The Romeo Arrangement

Still…he cut a deal for more films, the very thing he hates, all so he could slay my dragon.

All for little old me.

Eep.

“Hey, Grace! Over here!” Amy calls out, seeing me blundering around like a lost gazelle. “Who’d you kill for that dress?”

She gives me a hug, and so does Alicia.

“It does the job. You two look fantastic.”

Honestly, they do. Amy has her long hair curled and pinned up, while Alicia’s hangs long and straight.

“You have no idea. It’s a relief to get out of mom attire for once!” Amy lifts her dress. “Heels even. No yoga pants, t-shirts, and Crocs tonight.”

“No ponytails either,” Alicia says, flicking her hair with a smile. “I haven’t worn a formal since high school. I swear, the entire town is here. Look, Bella Larkin brought the big guns!”

I look over and see a curvy, elegant-looking woman with piercing eyes and styled brunette waves. She’s in a long flowing baby-blue dress, Drake Larkin hanging on her arm.

“Damn,” Amy hisses, watching them float through the crowd. “I wonder if they feel upstaged, having folks even richer and more famous than they are here tonight? Then again, with Ridge moving here, that’s kinda already happened. They’re rich and famous but not like…movie star famous.”

“Amy, hush!” Alicia jabs her sister playfully in the side. “They’re good people. If only they’d brought Edison to the party. Did you hear what that crazy horse did last week?”

I shake my head.

“While the ruckus with the cops and those thugs was going down at your place, Edison chased down this punk kid who thought it’d be cute to steal fireworks from the Dallas Days festival coming up next month.” Alicia smiles, shaking her head. “I guess Bella took Edna into town for a stroll, and Edison went looking for his mare. It’s true what they say, he’s part bloodhound. And I guess he’s an honorable deputy of the Dallas Police now, too.”

“Only thing I wonder is which one’s luckier,” Amy says, her eyes following the happy couple. “Him for marrying a girl that rich, or her for marrying a dude that hot.”

I smile and shake my head. Of course, I’ve heard the story of Bella, Drake, and Edison a dozen times. Bella seems so normal making the rounds. It’s easy to forget she inherited her grandfather’s massive wealth and an oil company.

Drake didn’t come from money. He was a salt of the earth security type from what Ridge told me. And yet somehow the stars decided they were meant to be.

They met.

They fell in love.

They’re clearly making it work.

Could that be my ever after with Ridge?

“Uh-oh, watch out!” Amy claps her hands against her cheeks, leaning toward me. “See over there? Miss Marcellus, our old gym teacher. She’s never seen in public.” She nods at an older woman with short grey hair and what looks like a permanent scowl glued to her face.

“She looks scary,” I say.

“She is!” they both yell simultaneously.

“What’s wrong tonight, Grace?” Amy asks. “You look down.”

Amy Berland’s keen insight is one of many reasons why I enjoy our friendship.

“I’m just a little overwhelmed.” Glancing around the crowded room, I nod at their wine glasses when my gaze makes it back to them. “I need another drink.”

They look at each other, then at me.

“Oh, we know exactly what you need,” Amy says with a wicked smile.

“We’ll fix you up right,” Alicia echoes.

A few minutes later, all three of us have a shot of tequila, salt on our other hands, and a lime wedge.

“On the count of three,” Alicia says. “One. Two. Three!”

Boom.

I lick the salt, toss back the shot, and stick the lime in my mouth, sucking out the juice as I swallow the tequila.

It’s still burning on the way down when hands circle my waist from behind. I gasp, unsure whether it’s the shot or Ridge’s very capable hands drawing the air out of me.

“Tequila shots?” he asks.

I shrug. “It’s not a party until Captain T shows up.”

My insides sink at the puzzled way Amy and Alicia look at me.

“It’s a joke,” I say. “Something we always said in college.”

They both burst out laughing.

“I need you for a minute,” Ridge growls in my ear.

Waving at Amy and Alicia, I walk away with him.

“Don’t do that to yourself,” he says, once we’re out of earshot.

“Do what?”

“Look so freaked, thinking you’d embarrassed yourself in front of them. Darlin’, they love you and so does damn near everybody you’ve met in this town. You’re cutting yourself short again.” He stops, steps in front of me, and cups my face. “I know you’ve been through hell. It doesn’t define who you are. What matters is how you came through it. Head up and standing tall. Own that, woman. Be proud of yourself. You know I am.”

Heaven help him, he gets a smile out of me.