Page 73 of Dance with Me on New Year's Eve
“We wouldn’t dream of missing your party,” Jeff assured her, stepping closer and tensing the hand closest to me as it rose. For a moment, I thought he was going to place an arm aroundme.
As if.
Crazy thoughts. I must have been more tired than I realized.
He continued, “Roxy and I will be the first ones to arrive.” At Hazel’s widened eyes, he hastily added, “I mean, separately.”
My own eyes must have been huge because Hazel gave me an oddly curious look before giving him the same one. “Good. Oh, I forgot to mention, I want the launch party on New Year’s Eve.”
“New—New Year’s Eve?” I squeaked.
“Her birthday,” Peter added.
“Oh,” I said with a forced smile. I usually looked forward to celebrating New Year’s Eve with myself and my new resolutions, but I guess not this year. “Good to know. Can we meet to discuss your requirements sometime this week? I think your schedule is clear for Friday.”
Hazel checked her phone. “Yeah, fine. Just put it on my calendar.” She stuffed her phone in her purse. “Actually, Jeff, you might as well come too. You can manage the budget.”
Before either of us could object, she smiled and grabbed Peter’s hand. “We’ve got to go! Thanks, you guys. You’re really the best.”
I slumped onto the nearest chair and then noticed Hazel was closing the door.
Frowning, I swiveled around in a circle until I became slightly dizzy.
Jeff stood watching me. “Are you all right?”
“I’m great. How’d you know?” I said, my voice laced with sarcasm.
“You could have said no.”
“Everyone always says that to me. It’s not so easy, you know,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest before thinking better of it, given the deep V-necked sweater I was wearing today.
“I don’t know. I probably say notooeasily.”
My brows traveled up my forehead. “Wow. I can’t believe you admitted that.”
He shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. “Why? I have flaws, and I know that. Just like anyone.”
I started to nod and then shook my head. “I thought you were only aware of the flaws in others.” Then, I muttered, “Especially me.”
He tilted his head, his face a mask as he studied me. “You make a lot of assumptions about people, don’t you?”
My defenses rose. “No, I don’t.”
“Hmm.”
“Fine. Maybe I do. But my assumptions are based on tons of evidence. People usually live up to expectations, don’t you think?”
“I used to think that,” he said quietly. “Now I’m not so sure.”
Chapter 19
Even after finding and training a new event manager for the resort, I was still feeling stressed every day trying to manage all the things. This morning, it was the business development project, this afternoon was mostly spent in emails and calls with Hazel’s agent and potential publisher, and then I spent the evening at home brainstorming some ideas and assembling them into an agenda for tomorrow’s meeting with Hazel and Jeff. I was barely sleeping, so I was exhausted, today even more than usual.
So instead of going to bed early as any sane person would do, I chose to pour a glass of wine, sink into the couch with my Santa Claus slippers and fleece Christmas blanket, and surf the web for a while. Did people still say “surf the web,” or was that outdated? I had no idea. I laughed out loud, reminding myself to ask Lila next time I saw her.
But the web was not surfed, as I found myself instead opening the gaming site chat window.
SawyerRox4:Danny! You’re there. Thank goodness.
