“Sounds very normal.”
“I don’t see why Luke couldn’t do the speech. I mean, everyone loves him and he can speak in front of a crowd and not care, same with Ethan,” I moaned.
“Car, you have only had to speak, I think, three times since you have been going. The other times you’ve bribed one of the guys into doing it for you.”
“There is a reason I don’t do it.”
“It isn’t that bad. Just imagine everyone in their underwear.” I shuddered at that.
“You do realize there are guys older than my dad out there, and women? No thank you.”
“Okay, not them, but you can imagine your boyfriend in his underwear, and you will be so distracted by that you won’t even care,” she said, looking at me through the mirror.
“Gage in his underwear is definitely a good sight to see.”
“Wait! You have seen him in his underwear?” Macey’s eyes went wide. “You have slept with him, haven’t you?” My cheeks grew red at her words. “I didn’t know you had it in you, Car! Wow, and you didn’t even tell me you had sex with Gage Harper.”
“Macey, no, I didn’t sleep with him!” I practically yelled and then quieted down, not wanting anyone else to hear our conversation.
“You haven’t slept with him yet?”
“No, we haven’t done anything like that. Well…I mean, we almost did, but we stopped because it was when we were fighting and I didn’t want it to happen like that. Gage and I are just…not ready for that yet. Maybe soon, but not right now.” I shook my head. Trust me, the idea of sleeping with Gage was very tempting, but I just wanted to wait a little bit longer. Gage understood that and never pushed me to do things I wasn’t comfortable with.
“Gage is too sweet to hurt me,” I said.
“Who knew the bad boy could be so sweet?” Macey commented.
“I know.” I couldn’t help but grin.
“Hey ladies. In here talking about me?” Ethan’s head poked through the door, and he grinned at us.
“In your dreams, Ethan,” I shot back at him.
“It is okay to admit you guys were talking about how good looking I am, everyone does it.” He walked a bit further into the room. I looked at him through the mirror and noticed he was already dressed. My eyes took in his black dress pants, and white dress shirt under a fitted black suit jacket. He looked very handsome.
Ethan would make a great CEO once he took over for his parents. He might say he didn’t want to take over one day, but I knew he did. I knew he wanted to make his parents proud by keeping the business going and building it up even more.
When I looked at him, he looked every bit a CEO, and he had the knack for it. He could talk to people and convince them to do anything. He was friendly, yet could be firm when needed. He knew how big companies worked. Going to these parties was nothing for him.
I smiled at him but felt nothing. Nothing of what I used to feel came up. He was just my brother’s friend and now mine. I didn’t see him as anything else, which I was happy about.
“Ethan, get out. We are still trying to get ready!” Macey scolded him like he was a five-year-old.
“But I want to stay in here with you two and hear all the gossip.” He said the last part in a high-pitched voice.
“Get out or I will put makeup on you,” Mace threatened. When Ethan didn’t move, she grabbed some lipstick from the counter and started for him. Upon seeing the bright lipstick in her hand and her getting near him, Ethan turned and booked it out of my room. I laughed loudly as my door slammed shut and Macey turned around with a triumphant grin.
“Now back to what we were doing.” Shaking my head and grinning, I turned back toward the mirror.
For the next twenty minutes I sat still for Macey. She did my makeup quickly but precisely, before moving onto my hair. We made small talk as she worked. A few times I had to stop myself from falling asleep as she did my hair. Nothing better than getting your hair played with, I tell you.
I was really thankful for Macey at this moment. She kept my mind off everything, and she was making me look prettier than I had ever been. For just a moment I wasn’t worried about anything, and I was glad. I just wanted to get my speech over with and enjoy the party with my boyfriend.
When Mace was finally done with my hair, I went to put on my dress while she started to get ready. She only took a few minutes, which is why I went first. I went to my closet and got the dress my mom had chosen for me. Because of finals I didn’t have time to get a dress, but thankfully my mom chose one for me. I could always trust her taste.
