“Sebastian Belrose loves you. I think he was smitten from the moment he saw you,” Charlotte said with a smile.
“I don't think it was that fast. The first moment I was kind of a jerk,” I replied.
Charlotte laughed. “This is going to work out. I promise you. Just come downstairs.” She smiled and checked the delicate silver watch on her wrist. “You ready?”
I looked over at the movie star in the mirror. No, I wasn't ready. I closed my eyes and thought of Bastian. How he had said I was beautiful. And now I looked it. I could do this.
I nodded, not trusting myself to use words. There was a very good possibility that if I opened my mouth I would try and back out. She took my hand and led me out the door.
The hallway was dark and quiet. I could hear the murmur of a lot of voices and music downstairs. If this went poorly, I didn't think I would survive. I was already planning on how to walk out into the ocean as my backup plan, and I knew that didn't bode well for me.
“Show time,” Charlotte whispered as we came to the top of the stairs.
I nodded and let go of her hand to wipe my eyes before she could yell at me for ruining my makeup again. I went to the top of the stairs and looked down at the party.
I saw Chad first. He was standing in a cheap suit trying his best to ingratiate himself with a woman twice his age and wearing a diamond mine around her throat. It was easy to see that he was angling for her money, and by her fluttering eyelashes she was falling for his slimy charms. At least I wasn't the only one. I wanted to back out and run. If Chad was here, I wasn't sure I could do this. Luckily, Charlotte was standing right behind me and had her hand on my shoulder.
“No running. Bastian's right there,” she whispered, nudging me in the right direction.
I saw him and my heart stopped. I had missed him more than I could have ever thought possible. He was by the door, standing with Leo and who I assumed must be Gabe. He hadn't seen me yet, and I let myself admire him for a moment. He was so beautiful.
His suit was crisp and straight and made of some sort of black that seemed to absorb the light. It of course fit perfectly, highlighting the broad strength of his shoulders and his trim waist and even the perfect curve of his ass. He was stunning.
But there was something different about him. He smiled at his guests, but the smile never touched his eyes. If anything, he looked more withdrawn and wound tighter than usual. Leo and Gabe appeared to be carrying the conversation without him.
Charlotte gave my shoulder a gentle push. It was now or never. I took a deep breath, more to remind myself that I should breathe than for actual oxygen, and grabbed onto the bannister. I took one step and then another, my eyes not watching the floor, but instead watching Bastian.
He looked up at the stairs when I was at the halfway point, his blue-gray eyes going directly to mine. A thrill went through me as he did a double take and then a triple take. His mouth slowly opened and hung that way for a good minute.
He walked out of whatever conversation he had been having with Leo and Gabe, leaving them staring after him to meet me at the bottom of the stairs.
“Ava,” he whispered, waiting for me to descend the last stair. “You came back...”
“You can't get rid of me that easily.” I grinned, my heart pounding in my throat. “Especially when you offer me dream vacations to Paris.”
He blushed slightly, the edge of the scar on his cheek going white. “Oh, that.”
“Yes, that.” I took a step forward, feeling braver by the second. He seemed happy to see me. “Even without that, I couldn't stay away. You didn't have to do that.”
“I wanted to.” The honesty in his light eyes made my stomach do happy flip-flops.
“That's why it means so much to me,” I told him. I couldn't stop smiling. “It's everything. Thank you.”
He raised his hand, moving it like he was going to pull me into a kiss, but then he stopped and let it fall. He looked past me and frowned, taking a step back. The light in his expression was now tempered with caution. “Why did you come back?”
I turned to see what he was looking at. Chad. The woman with the diamonds was now flirting with one of his cheaply-dressed friends and he was sipping on champagne that he couldn't afford. I could only imagine what he had told Bastian.
“There's something I need to tell you,” I said quietly, biting my bottom lip. I knew I was probably smudging my lipstick, but if my nervous biting hadn't worn it off by now, nothing would. “Something important.”
Bastian's eyes darkened with seriousness, but flooded with concern at the same time. He took a step forward, ready to protect me, even from my own words. “Anything.”
I glanced back over at Chad. “Somewhere private?”
He nodded and took my hand to led me from the staircase. I could see Charlotte making her way down. Leo's eyes fixated on her and I wondered for a moment what was going on between the two of them. I didn't get to see what happened next because Bastian was pulling me into the next room. We hurried out to the back porch.
Outside the murmur of the music filtered through an open window somewhere, but it was soft and muted. The ocean hummed against the shore, dark water against white sand. I was suddenly incredibly nervous about being alone with Bastian.
He hadn't lost the guarded expression. In fact, as soon as the door swung shut, he dropped my hand and went to the railing to look out at the beach without me. The loss of his touch hurt like a physical wound. The waning moon shone on his dark suit and caught the dark edge of the scar along his cheek.