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“So, Reagan, I see you arrived with Everett Brooks,” Mr. Hicks says from the other side of his wife. “I didn’t realize you two knew each other that well.”
“Terry!” Amelia scolds him.
I smile at Amelia and shake my head. “It’s fine, Amelia, really.” Terry Hicks isn’t the kind to think before he speaks, no matter who he’s talking to.
A tapping on the microphone grabs everyone’s attention and the chatter comes to a stop, giving me a small reprieve from having to talk to Terry about my personal life.
The main speaker starts off the night by thanking everyone for coming out and for donating, then goes on to cover the details of the auction. Just then the sound of a door closing echoes around the large room. The speaker is cut short, and everyone turns to see who’s walked in.
What is she doing here?
I look over at Terry Hicks, but I get nothing back, he just ignores me. Margie teeters down the walkway in her high heels and short tight-fitting dress and takes the empty seat at our table. I smile at Margie, then turn back to listen to the speaker.
Once the auction is over, Terry goes in for the kill. “So, Reagan, Everett Brooks? What’s the story?”I’d so hoped he’d forgotten the whole subject.
I take a sip of champagne, giving myself time to think, and look at Margie, but she’s too busy taking in the ambiance around her to take any notice of us.
“No story,” I answer Terry. “We’re just friends who shared a limo.” As much as I would have loved to tell him we were more than that, I wasn’t sure how he’d take that.
“I’m not sure I like the thought of my CEO being friends with major competition. I’ve heard around that it’s a little more than just friends sharing a limo.”
“Really, I have no idea where you could’ve heard that. And anyway, you were the one who introduced us. Besides, you and Everett go way back, and he’s helped you out more than once in the past. Why shouldn’t we be friends?”I tried to answer with a minimum amount of spite in my voice, but it was a little hard. No one ever said you couldn’t have any sort of relationship with a person from an opposing company, you just couldn’t fraternize with staff from the one you worked with.
Margie had finally stopped looking around and her eyes are on me as now she takes small sips of her champagne. I’m beginning to think that I know where Terry Hicks got his information. But why would she do that to me?
Her gaze moves around the room again, until they finally land on Everett and her eyes widen. The casual observer wouldn’t be able to tell, but I could. There’s a slight sparkle in the depths of her dull brown eyes, and a barely there smile, grazes her lips as her gaze falls back on me.
Grinding my teeth, I shift my gaze away from Margie and whatever game she’s playing to return to my conversation with Terry.
“So, Mr. Hicks, am I allowed to ask where this information came from?”
“Just something I heard through the old corporate grapevine.” He forces a smile my way. “And you’re right, Everett and I do go way back, but this is business—my business—and I’d prefer my chief executive not fall into the trap of Everett Brooks and his charms, shall we say.”
“I’m sure,” I reply in a sarcastic tone, forcing a polite smile back. For some reason, I look at Margie again. She’s watching me a little too closely. Feeling a little more than uneasy, I grabbed my purse and stand. “If you’ll all excuse me for a few moments.” I turn away from what felt like the firing squad and headed to the ladies room.
I shove the restroom door open, the door crashing off the wall before shutting behind me. I spend a minute or two standing at the sink and just look at myself in the mirror. The diamonds in my necklace twinkle, putting a smile back on my face.
I’m washing my hands when the restroom door opens. I don’t take much notice until I look up and saw Everett walking toward me. “What are you doing in here?” I ask with playfully narrowed eyes.
“I came to see you. You looked irritated when you walked out. Plus, I couldn’t wait to get my greedy hands on this delectable fucking body of yours.” His palms rest on my hips. My breath hitches, just at his touch. “I’ve been watching you, salivating, wondering when I could touch you.”
“It seems everyone is watching me these days.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing. Ignore me.”
He tugs me closer until the hardness of his length is against my back.
“Everett, not here,” I gasp. “Mr. Hicks is already asking questions about you and me.”
“It’s none of his business,” he says into my neck, his lips finally settling behind my ear.
“You tell him that.”
“My pleasure. Why were you irritated?”
“He kept asking questions about how close we were and said that he’d heard through the grapevine that we were more than friends.”
