Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Not that I was afraid of Liam being rude. He was always the picture of politeness, no matter where we went or what we did. He saved all his rudeness for me.
No, I was more afraid of Sebastian or Pierce saying something.
This could be bad.
But I couldn’t change plans on Liam now. He was excited about the performance. He was even fanboying over Simon. Canceling on him would crush what goodwill we’d been able to cultivate between us.
I had to pray that my darling friends could behave and didn’t choose to pay me back for the hundreds of really stupid comments I’d made during the past several years.
Yeah, this could get really ugly.
12
LIAM ROSE
Rome pulled up in his Mercedes, and I had to laugh. I might not know much about cars, but I knew what a hypercar was when I saw one. This elegant silver beauty was a ridiculously expensive hypercar. I was pretty sure I’d watched a video online of this same car competing in a drag race in Dubai against a Lamborghini and smoking the orange growling monster.
Rome climbed out of the car with a broad grin.
“You idiot.” I chuckled. “Please tell me this is your most expensive car.”
“One of them.”
I started to roll my eyes at him but froze as he finished walking around the vehicle to me. On our two previous dates, Rome had dressed in jeans and sweaters. Tonight, he wore a tailored dark navy suit with a silver tie that matched his car. The suit hugged his body, making his shoulders appear broader. My breath caught in my throat, and my mouth went dry. He was smooth without being slimy. His confidence was reassuring instead of annoyingly cocky, as if some part of my brain knew everything was going to be fine because he had it all under control.
How was this the same person I’d grown up with? The same guy I’d seen only a few days ago?
“I…um…” I stammered, desperately trying to kick my brain out of neutral.
“Want to drive it?” Rome held up the key fob and shook it.
“Oh God, no!” I gasped. There was no way I’d ever be able to relax driving something so incredibly expensive.
“You look nice,” Rome said, his smile softening.
Heat rushed to my cheeks, and my hand automatically lifted to my hair, smoothing it. The mop was thick and liked to become unruly despite my attempts to tame it.
“Thanks. You too.”
We stood there in a new, tense silence, staring at each other. I wasn’t sure what to say next.
“Ready to go?” Rome motioned to his car, and I flushed all over again. I was a moron. The stupid arrangement was destroying brain cells.
Cursing myself under my breath, I jumped forward and opened the passenger door while Rome returned to the driver’s seat. Of course, the interior was as plush and sleek as you would expect. The car glided down the road, sliding through traffic as if it were flying.
We didn’t talk much on the brief trip. Chitchat about work and how this was my first visit to Music Hall.
It was a mild evening despite being late November. The trees had lost almost all of their leaves so that their bare limbs stretched toward the glowing city skyline.
A steady stream of people entered the enormous redbrick building with the elegant rose stained-glass window. We slipped inside and were lost in an old world of white columns and black-and-white square tile floor. People milled around and stood together in groups. Their attire was a wide mix, from suits and sequined dresses to even more casual jeans and sweaters.
Rome paused close to the door and scanned the grand entrance. The hair stood up on the back of my neck. Was he searching for someone? I thought it was just the two of us for this date.
“There they are,” Rome mumbled and took a step forward.
My hand shot out and seized his arm, stopping him. “Wait. We’re meeting people here?”
“Yeah, some of my friends.” Rome stared at me as though he couldn’t understand why I was so panicked. His face split into a wide grin. “Don’t worry. They’re nicer than me.”
He pulled free of my grasp, and I had no choice but to follow him across the room to a group of five men dressed in neat suits that I was willing to bet cost more than I made in a year. More ridiculously wealthy people, same as Rome. It was probably my luck that Rome had told his buddies all about our past. And I’d been insane enough to think that this was going to be an easy, almost pain-free night without worrying about how the past was going to return to bite me. Or worse, how I would have to endure Rome’s mocking.
No. Tonight it wouldn’t be just Rome. It was going to be all of his friends.