Only You (Sweet Torment 2)

I smiled the best I could, but when Vanessa looked me over, her quiet, sweet demeanor apparent in her floral sundress and sunny hair, I knew right then what this was. A setup. Except I didn’t recognize Vanessa’s name. Kyros had said Leo’s sister and family wanted him to move on. And it looked like Regan had come up with a candidate off-list style.

“Vanessa and I were best friends in school and she’s been a family friend for years,” Regan said to me.

I shook the woman’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too.” Her gaze instantly snapped back to Leo and there was definite interest there. “I hope you don’t mind my dropping in on lunch. All of my preschoolers are done for the day, and when Regan mentioned lunch, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see you.” Vanessa rubbed Leo’s arm. “It’s been a long time.”

Leo glanced at me and started to babble something, but between his looking uncomfortable and my realizing I was in the middle of a bad episode of Blind Date, while feeling like my heart was about to explode from a throbbing ache, I cleared my throat and said the only thing I could.

“It’s no trouble at all,” I answered for Leo. “I’ll call the restaurant now and let them know to expect three for lunch.”

“Thank you, Paige.” Regan smiled.

I nodded, beyond ready to get out of this room and this situation. I had just been on the cusp of falling into bed with Leo and likely not leaving at all for the rest of the day. But life interrupted that idea. Real life. A life I needed to keep in mind, because whatever dreams I had involving Leo’s smile on my skin weren’t realistic.

“Well, it was nice meeting you, Vanessa. And Regan?” She turned and looked at me. “Always a pleasure. I hope you all have a wonderful time.”

Vanessa gave another little wave in my direction and I wanted to bat the thing away with a sledgehammer. Everything about her was cute and sweet and . . . perfect. Perfect for Leo. Perfect for his world. I swear to God if she mentioned that she saved puppies on the weekends when she wasn’t teaching preschool, I’d throw myself off a cliff.

I made the mistake of looking over my shoulder before I exited, and met Leo’s blue gaze. It was on me, and I hoped to hell he didn’t see the pain on my face.

“Oh yeah, this feels amazing,” Hazel said, sinking onto my couch, clad in sweatpants and fuzzy socks, hot cocoa in hand. “We needed a night like this.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” I said, raising my cocoa to hers and clinking it. It had been a hell of a couple weeks at work, not to mention a hell of a day. After meeting the woman who would never be me, then feeling like an idiot slinking away from the guy I liked, I was ready for something stronger than spiked cocoa.

Leo was due to go out on another date within the hour, but Hazel was spending the night and helping to keep my mind off the fact that the man I was falling for was out with another woman.

Another gorgeous woman with breeding and a background his family approved of. Oh, and since she was on the list, she was obviously open to a serious relationship, so there was that. That is, if Vanessa didn’t already leave a blistering perfect impression behind.

Jealousy sucked. But I had made a choice to think of Leo and what he wanted. And I wasn’t it. So I’d need to buck up, and get over it. Or just drink more.

I eyed the whipped-cream vodka on the counter and had a sneaking suspicion option two was going to win out tonight.

Thank God Hazel was known for spiking hot chocolate, so when I took a

sip, the vodka sting was welcome.

“You look like you needed a break,” Hazel said, looking at me as I sat on the couch next to her.

“Just a busy week.”

“Yeah, but lots to look forward to!” Hazel said, nearly bubbling over. “Now that the date is set, we’re going to have to—”

“Wait, what are you talking about?”

Hazel’s face paled as if she just realized she’d let something slip.

“The date?” I asked again. The only date of importance I could think of socially was . . . “Do you mean Amy and Roman? They set a date for the wedding?”

Hazel nodded, then looked at the floor. Right then I realized that Amy and Hazel had been speaking, maybe even hanging out, more than I realized without me. Not that they couldn’t hang out just the two of them, but setting a date was big news and Amy didn’t even call.

“Oh, I see,” I whispered. That stung. Badly. Not from jealousy or envy. But from fear. Fear I was losing my best friend and that I was nothing more than a plague to be ignored.

“This whole scandal is getting crazy and Amy isn’t really talking to anyone associated to the governor’s office outside of Roman obviously. The press has been calling her a lot and she said if she is seen with you, they’d just pester you more, and she doesn’t want you to have to deal with that—”

“I know,” I whispered. “I get it. Best to lay low. Stay away from everything until it’s over.” I smiled but the ache in it hurt. “I avoid phone calls too.”

“About that . . .” Hazel set the cocoa down on the coffee table and faced me fully. “Your mom has called me a couple times.”