I took one last look at myself in the bathroom mirror before slipping on my heels and joining Nicholas in the guesthouse living room. His head was turned away from me when I entered the room, so I took a few moments to admire him. He was wearing a perfectly tailored, formal version of the suit from this morning, and his hair was styled in a way that made him look more James Bond than businessman. His stature alone exuded power that I found thrilling and slightly intimidating. Tonight, he was Nicholas Hayes, heir to the Hayes empire. Me? I was still little Emma from Indiana.

When I moved into his eyeline, he scanned me up and down, his gaze lingering on my neckline. Feeling self-conscious when he didn’t say anything, I tugged up on the fabric. “What? Is it too low?”

“No such thing as too low, but something isn’t quite right.” He approached and lifted my simple heart necklace. “May I?”

I turned around so he could unfasten the clasp, not entirely understanding the problem. “It’s not that bad, is it?”

“No, but this one is better.”

Before I realized what he was doing, I felt another necklace fall against my skin. I lifted it for a better view, shocked by what I found. On a delicate silver chain hung a drop pendant with three brilliant round diamonds. It was simple and beautiful.

“Nic, what? No way. I can’t—”

He moved to my front and gently grasped my shoulders. “I knew you would say that, but this is your Valentine’s Day gift from me, Shane, and Cole, so you have to accept it.”

“But those are diamonds.”

His lips tipped into a sardonic smile. “I should hope so. If not, Tiffany & Co. needs to improve their quality control.”

I gasped. “It’s from Tiffany’s? Then, it’s definitely too much.”

“Emma, I swear it’s not. Do you see how tiny those diamonds are? We originally chose something more expensive but reconsidered when we found this—one diamond to represent each of us. We thought you’d like that.”

The fact that they’d put thought into the gift rather than just buying something sparkly meant more to me than the actual diamonds ever could. “Okay, but only because it’s from all three of you, and I know you can afford it.” Realizing how ungrateful I sounded, I smiled up at him. “Thank you. It’s gorgeous.”

“Not as gorgeous as you. You look absolutely stunning this evening.”

“You had me worried for a minute. I thought maybe you didn’t approve of the dress.”

His hands landed on my waist, and his fiery gaze told me everything I needed to know. “We should probably get out of here before I decide to show you how much I love the dress.”

Since I’d been dreading the event for days, the drive to the country club where the party was being held was entirely too short. On the way, Nicholas told me his grandparents were founding members of the club, which explained how his sister was able to reserve a ballroom on a Saturday night with only a few weeks’ notice. I had a feeling some unfortunate couple had to change their wedding reception venue at the last minute to accommodate the engagement party. Or maybe my cynicism was showing. I hadn’t even met Katherine yet, so I should hold off on my judgment. Just because her mother was an ice queen didn’t mean she would be.

When we entered the ballroom, I stopped dead in my tracks and yanked on my idiot boyfriend’s arm. “Nicholas,” I said between gritted teeth, “did you forget to tell me something? A really important something?”

The ballroom was already full of women in elegant dresses . . . elegant black and white dresses. Only one woman stood out from the crowd in a rose-colored gown and, given that her blonde hair matched Nicholas’s perfectly, she was undoubtedly the bride.

We’d barely entered the room and already everyone in the vicinity was staring. I might as well have sewn a scarlet A on my front, because I’d declared myself a tart by my indiscreet wardrobe choice. I would have given anything for the boring black dress that had been my second choice.

Nicholas scanned the room, then looked down at me. “Shit, Emma, I’m so sorry. I had no idea. My mother only said it was cocktail attire.”

His stricken expression told me he was being truthful, but that didn’t make me feel any better. I have to get out of here. I was turning on my heel to leave when I realized Katherine was headed straight for us. Too late to escape now. I was officially screwed.

“Nicholas, I’m so glad you made it.” She kissed his cheek and gave him what appeared to be a sincere smile.

