He looked good tonight. Really good. Like, so good that it should be illegal. He excelled at pulling off the casual dressy look like no one else I knew. I had the overwhelming urge to run my fingers through his hair and kiss his full lips. The song playing on the radio was appropriate to set the tone for the evening, and I sang along with the lyrics, just like they say in the song, until the dawn, let’s Marvin Gaye and get it on.

I could see his jaw ticking, and his sculpted muscles flexing and bunching under his dress shirt as he drove, and I could almost swear there was another appendage growing in his pants. I didn’t know if I was imagining things in that respect or not, but I knew without a doubt, that I had seen desire flash in his eyes when he first saw me. I’d play my part of the best friend. I was just a friend coming along with him to the party to keep his dad off his back.

More than once I caught his eyes drifting to my thighs and a swell of feminine pride surged through me. It was confirmation that this was the right dress and that I had definitely succeeded in getting his attention. His face was priceless when I told him I’d hoped to meet my Mr. Right Now tonight. Even though I was hoping that Mr. Right Now would be him, I needed to be mentally prepared for the possibility that it wouldn’t be. And since this was a Scottsdale party, I wanted to make sure I was putting my best foot forward in all respects.

I continued to sing along as the songs switched and “Bang Bang” came on. When it came to the part that said “anybody could be bad to you, you need a good girl to blow your mind”, Baz reached over and promptly turned down the radio.

“I’m not sure if I mentioned it or not, but this is a surprise party for her.” He had. He had told me everything I could have wanted to know about the party last night. “Lord, knows why he wanted to do it this way, but you know how hard it is to change Father’s mind once he’s got it set on something,” he adjusted his positioning in his seat as he talked and then glanced over at me again, annoyance in his voice. Again, I felt his eyes on my exposed thighs. It was as intense as if he’d reached over and run his fingertips over my bare skin. I shivered in spite of the heat outside.

“Are you cold? Do you want me to turn the temperature up?” He glanced at me again, his eyes flitting over me once more. If the temperature got any hotter, I think my panties would melt right off of my body. My core was throbbing and clenching, and all he had done was look at me.

“No, I’m good,” I smiled and turned back to look out the window. Sparks, chemistry, whatever it was called, this was definitely it. I wasn’t broken. It was such an immense relief, and yet it was Bastian, of all people, making me feel it. As much as I talked a good game in my head about him potentially being my Mr. Right Now, I didn’t want to destroy our friendship. And what if I was in love with him? That would suck if I was the one who wanted more and he didn’t. You’ll put on your big girl panties and push those feelings aside if that’s what it comes down to.

We pulled up the drive to the estate and there was already a valet waiting. He got my door and I made sure to keep my knees together like a lady as I accepted his palm and stepped out of the car. Baz came around and guided me inside by placing a hand on my lower back. After the car ride, my senses were on over drive. His fingers felt like they were burning holes through the all lace portion of my dress and my breath caught in my throat. I started choking and Baz turned to me, alarm written all over his face.

“Are you ok?” He watched my face carefully for my reaction. My eyes were watering as I tried to stop coughing and catch my breath. I held my hand up and nodded.

“It takes a special kind of talent to choke on air alone,” I joked once my breathing had normalized. He chuckled back at me, the sexual tension slightly defused.

“Let’s get you something to drink.” He continued to guide me inside the house, if you could call it that. Mansion seemed to be a more accurate description. I had forgotten just how large it was. I had been here many, many times when we were younger, but it had been a few years, and seeing it again now brought back all kinds of memories.

We walked to the kitchen where the catering staff was bustling about. A man approached us as we entered.

“Mr. Davenport,” he smiled and outstretched his hand for a shake.

“Hello, Sergio. Everything coming along ok?” Baz shook his hand and smiled warmly back.

“Yes, everything is almost set. I have the Cristal here if you would like a glass.” Sergio turned to me and his smile got even larger as he took me in. “Madam, would you like a glass of Cristal?”

“I would love a glass, thank you,” I nodded in acceptance.

“Make that two, Sergio.”

While he left us to go and grab the champagne, Baz surveyed the kitchen. I stood and watched as he opened hot plates and platters. He was meticulous with his inspection of what was before him. His attention to detail was one of the many things that made him so good at what he did.

It made me wonder again how he would be in the bedroom. Although, I was 100% certain that without a doubt, he wasn’t a man who would leave a woman wanting for anything. His attention to detail encompassed every aspect of his life, so I had to imagine it would extend to there as well.

“Oh!” I jumped when I felt a light tap on my shoulder, and I felt my face flush.

“Madam?” It was Sergio with our champagne. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I called out before I touched your shoulder, but you must not have heard me.”

“That’s ok, I was off in my own world. Thank you.” I took the glass that was offered. “You can call me Gemma. I’m a friend of Bast- I mean, Mr. Davenport’s.”

“Very well, Gemma. Is there anything else you require right now?” His smile led me to believe that anything really meant anything.

“No, thank you.”

He bowed his head, turned on his heel and walked away to hand Bastian his flute and continued directing his crew.

