Fall From Grace

“No one wants to see me drink too much champagne.”

He chuckles. “Sorry if my conversations were boring you.”

“Owen, your conversations have bored me since we were kids. Why would tonight be any different?”

He smacks me upside the head. “You’ve been doing a horrible job acting as a distraction for me.”

I take a large sip of my martini and smile. “I never agreed to that. You know I only came for the food. Can’t let a five-thousand-dollar plate go to waste.”

“I should charge you for…” He trails off as he looks at someone across the room. “What the fuck is she doing here?”

I look over to where my brother is looking and see a gorgeous platinum-blonde woman walking in with her arm hooked onto a man who looks to be about ten years her senior. She is wearing a bold red lip with her hair in soft waves like an old Hollywood starlet. She has a beautiful silver gown with a slit almost up to her hip bone showing off her long tan legs.

“Shit,” Owen mutters. “Shit.”

“What is it?”

He starts looking around and I look back at the woman. Something about her seems familiar and then I see the large diamond on her finger and it all clicks. This is Tiffany. Faye told me how Carson didn’t know she was engaged. And from Owen’s reaction he had no idea she would be here tonight.

I excuse myself from Owen, setting my drink down on a table and go looking for Carson in the last place I saw him. He is walking back toward the main event area talking to the same man as before. I sigh in relief knowing he hasn’t seen Tiffany. But then a swath of silver fabric flashes across from me and I see her walking right toward him.

He notices her at the same time I do. He stumbles as he walks, stopping in his tracks when he sees her. The man he is with walks away and I try to get to him as quick as possible, no idea what Tiffany may do.

Luckily, she stops at the bar to grab a drink and I think I can make it to him on time to distract him but then he changes direction and approaches her.

I can’t hear them but their smiles quickly turn into an argument, especially when he looks down and sees the diamond on her finger. Faye wasn’t lying, it is the size of an eyeball. How the hell she is able to lift her drink to her lips is beyond me.

Before their argument can get any louder, I slide my arm around Carson’s waist. My brother is probably going to murder me but I can’t let Carson feel the way I know he is feeling. “Hey, baby, who is this?”

Carson looks down at me, startled, his blue eyes piercing into me but then he relaxes as I slide my other arm up his chest. He leans down and presses a kiss to my forehead and I really hope Owen didn’t just see that.

“This is my ex.”

“Who are you?” she snaps at me.

“Oh, I’m his girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” she asks like she doesn’t believe me.

“Mmhmm.”

She looks up at Carson. “I thought you were still pining over me.”

What a bitch. Now I know she is definitely flaunting that ring in front of him on purpose.

“Tiff, I don’t know where you heard that but it’s not true,” he says.

I scoot in closer to him. “I remember hearing about you. The crazy ex. Well, sweetheart, he is head over heels in love with me. In fact, we were just talking about moving in together the other night.”

She raises a perfectly shaped eyebrow at me. “Oh really? Into the house I lived in?”

“I love that house. Too bad you didn’t see its potential. Ugh it was so bland when we started dating, all muted tones of white and cream. I brought color to it and now it has a whole new life.”

Carson’s fingers grip tighter into me and I know he understood the hidden meaning in words I was saying.

“Strange. I know so much that happens in this town, yet I have never heard about you.”

“Probably because I keep out of drama.” I look over at the bartender and order a martini. “Now it was nice meeting you. Truly the pleasure was all mine. But I know a few gentlemen were looking for Carson and I don’t want him to lose out on business opportunities.”