I braced myself to receive her derision, but she let out an amused chuckle when she turned to me. “Hello, I’m Katherine. You must be Emma. I was going to warn you that you’d be the talk of the party showing up on Nic’s arm, but you’re even more conspicuous than I expected.”

“I’m so sorry. I knew the party had a Valentine’s Day theme, and I never dreamed the attire would be black and white.”

“It’s my fault,” Nicholas cut in. “I should have checked with you, Kat, instead of relying on Mother to share details.”

Katherine glanced around, then stepped closer and lowered her voice. “The black and white idea was hers, so if she didn’t tell you, it was probably intentional.”

In other words, Mrs. Hayes hated me before she even met me. She’d probably assumed I would show up in something other than black or white and make a fool of myself. I wasn’t sure what she intended to accomplish by humiliating me, but I refused to let her get to me. I’d have to suck it up and ignore the stares and whispers.

“I can leave, if it would make things better,” I offered hopefully. Unfortunately, brother and sister simultaneously shook their heads.

“Absolutely not,” Katherine said. “You’re the first girlfriend Nicholas has brought home in years. We won’t let you get away that easily.”

Damn.

A waiter passed by right then, offering glasses of champagne, and I accepted one and downed half of it in a single gulp. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”

While Nicholas got caught up in a business discussion, Katherine linked her arm through mine and guided me to several groups of guests, introducing me like I wasn’t a pariah. I felt guilty for my earlier negative thoughts about her—she was nothing like I expected. Although she carried herself with the poise of a socialite, she didn’t come across as stuck up. She merely seemed confident and a little cool but nowhere near her mother’s ice queen status.

When she was summoned by the event planner, I looked for Nicholas and spotted him talking to a statuesque blonde seductively draped in a low-cut white dress. Alyssa. Much like when I’d seen her with Nicholas at Loft25 in December, she was standing way too close to him. To his credit, he appeared annoyed, but he hadn’t moved away.

I debated interrupting them, but catching sight of the bar, I headed that direction instead. The tiny flute of champagne hadn’t relaxed me like I’d hoped, so I ordered a martini, certain that would do the trick.

By the time I had my drink in hand, Nicholas and Alyssa had disappeared. I forced myself not to be suspicious and tried to find a relatively inconspicuous place to stand. Now that I was taking the time to observe my surroundings, I had to admit that the black and white attire against the backdrop of fresh flowers in every shade of red and pink created a stunning palette. If I wasn’t the only outlier, I would have loved it.

Discreetly removing my cell from my clutch, I snapped a photo of the room and sent it to Simone.

Me: I feel like Waldo in the most obvious Where’s Waldo? game in history.

Simone: Holy fuck. Don’t kill Nicholas.

I replaced my phone, laughing to myself. If it wasn’t obvious Nicholas had no idea about the dress code, he would have needed to fear for his life.

“You look truly enchanting, Emma.” The smooth, familiar voice wafted over my shoulder, and I gasped and spun to peer into blue-gray eyes.

“Shane? What are you doing here?”

He tilted his head in the direction of an empty corner away from prying ears. We couldn’t hide from the eyes in the room, though, so I was careful to keep a polite distance between us. Due to my crimson dress, I was already the subject of scandal. I didn’t need to start rumors that would make the invisible A on my chest seem valid.

“I’m sorry to crash your date with Nic, but I ran into Kat when I was having lunch with my dad at the club restaurant today. It didn’t even occur to me that the party was being held here.”

Shane was a member of the country club as well? And how did I not realize he was still in Pasadena? I’d been so wrapped up in Nicholas—and investigating Jeremy, if I was being completely honest—I hadn’t thought to check in with him or Cole. My hand involuntarily rose to my neck, where my gift from the Ts hung, and I swore to myself I would be more attentive to all three of them from now on. It was unacceptable that I hadn’t even known Shane was in Pasadena rather than Vegas.