I took a sip and let the bubbles burst on my tongue before swallowing it. I wasn’t much of a champagne fan usually, but Cristal was a different animal. It was one of the few I could stomach and not cringe. I usually opted for a sparkling or flat Moscato when I did anything white. I took another sip, smiling as the cool liquid tickled going down my throat.

I noticed Baz across the room, drinking his as he continued to peruse the kitchen. He must have felt my stare because he slowly turned and we made eye contact from across the room. I felt those butterflies kick up inside me and instinctively licked my lips. He watched my mouth for a few seconds and then his eyes moved back up to meet my own. He was standing behind one of the islands in the kitchen, but I could still tell his hand had floated down to adjust himself under the ledge.

He cleared his throat. “I need to go and check the rest of the grounds. Would you like to come with me?”

“You go. I’ll be ok.” I considered it for a moment, but decided against it. I wanted to stroll down memory lane. “You don’t mind if I wander around a bit, do you? It’s been so long since I’ve been here.”

“No, of course not. Feel free. Just make sure to be in place out back for the surprise at 6:55pm. I’ll come and find you.” He winked, then he turned and walked out of the kitchen.

Alone for a bit, I walked through the hallways. I remembered my way to the game room and to the theater. I stopped at the game room first. I had so many memories of us playing playstation, pinball, darts, pool, air hockey, foosball, ping-pong, there were even a few lanes to bowl, and it was all still here. Ever the competitors we would go to battle on all of the different games. Occasionally, Harper or I would win, but more often than not the honor usually went to Bastian or Eli.

The theater room looked the same too; stadium seating with a burgundy velvet curtain that framed the screen at the far end of the room. We used to love to come in here and watch all sorts of different genres of movies. The surround sound made it feel like you were in a real theater. This was the room he brought me to that night to distract and comfort me.

I stepped back to the hallway and found myself gravitating towards his old bedroom. Once I opened the door, even more sweet memories came rushing back. I stepped inside and leaned against the wall. Surprisingly, the room still smelled like Baz. Even though I thought he was hot back then, after what I went through, I had no desire to even entertain the thought of trusting a man in the capacity of a romance. There was still a picture of the four of us tucked in the corner of the mirror on top of his dresser.

Baz had been my hero. I smiled, as I traced my fingers over the picture. He was always my hero. Had I really been wearing blinders all these years? I always knew he was important to me, but I never considered I might think of him as anything more than my best friend.

I could hear voices coming down the corridor and pulled my phone out of my clutch to check the time. I had five minutes to get to the back of the house, and in these heels, I might be cutting it close. I pulled the door shut behind me as I left the room.

I hurried through the halls, my heels clicking loudly on the wood floors as I made my way to the back door. I glanced at my clock again. Only two minutes, damn I’m good.

I didn’t see Baz when I stepped into the backyard, but I did see a lot of other faces, none of which I knew. The backyard was huge. It had pavers with tables and seating arranged everywhere. Appetizer and cookie tables were set up and there was another table with an elaborate cupcake tower sitting in the middle.

A dance floor had been constructed and a DJ booth sat off to one side. There was a massive fire pit with bench seating, a huge grassy area with fruit trees, an olympic sized swimming pool, and a casita that was larger than my whole house.

“Champagne, Gemma?” Sergio again materialized out of nowhere and I felt my hand fly to my chest.

“I swear, if I didn’t know better I’d think you were watching me and intentionally sneaking up on me,” I laughed. I took a fresh glass and he reached forward to take my empty one.

“Not sneaking, but definitely observing. Who could blame me? You are a beautiful woman, Gemma. Mr. Davenport is a very lucky man.” He smiled and nodded his head, then turned to leave.

It took me a couple seconds to figure out what he was implying. “Oh, we’re not…” But he had already gotten lost in the crowd that had begun to form around me. Oh, well, let him think what he likes I guess. Sergio was a good-looking man. He had dark hair, green eyes and dark skin. His compliment was very kind, but it made me feel nothing more than that, no increase in my heart rate, no flush. Why was it that I only felt that something more around Baz?

I took another drink as I contemplated and looked around for Bastian. He was nowhere to be seen. He was probably still making sure everything was in place for the surprise. I glanced at the people that surrounded me. They oozed confidence and wealth, handsome men and beautiful women. The men looked distinguished, most had salt and pepper hair and were close to Mr. Davenport Sr.’s age.

Almost all of the women were younger but they looked plastic nonetheless. Who could blame them? If there was something about myself that I didn’t like, and I had the money, I’d get it fixed too. Although, I think I’d be extremely picky about who I chose as my surgeon. Some of the fixes here looked a lot better than others.

I looked at the food tables again and laughed out loud. All of the sugary treats looked divine, but who did they think would eat all of this food? The majority of these people were too worried about their appearances to indulge in any of this.

I shook my head and chastised myself. Man on the moon, was I being judgy today.

“Quiet, everyone. The car just pulled in,” the DJ announced over the microphone.

There was no chance of them hearing since the driveway was over half a mile long. A hush fell over the crowd as we all waited. I felt the hairs raise on the back of my neck and my heart hammered as a hand landed on my hip.

“There you are,” Bastian whispered in my ear. His body was hard behind my own and I leaned into his heat as I lifted my glass to my suddenly parched mouth.