"Shall we go find mother?" Joshua led the way as we all walked over to Bunny.
"Happy birthday mother! You don't look a day over 35." Joshua leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.
"Yes mother, you are ageless and you look beautiful. Happy birthday!" Jake leaned down and gave his mother a kiss.
Bunny was beaming with pride.
"My two handsome sons. I'm so happy you're here to celebrate with me." She gave them a big hug. As she stepped back, she glanced at Vivienne.
"Vivienne." That's all she said! Wow, she really does not like that girl!
“Happy birthday Bunny.” Vivienne looked embarrassed.
Then Bunny looked at me and a huge smile spread across her face.
"Sarah, you look absolutely beautiful! Thank you so much for being here." Bunny gave me a big hug.
"Thank you Bunny. I am so happy to be here to celebrate with you. Happy birthday!"
"Please help yourselves to refreshments. The waiters are making their way around the ballroom with trays of hors d'oeuvres and glasses of wine and champagne. I must go mingle with the guests!" And off she went. Bunny looked like such a social butterfly and she seemed very happy.
I turned to Joshua and Jake. "Your mother seems to be in her element."
"She loves to entertain. I think throwing parties is her favorite past time."
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the golden boy and his groupies."
Ethan's sarcastic voice rang out behind us. As we turned Joshua put his hand on the small of my back. Ethan was sneering at Joshua. Even with that nasty look on your face you are so damned good-looking. This family has incredible genes!
I could feel Joshua stiffen. I looked up at him and his jaw was clenched, his face like stone.
"Ethan. I hope you're staying out of trouble." Joshua's tone was cordial yet firm as he shook his hand.
"Of course dear cousin. I wouldn't dare start any trouble at my adoring aunt's birthday party."
I could see that Ethan's cocky smirk put Joshua on edge. Jake stepped in to smooth things over.
"Ethan, let's go grab a drink."
Ethan seemed to be placated by Jake and he walked off with him to the bar.
"Ethan is not so bad Joshua."
Both Joshua and I were shocked to hear Vivienne come to his defense. I couldn't help but say something.
"Oh really, Vivienne? Because I just saw a very rude display. Do you know him very well?" My eyes captured hers as she tried to look away. Oh no, no missy. You're not getting out of this one.
She stumbled over her words as she tried to downplay her relationship with him. "No, not that well. I've seen him at family functions and he's always been kind to me. I think he's a nice person and doesn't mean any harm. That's all I meant by that."
I decided to let her off the hook but Joshua wanted to add one more thing to no one in particular. "Ethan needs to learn his place and stay there. His mouth is going to get him into real trouble one day."
Vivienne looked very uncomfortable and excused herself to the ladies’ room.
I tried to comfort Joshua. "Don't let him get to you. You told me he has animosity toward you so just ignore him."
"I wish it was that easy. He works for the company so I have to see him all the time. Mother insisted that he have a senior-level position, so when we took over, Jake, myself, and Ethan became automatic partners in the company. That was the one case of partners not having to earn their position. Since we had to run the company mother felt that dad and my uncle would have wanted all of us to run it together. But like I told you, Ethan got sloppy and partied too much. So his voting power was reduced drastically. But he still has personal interaction with clients and he does bring in new business, so I am forced to put up with him and his antics.” He stopped and looked at me with those gorgeous eyes.
"You know what? You look beautiful, and we are at this wonderful party. We shouldn't be wasting time talking about Ethan. Would you like to dance?"
There were the butterflies again. You’ll probably affect me like this forever.
"I would love to dance with you."
Everyone in the room melted away the minute he pulled me into his arms. As we moved to the music, our bodies pressed together and I let out a soft sigh as I laid my head on his shoulder. I wish I could have frozen that perfect moment in time. I want to stay like this with you forever. There it was. I finally gave in to my feelings for Joshua. I decided to completely embrace my feelings for him realizing I would just have to take a chance that he had real feelings for me also. This was more than a contract. I wanted so badly to tell him how I felt but I didn't want to scare him away. His thumb slowly rubbed my back and he pulled me tighter to him. I could feel his erection as our bodies molded together. We stayed like that until the song ended and then Joshua held the back of my hand to his lips and kissed it. He looked at me, his eyes smiling at me.