Pretenders (Firsts and Forever 3)

Wes laughed at that as he put his glass down and lightly swept my hair back from my forehead. “We should probably pace ourselves. This is a marathon, not a sprint.”

“Good point.” I put my glass beside his on the side table, then rested my hands on his shoulders and whispered, “So, how was it seeing your ex after all this time?”

“Eye-opening. I really am over Jack. I thought that was the case, but until I saw him again in person, I couldn’t know for sure.”

“That makes this whole trip worth it right there.”

“The trip was already worth it,” he murmured, as he searched my eyes. “That was just a bonus.”

Just then, a man in a uniform appeared and announced brunch was served. As we got up, I whispered, “I suppose it seems normal to you that your family rented a vacation home so fancy, it actually came with a staff.”

“They had to,” he said with a smirk. “Rich people can’t do anything for themselves. Don’t you know that?”

“Themselves? Are you omitting yourself from that statement?”

“Yes I am, since I’m able to both feed myself and clean up afterwards without the assistance of a dozen people.” There was that look of amusement again.

“For a rich person, that’s quite the accomplishment,” I teased.

“Clearly.”

The long table at the far end of the main living space was formally set for twenty. Eloise was directing people to certain seats, based on some sort of archaic tradition. When she indicated where Wes should sit, I plopped down in the chair beside him, and she said, “No, Mr. Landry, you’re seated elsewhere.”

Yeah, no. I had zero interest in playing along just to please his domineering mother. I pulled up a wide-eyed look and pretended to be totally clueless as I said, “Thank you, ma’am, but I’m just fine here.” Then I picked up the water glass and took a sip from it to mark my territory.

It was so easy to upset rich people. Seriously. There wasn’t any sport in it at all.

Eloise’s composure crumbled for a moment as she stared at me in disbelief. Then she pulled up that pinched façade of hers and said, “I suppose we can make an exception. I’ll just have to adjust accordingly.”

Ash, one, mean lady, zero. I hadn’t done that out of spite, though. I’d promised to be there for Wes throughout this entire trip, and to me that meant never leaving his side.

Soon the first course was served. It was described as a chilled citrus soup. In other words, it was chunky juice. Fancy.

The conversation turned to Warren and Jack’s portrait session that morning. While they humble-bragged about their experience with the world-famous photographer, I noisily slid my chair closer to Wes, then meticulously moved every one of my nine pieces of silverware, seven pieces of china, and three glasses about four inches to the right, so they were lined up with my new location. I had to fight to keep a straight face while I did that.

I could see Eloise out of the corner of my eye, and she seemed perfectly aghast. So did a few of the older guests. Again, it was way too easy to rattle them.

After a while, Jack turned to us. He’d been seated as far from us as Eloise could manage, which had definitely been intentional. “So, Ash,” he said, “I’m sure we’re all curious. Where did you and Wesley meet?”

Wes turned to me with a glimmer of panic in his eyes. We’d never pinned down a story, but that was okay. I smiled at him as I said, “We met in a bar. He was so nervous when I approached him that he knocked over a glass of water. Right then, I knew he was someone I had to get to know.”

“Because you like klutzes?” That came from Warren. I wanted to punch him in the face.

A trill of laughter went around the table, but I ignored it as I cupped Wes’s cheek and held his gaze. In this light, and without his glasses, I could see the kaleidoscope of green and gold and brown that made up his gorgeous hazel eyes.

“What I don’t like are arrogant men who act like they can do no wrong,” I said. “When Wes knocked over that glass and didn’t try to play it off, he showed me he was so much more than just a gorgeous, brilliant, successful doctor. In that moment, I saw someone real, someone who wasn’t afraid to make mistakes. I knew immediately I had to get to know him, and wow, was that ever the right call. Wes is a treasure, and every moment we’ve spent together has been an absolute gift.” Wes stared at me in awe, and I smiled at him.

Every word of that had been the absolute truth, but his family wasn’t used to anyone actually opening up like that. A thick silence settled over us, until finally Camille said, “Tell us about you, Ash. What do you do for a living?”