Page 27 of Hired Husband

“Right.” I offered him a polite smile. “That explains it. I, uh, if you’ll excuse me, I’m having some trouble keeping all the new names and faces straight. Have we met before?”

“Oh.” He flicked his hand dismissively. “No, I was with Basel earlier and he was telling me all about the new structural engineer he hired.”

“Ah.”

David grinned. “My family is in the oil game. We’ve been crossing paths with GlobalStar for years. Basel’s almost like a second father to me.”

“That’s great,” I said, shifting my weight from one foot to the other as I glanced around the room. “Hey, that must mean you know his daughter, too. Jasmine. Have you seen her around?”

He blinked a few times. “I do know her. Everyone does, but no, I actually haven’t seen her tonight. Why?”

“We came here together, but I’ve lost her.” I shook my head, grinning as I looked back at him, but it quickly faded when I caught the tail end of a scowl flickering across his features.

It was gone almost instantly, but unless it was just my booze-soaked mind conjuring up hallucinations, his smile was suddenly much thinner. “You came here with Jasmine?”

“Uh, yeah. She disappeared while I was talking to Basel and some of his friends, but I should probably go find her. It was nice meeting you.”

He nodded, but as I started turning, he suddenly spoke again. “I know who you are, you know. Isaac Thayer.”

The emphasis he’d put on my last name made me frown as I twisted back to face him. “Okay, David Maher.”

That strangely thin smile cooled. “I’ve heard quite a lot about your family. I know you’ve recently had a few very difficult years.”

“Yeah, but we’re doing okay now,” I said, not missing the edge in his tone. I’d had to deal with this kind of thing plenty of times in the past. While I wasn’t sure why he’d suddenly turned into a dick, I wasn’t about to let it get to me. “Well, like I said, I should go find⁠—”

“Jasmine,” he finished for me. “Yes, I suppose you should. It was kind of her, bringing a charity case such as yourself to an event as prestigious as this.”

“Excuse me?” I scoffed. “Basel invited me.”

“Oh, I’m sure. He does seem to be enjoying taking advantage of your family’s misfortune. I simply didn’t realize Jasmine was so generous as well.”

Aaaaand I’ve had enough.

“You have a good night, David.” I refused to take the bait or to stoop to his level. I was tipsy, overstimulated, and frankly, very much over being treated like a second-class citizen. The last thing I was going to do was cause a scene that would almost certainly come back to bite me in the ass. “I’ll see you around.”

Spinning away from him, I strode toward the first open door I could see, not really sure where I was going, but I needed some fresh air—and a place with a general lack of David in the vicinity.

Thankfully, the door I’d chosen led me to both. I walked out into quiet gardens that seemed to wrap around the museum. Glowing lanterns lit up paths between towering trees and trimmed hedges. I followed the path that seemed to offer the most direct route away from the building itself, sliding my hands into my pockets as I put David and his judgment behind me.

I’d known I was going to come up against someone like him at an event like this. It had become inevitable over the last few years. Now I just have to let it go.

If only he’d known how many times I’d had to rise above petty comments just like those, perhaps he wouldn’t have bothered. The truth was that I’d long since gotten over feeling anything at all when all that bullshit about my father came up.

He was serving his time and my family was recovering. The future was what I cared about. The past was in the past and I intended on making it stay there.

Eventually, I found myself on a path overlooking the city, a low wall separating the museum grounds from a winding road along the side of a hilltop on this side of the property. Relief washed over me, releasing some of the tension I’d been carrying.

As I rounded another corner, I heard the sounds of soft splashing, and when I looked up, I saw Jasmine sitting on the low stone wall beside a fountain. One of her heels dangled idly from her foot, her gaze fixed on the illuminated gardens and the city beyond.

“If I’d known we could opt out of the party, I would have snuck out here hours ago,” I said, smiling as I approached her. “I thought you were going to come find me again.”

She glanced up, those dark eyes sweeping over me just once before she laughed. “Oh, no. You’re drunk.”

“I’m not.” I frowned deeply, wobbling the last few steps before half collapsing, half sitting down beside her on the wall. “I was just conducting business with your father.”

“Right, so you’re drunk,” she said, chuckling as she held my gaze. “Yeah. I should’ve probably warned you about the way the Egyptians drink while conducting business.”

“So that is what we were doing?” I laughed. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure. They toasted to everything, Jasmine. Like, everything.”