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Remy helped me out of the car again and stared down at me. “Brat.”
I put on a sweet smile and lowered my voice. “It’s not like you’re going to do anything about it. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of you in days, not in any real way.”
Boone got out behind us and grunted. “Get a move on, Remy.”
The group of people taking photos was smaller and no one screamed at the guys. It was much calmer. The hotel was a much newer building and walking through the entry felt a little like being in a hospital. It was stark. The ballroom was much less of a ballroom and more of a white box that’d been decorated with black accents. Instead of the candles from my first charity event, there was uplighting around the room and centered on the DJ.
I looked at the guests already milling around the large room and at the four of us. Everyone matched. I must’ve made a face because Boone laughed when he looked at me.
“Does it not pass the Memphis inspection?” He scanned the room and shrugged. “Feels fine to me.”
“You work in a sterile environment. Of course it feels fine to you.” I slapped my hand over my mouth and looked around, hoping no one else had heard me.
They all laughed at me and didn’t seem to care that I’d just insulted whoever had taken their time to decorate. I was a guest and I needed to remember that whatever I did reflected on them. That put a stiffness in my spine that hadn’t been there before.
Remy pressed his hand to my back and led me to our table. “It looks like we’re sharing a table with Frank and Presley. If he traps me in a conversation about business, save me.”
I looked ahead and saw that the woman I was supposed to have gone to Yale with was sitting with her husband, staring right at me. My mood slipped into something even darker as my fraud was put right in my face. I wanted to tug up the neckline of my dress and wipe off my red lipstick. While I hadn’t felt cheap looking at myself earlier, I suddenly felt every bit the trash I was.
Presley’s eyes moved over me and a small smile lifted her mouth. “I was hoping I’d see you again, Memphis.”
I smiled back at her as Remy held out my chair for me. “Oh, yeah?”
Wells settled on one side of me and rested his arm along the back of my chair. I could feel tension radiating off of him, but when I glanced his way, he still seemed clear-eyed. Remy sat on my other side and Boone frowned at him before sitting next to Wells.
“Yeah! I couldn’t get it out of my head that we were in the same program at the same time. It was driving me crazy.” She rested her hand on her husband’s arm and smiled up at him. “Frank can tell you that once I have a thought, I have to trace it all the way back to the source.”
“Like a dog with a bone.” Laughing, Frank leaned over to say something to Remy.
I trembled in my chair, unable to prepare myself for what was coming. Holding Presley’s gaze, I nodded at her. If she was going to do it, she might as well just do it. I’d been a fool to think I could ever pass as anything other than myself, anyway.
“I reached out to one of the professors I still talk to and she had nothing but great things to say about you.” She didn’t react to the shock on my face. “She mentioned a class you took and it triggered my memory, I guess. I can’t believe I didn’t connect the dots immediately, but I remember you now. You weren’t kidding when you said you kept to yourself.”
I couldn’t understand why she was covering for me and I needed to. “Can we talk more while you show me to the ladies room?”
“Of course!” She kissed her husband and gracefully stood up. “I love a girl’s trip to the bathroom. There’s never anyone here I’d want to go with, so I’m excited that you’re showing up at these things.”
Remy helped me out of my seat and trailed his fingers down the back of my arm as I moved away. “Try to be good.”
I shot him a dirty look before Presley took my arm and pulled me away. We were both silent as we left the main room and went down a long hallway to get to a bathroom that was out of the way. I felt like she was going to turn around and bite my head off at any moment, so I was surprised when she pulled me into the bathroom and smiled.
“A word of warning? Never go to the bathrooms designated for these events unless you want your business being discussed all over town.” She pulled out a vape and took a long pull from it. “I’m sorry I scared you. I tried to get your number so I could talk to you and let you know that your secret’s safe with me, but you’re a better kept secret than Diana Fines’ face lift.”
I shook my head when she held the vape out to me. “I can explain. Sort of.”
She rolled her eyes. “In this circle, everyone is lying about something, baby. Your business isyourbusiness. I don’t give a shit. Plus, I’m pretty sure the Hawke brothers are smart enough to figure shit out on their own. If they don’t know the truth, it’s because they aren’t interested in it.”
I braced myself on the counter and stared at her through the mirror. “I was sure you were going to expose me.”
“I’ve got better things to do.” She put her vape away and pulled out a piece of gum. “Plus, I’m currently hiding like four things from Frank. One of them being that I’m smoking again. We women have to stick together. Or at least not tattle like little kids. And I like your accent. Frank and I sometimes invite a third over for a night, if you’re interested.”
I giggled like an idiot and shook my head. “Thank you, but I’ll have to pass. My dance card is full right now.”
She shrugged. “That’s too bad.”
42.
***Remington***
