The socialite pipes in occasionally, enough for me to know she isn’t as empty-headed as she seemed at first. Emily was right in inviting her. She could be useful after all.
This goes on for the longest two courses I’ve ever been a part of. These people are here so I can pump them for information.
“Do you do a lot of client work?” the socialite asks me.
I shrug. “I mainly handle the Broadstreet account,” I tell her.
“You must be doing pretty well for yourself,” she says, looking around my apartment.
“The compensation is a nice touch to a job I enjoy,” I reply.
“Single?”
I nod.
“No kids?”
I shake my head.
The retired General coughs and I look at him. He’s watching the socialite, Tiffany, with a slack jaw.
“It must be very lonely here after work, all by yourself,” she says silkily.
I stay quiet. I can tell I’m being hunted.
Normally, I’d have a response ready to throw her off. But I’m supposed to be hosting these people so Emily can pump them for information. If we already have our culprits then we should be good, but we need some way to verify this. I remind myself that just a few days ago I mentioned the importance of conclusive evidence over gossip. Now I’m using hearsay and gossip as corroborating evidence.
How the mighty have fallen.
Tiffany comes over and coos slightly. I can smell her perfume.
She tries to get up from her chair and succeeds in transferring her body to my seat. She seductively drapes herself over me.
That’s it.
I push her off in a hurry.
Emily is at the other end of the table.
The last thing I need is for her to see another woman on my lap. The only woman that matters is her. I don’t care about anyone else. The people at this party could all get food poisoning and go away.
As long as I have Emily.
27
Emily
I’m sitting at the head of the table in Ashton’s house, a demure smile plastered to my face. Normally, I delight in a social event like this, but my stomach is turning at the possibility that this is the place everything goes wrong. Not to mention that Ashton had been occupied with another woman at the other end of the table most of the night. Now he’s excused himself to check on Jade and I can’t tell if I love or hate him for it. Business as usual.
The few minutes it takes for him to return feel like hours, and they arrive just as the desert course is announced. Jade has taken her time to clean up for this party. Her hair is in a neat little bun, and she’s wearing a royal blue dress with a tulle skirt. She looks around, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. Her hands are shaking, she must be nervous. This is her first time at an event like this. She catches my eyes, and I mouth ‘I love you’ to her. She mouths it back with a little giggle. Ashton stands behind her quietly, and clears his throat.
I stand at the opposite end of the table, and introduce my daughter to the party.
“May I have your attention, everyone? As you have just heard, dessert will be coming out momentarily. In the meantime I would like to introduce the baker behind the cake tonight. This is Jade who, as some of you know, is my daughter.”
Jade bobs a dramatic curtsy before the crowd, and I beam at her with pride. Ashton reflects my expression, smiling down at her. She already seems more at ease than when she entered the room, and I feel my own worries subside for the moment.
The servers roll out the cake, and I quietly gasp in surprise. It’s gorgeous. The servers had promised to help Jade assemble her cake for the event, but they went above and beyond my expectations. Delicate buttercream filigree decorates the outside of the cake. Accompanying the generous amount of frosting is a cascade of sugared flowers. They spiral from the top of the cake down to the bottom. Both tiers have a vibrant splash of colors. Once the guests tear their eyes away from the cake, they began to make pleasant conversation with Jade. I observed, leaning back in my chair. It was a moment to catch my breath.
“Young lady, did you make this all by yourself?” the retired General asks Jade.
“I made all of the parts, but Joe and Lily helped me put it all together!” She gestures to the two servers who were currently cutting the cake and serving it to the guests. They’re working diligently, but can’t hide the smile on their faces. It’s obvious that Jade made their workload a little bit lighter.
Another voice calls from across the table. This time it’s the socialite.
“This cake is absolutely beautiful, Jade. Would you mind telling us what’s inside?”
Jade’s eyes light up. She loves nothing more than to talk about her baking, and tonight is no exception. I could see her practically vibrating from across the room. I’m glad that the guests have chosen to humor her, it gives me a moment to listen and compose myself.
“So it’s a lemon chiffon cake, with a raspberry filling,” Jade explains. “And a vanilla buttercream. I got to make it with real vanilla bean pods too!”
“Oh, and how did you accomplish that?”
“Well, first you have to split the bean open, and then you scrape out all of these little seeds! You can tell I used a bean because it leaves the little flecks in the frosting.”
Jade points excitedly to the frosting, and sure enough, there were dark little flecks.
“Well, that sounds delightful,” the socialite comments, “I’m sure it will be delicious, now can you tell me what kind of flowers these are?”
In the middle of the cross-talk, I see Ashton excuse himself for a moment. He rounds the table, but no one else notices. All eyes are on my precocious little girl at the other end. And now that she is in her element, Jade is more than happy to entertain. The conversation continues to flow, different guests asking questions of Jade, or complimenting her hard work. Her cake seems to be a huge success, and the guests make sure to tell her that. She’s found a notepad and stands ready to take suggestions from the guests as the cake is delivered. Ashton arrives, and stands behind me quietly.
“What have you found out?” he asks, his voice a hushed whisper.