Once I was in the bathroom, I stripped out of the PJs I had been wearing all day. I wasn’t doing anything all day, so I might as well be comfortable because I would be uncomfortable all night in the dress.
I wasn’t a huge fan of dresses. I wore them when I had to or if I had a cute one, but normally they just weren’t for me. I was more of a jeans and t-shirt type of girl, maybe a few skirts here and there.
Pulling the dress from the plastic it was in, I gazed at it. It was really beautiful—simple, but beautiful. It fit my personality perfectly, which I loved and appreciated. It was perfect for a Christmas party like this. Not too flashy and short, but not too elegant and over the top.
Thankfully I could slide it on by stepping into it, instead of pulling it on over my head. I didn’t want to ruin my makeup or hair. I stepped into the dress and pulled it up past my hips, until it came to my chest. Even though I needed the back zipped up, it fit me perfectly.
The silver, sparkly chest fit tight around my chest, so it wouldn’t fall at all tonight, even if I danced. The bottom half flowed out and swished around my feet. The black and silver went great together and wasn’t too dark. Holding it up, I gazed at my refection in the bathroom mirror.
My brown hair was curled in soft waves and hung over my left shoulder. My soft eyeshadow and pale pink lipstick went well with my dress and wasn’t too eye-catching. All I needed was a few accessories and I would be all ready. Leaving the bathroom, I headed for Macey to help zip up my dress.
“Hey, Mace, can you—” I started to say as I got out of the bathroom only to stop. Standing in the middle of my room wasn’t Macey; instead it was Ethan. He was standing there with his hands in his pockets, looking around. My room hadn’t changed much from when I was younger, but he was looking around as if he had never seen my bedroom before.
“Hey,” I said, which made him turn his attention to me.
“Sorry, I just came to see if you were ready.” His blue eyes looked me up and down. “Macey went to help Luke with his tie.”
“Yeah, I am just about ready. Can you help me zip up?” I turned around and bared my back to him. The zipper reached about the middle of my back, so I wasn’t baring too much at him.
I heard his feet move across my carpet until he was behind me. His warm breath fanned against my bare back and neck. I clenched the front of my dress tightly as I waited for him to zip me up.
Just when I thought he wasn’t going to, I felt the tip of his finger run down my back until he grasped the zipper in his hand. I couldn’t help but inhale deeply at his touch. For years I wanted to feel him against me. Feel anything really, and now that he was touching me I couldn’t stop my shivering.
He slowly, agonizingly, moved the zipper up until my dress was finally secure. Behind me I could feel his warm body inches from mine, and I felt my cheeks heat up. I suddenly felt his fingers at the base of my neck. He was softly trailing them along my bare skin.
My body wanted to lean back into touch, with his name was on the tip of my tongue but…it wasn’t his name I was about to say. It was Gage’s. Shaking my head, I stepped away from him and cleared my throat.
“Thank you.” Not looking at him, I moved to my vanity to grab a necklace and a bracelet to go with my dress.
What was that? I mentally yelled at myself. Ethan had never touched me like that! For so long I imagined the day he would and when he finally did, I wasn’t thinking of him. No, I
was thinking of Gage. I had actually thought it was Gage who was trailing his fingers along my skin. That was what surprised me the most.
I took my time putting on my necklace and bracelet. I needed a moment with my thoughts. When I couldn’t stall any longer, I finally turned around, only to see Ethan in the same spot. His jaw was clenched, and he was staring at me with some indecipherable look in his eyes.
“Carter, I—” he started to say, but a yell interrupted him.
“Carter, Gage is here!” Mom yelled from down the hallway. At the mention of Gage, my heartbeat sped up and a grin spread across my face. For a split second I forgot Ethan was in the room.
“Carter, I need to talk to you,” he said, coming toward me. Him coming toward me made me shake my head and the smile on my face fell. No way could Gage ever know Ethan came in here, let alone touched me. His touch wasn’t anything anyway, but I did not want Gage thinking something happened. Because nothing did.
