Facing the Music (Rosewood 1)

Right?

Suddenly, Ivy wasn’t so sure. It was just like Lydia to plant seeds of doubt in her mind. Blake had been able to explain away her every concern, but was she just falling for his smooth-talking charm? She’d never thought Blake would cheat on her the first time, but she had been wrong. If Lydia was telling the truth now, this time it was much, much worse.

This time Ivy was the other woman and didn’t even know it.

Blake had to wait longer for punch than he’d hoped. The elderly office assistant was making up the cups like she did for the actual students without seeming to realize some of these people were in their forties and could do it themselves.

When he finally got two cups and turned around, he didn’t make it far. Person after person would greet him and start a conversation. He couldn’t get more than a few feet without being stopped again. Then he looked up and spotted Lydia talking to Ivy. Then he couldn’t move through the crowd fast enough.

He had deliberately not told Ivy, or anyone else, about Lydia’s part in the morning’s debacle. He didn’t want Ivy worrying about something like that, and keeping it quiet gave him something to pressure Lydia with later if she gave them any trouble.

He didn’t expect trouble to arrive the same day. As he got closer, Lydia turned and nearly ran into him. She looked at him with a saccharine sweetness he knew meant she was up to no good. He’d threatened her this morning. She either didn’t care what he did or she was going to find a way to get what she wanted without “crossing the line,” as he’d put it. Either way he didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her.

He had a hard time choking back his animosity as he approached Ivy. One look at her made all thoughts of Lydia vanish, however. Ivy was red-faced and her gaze was stony and focused on him, not on Lydia. What had Lydia said to make Ivy mad at him? “Are you okay? What did she say to you?” he said sharply.

Ivy frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s wrong, Blake? Worried I’ll find out that you two are secretly together and just using me for publicity? That the whole town is just using me for publicity?”

A burst of nervous laughter escaped from Blake’s lips before he could stop it. Secretly together? Publicity? What the hell had Lydia said to convince Ivy of that? “You’re kidding, right?”

“I wish I was,” Ivy said, her bottom lip trembling as she spoke. “Did you really think it would be okay to publicly be seen with me and privately date her? That isn’t fair to anyone, especially me. I thought something . . .” Her voice trailed off as she swallowed hard. “I thought something was really happening between us again.”

The smile slipped from Blake’s face. He set the punch aside and gripped Ivy’s upper arms with both hands, holding firm so she couldn’t pull away. “Lydia is just jealous and messing with your head. She and I are not dating.”

“She said that you were and sounded pretty convincing.” She shook her head sadly.

“Were,” he repeated, then let his hands drop to his sides with a sigh. “This is so embarrassing.” Blake looked over his shoulder at the crowd behind them. The number of people had easily doubled, with the dance finally getting into full swing. There was a line for getting pictures taken and a few couples were already out on the dance floor.

“I did date her, okay? We went out a couple of times. It was stupid of me, but I thought if we dated and she didn’t have a good time, she’d finally leave me alone.”

Ivy slowly shook her head, but he wasn’t sure if it was due to disbelief in his story or at how stupid he was.

“It was a huge mistake. I don’t think there’s anything I can do to turn her off. I tried, believe me. We kissed once and it was awful. I never slept with her. I wasn’t interested at all. I broke it off with her a few weeks ago, before I even knew you were coming back to town. You know how Lydia is. She’s just jealous and starting trouble, as usual.”

The expression on Ivy’s face was anything but convinced. “Blake, I—”

“And now,” Gloria announced from the stage, “it’s time to crown our prom king and queen and have their first dance. Blake Chamberlain, please come to the stage!”

Blake groaned. Not now. They needed to finish this discussion.

“Go,” Ivy said. “I’ll be right behind you.”

Blake hated to walk away when Ivy had that look on her face, but there wasn’t much else he could do. The spotlight found him in the crowd, so he made his way to the stage.

The attendees applauded as he was given his crown and scepter. It seemed like an odd exercise, considering this wasn’t something anyone had voted for. When they were finished, he stepped to the side and waited for Ivy.

“And our prom queen tonight is Ivy Hudson!”

The spotlight found her at the back of the crowd, following her up the stairs to the stage. They pinned on her tiara and gave her a small bouquet of roses “courtesy of Petal Pushers Florist.”

Ivy stood beside him as the crowd cheered. It was a little surreal to be up here with her again. The first time, they’d been ecstatic to have won. He’d been pumped to be there with Ivy and more than a little nervous to think that tonight was the night. Now, things were different. There was just the blossoming of romance between them. But even so, they once again had Lydia interfering with their happiness.

“And now, our prom king and queen are going to have their spotlight dance.”

Ivy put her flowers down on the table as Blake helped her down the stairs to the center of the dance floor.

The first haunting notes of Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” started. Blake supposed it could be

worse. They moved together to the music, slowly rocking back and forth as the occasional lights flashed around them. No press were allowed at the dance, but of course most people had their phones and were taking pictures of their own. This was probably the first prom where the queen looked pissed at the king.