“Absolutely nothing,” I hiss, “ I’ve been trying to tease information out of the guests here, but it hasn’t done much good.”
I’m seething in my seat, though I can’t show it. I was hoping to get an unredacted file from one of the guests here, but that seems unlikely. With the culprits who released the full classified file in my midst it would be next to impossible. The guests have been awfully closed-mouth about themselves as well. Ashton breaks my thoughts with a soothing hand on my shoulder. It is easier to put on the facade of grateful host with him by my side, but I brush that thought away as he speaks.
“We just need to stay calm, and keep trying.”
“I know, I’m just frustrated.”
“Are you frustrated with the situation, or me?” he asks. He’s looking down at me through those lidded lashes, which makes it hard to tell the truth. I hold off for now, that’s a conversation for later.
“I just wish I had more to work with here,” I say, tapping the manilla envelope from my mother. It was a last resort option, something I didn’t want to discuss with Ashton. Or at all. “This feels like wringing water from a stone.”
“So you aren’t frustrated because there’s been another woman all over me tonight?”
“Of course not,” I whisper back, giving him a withering glare. I didn’t want to admit I was jealous, but I couldn’t hide it very well either. He continued to push back.
“Are you sure about that, because you seem-”
I cut him off before he can finish.
“Fine, yes, I’m frustrated about that too, but now is not the time,” I shoot back.
“If now isn’t the time, when is?”
“I don’t know.” I pause. He sounds so sure of himself. “Have you considered there might not ever be a right time?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“It can’t work, Ashton, not now,” I murmur. It’s time to put this fire out. “Not ever.”
“Why do you say that? We haven’t even had a chance to try.”
“We work at the same firm, Ashton.”
“That hasn’t stopped us yet.”
“Think of what human resources would say.”
“Has that stopped me from getting what I want so far?”
“We could lose our jobs-” I start, and he tips my head upwards towards him.
He silences me with a kiss, and I freeze. The room quickly follows suit, save for the clatter of a dropped fork or two. I have no idea how to follow this up. No amount of social events could have prepared me for this, for the audacity of Ashton Deveaux. Once I get my head back on my shoulders, I pull away, turning my face away from his. I swallow and feel my face burning.
I’m trying to push all my emotions down in this moment to be the model host. My shock at the kiss, my frustration at the situation, and my anger with Ashton for putting our relationship on full display at a social event of this magnitude. Even more so I have to put my feelings for him aside, no matter how attractive his recklessness is. Even if he is willing to give up everything for me-and this says he is-right now is not the moment. So much for putting the fire out.
Everyone’s eyes are on us, and I put the folder down beside me to drink from my glass of water. Maybe that would help cool off some of the emotions racing through my mind. I catch Jade’s face, and she’s elated, all grins and rosy cheeks. It’s obvious how much she adores Ashton already, and it hurts to think of what it might mean if I break this off now.
He heads back across the room and I can barely stand to watch. But I have to keep an eye on everything that is happening as a host. Jade’s practically bouncing as he heads towards her. She’s waving and shaking her hands, bobbing back and forth on her feet. When he gets into striking distance, she launches herself at him for a very unladylike bear-hug. He spins around with her, as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. It’s becoming more obvious that he likes her just as much as she likes him. They chuckle, and enter the kitchen hand-in-hand.
I’ve finished my drink and settle back down to get to work. The drama of the moment seems to have mostly blown over. Folks go back to discussing the meal at hand, at least out loud where I could hear. I’m certain that this stunt Ashton pulled is going to be the talk of the company soon, and I find that my nervousness has returned. At least I have Jade’s cake to look forward to while I try to think of a way to socially recover. I take a bite of the airy sponge, placing my other hand on the table before I realize something is horribly wrong.
There should be a smooth manilla envelope under my hand, but instead, there is only tablecloth. I’m absolutely fuming. For every reason Ashton gives me to love him, he gives me another to be frustrated. I wait until an appropriate moment, and excuse myself from the table. I head for the kitchen, hands clenched at my side. I’m going to get an answer from him and nothing is going to stop me.
28
Ashton
Jade happily follows me into the kitchen and squeals with delight when I pick her up and set her onto the counter, smiling at her.
I didn’t kiss Emily just to get the file. I kissed her because I love her.
But Jade may have the clue to figuring out who leaked the files. And this report will help me see if it’s true. I just need to keep Jade occupied while I have time to read it before Emily finds out.
“Okay, kiddo, I need your help.” I say with a smirk, sighing. “I’ve decided that I want to make some sort of dinner for your Mom some time, but I don’t have time to go out and get groceries again before that happens. Can you tell me what I can make for her with what I have?”
I ramble off a list of ingredients from the top of my head that I’m sure will keep her busy for at least a few minutes trying to come up with a combination, which she happily—and adorably excitedly—starts to think about, scratching her chin as she tries to figure it out.
While she’s thinking, I gently slide my finger beneath the seal of the envelope that Emily had and pull out a piece of paper, smiling and nodding at Jade as she rattles off a particularly complicated-sounding dish. How she’s able to come up with something so intricate so quickly will never fail to impress me, and I grin at her, chuckling.
