He turned his back and flagged down the bartender. As I looked around the room, I heard a voice behind me.

“Emerson, is that you?” The familiar voice made a pit in my stomach.

I slowly turned around and gulped.

“Christian?”

“Oh my God, it is you.” He smiled. “I didn’t know you were back in California. What’s it been? Eight years?”

“Yes, and I’m only here temporarily. I’ll be leaving soon.”

“You look amazing.”

I heard Alex clear his throat as he handed me my Pinot.

“Alex Parker, this is Christian Billings. Christian, meet Alex Parker.”

The two of them shook hands and I could sense something off with Alex.

“So how do the two of you know each other?” he asked.

I graciously smiled at Christian. “Would you like to tell him or should I?”

“We used to date when we were teenagers,” he spoke nervously as he looked at me.

I placed my hand on his chest. “Oh come on, Chris.”

“Oh boy,” I heard Alex mumble.

“Chris and I had been dating for almost a year before the accident. When I woke up from the coma, I was told by my friends that he broke up with me and went off to college.” I laughed.

“Emerson, I—”

“Save it, Billings. You’re a total douchebag for doing that. At least you could have had the common courtesy to wait until I woke up. You never called me to explain why you left and you never checked to see how I was doing. Not only did I lose my twin sister and parents, but I also lost the one person who I thought would always be there for me. And you know why?” I tilted my head. “Because you said you loved me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know if you’d ever wake up and I couldn’t put my life on hold waiting for you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to walk away from this conversation.”

“No. Please, Christian, let me do the walking this time.” I lightly placed my hand on his arm as I took my Pinot and walked away. Alex followed behind.

“I’m sorry.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be. Best thing that ever happened to me.”

“You never mentioned him when you were telling me about the accident.”

“He wasn’t worth mentioning.”

Alex mixed and mingled with the elite while I stayed in the background and watched as people pulled out their checkbooks. I left his side to go to the bar for another glass of Pinot. He was so busy chatting that he didn’t even notice I had left. Sipping on my wine from the barstool and looking around, I noticed Alex was gone. I got up and walked around the ballroom, but I didn’t see him. As I stepped out into the lobby of the hotel, I saw him kissing a tall, elegant-looking woman with curly but frizzy brown hair. My heart started to pick up the pace as my stomach bottomed out. I quickly turned around and walked out of the Four Seasons Hotel. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was feeling at that moment, but I couldn’t let on what I saw. My phone dinged with a text message from Alex.

“Where are you?”

I took in a deep breath before responding.

“Outside. I just needed some fresh air.”

A few moments later, Alex walked up behind me.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah. It was just a little stuffy in there.” I gave a small smile.

“Are you referring to the air or the people?” He grinned.

“Maybe both.”

“Well, dinner is about to be served. So let’s go inside and have a nice meal and we’ll leave after.”

“Okay.”

The last thing I wanted to do was go back inside and see the woman he was kissing. Alex led us over to our table and he was gracious enough to pull out my chair for me.

“Thanks.”

He gave me a nod and took his seat next to me. As dinner was being served, I looked at the table next to us and there she was, staring at me. Or should I say, glaring at me. As I placed my napkin on my lap, I glanced over at Alex.

“That woman over there keeps staring at me.”

He looked at her and she quickly turned away. “Maybe she’s jealous of you.”

“Why would she be jealous of me?”

“I don’t know, Emerson.” His tone sounded irritated.

I ate dinner in silence while Alex talked amongst the others around the table.

Chapter 19

Alex

I hadn’t seen Bella in almost five years. Seeing her tonight was a total shock at best. It wasn’t something I had planned on. Hell, I didn’t even know she was back in L.A. Emerson was being quiet and it bothered me. She was never this quiet and I got the impression something was wrong. When I found her outside, she said she was fine, but I didn’t believe her. I bet it was seeing her ex-boyfriend. I made a promise to myself five years ago to never let another woman get to me. I’d made good on that promise because I never dated anyone too long to let things get serious. Much like Emerson, once they started showing signs of wanting a commitment of some sort, it was time to leave; to walk away and find the next person with the hopes they just wanted to have a casual fling. That was what Emerson wanted. Her thinking was very much like mine and I was grateful for that. Tonight, we had something in common. We both saw our exes after a number of years and old wounds were reopened.

I looked over at Emerson, who was on her third glass of wine. She kept staring over at Bella and it made me uncomfortable.

“I see you staring at that woman over there. Why do you keep doing that?” I asked.

“Why not? She was staring at me first. I think she’s very pretty except for that mess of curly hair. She really should see a stylist about those ends.”

I chuckled as I took the glass of wine from her hand. “I think you’ve had enough wine.”

Her head tilted as she took the glass back from me. “Who are you? The wine keeper?” She brought the glass up to her lips and finished it off in one swallow.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut you off now,” I spoke with authority.

She put her hand to my face. “You can’t and won’t tell me when I’ve had enough.”

“Emerson, I’m warning you.” I looked around at the table to make sure nobody heard her.

She grabbed my cheek and pinched it. “You’re so fucking cute when you think you’re in control.”

“Okay. Let’s go. We need to get you home.” I softly took hold of her arm.

She let out a light laugh. “I don’t have a home, Parker. I’m homeless.”

I put my arm around her to make sure she didn’t fall over. As we were walking out of the ballroom, Bella was standing in the lobby with some guy.

“That man she’s with is sexy.” Emerson smiled as she looked at me.

“No he’s not.”

“Jealous?”

“Why the hell would I be jealous?”

She didn’t answer me. When we stepped outside the hotel, Phillip was there, holding the car door open. I helped Emerson in the back seat and climbed in next to her.

“I think I need to lie down.”

“Lay your head on my lap.”

“You’re not going to get a boner, are you?” She smirked.

“Emerson, just lay your damn head down and close your eyes,” I spoke in irritation but on the inside, I was smiling.

When we arrived home, I helped her out of the Bentley and then picked her up, carrying her into the house and to her room as she laid her head on my chest. I set her down and unzipped her dress, letting it fall to the ground. Her body was a dream and I wanted nothing more than to fuck her into oblivion. But I wouldn’t. She had too much to drink and I would never take advantage. I grabbed the nightshirt that she had sitting on the bed and slipped it over her head. Pulling back the covers, I helped her climb in, and the moment her head hit the pillow, her eyes closed. Softly kissing her forehead, I placed the back of my hand on her cheek.

“Sleep well, Emerson James.”

****

Emerson

As I lay in bed, I couldn’t help thinking about what I had seen last night between Alex and frizzy curly-haired girl. Seeing them kissing cut deep into my soul and it pissed me off. Why? I couldn’t tell you. I liked Alex a lot and he was there with me, not her. For him to go off and kiss another woman when he was with a woman was a total douchebag move. And then to sit at the table and pretend not to know her was even worse. I gave him the opportunity to tell me, but he didn’t. He played dumb. Typical man. I was going to put an end to my wandering thoughts so I climbed out of bed and marched to the kitchen. He wasn’t there. I stomped up the stairs and opened his bedroom door. He wasn’t there. I walked through the entire house and I couldn’t find him. It was apparent he wasn’t home. Where the hell did he go? It was Sunday.