“So in here we will have dancing,” I said as we walked into the room Ed and Barbra were in. “This is …”
“Musicly!” Cassandra said as she shook hands with Ed. “You run Musicly. I know you.”
“Yes, I’m Ed, and this is my girlfriend, Barbra, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Wow, I bet you are making tons of money through that company. Good catch, Barb,” Cassandra said with an awkward wink.
I couldn’t believe my ears. Had she really just said that? It was by far one of the most tacky things I’d heard a woman say at a party in a really long time.
“Sorry,” I whispered to Ed as the two women talked for a minute.
“Is this the girl? She’s older than I pictured.”
“No, that’s not her! That’s her boss.”
“Thank God,” Ed replied with relief. “So your girl isn’t coming?”
“I guess not.”
As quickly as I could, I pulled Cassandra away from my friends and brought her out to the backyard. At least out there, I hoped I wouldn’t have to worry about her insulting any of my friends.
“This is where the auction items are. Feel free to bid on anything you like. It’s a silent auction, so you just write your bid and put it in the container. You never know what you might win.”
“Oh, that’s perfect. I’m sure I’ll find a few things to bid on. Maybe when I’m done, we could dance?”
There was no way I wanted to dance with Cassandra. I didn’t even think I would be able to pretend like I could stand her while dancing. With a smile, I nodded my head in agreement but didn’t say anything. I was definitely planning on being really busy later and not being free to dance with her.
I didn’t want to dance with any of the women. Not even the models who I saw starting to arrive at the front door. It didn’t matter who they were or how beautiful they were, I wasn’t in the mood for dancing or flirting.
“Do you want something to eat? My friend Mark has his restaurants catering the food out here?” I asked in an effort to break the seal of talking to Cassandra and being stuck outside with her.
“Yes, I’d love that.”
“Caroline,” I said as I yelled for my assistant across the yard.
She looked confused and came over to me so I didn’t have to keep yelling. Caroline wasn’t going to be very happy with what I was about to do, but at least she was getting paid for her night of work. It was the only consolation she’d have when I pawned Cassandra off on her.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“This is Cassandra, the lead manager from the San Francisco Ballet. Would you mind shower her to the food area and helping her get settled in? I need to greet some of the guests inside,” I said as I motioned for the two of them to introduce themselves or shake hands, or whatever they wanted to do. I just needed to get out of there.
Caroline smiled and graciously walked with Cassandra over to the food tent, but I knew only a few minutes with the woman was going to drive my assistant crazy. Caroline didn’t really enjoy snooty people like Cassandra.
As I walked back into the house, a lot more people had arrived. Several of the football players that I’d invited were there; it was impossible to avoid them because they stood a foot taller than many of the guests. The music was blasting in the great room, and the party was in full swing as I began the obligatory rounds to try and get people to donate money.
Many of my guests just knew me as a rich tech guy. They had probably seen me at a charity event or two, but not very many people knew that I was taking on this new quest so I really had to sell my ideas.
“Morgan, it’s so nice to see you,” I said as I walked up to one of my favorite movie stars. “Thank you so much for coming. I know you must be busy.”
“Thanks for the invite. Sometimes I think people assume I’m not going to come, so they don’t even invite me to events. I must say I was surprised that you were starting a non-profit. You aren’t exactly known for your charity work.”
I knew he didn’t mean it as an insult. But it still stung a little to hear how little respect the guy had for me, or at least who he thought I was before he showed up to my event.
“It’s a new adventure for me. I’m excited to make giving back to the community more of a full-time job for me. Thanks again for coming. We have silent auction items outside, or if you’d like to give a direct donation, you can see Emily who is set up in the study. She has information and plans for our first year that she can share with you.”
“I’ll go see her in a little bit. I hear some music calling my name for now,” Morgan said as he made his way to the great room.
As I waved to Morgan and waited for him to turn back around so I could go visit with others, I got a glimpse of a little commotion going on by the front door. I couldn’t see what was going on, but there was a line of people standing at the door and looking out to where Mark and the security team were greeting the new arrivals.
We had the front gates opened up so drivers could come into the property to drop off the guests before leaving again. But maybe our plan wasn’t working and was causing more congestion than we’d expected.
“Please just ask Kevin; I think he will let me in. My name is Jenna Andover,” I heard her say before I’d even pushed my way through the group of people at the door.
When I finally made my way to the front of the house, I saw Jenna standing in the driveway in front of a brilliant white limousine with a dress that had her looking like an angel. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought the lights in front of the house were purposely spotlighting her because her dress was practically glowing as the jewels caught the light.
“Jenna,” I said as I pushed through. “You came.”
I knew what Cassandra had said about Jenna, but I couldn’t help being excited to see her. Instinctively, I reached out to grab her hand. The touch of her fingers in mine felt right. Having her there with me felt right, that was all I knew at that moment.
“Oh, this is the girl,” Mark said with a smile.
“Wow, you had the nerve to show up?” Cassandra said as she appeared at the door.
“Mark, help me out here. Can you take that one off my hands?” I whispered as I nodded toward Cassandra. “I’ll owe you big time.”
