The Risk: A Billionaire Romance (Wagered Hearts Series, Book 2) (3 page)

I finally spotted Lily standing with her mother and another woman off on the opposite side of the room and bid farewell to Doris before heading in that direction. The path I took brought me within hearing distance of The Hunk and his small posse. I hadn’t intended to walk this way earlier, but now that I was here, I couldn’t help but pause to get a better look at him.

He was bent town talking to a brunette with her bust practically shoved in his face. He smiled down at her, showing off a flash of white teeth, like a hunter baiting his prey. I shook my head wryly. So typical. Before I could pass them, I heard my name spoken and turned to look in their direction.

“Have you met the maid of honor, Mel Abelgard?” one of the women said.

“Mel Abelgard? Don’t tell me that she’s related to Cora Abelgard?” The Hunk replied.

“That’s her daughter.”

He let out a low whistle and shook his head slowly. “I had no idea she was the maid of honor. If her mother’s anything to go by, she must be a piece of work,” he said.

The girls in his group giggled and covered their faces looking scandalized, but secretly pleased. I felt heat rise up my face and was tempted to walk up to them give him a piece of my mind. How dare this man talk about me like that? He didn’t know me. In fact, I’d never met him in my life. Who was he to say I was a piece of work?

Oh I was so mad, but I knew the last thing I wanted was to make a scene. Not only would it ruin Lily’s party, but I didn’t want to give this jerk the satisfaction to know that he’d upset me. Instead, I lifted my chin up and straightened my spine and strode past them, not evening deigning to look in their direction.

I walked straight towards Lily and her mother, counting to ten in my head to calm my raging temper. I exhaled a deep breath once I reached Lily. She put down her drink and folded me in a tight hug.

“Mel! I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show,” she said. “Why are you late?”

“Just some work stuff,” I grumbled, still upset about what I had overheard.

Lily gave me a strange look, but didn’t pursue it. I knew that wasn’t the end of it though; she’d probably corner me later and grill me about it. For now, she turned to her mother and beamed. “You’ve met my mom before,” she said.

“Hello dear, nice to see you again. You’re looking well.”

“Hi Mrs. Hayward. It’s nice to see you too,” I said leaning over and kissing her cheeks.

“Oh, just call me Marian. How are you?”

“I’m fine,” I lied. I was anything but fine at that moment. Despite my best efforts, I was still pissed off at that arrogant jerk, but I was even more upset at myself for caring in the first place. He was a stranger to me, a nobody, but his words still stung. Just thinking about it got my blood pumping again.

I looked over in his direction, a forbidding expression on my face, daring him to so much as say another word. He was looking straight back at me. My anger soon turned to shock and I found I couldn’t maintain the eye contact. His lips twitched as he noticed my wavering expression, and at that moment I disliked him even more.

“You’re acting kind of strange,” Lily said, interrupting my fantasies of doing bodily harm to that man.

“I’m sorry,” I said as I turned my head to look at her. She wore a frown on her face and her brow was creased with worry.

“You’re gonna need Botox before you’re even 30 if you keep looking at me like that,” I tried to joke.

“Lily would never,” Marian cut in, sounding scandalized.

“Oh I don’t know about that Mom. After all, I do have an image to maintain now,” Lily said. Her twitching lips belied the seriousness in her tone and I could see her mother was horrified by her words. Clearly Marian didn’t know when her daughter was joking. I had to bit my lip to keep from smiling as well.

But there it was again—that pang of envy I felt as I watched how easy and effortlessly Lily could talk to her mother. I would have killed for that type of a relationship with my own mom, but the chances of that ever happening were probably less than being hit by lightning or winning the lottery.

There was one thing the jerk, formerly Mr. Hunk, was right about at least—my mother was a piece of work. It still didn’t give him the right to talk about her though.

“Hello ladies,” I heard a smooth deep voice say to my back. I knew before I turned around that it was the jerk. Of course he would have a perfectly sexy voice to go along with his perfect face and body. It was enough to make me want to throw my hands up in frustration. Too bad he had such a crappy personality to go along with it all.

