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“Are you ready for this?” He asks and I blink looking out at the Yacht House where the ski resort holds all its big events.
To be honest, in a small town it’s the only place big enough to hold a crowd this size. It’s on the water and we spent the last week devoted to making it sparkle and adding a few special touches. It doesn’t even look like the same building with the fairy lights in the trees reflecting in the water.
“Ready to go rub elbows with all the big money?” He asks as he helps me out of the car.
I smooth my hands down my dress and take a deep breath. I’m more nervous then I imagined I would be. It’s fine. I’m here with Mason and I will never see most of these people again.
“Ready,” I tell him and he hovers his hand over my lower back without actually touching me. In spite of that I can feel the heat from his hand burning through the satin of my dress and straight onto my skin.
“Hey you made it!” Leah says as we walk in. She hands me a glass of champagne and waggles her eyebrows at Mason.
“I call a truce for tonight. You look too handsome to bicker with.” She grins at him, and he comes closer to give her a big smacking kiss on the cheek.
“You know I love you, Leah, without you in this town there would be no one for me to prove wrong all the time.”
Leah laughs and slaps Mason on the arm. “Stop with all those compliments. You’re making me blush.”
“Then let me give you just one more. You look fabulous.”
Mason is right, Leah looks beautiful in a dress of crushed green velvet. It’s just quirky enough to match her personality but formal enough for the event.
“Thank you, you’re no slouch yourself. It’s a good thing you have Em here to fight off all the women.”
Leah winks at me as two tall blonde men walk up. They look similar to each other but not quite identical.
“Em, this is my date Steve and his brother Adam. They are twins and play for Jags.”
“It’s nice to meet you both.” I hold my hand out and Steve shakes it followed by Adam who holds it a bit longer. He looks from me to Mason.
Mason gives him a look that apparently has some hidden meaning as Adam sighs and lets go of my hand. “It’s great to meet you too, Em.”
“Her name is Emily,” Mason says, his tone short, and the other man puts his hands up.
“Sorry, Emily.”
I smile at him hoping to make up for Mason’s rudeness “Mason! It’s okay, everyone calls me Em.”
“If you’ll excuse us, we have to mingle,” Mason says, hovering his hand at my lower back again and leading me into the crowd.
“Mason, what has gotten into you? What was that all about?” I ask as he steers me towards Lily and Mike who are standing across the room.
“Did you see the way he looked at you? Held your hand for a moment too long? Did he not see that you had a date?” Mason growls the words out and I stop in the middle of the floor and cross my arms.
“You’re making something out of nothing. He was fine just being polite and it’s not like we are dating.”
He takes a deep breath “Sorry, Em, I just don’t want you to get hurt by some player.”
The wordstoo latealmost slip from my lips, but I hold them in.
“I can handle myself, Mason. And to top it off, I am single. I will decide if I want to get to know anyone better, thank you very much. ” I give him a glare and then paste a smile on my face walking up to give Lily a hug.
“You look gorgeous,” I tell her and take in her flowy floral gown. It makes her look like a fairy, so light and delicate.
“Thank you, I got it at the shop in town. Clarissa helped me. I actually had another dress picked out but when I saw this one, I just had to have it.”
I do a little mental cheer for the local shops.
“It was the right choice. You look breathtaking,” I gush, looking over to see Mason in deep conversation with Mike about some football related something or other.