“Hell, I’d love to handle her. She’s a spitfire.” Mark laughed as he grabbed Cassandra and pulled her away. “I need you to help me with something.”
“What? I don’t know who you are …”
“I’m Kevin’s best friend. Let’s go talk about this amazing dress you have on. You look like you’re twenty-nine. Maybe a little young for me, but I’m still going to flirt with you,” Mark said as he and Cassandra went off inside the house.
He was a lifesaver. I couldn’t quite figure out if he was serious about his flirting with her, but more power to him if he was. Mark was a passionate man and deserved to find a woman that could keep him occupied. Definitely not sure if he could tame Cassandra, but having a good man like Mark in her life probably wouldn’t hurt her either.
“I know you’ve heard some things about me, and I would appreciate if you gave me a chance to tell my side of the story,” Jenna said as she looked up at me with the biggest brown eyes I’d ever seen.
“Yes, of course.” I motioned for us to go to the garage area where there was a tent set up for the staff. No one was going to be in there since they were all working the party so we could have a few minutes of privacy at least.
The night air was getting cool, and as we walked to the tent, I saw goose bumps on Jenna’s shoulders. I couldn’t help taking my jacket off and wrapping it around her shoulders as we made our way into the large white tent.
I was nervous for what Jenna had to say. There was so much going through my mind though and so many emotions just having her there with me. I genuinely wanted to reach over and grab her and kiss her, yet I held myself back as I waited to hear what her side of this story was. Clearly, there were some secrets she’d been keep
ing, but was everything Cassandra said true?
“I’m not sure what Cassandra said, but I can tell you she was right about one thing. I did lie to you.”
“Okay,” I said as I waited to hear more.
“That night we first met. The night of the masquerade event, my friend Elaina hadn’t shown up for the event, and I was covering for her. I choreographed the dance so I knew it, and I squeezed into her costume. It was just supposed to be me dancing, and then no one would know Elaina hadn’t arrived. That was it. There was no intention to trick you. No intention to lie about anything.”
“You are not a dancer?” I asked. “Then you’re the choreographer?”
“Not exactly. I’m an assistant choreographer, but Cassandra has me doing a lot of different things for her. I did choreograph that whole show, though, despite her saying that she did it.”
So far I believed everything Jenna was telling me. The way she looked me in the eyes as she talked. The genuine emotion she had in her voice, she was telling me the truth. But this was about more than just that night. This was about several nights, even nights when we were naked in bed; she had plenty of opportunities to tell me the truth, and she didn’t do it.
Chapter 15
Jenna
I was sweating, despite the cold evening air. The jacket Kevin had put around my shoulders was harnessing my heat and keeping it against my body, so I was warmer than I could have imagined. My heart raced as I tried to clearly tell Kevin what had happened and explain my side of why I had done what I’d done.
“I think I understand what happened. I was just a little thrown off when you didn’t give me your phone number, and then you gave me a fake number. You did that on purpose didn’t you?” he asked as he shrugged his shoulders, a little unsure if he was right or not.
I could have lied again right then and there. I could have simply said I mistyped or something like that. But the number I put in his phone wasn’t even close to my real phone number, and I was done lying.
“Yes, I gave you a fake number because I felt horrible about lying and how far things had gone. I knew it would never work out between us, and I didn’t want to prolong it. I didn’t want you to hate me.”
“Hate you?” Kevin laughed.
“Why would I hate you?”
“Because I’m not an elegant dancer. I’m not even a member of the dance company like that. I’m barely even employed there. I basically do Cassandra’s errands and make the dances which she changes all of the time. I live in an apartment that literally has more mice than people; I’m sure you think I’m kidding, but it’s the truth. I’m not sophisticated, and I don’t come from money.”
“Do you think I care about all of that? Maybe you don’t know me as well as I thought you knew me.”
His words lingered in the air, and for the first time, I realized how bad my thoughts made him out to be. Basically, I was making him into someone who was only interested in a woman for her status and not because of who she was. I didn’t mean to think like that, and I honestly hadn’t realized I’d been doing it.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly as the realization came to me.
I was sorry for a lot of things. Sorry for lying to him. Sorry for thinking the worst of him. Sorry for not being who I truly was when we had such a strong connection.
Kevin took a step toward me and smiled as he did it. He wasn’t as mad as I’d imagined he was going to be. In fact, he looked really happy as he stood only a few inches away from me and looked down at me.
“You know, I can’t believe I listened to a word Cassandra said. I was feeling vulnerable because of the phone number thing and unsure of what was going on. My gut said something was wrong, and I just couldn’t put my finger on it, so when she offered up a possible answer, I took it. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“You’re sorry?” I laughed nervously. “Wow, this is definitely not going the way I thought it was going to go.”
“Is there anything else you’d like to tell me?”
My mind raced through everything that had gone on between the two of us. There was so much I wanted to talk to him about now that the truth was really out there. I was hopeful that he was going to want to still talk to me.