I finally turned around to face him and mentally cursed myself for that small gasp of breath I took as I got a better look at him. If it was possible, he was even more gorgeous up close. Long eyelashes framed clear blue eyes. Eyes that looked at me in interest and a little bit of mischief. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, and judging by the laugh lines around his eyes, he had a healthy sense of humor.

“Ryan, I don’t think you’ve met my friend Mel,” Lily said. “She’s my maid of honor.”

I groaned inwardly. Why did he have to be the best man? Of all the guys in the world, he had to be Ryan Marsden. I took small consolation in the fact that he must have felt the same. I had the pleasure of seeing him flinch momentarily before he caught himself. He smiled and reached out his hand for mine.

I should have refused and left him hanging, but my body had a mind of its own. I held out my hand and he took it in his large warm grasp. The contact sent a jolt of awareness through me. For a second I thought he was going to raise it to his lips and kiss the back of my hand, but he didn’t. A coughing sound brought me out of my momentary stupor, and I was suddenly aware that I had been staring at him. I snatched my hand back and held it to my sides.

“I’m happy to meet you. Roman and Lily have told me a lot about you,” he said, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

“Oh yeah? What did they say?” I wanted wipe that confident smile off his face, but he remained unperturbed.

“Only good things,” he said, smiling at me in a way that made my insides flutter like a thousand butterflies taking flight at once.

Roman walked up to us at that point and whisked Lily and Marian away to make some other introductions. That left the jerk and I alone together. It was the last thing I needed and I was about to turn on my heel and leave as well, but he stopped me with his hand on my arm.

“I have the feeling that you don’t like me,” he said.

I couldn’t hide the surprise from my face as I looked at him. “I don’t even know you that well to form an opinion,” I lied.

“Well, maybe we should get to know each other better,” he said.

“No thanks. I’m a real piece of work. You’d be wasting your time with me. Why don’t you go back to your little fan club? I’m sure they’d appreciate your company more than I do.”

With that, I stalked past him and headed straight for the opposite end of the room. I had the brief satisfaction of seeing his smile falter, but that didn’t last long. He was already wreaking havoc on my emotions and I’d only just met him. I could hear the blood rushing in my ear as I walked away.

Luckily I spotted my friend and coworker, Candace, waving at me across the room. She also happened to be Lily’s cousin, and had recently moved to New York from Los Angeles. Like me, she was a junior assistant Chère magazine. We shared a small cubicle space and worked directly for my mother. I made my way over to her, snatching a glass of champagne from a passing waiter on the way.

“Who was that guy you were talking to?” she asked in greeting.

I turned my head back to where the jerk was still standing, staring after me. I met his gaze and held it, daring him to look away. He tipped his head to me and smiled before finally breaking eye contact. I let out a shaky breath I didn’t know I was holding.

“Um, hello? Are you still with me, Mel?” Candace asked.

“What? Oh, sorry. He’s nobody,” I said. She pursed her lips in disbelief and waited for me to explain. “Fine, he’s Roman’s best man, Ryan something,” I bit out reluctantly.

“Is there something going on between you two?” she asked.

I nearly choked on my champagne and broke out into a coughing fit. “Not in a million years.”

“Ok, sorry I asked,” Candace said looking at me doubtfully. “You sure there’s nothing going on? Because I felt a little bit of something passing between you two just now.”

“Trust me, there’s nothing going on. In fact, I can promise you that nothing will ever be going on between the two of us. He’s a jerk.”

“What’d he do?” Candace looked at me curiously, her head cocked to the side waiting for me to explain the hostility I felt for this man I’d only just met.

I really couldn’t understand it myself. Yes, he had spoken badly of my mother, but he wasn’t the first person to describe her in less than flattering language, and that was putting it mildly. Half of the people in the room probably hated my mother, for good reason too.

She was selfish, arrogant, and rude to most people. Her one saving grace was that she had talent. She was very good at her job, and when she wanted to be, she could be extremely charming and agreeable. She was a very good ally to have and an even worse enemy. That more than anything guaranteed her acceptance in most circles. People were just afraid of her.

I was used to people talking about my mother, but I’d never really experienced being talked about myself. It surprised me how hurtful I found it and I felt a new respect for my mother for being able to put up with it all these years.

