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Cayden had never been in the library, but he’d seen such rooms on movies likeJames BondandBeauty and the Beast. This library was all of those and more. It had two levels, with a domed ceiling that an enormous chandelier hung from.
Comfy-looking couches dotted the space from where he stood to the other side of the library, but many people stood around chest-high tables where flutes of snacks sat. Waiters moved through the crowd with drinks and trays of appetizers, and Cayden was reminded of the big fundraisers his mother sometimes made him attend for the ranch.
People who owned racehorses had plenty of money too, and everywhere Cayden looked, he saw money. More money. Pure money.
He edged closer to Ginny, because while he had a lot of money too, he felt completely out of his league next to her. “You know all of these people?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “On some level.”
“A business level?”
“Most of who I know comes through Sweet Rose, yes,” she said, her smile painted perfectly in place. Ginny was flawless, and Cayden found himself wanting to peel her back layer by layer until he found the real her.
“Come meet a few people,” she said.
He went with her, because he wanted to be at her side. He’d gotten very good at meeting people he’d never see again in his life, and he too had a perfectly pleasant smile, a firm handshake, and several topics he could hit on for easy conversation.
She took him around the room, introducing him to people she knew. This man she’d met when they’d gone on a midnight hike in the same group. That woman she’d met when she’d bought half their whiskey supply as her husband’s final wish before he’d passed away. This other person she knew because his grandfather had been working at Sugar Rose since he was sixteen years old.
Cayden actually enjoyed himself, and when Ginny threaded her fingers together behind his neck and said, “Dance with me, cowboy,” he knew he’d go anywhere to be with her.
He grinned down at her, the bubble around them intimate and private. He saw through her façade for a moment, and he liked the woman underneath all the power, prestige, and perfume.
They swayed slowly, and Cayden kept her very close to him, right where he wanted her. His pulse had quickened in the beginning, but now it settled into a normal beat. “What’s the first thing you’re going to do on your vacation?” he asked.
“Find an off-the-wall place with great scones and honey butter,” she said, her voice laced with a smile. “I hope they’ll still be selling them when I roll out of bed about noon.”
“What time do you get up now?”
“Oh, usually about six-thirty or seven,” she said. “I don’t need any teasing about how late that is from the cowboy.” She laughed lightly, and Cayden simply kept his smile on his face.
“It’s winter,” he said. “We sleep in during the winter too.”
“Then I’m going to change into my swimming suit and find the least populated beach. I’m going to sit there and read and watch the water and daydream about moving to the Caymans permanently.”
“Sounds nice,” he said, spotting her mother as she came into view. He hadn’t seen her yet tonight, and he immediately tensed.
Ginny felt it and pulled away slightly. “What?”
“How long will you be there?” he asked, keeping one eye on Wendy Winters as she moved over to a group of people Ginny hadn’t introduced him to.
“A week,” she said, glancing around.
“Mm,” he said. “I miss you already.”
That brought her eyes back to his, and he leaned down to press his cheek to hers. It had to be nearly midnight, if the tiredness in his bones and the way his face hurt from smiling so much was any indication.
Just then, someone called out, “Only five minutes.”
Ginny pulled away suddenly. “Excuse me, Cayden. I need to get the ball on the screen.” She bustled away from him, and he stood in the middle of the dance floor, alone, watching her weave through the crowd to the wall without the fireplace. She picked up a remote and pressed a button.
A screen started to lower, and the chatter in the room increased. More buttons got pressed, and the next thing Cayden knew, the big ball in Times Square came up on the screen. A timer in the bottom of the frame said they only had one minute and twelve seconds until the New Year.
Ginny didn’t have long to get back to his side. He didn’t want to welcome a new year into his life without her. He wanted to kiss her as the very first thing he did in this next year, because if he did, he felt certain he’d be able to end the year with her too.
He started walking toward where she’d been to lower the screen, and with only twenty-three seconds to spare, they met up again. He took her hand and looked at her. She grinned up at him, and when the countdown reached ten, he joined his voice to those already chanting.
He kept his eyes on the timer on the screen, and when it reached zero, he cheered with everyone else, laughing though he wasn’t sure why. He did know what he wanted to do next, and he tugged on Ginny’s hand, pulling her closer to him.