“When she found out I wasn’t flying out until tomorrow, she insisted I attend her party.” He gave me a sheepish grin. Sheepish Shane—that was a new one. “On the spot, I couldn’t think of a good excuse.”

“It’s fine.” Sort of. I could handle having two of my boyfriends in one place with all the attention I was already receiving. No problem. “Why didn’t you text me a warning?”

“Since I knew you were apprehensive about being around Nic’s family, I thought you might be more nervous if you knew.”

“Good point,” I conceded.

“How’s it going, by the way?”

“Okay, I guess. Katherine seems nice. Marian definitely hates me, and I’ve yet to meet Nic’s father.”

Dinner was announced, so we headed to the front of the room, and I tried to act natural with Shane at my side instead of Nicholas.

“Looks like you’re about to get your chance to meet Jonathon.” He pointed to a table where Marian was seated by a man who had to be her husband. Nicholas may have gotten his blond hair from his mother, but he clearly inherited his striking yet masculine features from his father. Despite the man’s graying hair, he looked young and seriously attractive. I’d never seen a man who fit the silver fox label so perfectly. Was it creepy that I noticed?

Nicholas was standing—alone, thankfully—and scanning the crowd. When his gaze caught mine, he smiled and started for me. I knew the moment he noticed Shane, since his expression turned surprised then confused. Evidently, he wasn’t aware of the last-minute guest either.

“Shane?” He asked in a whisper when he reached us.

Shane shook his head, like he couldn’t quite believe he was there himself. “Your sister—I’ll explain later. I’m sitting over there.” He pointed to a table a few over from ours.

Nicholas looked in that direction and grimaced. “You’re probably stuck next to my cousin Sheryl. Watch out. She’s a barracuda in sheep’s clothing.”

I noticed a pretty brunette sitting by herself and swore under my breath. I will not be jealous. For good measure, I repeated the phrase several times. If Shane could handle watching me with Nicholas, I could survive him sitting next to another woman during dinner.

Nicholas took my hand. “Ready for this?”

I knew he was asking whether I was ready for dinner with his parents. “Yep.” Ready to get it over with.

Jonathon Hayes stood as we approached. “Emma, I apologize for not greeting you at the house. Work is hectic right now. I’m sure you understand.”

His welcome wasn’t particularly warm, but neither was it as frosty as his wife’s had been. Judging by her pinched expression, not much had changed since yesterday.

“Would you two sit down?” she said with a huff. “Everyone is staring, and it’s no wonder thanks to that garish red dress.”

Garish, really? I considered standing up for myself for a full two seconds before dutifully taking my seat. It wasn’t worth it.

Nicholas took his place beside me and squeezed my knee. “I think Emma looks beautiful.” He didn’t point out his mother’s failure to inform him of the dress code, but the scowl he sent her way said it for him.

Much to my relief, Katherine and James chose that moment to join us, and all attention moved to the happy couple.

Dinner passed relatively painlessly. Marian ignored me, and Jonathon asked about school and my family. Apart from a comment about “real” journalism being a dying field, he remained cordial.

James and Katherine kept the conversation light, and I decided that I liked them both. James was maybe seven or eight years older than Katherine, but he was attractive and charismatic. I learned that after graduating from Harvard Law, he returned to Pasadena and went to work for his father’s prominent law firm. No wonder Jonathon and Marian appeared to like him so much—they were gaining the perfect son-in-law.

I tried to keep my gaze from straying to Shane, but I was wholly unsuccessful. On more than one occasion, I saw Sheryl touch him, toss her hair, or lean into his shoulder. He gave no visible indication that he was showing her anything other than polite attention, but that didn’t stop the green monster from rising. Everything within me wanted to stalk over there and claim him as mine.

Nicholas rested his arm on the back of my chair, drawing my attention back to him. “Shane is wishing he was me right now, trust me.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, especially since I intend to ask you to dance.” He stood and held out his hand. “May I have this dance, Cinderella?”

I placed my hand in his. “Absolutely.”