“You’re a smart cookie, Jade. What about if I wanted to swap the green beans for something else? Any suggestions?”
She busies herself in her thoughts and I scan over the paper in my hands, my eyes widening when I realize what I’m holding: the completely unredacted classified file. It’s got a list of who was involved, and much to my relief, the Broadstreet three aren’t a part of that list.
Jade pipes up with yet another suggestion for dinner and I chuckle, grinning over at her as I nod and pat her on the back.
“Nothing stumps you when it comes to the kitchen, does it?”
She just giggles and shakes her head, so I ask her to come up with a couple potential desserts to go with the dinner she’s picked out, hoping it keeps her busy for a couple more minutes so I can read over more of this file. I know I don’t have a ton of time to go over it before Emily notices it’s gone, so I need to be quick.
A quick scan of the list of names involved tells me that while the Broadstreet three aren’t involved, Petty Officer Jake Marcham—the very same one who Emily was introduced to only moments ago—is, and I can’t help but feel a sharp stab of worry in my chest for her. I know that it was slipped to her by a Senator’s aide, but I’ve got no idea which Senator it is or how she knows them.
Jade was right. She heard correctly. We have the culprits at our dinner party.
I don’t want her to get too involved or wrapped up with him and make her look like a guilty party in all of this, so I tuck it back into my pocket to head back out. I need to talk to her and at the very least tell her that I know what she has, but I can’t do it with everyone around. Hopefully I can pull her aside for a moment, but before I’ve got time to figure out how I’m going to do that without arousing suspicion, I stop dead in my tracks. Emily is standing a few feet away from me, watching Jade and I.
Shit, how long has she been there? Clearly she knows I swiped the file—not only is it missing from her person but she clearly watched me read some of it just now—and I can only hope that she isn’t too angry with me. More importantly though, I need to make sure that she’s alright and isn’t going to get mixed up in whatever all of this is.
“Oh, I didn’t see you there.”
“Yeah.” She says with a sigh. “That much is apparent. I see you’re keeping Jade busy while you read over the document that you stole from me.”
She walks forward and closer to me with a frown, her voice laden with hurt as she quietly speaks to me, keeping her tone hushed.
“Is that why you kissed me in front of all those people back there?” She asks, arms crossing over her chest. “To distract me so that you could swipe the envelope from me? Here I was thinking that you-“
“Hey.” I say firmly, cutting her off and shaking my head as I take her hand. “Don’t say that; that’s not true and you know it. I care about you—and about Jade—and I’m not going to listen to you tell me that I’m using that as a tool to go behind your back with something.”
She sighs and nods at me, pinching the bridge of her nose as she shuts her eyes for a second, the exasperation and stress written all over her face. It’s clear that she’s just as worried about this whole situation as I am, and I squeeze her hand reassuringly.
“We’ll get through this, alright? Now, how the hell did you even manage to get your hands on this, Emily?”
“So you are trying to get information out of me, then.”
“Of course I am, Emily,” I snap back, gesturing behind her to the hallway leading out to the living room. “There’s a room full of people in there who would have you locked up if they knew that you had this in your hand. I’m trying to get some info
rmation so we can figure this out for our client, and because I care. I want to keep you safe and I can’t do that unless I have all of the facts. And I just found out that Jade was right with what she heard. We have an airtight case now.”
“Where I got it isn’t important, what’s important is making sure-“
“Why are you two doing this?!”
We both stop and look over to Jade, who’s hopped off of the counter and is looking up at us with a frown, tears brimming up in her eyes again.
“Jade, honey.” Emily says softly, reaching out for her hand. “We’re just-“
“No!”
Jade huffs and takes her hand back from Emily with a scowl, shaking her head.
“You guys obviously love each other, so I don’t get why you’re being so weird about it all. Why can’t you just decide to be happy?”
Well that certainly wasn’t what I was expecting to come out of her mouth. It takes me a second to collect my thoughts, but before I can say much Emily pipes in, stammering and sounding just as caught off guard as I am.
“Jade, we’re not-“
“Ashton, she’s been basically obsessed with you for a really long time now.” She tells me, which makes me feel both a bit smug and surprised, as well as regretful that I didn’t notice it sooner. “And when you kissed my Mom at dinner I thought that you guys were finally going to be together, just like you should be. But now you’re fighting again and I hate it! I’m tired of being pulled back and forth between you guys and your fighting and I wish you would just make a decision so I don’t keep getting my hopes up.”
She looks at her mom then with a shuddery whimper, tears started to fall down her cheeks.
“This is just like when you and Dad got divorced and I hate it!”
Emily reaches out for her again but Jade tears off and runs out of the kitchen, and I hear the distinct sound of a slamming door echoing out from the hallway. Along with it comes the sound—or lack of, rather—guests quieting down as hushed tones roll out from the dining room, clearly a result of them having heard the slamming door. I’m sure rumors are going to be flying about at this point and while I don’t particularly care, I know Emily does.
Office Fling (Manhattan Bad Boys BWWM Interracial Romance) Page 14
