Wrong For You (Before You Series Book 3)(71)

It seemed a little formal for a kids’ charity event, but then she spotted the crystal-framed pictures on the tables. Every table had one picture of a kid from the Foundation with a short story below. She loved that everything came back to the kids.

Still wholly unprepared to see Alec, she pulled Annette toward the bar. Over the last month, she realized that regardless of the fact that Alec lied about his career, he shared all the things that counted with her, which gave her hope that they could make something work. She wanted Alec and she had never walked away from something she wanted before. She resisted her parents’ demands that she attend law school right after college and she didn’t give up on the Foundation even when they couldn’t afford her salary, so she sure as hell wouldn’t give up on Alec without trying. “Let’s get a drink.”

Annette nodded. “This is beautiful.”

“I know. It’s a far cry from the fundraiser I put together.”

“Not even in the same league,” Annette agreed, unable to pull her eyes away from the scene.

“You’re pretty quiet,” Violet said, studying her normally outgoing friend.

“I’m star struck,” Annette whispered. “It’s like being at the music awards without having to listen to the ‘I’m so honored to have been nominated’ bullshit.”

“I guess being ignorant of who’s who isn’t so bad after all. I don’t recognize a single person.”

“Good point,” Annette agreed.

“What do you want to drink?”

“Vodka,” Annette answered, her eyes darting around the room.

“Are you hungry?”

“No.”

“Have you seen Alec?” Violet asked, handing Annette her drink and taking a sip of her glass of white wine.

“No. You?”

“Can you string a full sentence together?” Violet asked, rolling her eyes.

“No.”

“I can see you’re going to be a lot of help. Remind me why I brought you.”

Annette finally turned her attention to Violet, smiling softly. “Because you love me and you wouldn’t want me to miss this. It’s a once in a lifetime event, at least for me. Now if you and Alec became a couple, this would be totally repetitive within a few months.”

Violet laughed, her nerves finally relaxing. She could do this. Drink in hand; she pulled Annette through the room, her eyes scanning every face as they passed. Now that her confidence had returned, she wanted to find Alec and get the whole thing over with so she didn’t give in to the temptation to chew the polish off her freshly manicured nails. Just as she was about to give up, the crowd shifted and she spotted Alec standing in the corner.

Leaning against the wall, he stood with one hand shoved in the pocket of his pants and the other wrapped around a champagne flute. In a black tuxedo with a black shirt and tie, he looked better than she would have imagined. His fingers were still lined with his heavy metal rings, but his lip ring was absent.

Smiling, she took a step forward and then stopped dead as he wrapped his arm around a beautiful woman in a floor length red dress. The front of her almost black hair was liberally streaked red and styled into a complicated updo that managed to be both fresh and sophisticated. Grinning playfully, Alec brushed his lips across the top of the woman’s head. The sinking sensation in her stomach threatened to consume her as she watched her hopes for the night fizzle and die a fiery death.

“Oh shit,” Annette whispered, her eyebrows climbing the length of her forehead.

Before Violet could consider what she was doing, she took a few steps back. She suddenly felt uncertain again and for good reason. Trying to expel her racing thoughts, her hand moved feebly through the loose strands of her hair. “Maybe we should go. I don’t think I can do this.”

She felt a light touch on her elbow. “Aren’t you supposed to say something about the Foundation before the band plays?” Annette said, her voice soft and laced with pity—the last emotion she liked directed at her in any circumstance, but even more so at that moment. It made her feel naïve all over again for believing she could just walk right back into Alec’s life and reclaim him after of month of not returning his calls.

“I’ll email Alec’s sister my speech. She can do it. She planned everything else.” She’d been talking to Alec’s sister, Taylor, almost daily to orchestrate this event, which she dismissed as meaningless at the time, but maybe that was a giant hint that Alec wasn’t interested in her anymore. He was just fulfilling a promise to the Foundation.

Sure, Alec had called and texted her several times the week after he went back to LA. Her parents’ ranch didn’t have the best reception so she didn’t receive any of them until she got home. Admittedly, she could have driven a couple miles closer to town, but she needed to clear her head before she listened to anything he had to say.