“Do you have the combination to Mom’s jewelry box? I want to wear her sapphire necklace that she bought at Tiffany’s that Christmas.”
“I’ll unlock it for you.” I wasn’t going to tell her to call Mom. There was a good chance Mom would say no, and then Nan would break down, and I would have to clean that mess up, too.
Nan grinned. “Thank you! I’m going to wear one of the Marc Jacobs dresses, and that necklace will go perfectly. I think she bought those earrings that go so well with them, too. Or she borrowed them.” Nan waved a hand as if it didn’t matter. “No biggie. The necklace will go with the diamond teardrops.”
I left her prattling about jewelry, took the bags to Mom’s room, and dropped them on the bed. I had several tuxes here; I would just pick one. What I was wearing wasn’t an issue. But I needed to talk to Blaire first. Let her know where I would be tonight.
It turned out she’d be working. My calls had gone straight to her voice mail, which meant her phone had been off or dead, which wasn’t surprising, knowing Blaire and the importance she put on having a cell phone. When I had called the club, I had gotten Woods on the phone. He’d informed me that Blaire was busy. They were slammed getting ready for tonight. Then he’d told me Blaire would be working and warned me that if Nan said one thing to Blaire, he would have her escorted out. Then he’d hung up on me.
Fucker.
I was arriving at the club in a tux and with my sister on my arm, dressed like a princess. Dealing with the fact that Blaire would be serving tonight while I stood there dressed like this, highlighting our differences, was screwing with my head. I f**king hated this. I wanted Blaire in a dress that I’d paid a ridiculous amount of money for and smiling with excitement. I wanted the world to see that she was mine. That she was with me. But tonight was about my sister. If I could just get through it, then I would never be in this position again. Blaire would never serve at another event that I was attending. She’d be on my f**king arm, where she belonged.
“Remember what I said about Blaire. You do not speak to her unless you are going to say something nice. Woods will have you escorted out, and I will help him. Do you get me? I’m not blowing smoke, Nan.”
Nan nodded stiffly. “I won’t say a thing to her. I swear. Now, could you please stop making this about her and let me enjoy my night? You haven’t even said anything about the way I look.”
She was beautiful, but she was always beautiful. Nan had an elegant beauty that was impossible to hide. “You look gorgeous. No one will compare,” I assured her.
She beamed at me, and I felt guilty for not thinking about the fact that I hadn’t mentioned how she looked earlier. I had been so focused on Blaire that I hadn’t thought about it. Nan needed me tonight. I had to think about her. For a few hours. This was for Nan. “Thank you,” she said, smiling like the princess she knew she was.
“Let’s go,” I said, holding out my elbow for her to take. We walked up to the entrance, and a man in a tux smiled at us and nodded. He announced our names as we stepped into the room. All eyes turned to us. This was Nan’s moment. She wanted to blow the other girls out of the water on first impression, and she did. I had no doubt.
When Nan saw one of her friends, she squeezed my arm and went to join her. If only that was it. I had three more hours of this shit.
“You spoke to her?” Woods said, stopping beside me.
I nodded. “She’ll be on her best behavior. If she says one thing, I will help you escort her out. She knows that.”
Woods looked over the room and nodded. He started to leave but stopped and fidgeted with his cuff links before looking at me. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” he said simply, then walked off to greet some of the older members standing nearby. Woods was here as a host tonight. He wasn’t with anyone.
I didn’t let his words bother me. He was bitter, because I had been the one Blaire chose. I wouldn’t let his comments get to me. I had to prepare myself to see Blaire working. Serving these pompous ass**les and their spoiled daughters.
I made my way over to the farthest wall and hoped I wouldn’t have to talk to too many of these people. Several stopped and spoke to me, and I nodded, forcing a smile. Glancing at my phone, I realized I had two hours and forty- five minutes left.
Then I saw her. She walked into the room, holding champagne flutes and with a smile on her face. The entire room seemed to light up with her presence. The members either ignored her and took a drink or spoke to her with a friendly smile. I realized most of the older golfers wanted to speak to her. She was popular with them, no doubt. Their wives even smiled fondly at her.
Once she was finished circling the room, she left, and I felt lost. She hadn’t seen me, nor had she seemed to be looking for me. I had hoped she would scan the crowd for me. But she hadn’t. Not once. Did she not want to see me? Did she think I didn’t want to see her? Fuck . . . did she not know I was here? Would seeing me with Nan be a surprise? Hadn’t Woods told her I’d be here?
Before I could get too worked up, Blaire walked back into the room, carrying a tray of martinis this time. She made another round. When she finally turned and her eyes met mine, I felt like my breath left me. A small smile touched her lips, and I fought the urge to take the damn tray out of her hands and shove it at the people reaching for drinks. I forced a smile I didn’t feel, and then someone spoke to her, and she turned to smile at them. She didn’t look back my way again before she left the room.
“Rush,” Nan called. I saw her motioning me over to where she was standing. She was with the Drummonds and their daughter, Paris. Nan and Paris had gone to boarding school together. I was sure that at some point, I had made out with Paris when she had been at our house. I wasn’t sure we had actually had sex. She’d still been seventeen, and I didn’t mess with the illegal ones.
Nan grabbed my arm as I approached and reintroduced me to people I had already met. I nodded and listened to Nan and Paris talk about their last skiing trip together. When Nan tensed beside me, I turned to look at the door, knowing Blaire must have entered the room. Bethy was talking to Blaire, but Bethy wasn’t working. She was dressed up. Confused, I watched as Jace stepped from a crowd to join Bethy.
He’d brought Bethy as his date.
I hadn’t expected that. He was making a statement that she was more than a f**k for him. The smile on Blaire’s face didn’t surprise me. She was never jealous. She was happy for people. Bethy was here as a guest because Jace had brought her, but Blaire was serving people, while I stood in a f**king tux.
Did she think I didn’t want to acknowledge her as anything more than just a f**k? My stomach felt sick. She had to know the truth. Blaire never looked my way, but she knew I was watching her. The tense set of her shoulders told me she was ignoring me. Shit. Motherfucker.
She was reading the wrong thing into this. I hadn’t wanted to come. I was here to escort my sister. I wasn’t not acknowledging her. I was protecting her from Nan, but I wouldn’t keep doing that if it meant I was hurting Blaire.
“Isn’t that right, Rush?” Nan said, her overly bright voice sounding too high-pitched. She was pissed. She didn’t want me watching Blaire, and that made me angry. I was here with Nan like she wanted. I was pretty sure she was wearing about ten grand’s worth of clothing and accessories I had paid for, not counting our mother’s necklace. And she was going to control whom I watched and spoke to? Fuck, no. She wasn’t.
“Excuse me,” I said, meaning to walk away, but Nan’s nails dug into my arm.
“I was just saying that Mom and Abe should be home soon from Paris. They can’t honeymoon forever,” she said with a fake smile.