Trace + Olivia Series Boxed Set (36 page)

“I thought you couldn’t dance,” I pouted as Trace led me across the dance floor.

“I can’t. Not really. But I can
act
like I know what I’m doing,” he grinned down at me as my dress swirled around my feet.

I tried to mimic the way other people were dancing, but I wasn’t exactly the most coordinated person on the word, and Trace wasn’t very good at leading.

Finally, I gave up, resting my head on his shoulder.

Golden lights sparkled around us, illuminating the room in warm glow.

I felt Trace’s lips brush against my forehead, and I smiled, the innocent gesture warming my heart.

The first song bled into the second and third and so on.

My feet were starting to get tired and I asked Trace if we could take a break.

“Sure thing,” he smiled, and started to guide me back to our table, with a hand on my waist.

“Trace Wentworth, funny running into you here,” a twinkling female voice stopped us in our tracks.

“Fuck,” Trace whispered under his breath, low enough that I, and the girl behind us, were the only ones who heard.

Trace’s hand flexed against my waist and his jaw tightened as he turned around slowly.

“Aubrey,” he ground out. “This is my family’s home. I’m supposed to be here.
You
are not.”

Aubrey...Aubrey…Aubrey.

Where had I heard that name?

Oh my God. I gasped aloud.

Trace’s ex.

The petite blonde girl glared daggers at me with her dark blue eyes. She was pretty, as in model pretty, with slim features and body, and fair, blemish free skin.

She wore a strapless pale pink dress that hung straight down her narrow body. Her light blonde hair was pulled back in a low bun and a few pieces framed her pretty face. I had never seen a person that looked so flawless.

Her pale pink lips were pouted and fake tears watered her eyes.

“Just because we broke up doesn’t mean you need to shut me out of your life,” her lower lip trembled for emphasis.

“Aubrey-”

“I’ve been a part of your life since we were children, Trace. I spent as much time here, as you spent at my house. We shouldn’t shut each other out. I miss you,” she reached for his hand and he recoiled. Anger flared in her eyes. “I still love you, baby,” she tried to grab his arm, but he stepped back, dragging me with him.

“That’s a lie,” he pointed a finger in her face, “and even if it wasn’t, I don’t love
you
.”

“
You’re
lying,” her navy blue eyes narrowed. Her gaze flicked my way. “You think this white trash bitch is better than me? It’s clear she’s not from money,” My mouth gaped open at her words. She looked me up and down, a sneer marring her pretty face. “She can’t understand you the way I do.” She grabbed his tux jacket, but Trace shook her off as easily as if she was a pesky fly.

“If you were a guy I would punch you in the face for what you said about Olivia-”

“
It
has a name?” She batted her eyelashes innocently.

I flinched at her tone.

“You’re asking for it Aubrey,” Trace warned. “I
will
have you escorted off of
my
property, no questions asked, if you keep this up.” She opened her mouth but he cut her off. “I don’t give a fuck who your daddy is, Aubrey,
you are nothing
.”

A fire burned behind her eyes. “
I
am
nothing
? You sure didn’t think I was nothing when you dated me. You talked about marrying me and having kids with me,” she pointed at her bony chest. “What changed? Did your dad dying mess you up that bad that you’re willing to settle for
her
?” She stabbed a manicured finger in my direction.

“People grow up, Aubrey. They grow up and they outgrow each other. We weren’t right together. Surely, you can see that,” Trace reasoned. “And I am
not
settling with Olivia. I would be settling if I was still with you. Last names aren’t everything, Aubrey, and I know that’s the only reason you wanted me. So shut the fuck up and stop acting like I meant everything to you, because I didn’t. I was nothing but a means for you climb up the mother-fucking social ladder!” He yelled.

“You did! I loved you! I still love you! This bitch isn’t your future, Trace! I am!” She squealed shrilly.

By now, we had drawn quite the crowd.

I felt Trent step up beside me. “Oh, fuck, this isn’t good,” he whispered.