“Ethan, we need to go,” I said, and I was surprised at how calm my voice was. My insides were anything but.
“But…”
“We can talk later, okay?” Sending him a small smile, I grabbed my clutch from the vanity before brushing past him to the door.
I left Ethan standing in my room as I headed to see Gage. Just the thought of seeing him made my heart flutter and my smile grow larger. It had felt like a lifetime since I’d last seen him, even though it had only been three days.
Coming to a stop at the top of the stairs, I took a deep breath. Don’t fall, I told myself. Placing a hand on the railing and one holding my dress up, I headed downstairs. I felt like a princess for a minute. Like I was in What A Girl Wants and everyone was down at the bottom of the steps waiting for me.
My heels clicked on the hardwood steps as I went down. The moment I came into view, so did everyone standing at the bottom. My eyes briefly glanced over at my parents and Luke and Macey, but they immediately went to the guy standing there with his hands in his pockets waiting for me. Gage.
When I noticed him, I watched as his brown eyes widened before a smile spread across his face. Before any of us could blink, he was moving toward me. The second my foot touched the ground, he had his hand held out for me.
“You look beautiful,” he breathed out, staring at me. He was staring into my eyes, not at my body. That little thing made my heart pound even harder in my chest. My own eyes didn’t stay on his though; they looked over his body.
I held back a groan in my throat at how hot he looked in a suit. Since I had never seen him in one before, my imagination may have taken control, but what he looked like made my imagination look dull. My mouth went dry.
The black dress pants looked nice on him. A white button-up shirt was glued to his muscular upper body, and the suit jacket hugged his arms. I wanted to run my hands down them to feel the muscle I knew was there. He had on a perfect skinny black tie. I knew his grandma had helped him with it, which made me smile. His brown hair was styled back and to the side, making him look absolutely dashing.
“You don’t look too bad yourself, mister,” I breathed out, coming back to look into his eyes. He grinned down at me, his hand warm in mine. I forgot about everyone around us as I stared into his eyes. For the rest of my life I would always love brown eyes, his brown eyes.
“Ethan, time to go!” My mom’s yell made me look away. Glancing to my side, I saw my father practically glaring at Gage and I. Ducking my head, I moved away from the staircase and tugged Gage over by Macey and Luke.
Because Macey had left before I was done, I didn’t get a chance to see her outfit. She looked stunning. The burgundy red suited her skin color perfectly, and it fit with the Christmas theme as well. The fabric hugged her thin body. Next to her Luke looked just as good in his black and white suit.
Of course my mother and father looked great. My mom wore a black dress similar to mine, with silver accents. She looked amazing for being forty-three. My father looked just as handsome in his own gray suit. I liked that he went with a different color. Showed that he was the CEO of the company.
Double-checking my clutch to make sure I had my notes, I looked up just in time to see Ethan coming down the stairs. He looked like he was thinking hard about something, but I didn’t pay it any attention, not when Gage had wrapped his arm around my waist.
“Everyone ready?” my mom asked, looking at each of us. One by one we all nodded. “Okay, out we go. The limo is outside waiting for you five. Your father and I are taking another.”
As we started to trickle out the front door, I looked at Ethan and wondered for the first time where Amy was.
“Hey Ethan, where is Amy?” I asked before he left through the door.
“She said she would meet us there. Something about family problems.” He looked over at Gage. It wasn’t a normal glance either; it was like he was checking to see something about Gage. Raising an eyebrow, I decided not to say anything as he turned and walked off. Now it was only Gage and me.
I started for the door, only to be pulled back into a hard chest. I turned around in Gage’s hold and smiled up at him.
“Before we leave I need to do something,” Gage whispered.
“And what is that?” I asked, my eyes searching his face.
He didn’t answer as his head dipped down and his lips touched mine. Not having kissed him for a few days, I immediately pressed my lips harder against his and practically molded my body against his. His hands came up to cup my face as he kissed me. His lips were soft and firm. When I tried to make the kiss harder, he put a stop to it and kissed at his own pace. It was like he was making up for lost time and didn’t want to rush it.