“Everything else I’ve said was the truth. I tried as hard as possible to tell you the truth about my life. I’m an open book, ask me anything, and I’ll tell you.”
“Do you have feelings for me?” Kevin said as he grabbed my hands and held onto them.
His fingers were warm as they held onto me, and mine were shaking. This man was absolutely unbelievable. Not only had he allowed me the chance to explain, he seemed to genuinely be willing to forgive me.
“Yes, oh my God, please don’t think that any of that was fake. I liked you. I still like you. I wouldn’t have cared so much about the deceit if I didn’t care about you. I’m just sorry things got off to such a bad start.”
“Okay then, I think we should have a fresh start. What do you think about that?” he said with a huge smile.
“Sure.” I laughed.
“Hi, I’m Kevin Fox,” he said as he dramatically shook my hand. “I would love it if you’d come inside and dance with me. You’ve got to be the most beautiful woman here; I’m sure of it.”
I blushed at the way his eyes moved down the length of my body and then back up. The desire practically melted off of him as he looked at me. This was the man I’d grown to care about. The man that couldn’t hide his feelings for me at all.
“Yes, I’ll dance with you,” I said. “But can I ask you one thing first?”
“Of course?”
“Did you really just make your friend take Cassandra off to dance? That was horrible,” I said as I started to laugh. “Maybe he’s not really your friend? An enemy maybe?”
“I don’t know. Mark seemed pretty smitten with her. He’s a quirky guy. He’s the one who wanted the huge dog photo from the house. I think he and Cassandra might just get along.”
Kevin whisked me into the main ballroom where we did see Cassandra and Mark dancing. She was actually smiling as Mark smoothly moved around the dance floor with her. I couldn’t remember ever seeing her genuinely smile before. I wasn’t sure it had ever happened at all. I’d seen a lot of fake smiles from her, though.
“This is weird,” I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck, and we started to dance. “I’m having flashbacks to the first night we met.”
“Me too. You had that sexy ass costume on. And that mask …” Kevin’s voice trailed off, and he let out a little groan.
“What?”
“I’m getting excited just thinking about that night. Kissing you for the first time. Wow that was electric.”
“I know. Right? I’ve never felt that comfortable with someone so quickly. “I should have told you right then and there. When we were backstage. I should have just blurted it out and said I was filling in for a friend. I replayed that over and over.”
His finger went over my mouth, and I stopped talking while we continued to dance. But now he pulled me in closer to him. We were hardly actually dancing at all; instead, I felt that familiar comfort that he and I had together. My head leaned in and rested on his chest as I felt his heart pounding.
“Sorry,” he said with a chuckle as his body pressed close enough to me that I felt how hard he was for me.
“You’re that hard just talking about that first night?” I teased.
“It was a good night. And to be honest with you, now that I know the truth, it is still a really good night. I can see how it was hard to tell me. I can see how you might not have wanted me to know everything about you. But damn it, I don’t care. I honestly don’t care if your job is to mop the floors. First off, you were an amazing dancer, and if that’s a passion of yours, I’m going to do everything I can to help you continue that. Secondly, someone’s job doesn’t make who they are.”
“Really?” I said as I tried to hold back my tears.
“I bet you
didn’t know that I once worked at a garbage company. Not as a garbage man, they were too skilled for me. I was a teenager and worked at the sorting facility when the trash was thrown into a pile and my boss wanted all the recycling pulled out. I smelled like garbage for the whole six months that I did that job!”
I couldn’t stop laughing. Not because of the job he did, but because I could just imagine what it would be like to stink that much all the time. There was no way he was dating anyone during that time. No way he could even go out to a bar without people looking at him weirdly.
“That sounds horrible!”
“I was in college and intent on making as much money as I could. It paid well, but it was horrible. My point is, I would never judge someone who was willing to work hard. I guess it worries me a little that you thought I would judge you because of your job.”
“I think it was a judgment I put on myself,” I finally confessed. “At the time, I thought you would see me how I saw myself. I’ve always wanted to be a dancer. I dreamed of someday getting to be a dancer, and I’ve been ashamed of not being able to follow up on my dream.”
“Why don’t you audition?” Kevin asked as he pulled me over to the side of the room so we could talk a little bit.
His one simple question had been asked by so many of my friends and family over the years. I’d given a lot of different excuses too. I’d said it was about money. Not having enough time was another reason I used. Not having my skills as sharp as they needed to be. But the truth was I was scared.
“I’ve given so many excuses that I’m not even sure if any of them are true.”
“It doesn’t pay well, I’m sure that has to be an issue. I know when I was first starting to work, the salary of a job was pretty damn important.”
“Yes,” I said as I felt myself lean in closer to him. “That has been an issue. And I always thought everyone was better than me. I didn’t take as many classes as the other girls. I practiced in worn-out shoes and thrift store outfits. I’ve always felt less than the other dancers.”
Kevin yanked my hand and pulled me toward the stairs. He didn’t stop when we reached the stairs and held onto me as he climbed the stairs two at a time, and I had to run to keep up with him. One of my shoes fell off as I tried to hurry up and keep his pace.
Her Savior Page 16
