Romantic Promises (Alluring Promises Series, #2) (15 page)

Tears sprang to my eyes and my chest felt tight. I don’t deserve this ring. I don’t deserve such an amazing man. I don’t deserve such a perfect future. I looked back at my reflection and only saw a fat teenager with frizzy hair. I had worked so hard to erase the memories of seeing that reflection. I worked hard to push aside those feelings of self-hatred. And here they were, popping back up because I have the perfect man in my life?

Clicking of heels on the tile floor became louder as I heard, “Vanessa?” A sudden sob choked from my throat knowing I needed Aubrey more than anything right now. I quickly wiped my tears and I rushed toward Aubrey, almost crashing into her. Aubrey briefly pushed away to look at my face. She looked relieved to find me, but her expression changed immediately when she noticed mine.

“Are you okay, Vanessa? What’s wrong?”

I wanted to tell her, but wasn’t sure if I could get the words out. I really didn’t want to cry about Charles anymore, but all my feelings were just welling up in me and I felt like I couldn’t stop them.

“Vanessa?” I heard Aubrey repeat my name, prompting me to talk to her. My lips trembled as tears began to stream down my face.

I shook my head, feeling ashamed and stupid for my thoughts. “Charles. I was just thinking how I don’t deserve someone like him,” I choked out in between sobs.

Aubrey pulled me back by my shoulders and gave me a faint smile as she brushed my hair from my shoulders. “You’re wrong Vanessa. You deserve better. You deserve to have a man who wants to please you with more than just things. You keep telling me how perfect he is, but he’s really not if he just focuses on his apartment being clean, or his life being in order. That’s not what makes a good life, Vanessa. You deserve romance…to be swept off your feet. You deserve to enjoy life
with
someone instead of trying to fit into his life. That’s all this is Vanessa. He’s just an extension of your parents. Your life with him will be nothing more than them trying to continue to mold you into what
they
want you to be. Stop trying to fit into their world and create your own.”

She lightly took my left hand and ran her fingers over my engagement ring. She started to pull it off, but I tried to stop her. I looked into her eyes and she shook her head. “You’re broken up, for now, at least. You’re going to test it out. You’re going to be your own person. Not Charles’ fiancée.” She tugged again at the ring, slipping it off my finger. She took it in her hands and placed it into her clutch.

“Matt’s still out there. You’re going to go out there and just enjoy being a single woman, free from your parents’ hold. Free from Charles’ hold. You have nothing holding you back.”

I shook my head. “I have my work policy that says no intercompany dating.”

“You’re not at work, Vanessa. I’m pretty sure no one else is here from your job either.” Her slender hands gripped each of my shoulders and squeezed firmly. “Clark mentioned Matt needs a pick me up and you really could use one too. You don’t have to fuck him, just have fun and flirt.” I rolled my eyes as fear gripped me of attempting to seduce a man. Sexuality doesn’t usually come naturally to me. “Don’t give me that,” she continued. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you were getting hot for him. I know sexy body language when I see it and you were giving him signals too.”

“I was not!” I blurted out.

Aubrey smiled. “So don’t sleep with him, but at least have fun with him. He’s probably a great time. His friends sure seem to be.” She got behind me and turned me toward the mirror. She began to run her fingers under my hair, fluffing it to make it full and then she gently gathered it over my shoulder, making my slight curls fall down my cleavage. Then she got in front of me and began to fix my makeup, pulling my lip-gloss from my purse and applying it quickly as I continued to sniffle. She stepped back to admire her work and smiled. “God, you’re so sexy and beautiful and you don’t even realize it. Fucking annoying,” she whispered the last part as she gave me a grin.

“Alright. Fine. I’ll relax a little and have fun. You’re right.” I took a deep breath and smiled as I watched Aubrey turn back to the mirror and apply lip-gloss to her full round lips.

“Are you going for that Clark guy tonight?” As if I really had a doubt about her hooking up with him tonight.

She smiled at me through her reflection in the mirror and winked. “I’ve got to find out if his cock really is insatiable, don’t I? I owe it to women around the world.”

