believe her. I was just worried she was starting rumors that you don’t need to deal with. And I am relieved that you didn’t sleep with Gabe.” I said laughing to lighten the mood. “I know you run a professional business Harper. I just don’t like people talking about you like that. You know?”
She threw her arm around my shoulder effectively dismissing her change of moods. “I know. Let’s go mingle! I saw Maryanne over by the food table and I haven’t seen her in ages.”
As we made our way over to the buffet line, out of the corner of my eye I saw the banquet door open and in walked Finley and Kyler. Oh my god! I froze in place, causing Harper to run into the back of me.
“What the hell Emilyn. Why’d you stop walking?”
I had no words. For the second time in less than twenty-four hours I was speechless. Finn stood tall in a pair of black slacks and black shoes. He wore a crisp white button up shirt that he’d teamed with a black tie, and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up his forearms. His tattoos were showing and his hair was swept to the side in a sexy mess. My heart thundered and my breathing was rapid. Why did this man cause me to have this reaction? That was a question that I didn’t want to address at that moment… if ever.
I noticed he was scanning the room, and he stopped when his eyes landed on me. He gave me a slight head nod and the side of his mouth tipped up in a smirk. As he kept those mesmerizing eyes on me I was rooted in place, completely frozen. How in the hell did he still have the power to make a room disappear, and my insides feel like mush. This was not the reaction a married woman should have for another man; let alone the man that had left me weeping in the high school parking lot. That thought gave me the courage to turn away from his penetrating gaze. I couldn’t do this to myself. My feelings for Finn were buried years ago and if I allowed myself to feel even a fraction of them now, it would be like putting a crack in the Hoover Dam. All it would take was a small fracture, before little seeping feelings turned into a full blown out-pouring. And now was not the time, or place, to be addressing those feelings.
I turned my attention back to Harper. “Sorry, let’s get our food and go sit down. Can we catch up with Maryanne in a bit? I’m starving?”
“Yeah… sure.” She didn’t seem to believe me, and when her eyes followed to where I had been looking moments previously, I saw her shake her head and mumble something like ‘dickwad’ under her breath. I didn’t want to get her riled up again, so I chose to ignore it.
The buffet had a wide array of food to choose from. It all looked great, but seeing Finn had given me nervous butterflies, and I wasn’t sure I could eat much. But I’d just told Harper I was hungry so I loaded up my plate with a couple of dinner rolls, a slice of prime rib, green beans, and mashed potatoes.
We made our way back to our table and sat down. I picked at my dinner roll, hoping it would settle my stomach but it was no use. Between knowing Finn was in the room and getting over my hangover, I couldn’t eat anything on my plate.
Harper noticed I wasn’t eating and asked if I was feeling okay. I wasn’t sure how to answer, so I told her I was fine and said I was still hung over from the previous night.
“Yeah, probably a good idea to stay away from the booze tonight hon. We don’t want to be carrying you out again. That would just give the triplet bitches ammo to talk.”
“Definitely no alcohol for me tonight, I’m sticking with the sparkling water.” I nodded in agreement.
A few more minutes passed without event. I refused to look up and scan the room for the one person that I knew was here and was watching me. I knew this because I felt the prickling sensations on my neck.
Harper and I were approached by a few classmates that we had been friendly with in school but who were never part of the crowd we spent most of our time