Yours Completely(37)

“I'm afraid I don't have time to chat,” Jace replied, pulling away and wrapping his arm protectively around Ella. She had a feeling it was more for his protection than hers, though. That woman was predatory.

“Oh, Jace, that's no way to treat your date for the evening,” Rosalind purred, referring to herself as the date. “I thought tonight was going to be a fresh start for us.”

She managed to puff her already ridiculously displayed chest out a little further. Much more and Ella was sure that the red gown painted onto the blonde would go flying off at the seams and leave her naked.

“Rosalind, we've been through this.” Jace managed to keep his tone low and even, but Ella could see the veins popping out on the side of his neck. “There is no us. There never was.”

“Jacey...” Rosalind ran a perfectly manicured finger up the center of Jace's suit. “There was always an us. Just think of how good that weekend in the Hamptons was. You said it was the best sex of your life. You're never going to get that with the help. A roll in the hay maybe, but not what I offer.”

Ella was fairly sure she was going to melt through the floor with embarrassment. This beautiful woman was talking to Jace as if they were alone. Ella's cheeks heated and she would have pulled away if Jace didn't have her hand locked into his arm. It was obvious that the blonde didn't care. She was completely and utterly disrespecting Ella by pretending that she wasn't even there. Ella should have been used to it, given the way her stepmother treated her, yet this time felt different. Ella was sure that at any moment, Jace would give up and just shrug and leave Ella on the dance floor. It was what people in her life did.

But that wasn't Jace.

“I have a date. And it's not you.” Jace caught Rosalind's hand and tossed it aside. “Excuse us, Rosalind. I'm afraid my date and I are needed elsewhere.”

He led Ella away from the gaping, open-mouth woman in the revealing red dress. It was a good thing he had Ella's arm so firmly in his or she would have tripped over her heels and fallen on the floor.

“I'm so sorry about that,” Jace whispered, once they were clear of Rosalind. He released her hand and turned to face her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?”

“Because Rosalind's a bitch,” Jace replied. He faced her, his eyes searching hers. “She has no sense of decency. You're better than she is.”

“I'm fine,” she assured him with a smile. Warmth filled her chest. He cared about her. “Thank you.”

His face relaxed into a comfortable smile. “Care for another drink?”

She barely had time to answer before he had a glass pressed into her hand.

“To the best date I could have brought to the wedding,” Jace said, holding up his glass.

Ella giggled. “You didn't really bring me, you know. I was kind of already here.”

Jace playfully narrowed his eyes at her. “Fine, to the best wedding liaison a man could hope to have decide to let him dance with.”

“I'll toast to that,” she agreed, loving the way he made her heart feel lighter. Tonight couldn't get better.





Chapter Sixteen


Jace wished he had come up with a better toast. It sounded so fake and terrible, yet it was all his love-struck brain could seem to come up with. He just wanted to see her smile again. His world was perfect when she smiled at him the way she was right now. He wanted her to tell him all her secrets, and maybe even tell her some of his.

“Tell me about the inn,” he said, trying to think of something that would make her feel comfortable. He remembered how her face had lit up at the barn when she started to talk about her work, so he thought it would be a good place to start.

“What do you want to know?” she asked.

“Everything.” He guided them to a quiet area of the garden and sipped on his champagne, watching her beautiful face.

“Um, well... I guess I should start at the beginning.” She smiled and fiddled with the stem of her champagne flute for a moment. “My father bought this place when his parents died. Used his whole inheritance on it. He had these amazing dreams, especially for the times. A couple of years later, he met my mother, and together they made this amazing place.”

“They're the two people in that photograph of the gazebo you sent with the invitation to hold the wedding here,” he said, thinking of the image that brought him here. It was that picture that had led him to show his sister this place.

She nodded. “That was them. It's one of my favorite pictures of them. I was born about nine months later.”

“They looked very happy,” Jace added.

“They were. Their happiness shone through this whole place. People used to come for miles around to stay here. It was 'the place to be' for anyone who was anyone. They even hosted the wedding of the vice president's daughter.”