I laughed as she turned around and hugged me. We left the restroom and walked back over to the gathering. I stepped over to the bar and maneuvered in between the bodies of people so I could flag down the bartender.

I felt a warm body behind me and two arms caged me to the bar; large male hands on both sides of me gripped the counter firmly. My heartbeat picked up and a surge of fire swept through my body as I felt his hot breath tickle my ear.

“So now that your parents have left and your fiancé isn’t here, we can really have some fun. I am thoroughly enjoying this side of you, Vanessa. Or should I still call you Ms. Hargrave?” He teased with a husky voice. I could sense that smug smile on his face, as much as I felt his body behind me. I realized that he was completely turning me on and had not laid a finger on me. Not a single part of his body was touching me.

“What can I get you?” The young blonde male bartender stood in front of me and seemed amused the way Mr. Williams was standing so close to me. I wondered how many girls he had watched Mr. Williams do the same thing to.

“Merlot, please,” I managed to squeak out and sound somewhat pulled together. I tried to push myself closer to the bar to try to distance myself from his body, but if I went any further, I would be climbing up onto the bar. The bartender nodded, acknowledging my order and then looked at Mr. Williams.

“Matt, whatcha havin’?” He asked, still with that same amused smile.

“Another Red Bull and vodka, Tim,” Mr. Williams’ gave his order with slightly less huskiness to it. Maybe his voice is just so deep and sexy to begin with and the alcohol is making it even sexier.

Tim the bartender, nodded and turned to make our drinks. I continued to stare straight ahead, hoping Mr. Williams might pull away from me, maybe moving to a more respectable distance next to me. He didn’t. He continued his stance right behind me, continuing to cage me. I looked to either side of me, realizing how tight a squeeze it was at the bar as everyone else was trying to get their drinks too.

Suddenly, Mr. Williams’ pressed his body forcefully against my back, slamming me into the bar.

“Z! What the hell was that?” Mr. Williams yelled from behind me. 

“Are you alright, Vanessa?” His hand wrapped around my waist, turning me around so he could see my face. He was clearly and honestly concerned as he stared into my eyes. He still held his hand firmly on my hip and, dear God, his hand felt amazing wrapped around me.

“It’s my fault! Don’t blame Z!” An incredibly gorgeous blonde woman with the most amazing blue eyes I’ve ever seen, exclaimed to Mr. Williams as she stumbled toward him. She wrapped her arms around Mr. Williams and gave him a huge warm hug. His hand left my waist to return her affections. A pang of jealousy filled the pit of my stomach and I was angry it was there – again. He’s not my boyfriend, not even a friend.

Mr. Williams’ chuckled, looking down at the beautiful woman. “You know you can knock into me anytime, Iz. It’s just that I slammed into my friend here,” he told her as he glanced over to me.

“Oh my God! I’m soooo sorry,” she slurred. She held out her hand. “I’m Izzy, Matt’s sister-in-law.” Then she gestured toward her bridesmaid’s dress, “M
atron of honor,” she said with a British accent before continuing, “and –“she was interrupted by the man Mr. Williams just blamed.

“And
my
beautiful wife,” the man said as he adoringly gazed at Izzy. She wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled as the man continued to gaze at her, while he kissed her. The love they shared was obvious and very sweet. Something so far from how Charles and I had ever acted towards each other.

They all looked at me and I was just about to introduce myself when Mr. Williams did it for me. “This is Ms. Vanessa Hargrave. She’s the HR Director at my company.” I noticed expressions of recognition on both their faces, as if he had already told them about me. All eyes turned towards me as I gave a slight wave of my hand to say hello.

Z reached over and offered his hand, introducing himself, “I’m Matt’s brother, Z.”

I took a deep breath as I shook his hand. “It’s very nice to meet you both.” 

The bartender yelled behind me, “Drinks are ready.” I turned to grab my drink and watched as Mr. Williams grabbed both of our drinks, handing my wine to me.

He gave me a small smile as he said, “Ms. Hargrave.” It felt silly to be at an event like this and not be a little more informal.

“Thank you.” I cleared my throat and said, “I suppose for the duration of the party, you could call me Vanessa. Once we’re back at the office, we should probably return to proper name salutations.”