Eventually, he pulled away; it was really only a minute later, but it felt like forever. I beamed up at him as we pulled apart. My breathing was heavy and my lips were tingling. I probably ruined my lipstick, but I didn’t care; I knew Macey packed it in my clutch anyway.
“I have been dying to do that since you left.” He breathed.
“I am glad you did.” All I wanted to do was grab him and kiss him again, but I knew we had my family waiting for us. I did not want my dad to come get us and find us kissing. Talk about awkward.
“We better go.” He nodded, lacing his hand with mine. He moved to the door and tugged me after him. I followed behind him as he walked to the car, beaming from ear to ear.
When we got in the car, Macey wiggled her eyebrows at me. I stuck my tongue out at her. I was suddenly glad my parents were in another car because they would have said something. Ethan was sitting next to Luke and Macey doing something on his phone, while Luke started to talk to Gage.
The entire car ride to the hotel, where the party was being held, we all gabbed, just talking about random things to make the time go by. The closer and closer we got, the more nervous I became, but with Gage’s hand in mine, I was doing okay. I was actually kind of worried about him. I just hoped none of this would freak him out too bad, and that no one would say anything rude to him.
Our car pulled up after my parents’. We sat there silently watching as they got out of the car, cameras flashing around them. My parents smiled at one another, and my father held onto my mother’s waist as they made their way through the crowd.
This was a usual scene at things like this. Because of how well known both my parents were, the newspapers and TV news couldn’t pass up a chance to be at a party thrown by them, with tons of New York’s most elite also putting in an appearance. It was the perfect way for them to get their stories.
Next to me I felt Gage tense just a bit and his hold on my hand tighten. Even I, who had done this enough times, still got freaked out and nervous about it all. It is not every day you have cameras snapping your photo and people yelling things at you.
“Don’t worry, you will be fine. Just stay near me and you will be good,” I said quietly to Gage as our car drove up. He didn’t make any move to indicate he heard me. As the door opened, out went Luke and Macey, hand in hand.
&nb
sp; “Gage.” I grabbed his chin and turned his head to me. His brown eyes met mine. “Take a deep breath. Just hold onto my hand and ignore them. We will just walk right through.” He finally nodded and squeezed my hand.
Once Ethan had left, it was our turn. When I gave him an encouraging smile, he smiled back. He took a deep breath and moved out of the car. The moment we stepped out, the cameras flashed intensely. I blinked rapidly, trying to get used to the flashing.
With our hands clasped tightly, we quickly walked past the crowd. Thankfully, a second later we entered the hotel and were out of view of the cameras. Both of us breathed out in relief.
The party was held in one of the best hotels in New York City. It was always in the same ballroom, and it was by far the prettiest, with a big glass chandelier and beautiful cream-colored walls that complemented the white tile floor.
We slowly made our way toward the ballroom, which wasn’t too far from the entrance. People dressed in beautiful gowns and suits moved around us, heading to the party. I noticed up ahead Luke, Macey, and Ethan had just walked through the doors leading to the ballroom.
A second later we came to a stop right in front of the open doors. People were already talking to one another and laughing.
“You aren’t throwing me to the wolves, right?” Gage asked, looking over at me.
“No…maybe. You’ll just have to see for yourself.” I grinned.
“You are lucky I love you.”
“Good, now come on.” Sending him one last smile, I led him into the ballroom.
Chapter Four
When we walked into the ballroom, we were met with tons of people talking, and the glare of bright lights. The room was decorated beautifully, and it almost felt like a regular party, not a Christmas one.
Of course, you had women dressed in the best gowns money could buy, wearing expensive jewelry trying to show off that they had money. This party was really a way for women to gossip and show off how rich their husbands were, and a way for the men to talk business. Definitely not a place for younger people to be. But there was free food, so there was that.
Silent Love Part Four_Forbidden Series Page 5
