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Tae strode toward the door, and Alise stumbled back as if she thought Tae was about to attack her. Tae put a hand on the doorknob. “Do whatever makes you happy, girlfriend. I don’t give a fat rat’s ass.”
She swung the door open and ran smack into Daniel. His hands came up to steady her when she would have toppled backward. “I’m sorry, Tae. I didn’t…” He glanced over her shoulder and must have spotted his wife. Worry creased his brow. “What’s going on?”
Tae wiggled out of his hold and stepped away. “Nothing. I’m leaving. Congratulations, Daniel.”
“Wait. Tae, you can’t leave. The reception is about to start.”
Words trembled on her lips to tell him to kiss her ass for claiming he had broken up with her and she chased after him, but she bit her tongue. She saw the disgust on Alise’s face and wanted to stay just to piss her off, but she would not be accused of chasing a married man on his wedding day. “I’m sorry, Daniel, I—”
“Never meant to pull the happy couple from their guests?” Jax’s hands dropped on her shoulders, and he squeezed gently and drew her back to his chest. She tensed. “You two get back in there. We’ll join you in a minute. Promise.”
Daniel hesitated, looking at her rather than his wife, and then he nodded and spun to face Alise. He held out his hand to her. “Come on, sweetheart. Your Aunt Helena has an early flight, so she wanted to present us with her gift early.”
Alise frowned. “That’s why I told them they should come the whole weekend and leave Monday! They’re ruining everything, Danny. If Aunt Helena leaves, I’m never speaking to her again.”
Daniel made soothing noises and led Alise down the hall. Tae watched them go in disbelief. “Wow, mature.”
“Isn’t she?” Jax chuckled.
Tae shook his hands off her shoulders and rounded on him. “Why did you stop me? She cornered me in that room and accused me of chasing after Daniel. I don’t need the drama, Jax. I’m leaving before I say something I’ll regret.”
“Say or do?”
She blinked at him. “I came. I supported him.”
“If you leave now, you’re only proving what she said is true.”
“No one who knows me believes that.”
“You’re right.”
Tae fell silent. She fought with a conviction to leave. Why were they even putting her into this position? One part of her felt like Jax was angry and he wanted her to stay to torture her, but he had no reason to feel that way. Not unless he didn’t like that she’d snuck out in the middle of the night. What about Daniel?
Jax seemed to read her mind. “He wants to think you’re okay.”
She frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
His brows rose, and he stuck his hands in his pockets shrugging. “True. Why wouldn’t you be?”
She should run for her life, but she said, “I’ll stay.”
* * * *
The reception room burst at the seams with people who had attended the wedding and a few others who hadn’t. Tae sat at a table near the back, having switched out her name card from its position in a spot too close to the head table. She’d walked away from Jax after their conversation in the hall, and he didn’t follow. Later, he strode in and took his seat at the head table. A short while after that, Daniel and Alise Elliott were introduced to the guests, and everyone clapped and cheered. Tae’s stomach cramped. She stood and excused herself to use the bathroom. Since the reception had started, the facilities were empty, and she sighed in relief.
Standing at the sink and wetting a paper towel, she examined her face. Was she happy? Back then, all she thought about was advancing at work, progressing until she moved up from proofreader at the magazine to full-fledged editor. That goal had consumed her, and there hadn’t been room for anything else. Six months ago, she obtained her goal, and she loved her job, which was why she almost never took time off.
She thought of Alise. Daniel had told her his wife worked as a customer service rep at a vehicle advertising company. If Tae knew Daniel, she imagined Alise would be pregnant before the year was out. Daniel wasn’t exactly the kind of man who wanted his wife barefoot and pregnant, but he bordered on it. Poor Alise. Tae grinned at her reflection and dabbed her forehead with the tissue before tossing it in the trash. She left the ladies room and returned to the reception just in time to miss the newlyweds leaving her table.
“Oh, dear, you missed them.” Susan Somebody, her companion to the immediate right, had identified herself as a distant cousin. Tae’s mind had wandered at the part where she indicated whether she meant Daniel or Alise.
“No worries.” Tae grabbed the woman’s hand when she would have flagged down Daniel a few tables away. “I’ll catch them later.”
The older woman seemed disappointed and a little miffed at Tae. She turned to the person on the other side of her and started up a conversation about the beauty of the ceremony and how she believed Daniel and Alise were destined to be together for all eternity.
Tae lowered her lashes and toyed with her glass of water while she followed Daniel’s progress. He looked so good in his finery, so quietly confident, yet friendly. By comparison, Alise spoke too loud and commanded attention at each table, growing irritable if anyone focused too long on Daniel rather than her. Soon they climbed the elevated platform to the head table, and Alise proceeded to hold court like a queen. Her mini wedding dress showed off her best asset, her legs, and from the glassiness of her eyes, Tae guessed she’d drunk too much champagne. Now that she had a ring on her finger, she didn’t cling constantly to Daniel’s arm, or maybe her words to Tae earlier made her feel safe. More power to her. In fact, Alise showered more attention on the older man next to her, who Tae understood to be her mother’s boyfriend and not Alise’s father. Alise’s mother sat on the opposite side to this gentleman, a silent statue.
“Don’t they make a lovely couple?” Susan said, deciding to give Tae another chance.
