eyes going to the dress. “Who sent me the invitation and dress?”
I heard her laugh. “I have no idea.”
“Liar.”
“I know you and Chase have some stuff to work out. I get it. You guys have history together, and there is nothing that is going to make that go away, but I think you owe it to yourself to work through this with him. Please?”
“I just don’t think this is the right time. Things are still kind of raw.”
“I know. I get it, but trust me. You want to come tonight.”
That sounded intriguing. “Why? What do you know?”
“Nothing. Just come. You won’t regret it.”
“I don’t know,” I groaned. “I would have to drive over there and get a room.”
“You can stay at the resort,” she said.
“I think Chase might have something to say about that.”
“I’ll tell Parker you are going to be staying in your old room tonight.”
“You are very persistent.”
She laughed. “You know I am. Hurry up and get your ass here. We have not partied together on New Year’s in a long time. It will be just like old times.”
“I’ll think about it. I have a lot to do tomorrow and I don’t want to be hungover.”
“What else are you going to do?”
“Sit in my apartment, drink champagne, and be in bed by ten. I’ll watch the ball drop on live TV and ring in the New Year with the east coast.”
“Boring,” she said with a yawn.
“Responsible,” I shot back.
“Take a deep breath and pack up your dress and makeup. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said and hung up.
The dress was awesome. There was nothing that said I couldn’t put the thing on and hang out at home alone while wearing it. It wasn’t like anyone would see me. A new year was supposed to be a fresh start. It was the clean slate I was looking for. Ringing in the new year with Chase would stain that clean slate. It was better that I stayed away.
Let him party with his rich, influential friends. They were who he really wanted to be with. Not me. I was his past. He thought he wanted that familiarity, but I knew it was a passing fancy. I could never compete with women like Tawny. She was more his speed.
“Happy New Year,” I said with a sigh and walked out of the bedroom again.
If I saw him now, I would lose the days I had under my belt. It would be like quitting a bad habit for a week and then picking it back up. I didn’t want to start my count over.
Chapter 70
Chase
I had butterflies in my stomach. Everything came down to this night. I felt the energy in the air. I knew my future depended on what happened in the next six hours. I checked my watch, speed walking across the lobby of the resort and heading for the ballroom. I walked in and took a deep breath. It was all coming together.
“Hey,” one of the members of the event team said when she noticed me.
“Hi. How’s it going? It looks like we might need more stars.”
She burst into laughter and pointed to a box. “I don’t think there are any paper stars left in Colorado. We still have that box to hang.”
“Good, good. This looks perfect. I love it. What about the lights?”
“George is working on those. He’s been hanging them all day.”
I walked around, looking up at the ceiling that looked much lower than it actually was due to the number of stars and paper lanterns hanging down. They were hanging at different heights, creating the look of a sky. It was all coming together. I had been terrified it was going to look tacky. It probably did look a little tacky, but it looked exactly like it did at our prom.
“Oh lord,” I heard Cori groan.
I turned around to see her coming in. “You like it?” I asked with a laugh.
“It’s just about the tackiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“That’s the look I was going for.”
“Congratulations, you’ve succeeded. I’m so glad no one else is coming. This would be embarrassing.”
“You don’t think I should include this in the brochure?” I teased.
“Lord no,” she groaned. “I’m almost embarrassed to be here.”
“Do you think I should have done something else? This was stupid, huh? I should have given her something better.”
“It is perfect, and you know it. You said you wanted to go back in time. You’ve done it. You don’t need a time