Betty. Champagne and caviar.
Shit. I shook my head and focused on my task. Pushing through the people, I brought back a reasonable amount of caviar and a glass of champagne that she practically gulped.
Betty was cute. Betty was real people. Betty was nice and steady. She’d make an excellent ranch wife. I shouldn’t have been thinking about how beautiful Brin was. It felt like a betrayal.Ihad always been a one-woman man. I had committed to Betty and she was going to be my wife. My future.
Which, in some ways, made me a little irritated with Brin. If she hadn’t tried to kiss me the other night I might have never considered her in that way. But there had been a second, a brief second, when I couldn’t help but wonder what it might be like to kiss her back.
That was wrong. So wrong. Betty didn’t deserve that and I was going to scrub it from my memory.
If Brin remained on The King’s Land, she would just be a neighbor. An old friend, hopefully. Nothing more.
I watched Betty bite into a cracker with black fish eggs piled on top. Her whole face crinkled into a look of horror.
“Told you.” I laughed. “Just because it’s rich doesn’t mean it’s good. I, for one, know Brin King’s favorite food is hotdogs.”
Betty took another swallow of champagne and actually swished it around in her mouth before she swallowed. “Don’t be ridiculous, Garrett. Sabrina King hasn’t eaten anything outside of a vegetable or piece of fruit in years. Look at her.”
Where was she? I craned my neck. She turned and caught me looking. I smiled, but she ducked her head and walked away.
* * *
SABRINA
I did my hostess duties for the rest of the night with a heavy heart and feeling so stupid. Garrett really was nothing more than a childhood crush, then a high school crush. But now it felt…different.
There had been this certainty inside me about him, always. When I was a teenager and thought he was the best person I could know. The person who would always have my back.
But now, when I was finally old enough and attractive enough to gain his attention…
It was too late.
Betty had beaten me to him.
Suddenly the house was too warm. The people were suffocating me. It was like I couldn’t breathe the air anymore. I made my way through the throng of guests out to the front patio and down the driveway a bit. Not too close to the gate, where the paparazzi lay in wait for a hint of drama.
I watched a car pull in and stop. This was odd for several reasons. The car in question was a mid-size sedan. Not anything special. Nothing like the Mercedes, Maseratis and Hummers that littered the front lawn.
In fact, it was so unspectacular it made me wary that it was a journalist trying to sneak into the party.
Then I saw a figure running down the driveway toward the car, one hand waving. I was far enough into the dark on the edge of the front lawn that it was doubtful I could be seen, but the moonlight showed off the blonde in the black dress.
Betty.
Of course. It was the friend she worked with who was picking her up. Except when the large man got out of the driver’s seat, it took me a second to picture this guy as a nurse. Which was probably sexist of me. I mean, really what year was it…OH MY GOD!
Betty had leaped into the guy’s arms and was kissing him. Like,kissing him, kissing him.
Without thinking, I ducked down and started to move closer to them. At least within hearing range.
“Luke, stop,” she said panting and pushing him off a bit. “He might see.”
“I don’t give a fuck.” The ominous Luke made his point by spitting on the ground at her feet.
“I’m just looking for the right time,” Betty insisted. “Now that I’m here…I’ll figure it out.”
“You’ve been figuring it out for months. I’m tired of this shit. Tell him it’s over and let’s get on with it already.”
“I will. I will. Soon. I promise. Can we just go? We’ve got the whole night. He thinks I’m working the night shift at the hospital.”
