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“Oh.” She nodded and sipped her drink. “The makeup girl.”
“Karina,” Rhett said in a warning tone.
“No, it’s fine.” I smiled, trying to prove her clearly intentioned insult hadn’t insulted me. “That’s exactly what I am.”
I wasn’t ashamed of my job. I was proud of it. I took joy from helping people feel confident in themselves. Was there a better calling than that? I’d worked hard to be as good as I was, and I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t proven that already. Just ask Mother-of-the-Bridezilla. I had a reputation back in Northern California for my skills.
Karina gave me a pitying smile.
A moment of temptation nipped at me to bite back at her. I could tell her that whoever applied her toner used the wrong shade because her highlights were pulling much too orange. Or I could tell her that whoever did her makeup for this evening’s event failed to use the right correction cream under her eyes, because the purple was still obvious. But what good did it ever do to tear another person down? I hated when women stepped on others to help themselves up. That would never be me.
“There’s the music,” Rhett said. “I guess the dancing is starting.”
“You don’t dance,” Karina said.
“I don’t danceoften,” he corrected. “But I want to tonight.”
Karina sighed, pressing herself against him and running her free hand up his chest in a way that made me want to take back my earlier vow of female solidarity and kindness.
He smiled down at her, and the image snapped me back to the Instagram photo she’d shared and the way he’d looked so happy with her. A sliver of doubt slipped down my spine, and it only strengthened when Rhett proffered his hand toward her. “Shall we?”
Karina stepped back. “After I powder my nose.” She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek before sauntering away.
“I didn’t know people powdered their noses anymore,” I said.
“She’s probably being ironic.” He released a quiet, long-suffering sigh and stepped closer to me. Sliding his hand onto the small of my back, he bent a little closer, still looking out over the crowd. “I’m sorry. We don’t have to stay much longer.”
Warmth crept up my spine, chasing the doubt away. For a minute I didn’t care that he was pretending to date someone else. It was impossible to deny that he was into me, right? I mean, his hand was splayed on my lower backright now. It hardly mattered that our backs were to the wall and no one could see what he was doing. He was still doing it.
He squeezed my waist slightly before dropping his arm and taking a long drink.
This night had been unlike anything I’d experienced before. I usually loved fancy events, which was why I owned so many gowns already. Growing up in the Wine Country, there was no shortage of events I got to work and slide my way onto the guest list for. Doing the hair and makeup of so many people had given me many opportunities over the years—and many dates—to attend similar fundraisers that I didn’t have to pay for, though none were as high-class as this.
And furthermore, this was probably the first time I had come alone to anything like this. Or sort of alone. I mean, I came with a man, but he was someone else’s date, so it didn’t really count.
Karina returned. She took Rhett by the hand and pulled him toward the dance floor, where others were already twirling. Some people waltzed; others did the rocking bear hug that was popular in high school. I hovered on the edge of the room and watched Rhett hold Karina in his arms, imagining all the different ways I could ruin her hair.
“Alone again?”
Oh gosh. Cocky Mr. Teeth was back. “Just waiting for my friends to finish so we can leave.”
“You’re friends, then? As in”—he gestured toward the dance floor—“you consider Rhett Myers your friend?”
Did I? I didn’t know if Rhett would claim me back, but currently in this scenario, I would claim him as a friend. I nodded.
“If you’re onlyfriends, then I suppose he won’t be too mad if I ask you to dance.”
Good grief. The man could not take a hint. I looked back to the dance floor, and Karina was pressing herself up against Rhett. Red bled into the corners of my vision. Ugh. If I had to sit and watch this, I might as well distract myself.
I turned to Cocky Mr. Teeth. “You know what? I’d love to dance.”
Chapter Fourteen
It turned out that CockyMr. Teeth was a lawyer by the name of Jackson with overactive hands to accompany his overactive smile. I lifted my hem off the floor with one hand and held his hand with the other. Something about the way he was leading made me feel like he was more interested in showing off his mad waltzing skills than he was in the person he danced with.
Dancing in general was supposed to be fun. Accepting Jackson’s offer had only been meant to be a distraction, a way to pass the time so I wasn’t watching Karina push herself up against Rhett all night, but he was making this the farthest thing from enjoyable.
Jackson led me toward where Rhett spun Karina around the floor, and I tried to pretend I couldn’t see them or the cameras snapping shots of them less than ten feet from me.
