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That’s if Evan even wants to dance with me.
He leads me over to a table in the corner where little cards with our names are on the plates. Evan greets a couple people already sitting down, introducing me. As soon as he says their names and professions, I’ve already forgotten them.
This isn’t my world. I don’t belong here.
Still, I’m going to try to have the best night possible. I don’t need to ruin my night.
I try to push everything negative from my mind, but it’s hard. Every stare that I get is another reminder that I’m out of place. I sit down in my seat, smiling politely to one of the men before he starts talking to Evan about business.
“That dress is stunning,” one of the women says, leaning closer to me. “I’m Aurora. If I’m right, you two were pictured in an article together, weren’t you?”
My cheeks flame as I nod. “Yeah, that’s right.”
“It’s just awful the way those people dragged you.”
I smile, a little of the unease curling in my stomach backing off. “Thank you. I didn’t know what to think when I first saw it. Evan and I are friendly because I work for him but anything more than that is a lie.”
Even though you had sex with him in a changing room not that long ago.
Aurora nods. “The tabloids always have a way of making everything seem like a scandal. Just keep your head up and ignore what they say.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I smile and reach for my glass of water, taking a long sip. “What do you do for a living?”
“I run a lingerie company. Nothing huge, but it gets me invitations to events like these. Although, if one more man tries to sleep with me tonight, I’m going to lose my shit. That’s the downside of coming to these events alone.”
“The event’s barely even started,” I say, my mouth nearly dropping open. “And most of the men in here look old enough to be your grandfather.”
Aurora laughs and waves a hand. “There are a few silver foxes that I wouldn’t mind, but I’m only twenty-four. I tap out at forty.”
I grin and take another sip of my water. “You own your own lingerie company at twenty-four? That’s impressive.”
Aurora shrugs, but I can see the look of pride on her face. “I started it when I was in my senior year of high school and then built it up through university. Turns out, people love a subscription box lingerie service. I have a couple stores too but the subscription service is by far more successful.”
“You have to show me your site,” I say, handing her my phone with the internet app open. Aurora grins as she types the website and hands it back to me. “Holy shit, this is impressive.”
I eye several of the pieces from one of her last boxes before going to check out the subscription pricing.
“Okay,” I say as I enter my information for a subscription box with two pieces a month. “You have a new subscriber.”
Aurora grins. “Give me that for a second. As my new friend at all boring parties going forward, you get my special discount code.”
“I couldn’t,” I say, shaking my head even as she snatches my phone.
“I insist,” Aurora says. “I expect you to come to all events going forward. I need a friend close to my age. Most of the other women here are twenty years older than I am and out searching for their fifth husband while they’re on the arm of their fourth.”
We burst out in laughter, drawing the attention of the men around us. Evan looks at me with a raised eyebrow.
“There you are,” a man says, approaching the table. His gaze fixes on Aurora’s face but she looks away from him. “Come on, please just talk to me. I want to explain everything to you.”
When his hand lands on the back of Aurora’s chair, she scowls and gets up, grabbing my hand after I slide my phone back into Evan’s pocket.
I give her a questioning look as she drags me to the dance floor. “Who was that?”
Aurora rolls her eyes. “Somebody I knew once. My older brother’s best friend. He and I used to hook up when I was nineteen but then he took off to join the army. We tried to keep in contact, and I started to think he could be the one, but then he wrote me a letter and told me it was over.”
“That’s awful.” I give her a sympathetic look as she leads me around the floor in a mockery of a waltz. “Did he ever say why?”
“Nope. He came back to town about a month ago. Apparently, he’s stationed back in Colorado now. He works in the neighboring town, but he thinks that he needs to live here. Bastard bought the condo across from mine.”
