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And he suddenly didn’t know what would be worse. Seeing her a lot. Or never seeing her again. Hell, there was just no way to win here.
So she’d have her camp and they’d be...strangers who’d seen each other naked. No problem.
“Now that’s interesting,” Esme mused, tapping one finger against her bottom lip.
“What?” Wary, he gave her a hard look.
“Well, for a soon to be free man, you don’t look real happy about it.”
“I’m plenty happy,” he snapped.
“Yes,” she said with a grin as her eyebrows lifted. “I can hear that in your carefree tone.”
She stood there, looking cool and pretty and amused, and that just fried Liam’s ass. Friend or no friend, he wasn’t going to be her entertainment for the day.
“Damn it, Esme, I’ve got work to do,” he ground out, then stalked down the entry way and out the front door, Esme’s laughter following after him.
He needed some damn air.
* * *
Chloe was bored to tears.
Her sister’s engagement party was like every formal event Chloe had ever attended. And it proved why she’d always hated them. It was crowded, noisy and sure to make her want to run away in under an hour. She’d been there only forty-five minutes and she’d started checking out the closest exit. No one would even notice she was gone. Since she was in the big backyard with most of the crowd, all she’d have to do was slip out the side gate and get one of the valets to bring her car around.
Then she sighed. She wasn’t going to run and she knew it, in spite of how much fun it was to plan her escape. Having family wasn’t always easy. Ellen was silly, too young to get married and in no way ready to be an adult, but she was also Chloe’s sister, so here Chloe would stay. She just hoped the waiters kept the champagne coming.
The band was tucked into a corner near the custom patio, playing classics from her father’s generation. There were a few couples dancing, but most people were huddled in groups, lost in conversations that seemed to ebb and flow around her like waves on the ocean.
Chloe took a sip of champagne and looked at the party through the critical eyes of an event planner. There were twinkling white fairy lights strung in the trees and across the open spaces. Tables and chairs were set up haphazardly, and waiters wandered the yard offering trays of canapés and drinks.
If she’d been designing the party, Chloe would have arranged the tables in a half circle, giving dancers more room to move. The lights wouldn’t have been twinkling, and the waiters would know to crisscross the yard to make sure everyone was covered.
But her father hadn’t bothered to ask her to organize the event. Mostly, she thought, because he didn’t want to help her be a success. He wanted her to fail spectacularly so she’d fall back into line with his plans for her life. He’d had her office fixed so quickly, because how could she fail if she didn’t have an office to work from? Besides, what would people think if Chloe’s father allowed her to work in some dismal, dank building? Oh, she knew how her father thought. What he expected of her and she knew that part of his disgust with her “little” business was the idea of her making customers out of his friends. Working for people he socialized with.
“And, this is getting you nowhere, Chloe,” she murmured and took another sip of champagne. She’d give the party another hour, and then she’d leave. Go back to the Perry Ranch. Back to the house where she and Liam were living like strangers.
Chloe stared across the manicured back lawn to where her sister and Brad were accepting congratulations from the adoring crowd. At least Ellen looked happy. Chloe hoped this marriage would work out, and maybe it would. The happy couple wanted the same things, after all. Prestige and pretty lives.
As her own heart was aching, she thought that maybe it was better to live Ellen’s way. Don’t expect too much and then you’re never disappointed. But you were never really happy, either. So did you risk the hurt for the chance at happiness? Or was it better to just take what was offered and convince yourself you were satisfied?
Another sip of champagne and she pushed her thoughts aside. She’d have lots of time to consider what she’d done or should have done. Years. Because she couldn’t imagine ever feeling for anyone else what she did for Liam. How could she try to find love with someone else when her heart would always be with him?
