I adjust my thin straps that crisscross all down my back and continue to walk to the elevator.
I have a date to get to, one that will be full of fake laughs and smiles. Not that it won’t be a little fun, leading him on, but it gets old fairly quickly.
We step onto the elevator, and I get into character. Pushing away the Becca I really am—terrified and afraid of every man I cross paths with. I turn into the Becca everyone sees—confident, sassy, the firecracker who runs the Chambers empire.
The elevator dings, and before the doors slide open, I fluff my roots up, running my fingers through the loose blonde waves that flow down past my shoulders.
Max and Keanu step out of the elevator first, and when they step apart, I see who I’m waiting for—Austin.
The biggest smile stretches across his face when he sees me. And I wait for the butterflies to flutter in my stomach. But I think they’re dead.
I turn to say something to Sophie, but she’s gone, already on a direct path for Rose, Sophie’s girlfriend, who looksholybreathtaking tonight.
Austin gets bonus points for not checking me out.
Oh, wait. I spoke too soon.
As I close the distance between us, his direct eye contact falters, his eyes dipping to my chest. And there goes any hope for Austin. But that’s okay. Because I’m not in this for the happily ever after. I’m in it so Callum can get his happily ever after, far away from me.
Austin stretches his hand out as I approach, and I take it, letting his fingers intertwine with mine.
“You look …” He blows a quick breath out.
I smile at him, hiding my irritation that he couldn’t even come up with one word to finish his sentence. “Thank you.”
Austin’s smile flickers behind me, where I know my boys are standing. “May I ask who they are?”
I smile when I hear the nerves threaded in with the fake confidence in his voice. “This is Max and Keanu, my bodyguards. I guess I should have mentioned earlier that my last name is Chambers. Becca Chambers.”
I laugh internally, struggling to keep it inside, at my littleBond … James Bondintroduction.
I can see the exact moment when it clicks behind his eyes.
“Oh,wow. Okay. So, my date is Becca Chambers, millionaire and head of the Chambers empire? How in the hell did I not recognize you?”
Okay, gross that he added how much money he thinks I have and my title.
“Yes, that’s me. And I guess we were just too caught up in the moment.”
He shakes his head, smiling as he leads us to the main ballroom, where the event is taking place.
I can feel Keanu’s and Max’s presence at my back as we enter the room. And I can also feel hundreds of eyes shift my way.
My chest tightens with the attention, but I disconnect from it and force myself to go through the motions.
The first group I approach and mingle with is the hardest. I’m still finding my footing and exactly what to say.
But by the time we reach our twentieth or thirtieth table, I’m not even thinking as the words flow from my lips. I’m a robot, laughing at the terrible jokes and smiling at the creepy compliments.
I wish I could say,Thanks for your money and investments. Now, get the fuck out. But unfortunately, that’s deemed as unprofessional or whatever.
The first couple hours pass by in a haze of cheers and annoying conversations. But then it’s time for my speech, and I’m about to shit myself from nerves.
I might look cool and collected whenever I address the public or staff for the Chambers company, but that is far from the reality of the frogs trying to claw their way up my throat every time I open my mouth.
Dante, the host of the party and the manager of this location, introduces me with a laid-back coolness that I wish I possessed. “Hello, everyone. I would like to give an introduction to the woman behind the successful Chambers empire. The woman who pushes us to be our greatest selves. The one who inspires us every single day. Please help me give a warm welcome to none other than the woman of the hour, the one in charge of us all, Miss Becca Chambers.”
Applause breaks out in the room, and I walk a few steps up to the stage and over to the microphone.
