Promise Me

“Law school.”

Becca shivers like the very idea chills her to the bone. “Sounds awful.”

Kendall tenses and wiggles out of my hold. Rather than reply to Becca she turns to me. “I’m going to grab some water.” Then she offers a perfunctory, “Nice to meet you,” to Becca and walks away.

“Same,” Becca calls to Kendall’s retreating back before her attention jumps back to me. “Congratulations,” she says quietly. “I hear you’re now on the short list for America Rocks.”

All I really want to do is shake her off and follow Kendall, but she can and will disrupt a party just to get attention, and I don’t want to inflict her on everyone. “Thanks. How’d you hear?”

“Not from you, my so-called friend. You’re a freaking vault.” She slaps my chest a little too hard to be playful. “A little bird told me, and your dad confirmed when I called to find out about your birthday plans.”

That explains a lot. Naturally my father would take it upon himself to invite Becca to my party. He’s the one who introduced us several years ago because, in his words, “She’s photogenic and she has a fan base, but she won’t overshadow you.” Touching, right? “Tell the little bird to be quiet. The producers will make an announcement once they’ve reached a decision.”

Her shrug promises nothing. “Well, you know how little birds are. Is that Molly?” she asks, nodding to my agent’s assistant.

“Yeah. Go say hi. Tell her about New York.”

“I will.” She takes a step in her direction and speaks over her shoulder. “After everyone leaves, I’ll deliver your birthday present. Upstairs?”

I want to permanently pass on the present, but saying so right here, right now, is no way to finesse this situation, so I give her a noncommittal smile. “Not this year. Have fun in Milan.”

She pulls a face, and for a second her eyes look anguished before she blinks, and I wonder if I’m seeing things. “I will.” Then she makes a beeline toward Molly without a backward glance.

I scan the deck for Kendall. She’s standing near the cooler with a bottle of water in her hand, looking out over the patio, but she senses my stare and glances at me. She packs a lot of messages into one simple glance. Messages like, What the hell am I doing here? And, What the hell is she doing here? And, I want you, but I wish I didn’t.

I shove my hands into my pockets and send her a silent request for forgiveness. I’m suddenly ashamed I have someone like Becca in my past. Someone I used and let use me because it was easy—at first—and convenient, and I didn’t want to make waves. It occurs to me I go to great lengths not to make waves. Be charming. Never let it seem like anything gets to me. I don’t know Kendall well yet, but I know she’s not like that. She’s not putting on an act, and she has no ulterior motives. If she’s with someone it’s because she wants to be with him. Right now, today, she wants to be with me. That makes me special—and all the more determined not to mess up.

“You want me to get r

id of her?” Dylan stands beside me, speaking low. He looks toward Becca.

Right. As if that would go well. “Thanks, but no. As soon as she works the party and realizes there’s nobody particularly useful to her, she’ll leave.”

“Your call, man. It’s your birthday. Get yourself a plate.”

“In a sec.”

He nods and wanders to the long table at the far end of the patio where the food is set out buffet-style. The pool lights click on, as well as the landscape lights around the area. They put a soft glow on everyone. The music doesn’t quite drown out the hum of conversation. It’s relaxed. I take a long, deep breath and will myself to do the same. Then I head toward the girl taking up space in my head I didn’t know was available…until her. Manners force me to stop and be social when all I really want is to grab Kendall and take up where we left off in my office. Eventually I make it across the deck to stand beside her. She looks up at me and opens her mouth to speak.

“How do you take your burger?” I ask quickly because I’m almost certain by her expression she’s about to tell me she has to go.

“I’m not really hungry.” She twists the cap on her water bottle open, then closed. “Thanks for inviting me, but I should probably—”

“Stay and eat,” I interject, cutting her off. “Or at least keep me company? Come on, I’m starving. I take her hand, but she doesn’t move.

Instead she faces me, and I hear her next words before she even opens her mouth.

“Did you invite her?”

“No.”

“So…” She pulls her mouth into what she probably thinks is an impassive line, but all it does is make me want to kiss her lips until they soften and open under mine. “You have a surprise guest. I’m sure she’d like to spend time with you and…catch up or whatever.”

“There’s no whatever,” I correct, and take her hand to lead her down the patio and around the side of the house where we can talk privately.

“Vaughn—”

“Shh.” Once we turn the corner, I let her go. She leans against the wall and gazes up at me. “Look, I’m not going to lie. Becca and I have hooked up, but that’s in the past. We’ve been friends for a long time, too, and that’s not going to work anymore, either.” I brace my hands on either side of her head and look her in the eyes.