s voice filled my head—everything she’d ever told me about needing her, about not being able to succeed on my own. I thought she was wrong.
It turns out I’d overestimated myself. Maybe my mother really had known what she was talking about. I couldn’t even put together a charity fundraiser that was important to me. I wasn’t good enough for someone like Emerson McLean, the kind of girl who grabbed life by the balls.
I’d let everyone down. I’d let Adam down.
“I’m going to the car,” I told Aster. “If you’re not there in five, I’m leaving without you.”