AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I can't tell you how many stories she tells about him at school," Pete said. "She recently wrote an essay about wanting to teach them how to skate."
Ruby laughed. "Figure skate, right? Not hockey?"
He nodded. "Yes, figure skating." His brows drew together in question. "Would Bo be all right if Buck became a figure skater?"
"I won't deny that Bo would much prefer Buck to become a hockey player, but that's only because it was his passion. But I also know that whatever Buck decides he wants to become, Bo and I will support him one hundred percent."
I was really a terrible friend because all this happy talk was only pulling me into a darker pit. I rose abruptly, nearly knocking my chair over. Pete reached out to grab and right it. They both looked at me wide-eyed.
"I'm sorry. I just really need to go to the restroom." I grabbed my clutch bag and hurried out of the ballroom into the open area of the lodge overlooking the desert of Las Vegas. Pete was right in that it was designed for people with wealth. It had been built in the 1800s during the silver mining days by a rich mine owner.
More recently, my boss bought it and refurbished all the systems while maintaining the essence and opulence of the era in which it was built. I think he came here by himself for a time and only recently had started opening it up for corporate groups and weddings with a price tag that only the rich and famous could afford.
I made my way to the powder room, locking the door behind me. I sat on the toilet to do my business when my phone rang. I opened my purse to see who was calling. I suppose it was sort of disgusting to answer the phone while sitting on the potty, but I'd had enough champagne to not really care. Besides, the caller ID said it was likely spam, so I poked the dismiss button, popped the phone back into my clutch, and snapped it shut.
When I finished my business, I stood pulling up my panties, glad that I had decided to wear stockings instead of nylons. I was one of those women who liked to wear pretty lingerie, even though no one was ever going to see it. It made me feel pretty and sexy, although recently, knowing I had nobody in my life who was going to see it, I'd started to feel sad and pathetic.
I pushed the skirt of my dress down, but I’d accidentally closed some of it in the clasp of my purse. I jerked it loose in frustration and then went to the counter to wash my hands. I avoided looking at myself in the mirror because I didn't like seeing the pitiful person staring back.
I exited the bathroom, but as I stepped outside, something didn't feel right.
I looked down to the source and discovered a tear in the seam of my dress along the upper part of my thigh.
"Goddammit." It was a metaphor, I decided, showing how my life was unraveling.
"Is something wrong?"
I jerked my head up to find my boss, Todd, looking at me in concern. I let out a breath, leaning against the wall. Just what I needed, my boss finding me tipsy with a rip in my dress. Not a good look. "I got my dress caught on something and now it's ripped."
He looked down to where my hand clutched the seam to keep it closed, but it was long enough that my leg was still exposed.
He made a strange sound and shifted.
"And of course, I don't have a sewing kit on me. But I can't walk back in there with my dress about to rip apart."
I wondered if he’d be willing to get Ruby or Analyn to help me.
"Here, come with me."
I followed him down the hall and into a library because why not? Maybe he had a sewing kit.
We entered the library and he shut the door behind me. For a moment, I thought I was about to get sacked. It seemed like it was on par for the night.
Instead, he removed his boutonniere from his lapel and kneeled down next to me.
"What are you doing?" Perhaps I should have been concerned that my boss had just closed me into a room and was now kneeling in front of me, but honestly, I was mostly curious.
Todd was such an enigma to me.
When I’d gone for the interview, he wasn’t what I’d expected based on what Naomi said. First, she said he was close to fifty, and while that might have been true, he didn’t look middle-aged. Sure, he had some salt-and-pepper in his dark hair, but my first impression had beenwow, he’s sexy in that distinguished gentleman sort of way.
Naomi had also indicated that he was driven and passionate, and while his ideas could be crazy, his success suggested they worked. During my interview, he was professional and friendly, but I didn’t see drive and passion. In fact, once I was hired, I hardly ever saw him.
So now, I was curious about the man who was my absentee boss who was now holding up a pin from a boutonniere while on his knees.
"I figured I'd pin the seams together until we could find a sewing kit,” he replied.
Oh. Right. That made sense.