“He’s just an arrogant jackass,” I said.

“But those are the best kind,” Candace laughed. “Arrogant, sexy, confident, plus he can’t take his eyes off you. I think you should go for it.”

“What?!” I looked up and back across the room to where I’d left him standing. He was staring at me, his eyes raking over me boldly. I felt a flush of heat creep up my body from my toes all the way up to the tips of my ears. Was he doing this on purpose? Trying to make me embarrassed? I turned my head away again, the tell-tale blush on my cheeks.

“He’s hot, Mel. You could do worse,” Candace said eyeing him appraisingly.

“Oh please. I’m not on the market for a new boyfriend,” I said.

“Who said anything about a boyfriend?”

“So what? You think I should just sleep with him, no strings attached?” I wasn’t an innocent flower, but I’d never had a purely sexual relationship with a man before either. Every guy I’d ever been with I’d been dating.

“You don’t have to whisper it like it’s a bad thing,” Candace said rolling her eyes. “It’s just sex. And yes, you should totally jump his bones. He looks like he knows what he’s doing, if you catch my drift.”

I turned back to look at him again. He was in a conversation with some other woman, so I took my time looking him over. He really was gorgeous with an easy smile and a twinkle in his eye. His black cashmere sweater fit nicely over his broad shoulders and toned chest. The sleeves were rolled up showing his tanned forearms. He was leaning casually against the wall, one foot propped up behind him as if he were on a photo shoot for a fashion magazine.

I couldn’t help the little tingle I felt in my belly watching him. It would be really easy to fall for his charms, I realized. I could just picture letting him take me home and imagine the feel of his large hands caressing my body, and his perfectly sculpted lips nipping against the hollow of my neck. It was making me weak in the knees just thinking about it.

I had to clear my throat before I felt calm enough to speak. “I’m taking a vow of celibacy,” I said.

Candace let out a howl of laughter. “You? Celibate?”

“Shhh! You don’t have to yell it so loud,” I whispered, looking around at the confused faces staring in our direction.

“I’m sorry, but that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” she said.

“It’s not crazy.”

“Are you still pining after Chad, hoping he’ll crawl back on his hands and knees and beg you to take him back? Because that ship has sailed honey. You need to move on with your life,” Candace said.

I stiffened at her dismissive tone, and felt a bit defensive. Candace was brash and always spoke her mind. It was one of the things I appreciated about her, and could relate to. I knew she’d never pull any punches or tell me anything but the truth. But at times like this, I wished she’d just shut it. I wasn’t in the mood for her “tough love”.

“Why does everyone think I’m still pining over Chad?”

“Aren’t you?”

“No! I mean I’d get over him a lot sooner if everyone didn’t always constantly bring him up. It’s only been three months after all,” I said exasperated.

“You know what they say, once you fall, there’s nothing to do but to get back up and ride again. And that man looks like he’d be a good ride,” she said pointing her chin in his direction and waggling her eyebrows.

“That man looks like trouble,” I said.

“Really Melanie, I sometimes feel as if I’m talking to a brick wall. Did you not hear me say that these seating arrangements had to be completely redone? I’m sure I mentioned it several times already.”

My mother frowned at me across the conference table where we held our weekly staff meeting on Monday mornings. She’d been going on and on about the damned guest list and seating arrangements for the past ten minutes. She had put me in charge of arranging the seating assignments for Chère Magazine’s 45th anniversary party, but you’d never be able to tell, given how controlling she was, nitpicking every little thing I did. I sometimes thought she relished belittling me in front of her staff. After she started harping about how Mrs. Rosemont couldn’t possibly sit next to Ms. Harrow, and anyone with two brain cells to rub together would know that, my eyes started to glaze over and I tuned out her voice.

Candace shot me a sympathetic smile across the table, but I just shrugged my shoulders. I’d had a lifetime of experience dealing with my mother’s criticism. The best thing to do was just to remain silent and wait for her to eventually tire herself out. There was no point in arguing, or pointing out the fact that she had originally approved the guest list and made the seating arrangements herself. She was always right, even when she was wrong.