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She walks past me and runs her hand down my arm.
“I’m starting to wonder if I should be afraid.”
She laughs.
“Never.” She winks at me, then moves to pick up another plant.
“All right, Goldie. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
“I can do it,” she states, almost a little defensively.
“Never said you couldn’t, but I’m here, and we can make this go away twice as fast.”
I watch as emotions shift over her face as she thinks about this. I understand she does everything on her own, but she doesn’t need to. I’m here, and I can help. Eventually, whatever wall she had thrown up slides back down, and she says, “Okay.”
18
CORA
Iswear, being here makes me feel just like it does when I’m at home. Only this time, I’m in a large mansion hidden behind a gate surrounded by a perfectly manicured lawn and a valet team parking the most expensive cars on the planet.
A part of me was surprised to hear that the party would be at Jaxon’s house versus a venue. Then again, I’ve discovered that his brother is very concerned about what others think of him. He wants to show off his wealth, even if it’s inherited and not earned.
“Do you have a house here?” I asked him when we pulled through the gate. Clearly, we were in a very affluent neighborhood.
He laughed. “Almost.”
Briggs and I talked a lot about his family on the drive in. I appreciated that he didn’t purposely speak ill of them. He was just to the point about their characters and what I could expect. We also briefly spoke about Adele. Briggs explained that he didn’t understand her angle with marrying his brother, but then again, her family expected the union between him and her, so maybe they were still pushing that agenda.
I looked them both up online so I knew what to expect when we arrived. We also spoke about a few other people who would most likely be in attendance, and much to Briggs’s surprise, our worlds do overlap.
After the long drive, I beelined to the restroom, and I’m walking out of the library when I spot Briggs’s dark head of hair above the others in the room. He’s standing with several other men and a woman so blatantly looking at Briggs with complete longing that my body temperature rises a few degrees. I know I shouldn’t be spying on him the way I am, but he brought me here as his date, so staring is justified.
Two of the men eventually walk off, leaving one man and the woman. He’s shorter than Briggs, but just by a few inches, and taking in the way Briggs’s back is ramrod straight and his hand is clenched around his glass, it doesn’t take a genius to realize this guy isn’t talking to Briggs, he’s speaking at him.
His brother, Jaxon, and that’s Adele.
I use this moment to study her. I guess you could say she looks like what one would expect from a Southern socialite—waif thin, long blonde hair perfectly curled, and her eye makeup is done in a way to make her eyes look big and doe-like. She’s wearing a short tight off-white dress and pearls. She reminds me of a Barbie doll, and my stomach sours thinking that at one point, Briggs loved her. Three years is such a long time.
And now she’s about to become his sister-in-law.
No thanks.
A server walks by with a platter of champagne glasses and offers me one. I decline, but we haven’t been here nearly long enough, and well, first impressions are lasting impressions.
It’s so interesting watching him in this setting and hard for me to connect the dots of our life back on the mountain to this one in front of me. There, Briggs is a force to be reckoned with. He works hard, and people have nothing but nice things to say about him. People flocked to him at the season kickoff party, outside of those few moments with the reporter. He’s someone they want to know.
But I see here that although he silently commands the space around him, he’s silent. It’s odd to see him don this shell of indifference, but maybe this is his way of self-preservation. Heaven knows, I certainly do what I need to do with my family too.
Okay, I guess it’s showtime.
Briggs spots me approaching, and he catches the up-to-no-good glint shining off me. He smirks in response. Unexpected butterflies swirl, and I just wink at him.
“There you are, darling,” I say to Briggs as I slide up next to him, wrap my arms around him, and then stretch on my toes to kiss the corner of his mouth. He’s shaved the usual scruff off his face, shocking me when he opened the door back home, but here and now, I hesitate as my lips settle against his warm skin and soft lips.
I like it. A lot.
And if I thought I would shock him, I don’t. Instead, his arm smoothly wraps around my waist, his hand anchors to my hip to keep me connected to him, and after I pull back, his head drops a little to rest next to mine, and he returns the intimacy by pressing his lips into my forehead. I’m surrounded by his exquisite smell, and while I should be moving away, I lean in farther and breathe him in, just like he does to me. He took that kiss and then gave me one of his own, and instead of remembering that I’m supposed to be playing a part, I’m too busy wondering why being affectionate with him is so comfortable.