He quirked up that left eyebrow and my stomach filled with butterflies as I watched the corner of his mouth follow suit with that half smile. He leaned in slightly, I felt his hot breath tickle my ear again before he whispered, “Well then,
Vanessa
, why don’t we just ignore the fact that we work together for just tonight and let our hair down.”

I realized that would probably be a mistake on both our parts. Being so casual at a wedding and then returning to work on Monday might make it difficult to keep our relationship professional. Not to mention, I didn’t forget that Ms. Leonard would be entertaining him at the office. I really needed to keep my guard up and not become too friendly.

I took a deep breath trying to calm my nerves that were still strumming from his breath tickling my ear. “I believe we both need to make sure we keep in mind that we still work together during the course of the evening.” He gave an arrogant laugh and was just about to say something when he looked really hard into my eyes.

“Hey.” He touched my cheek tenderly. “Have you been crying? Is everything okay?” His touch seared my cheek as I flushed crimson and tears threatened to well up again in my eyes. When someone is nice to you it’s tough to keep that hard exterior up in order to protect your heart from further hurt.

I shook my head, more so to keep my tears at bay. “It’s fine, really. Just something I need to deal with.”

He briefly looked around the room and then focused his gaze back on me, “Was it your mom? Did she say something to upset you? I didn’t mean to cause a problem between the two of you with my comment.” He gave me a brief smile before adding, “I was just trying to let you know that I really wouldn’t let my woman be alone here looking so beautiful.”

I couldn’t help but smile.
He thinks I’m beautiful
. The guy who obviously could have any woman he wants anytime anywhere.

I frowned when I realized that Matt is just a player. Surely a guy like Matt wasn’t telling me what he really thinks and he probably tells all women this so he can get them to sleep with him.

Aubrey’s words ran through my mind.
Just one night.
I could be his for just one night. What harm could happen if I just let him seduce me just for tonight?

Matt chuckled. “Did I say something offensive?” He was sporting that half smile, that damn adorable dimple was showing again.

“He usually does go and say something offensive,” Z interrupted my thoughts.

Matt threw Z a mischievous smirk. “Shut up, brother. I’ve seen you do some stupid crap that Izzy still doesn’t know about. I can spill lots of stuff about you,” Matt told his brother, giving him a piercing glare. Z’s smile dropped quickly and Izzy quirked her head to the side.

“What type of things, Matt? I want to know
everything
‘bout my husband.” She giggled as she glanced back at Z, giving him a soft kiss on his cheek.

Matt chuckled as he glanced back at Z. “Things that would probably surprise you, Iz.”

Her eyebrows perked up, just as Clark and Aubrey came walking back from dancing. Both were hot and sweaty as I watched Clark push his way to the bar, getting the attention of the bartender rather quickly. Aubrey looked at me quizzically as she saw the tears that were still lingering.

“You’re not still thinking about what we talked about, are you?”

“N—“

“Who? Your fiancé?

“He’s no longer her fiancé. They broke up, but are pretending to be engaged for her mom. You need to finally announce it or I’ll do it for you.” I glared at Aubrey, wishing she had a better filter on her mouth sometimes. There were days that it really helped and other times, like this, where I wish she didn’t spout off the first thing that came to her mind.

“Aubrey, please.” I gave her my pleading ‘shut up’ look and prayed she would keep her mouth shut. Clark turned around with two drinks, handing one to Aubrey. She thanked him quickly as I noticed he slipped his now free hand around her waist and pulled her gently to him. She smiled up at him.

“What are we talking about?” Clark asked as his eyes went straight for Aubrey’s cleavage.

“Vanessa’s gonna broke up with her fiancé, but didn’t tell her parents yet. Aubrey said ‘Nessa better do it or she’ll. Then ‘Nessa will be free to fall madly in love with our Matt,” Izzy blurted out and looked proud of her synopsis of the situation as we all gaped at her. The guys all started laughing as we watched Z wrap his arms around her tightly. My stomach tightened and I did everything I could not to correct Izzy’s shortening of my name. It’s always annoyed me when people try to shorten my name.