Page 81 of Nothing to Tell

“Next time we’ll bring rubies,” Roxie said like that meant something and dropped her head against her guy.“We still have a shift at the club tonight, Casanova?”

“Yes, Lola.We do.”

Roxie exhaled a kind of mutter.“Okay, well, sex in the car it is.”Snagging her hand, Roxie gave her another squeeze.“You want us to take you to Bastian?”

“No, he’s with people at the bar.I’ll be fine.”For the ten or fifteen seconds it would take her to walk over there.“You have a good night.And thank you.”

Another squeeze, another smile, and the couple disappeared from the room.She was done for the day.Zonked.Exhausted and ready for bed.Roxie and Zairn were on their way to another party.Unimaginable.They were true champions of their lives.

As they’d gone around the room meeting this person and that, Roxie exuded an interesting mix of professional and personal.Her new friend knew most of the people, not that familiarity mattered, somehow Roxie walked away pals with everyone.

Maybe it was easier being in a room of friends.She didn’t imagine Carolyn would invite enemies to celebrate with her.Though this was LA, truths were often hidden behind façades, which made her work a whole lot harder.

The number of revelers had thinned, though not by so much that there was a clear route to Bastian.Last she’d seen him was by the bar with a group.That wasn’t as intimidating as it might’ve been at the start of the party.

Throughout the night, she’d kept one eye on him, as he did on her.They’d danced, and not just together, she’d danced with more men that night than she’d probably met in her life.Bastian had some attractive and curious friends.As each song ended, Roxie was there to whisk her off to meet someone else, or to provide another dance partner.

The Hunt family were well loved.They deserved to be.People in that room cared about each other, the ones she met anyway.There was safety, a security that surrounded them all.Could be a money thing.Could people really have serious worries when their financial futures were guaranteed?

There she went jumping to conclusions.Again.

Of course, no one else’s attention was as absolute as Bastian’s.Even when they weren’t together, he was always right there, just on the periphery, ready to step in.It was a thrill when he did, when his arm held her to him or their fingers interlaced.Having him near was so flattering that she had to remind herself not to get too used to it, he wouldn’t always be there.

And don’t think the saving was only for her.It wasn’t.More than once, he’d used her as an excuse to leave a conversation, whether to dance or get another drink.Sometimes he needed the reprieve and she was happy to give it.Wasn’t that her whole reason for being there?Singletons sticking together?Saving each other.

Before his congratulatory speech, he kissed the end of her nose and went to do his sonly duty.Smiling through his address, she loved not only the sound of his voice, but the response of the crowd.Some of the guests would be pandering no doubt, but there was a real affection in the air.

After his speech, Bastian descended the dais to be swallowed by the horde.She hadn’t seen him for a while after that.She and Roxie talked with another half dozen people before he emerged from the fracas of adorers doing their best to waylay him.

The second he spotted her, he came to her, everyone else seemed to become irrelevant.And she knew the feeling.With him at the end of the bar, back almost to her, Bastian didn’t notice her approach.

“It’s ten days, not two weeks,” Carolyn was saying to her son.

“Mom, if you’re trying to manipulate—”

“I’m not trying to manipulate anything.I’m offended by your accusation.”

Wrapping an arm around him, Harper smiled at his quick surprise that accepted her in a heartbeat.“Am I interrupting?”

His strong hand pressed her lower back.“You’re never interrupting, Sweet.”

Pushing up a little, she kissed his jaw.“I’m not sure those you talk to would feel the same.”

“We do,” Carolyn said.“You look wonderful together.”Was that a hint toward their mended breakup?“Have you enjoyed yourself tonight, Harper?”

“Bastian’s proud of his family and his friends.You’re lucky to have each other.”

“Sometimes,” he said, stroking her hair from her face.“Mom is thrilled you’re here.”

She’d just assumed that the family knew they were back together and that they’d be over any excitement about the couple reconnecting.

“I would have thought that after the picture—”

“Pictures don’t always tell the full story.”

Harper couldn’t deny that.Half of what had been written about them on the internet was nonsense.

“No, I suppose they don’t,” she said, flattening her hand on his tie, sliding it down and curling her fingers around the smooth fabric.