She shook her head as though in shame, "Both. Ours is the most incestuous union of them all. So, are you still bartending, or do you own the bar now?"
I frowned. "How did you know?"
"Hello? Last year's biggest wedding? You were the talk of the town. Saw your pictures inSilhouette Magazine. You looked beautiful, by the way."
"Thanks." If I recall correctly, the magazine article had made it sound like I was a hipster who owned the bar and not a simple waitress, but Darcy seemed to have smartly read between the lines.
"I can imagine how restless you must feel these days."
"Yeah. How did you guess?"
"I have a knack for feeling out people. If you can come by my place sometimes. I'll tell you who to be friends with and who to avoid. Lesson one:" she pointed to the trio who were now further in the room paired up with men who were clearly significantly older than them, "stay away from the vultures."
"Vultures?"
She nodded. "That of the ex-model category. Afraid to grow old and have a dire need to marry rich, they circle whenever they see an old man about to keel over and die. I also call them that because their hollowed out cheeks make their faces elongated like that of a vulture."
"Darcy!"
"Did I lie? The main mean girl, Violet," she explained when I frowned, "Blondie with a thick southern accent. She's been telling lies about you. Saying your marriage is fake and that you're a publicity wife for Carey's run for the office."
I was shocked by how close to the truth that was. Violet was more astute than Darcy gave her credit for. I was about to reply with a quip when another woman walked past us and waved at Darcy. "That's also another one you need to stay away from."
The raven haired beauty with an athletic figure didn't seem like the type of woman Darcy was talking about. "And what is she? Socialite?"
Darcy's eyes narrowed, and she frowned. "I thought you knew her."
I shook my head. I can recognize some people in this room from my wedding, but not her.
"A socialite career woman. Great people. They mind their business most of the time, but Gemma is different. Well, she's the same, but she was once in a relationship with your man. Details are fuzzy on that one. But most people believe they fucked. We all thought she was going to be the one who nabs him."
"Carey never told me about her."
"Probably because there's nothing going on, but people love a good gossip."
"Well, she can have him," I said. "I am only with him for the money, after all."
"Is that so?" a voice boomed from behind me. Startled, we both turned to see Carey standing behind us. He had two champagne flutes in his hand and handed me one. "Here I was thinking you married me for love?" His tone was humorous, but I could hear the biting cynicism behind the words. Fuck. Of course, that's what he heard.
Chapter 12
Thalia
I CHUCKLED. "Ithought you had disappeared on me."
He bend down and kissed me on the cheek, then drew back smiling. "I could never leave you alone."
Anyone watching our performance would have been sold on its authenticity, and Darcy clearly bought it. She swooned and clasped her hands."I get why you were hiding her from us, Carey. You're smitten."
Darcy stood up, and I followed suit. Carey slid to my side and snaked his arm around my waist. "Fancy seeing you around, Darcy. I always thought this wasn't your style." Carey didn't sound like he wanted her to be here at all and whether Darcy caught on, I could not tell because she carried on like she hadn't.
"It's not." She let out a deep exaggerated sigh, "But you know Hugh, he won't miss an opportunity to splash money. At least this is for a good cause."
A tall, slim man with dirty blond hair and black horn-rimmed glasses came from behind Darcy and tugged her arm. "Oh!" she clutched her chest and then smiled when she glanced back. "Hugh!"
Hugh nodded his head at Carey, who responded with the same gesture. "Let's take our seats hon," he said to Darcy, "the event is about to start." The MC got on stage and announced thesame thing to the crowd. People began shuffling about, looking for their tables.
"What's our table number?" Darcy asked Hugh. "Six," he said.
