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“James McKenzie, party of four,” James tells me, then does a double take. “Wait. Do I know you?”
Hannah turns from the brunette woman that has her arm through Hunter’s. “Sophie.” She greets me with air kisses. “Good to see you.”
“Sophie works at Marion Adler,” Hannah reminds James and tells the brunette. “She’s part of my wedding planning team.”
The brunette looks me up and down. “How lovely.”
I drop my gaze to the tablet screen and quickly check them in. With my index finger, I stab the box by each of their names under the reservation. James McKenzie and Hannah Cartwright. Hunter Cartwright and Allison Mulvaney.
I put on my best enthusiastic door greeter smile. “Wonderful to see you all tonight.” I pull out two number paddles and hand them to James and Hunter without making eye contact.
“I’ll take a separate paddle,” Allison says, then leans into Hunter, “unless you’re sponsoring me tonight.”
Hunter gives her a tight smile, but his words are kind. “I don’t mind.”
Allison giggles. “What an agreeable date you are.”
I don’t know what I’m expecting from Hunter, but I can feel his eyes on me.
When I finally look up at him, he nods. “Sophie.”
I give him a small smile. Emotions are warring in me as the group moves past my table and into the gala.
A minute later, my phone buzzes in my purse. I pull it out to find Hunter’s text.
Hunter:Allison is Hannah’s friend. Hannah asked me to be her date because she recently broke up with her boyfriend. That’s the only reason I’m here with her.
I let this information sink in while I check in the next group of people. I want to say that it gives me time to calm down about the situation but it’s the opposite. The fact that Hunter is offering an explanation so quickly makes my guard go up. If I hadn’t been here, would he have told me? I’m feeling even more annoyed when another text from him comes in.
Hunter:I should have mentioned it when we talked yesterday. I’m sorry I caught you off guard. I could tell you were upset.
I take a moment for his text to settle in. He’s recognizing his mistake and apologizing. That should be all the explanation I need to let this go. But what’s bothering me more about the situation is my body’s reaction to it. Like when I saw him across the street kissing a woman on the cheek, who I now know is his mom’s friend. My stomach is uneasy and I feel out of sorts.
I want to tell him that I’m not mad. That he doesn’t have that kind of effect on me, but it would all be lies. And the fact that he noticed I was annoyed? That makes me even more irritated.
More than Hunter catching me off guard by having a date tonight, I hate that I’m suddenly feeling insecure.
The few times I’ve been with him privately, running the trail in Central Park or behind closed doors, I’d forgotten that Hunter Cartwright is somebody in this city. When we’re together, he’s just an incredibly sexy man that makes me laugh and hands out orgasms like firefighters who hand out candy in a small-town parade.
Tuxedo-clad, CEO Hunter is even more droolworthy. Just seeing how gorgeous and polished he is has me questioning if our time together has merely been a fever dream that I’m going to wake up from any moment.
That man wantsme?
My brain is struggling to compute.
The group’s appearance only served to remind me that Hunter is a wealthy man that attends galas and charities, while I’m the twenty-two-year-old intern on the other side of the table greeting him.
That’s the whole point, though. I’m twenty-two and starting out in my career. I need to pay my dues and learn from my mistakes. Hunter has done that already. The outcome being the impressive businessman that walked in here minutes ago. I can’t compare myself to him. We’re at different places in life. I don’t want to fast-forward to thirty-five. I want to take my time, soak in every moment.
I push Hunter and his date out of my mind to finish my shift.
Thirty minutes later, all the guests have been checked in and my duties are done.
Andrea, the other event planning intern working the check-in table, motions me over to her table where she’s starting to pack up.
“Would you take these tablets to Will inside while I clean up here? He’s the guy I introduced you to earlier.”
“Sure.” I take her tablet and mine, then walk inside the event center to find Will. A tall guy with a bald head and dark red glasses, he’s easy to spot across the room. I make my way through the space, taking in the navy carpet and neon blue lighting on the ceiling, but the best part is the twelve-foot-high doors that open up to the patio overlooking the Hudson River.
