The Arrangement(8)

He gave her his signature smile. “Yes, I am. Thank you.”

“Would you like to dance?”

He glanced at Ariadne. She was a visual balm in comparison. She wore very little makeup. Her smooth skin was the color of a perfect apple pie crust. That may have sounded ordinary, but it was a classic. Done correctly, it was incomparable. And it was his favorite pie. She’d outlined her eyes and her lips were a shiny plum. Her bottom lip looked so plump and juicy it took everything in him not to dive over the table and suck on it. “I couldn’t leave my companion.”#p#分页标题#e#

Ariadne shrugged. “It’s fine with me.”

He gave her a pointed look that he hoped she would interpret. He didn’t want to dance with this woman. She’d ruin his coat with her clown paint. “I’m sorry,” he said to the woman. “I wouldn’t feel right.”

She glared at him but eventually she walked away. “I wouldn’t have cared,” Ariadne said.

“Well, I would have.” He reached for the glass again then thought better of it. “I’d better go pay for this drink.”



    ***



Ariadne stared up at the ceiling in her bedroom. She needed to make a decision once and for all. In her saner moments, she couldn’t even believe that she was considering this or that she was even in this position. Marrying Asher Hollister? It was crazy and improbable. She wished she could discuss the decision with her best friend, but Erika was weird when it came to Asher.

Erika’s older brother Chad had befriended Asher and Ted in high school. The boys were two years their senior. Naturally, Erika had developed a crush on Asher, but he never treated her as anything but the kid sister of a friend. He was nice, occasionally flirty, but always just a little standoffish. After the boys went away to college, she’d thought Erika was over him. However, whenever they came home for any reason, even the briefest sighting of Asher would set her off again. But then it was their turn to go to college. They both attended East Carolina University where Ted was. It seemed only natural to hang out with him. And Asher was around as much as was possible for someone who was attending Duke University. Ariadne had thought he was around too much to possibly be doing well in school but Ash had never seemed concerned. It seemed his priorities in life were booze, women, cigarettes, and fun, the order being interchangeable. She didn’t know what other women saw in him.

Eventually, Ted made his interest in Erika known. She had been very happy for her friend until Erika had told her that she’d started seeing him to make Ash jealous. That plan had been an utter failure. If Asher cared, it didn’t show. But Erika continued to date Ted and fell deeply in love with him.

Yet each time Ash came close to dating anyone seriously, Erika instantly hated the woman. Not that the women that he dated were likable. They usually were undeniably beautiful but shallow, empty-headed, and thoroughly unpleasant women.

She hated to think that Erika still harbored any feelings for Ash, but she was afraid to ask.

From her nightstand, her phone’s screen lit up, lighting up the otherwise dark bedroom. It vibrated across the wood until she picked it up. At a glance, she saw that it was her cousin Sierra.

“Hey, Sierra, what’s up?”

“Not much. I didn’t disturb you, did I?”

“Just laying here staring at the ceiling.”

“You’re already in bed? It’s barely midnight. What kind of vacation are you on?”

Ariadne laughed. “The kind where I can walk out onto my balcony and watch the sun rise over the water.”

“Sounds great.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. So I have it confirmed. They’re definitely announcing their engagement at the family reunion  . Are you still going to come?”

“Of course.” If there was anyone who shouldn’t go to the reunion  , it was Daniel and Janice. Apparently, the two of them knew no shame.

“There’s this guy I work with that you might like. He’s real nice, kind of nerdy, but totally your type.”

Ariadne tried not to become offended because she did like intelligent men, but she never would have described them as nerdy. “No thanks.”#p#分页标题#e#

“Come on, Ari, you don’t walk into this alone, do you? I heard some of the aunts talking about setting you up. Trust me, when I tell you, their candidates are all a bunch of losers. You need a date and you need one now or they’re going to invite these guys to the reunion  .”

She groaned and fought the urge to bury her head beneath a pillow. They meant well, but this was only going to make her appear more like a pathetic loser. “I can find my own man, thank you very much.”