“If you make one more comment about Olivia, you will be escorted from this house, and you
won’t
be coming back,” he warned. “I don’t care how much money your daddy throws our way,” Trace seethed.

Aubrey’s nostrils flared and her lips pursed. Her tiny hands were fisted at her sides as she glared at the three of us.

“Fine,” she sighed. “Whatever. I’m not done with you, though,” she pointed a finger in Trace’s face. “
Do not
think this conversation is over. As soon as your pound puppy is out of the way, we’re talking.”

“No, we’re not,” Trace snapped. “We were done talking years ago. Come on,” he released his hold on my waist and grabbed my hand. We melted out of the crowd and Trent followed.

Adrenaline was fading from my body and being replaced by sadness. Aubrey may have been a bitch, but Trace belonged with someone like her, not
me
. Someone beautiful and from the same lifestyle, someone with money, and status, someone that he grew up with. I was none of those things.

“Who invited the fucking ice queen?” Trent asked when we stepped outside the ballroom and around the corner.

“I have no clue,” Trace snapped angrily, running his fingers through his hair. “Mom, Gramps, and Grammy wouldn’t do that to me. She had to tag along with her parents or someone else.” He released my hand so he could punch the wall. When he calmed down some, he turned to me, “I’m so sorry, Olivia. I would’ve never brought you here if I knew she was going to be here. She’s a bitch and I never wanted you to have to know-”

“Know what?” My lip trembled as I fought back tears. “Know that you loved someone as cold-hearted as that? Know that you belong with someone like her? Someone with money and status? I have none of that. I can’t give you what you need. I’m sorry,” I sobbed, backing away from him and his brother.

“Olivia!” He called after me as I ran, but I didn’t look back.

I had to get away before my emotions got the best of me.

I found the staircase leading to the basement and ran down them. I had ditched my shoes a few minutes ago and carried them in my hands.

I picked a door to a room I knew I had never been shown, hoping that would give me more time to get my emotions in check, since I knew Trace would look for me in all the rooms I had toured.

“Holy shit,” I gasped as the door closed behind me.

I looked around, dazed.

“Of course,” I muttered, inhaling the scent of chlorine. “They
would
have an indoor pool.”

The floors were made of some kind of pebbles and three of the four walls were solid glass windows.

The night sky reflected into the room and the full moon lit it.

I dropped my heels and they clattered to the ground.

I pulled the dress up to my thighs, and sat at the edge of the pool, dangling my legs into the heated water.

I took deep breaths to quiet my sobs.

I don’t know why I had freaked out so bad. I’d like to blame it on being a girl and stupid insecurities. I had already felt uncomfortable and Aubrey had made me feel even more out of my element. I didn’t belong here, while she did. She fit in with these people. She was gorgeous and from a rich family like Trace. I would never, no matter what, fit in with these people.

When Trace had shown me around and introduced me to people, I had let him do all the talking. I wasn’t good around strangers, never had been, add in the lifestyle difference, and I was a fish out of water. I didn’t know how to talk or act around them. Did they have a book titled,
Talking to Rich People for Dummies
? If it existed, I needed it.

I sighed and kicked my feet through the water, watching the bubbles I created float to the surface and disappear.

I wiped at my cheeks and my hand came away black.

I sighed again. There went all of Avery’s hard work.

I reached down and used the pool water to clean my hand. I stood and went in search of a towel. I opened several different cabinets, full of various pool related items, before I finally located the towels.

I wiped my face clean of the smeared makeup, and tossed the soiled towel in the hamper beside a bathroom.

Still sniffling slightly, I made my way back to the spot I had been sitting in before, dipping my legs back into the warm water.

It seemed weird to be sitting with my feet in pool water when there was snow flurrying outside.

My tears finally stopped and my hiccups quieted.

I continued to kick the water and watch the ripples while biting on my fingernails.

The door behind me opened, and I turned slowly, praying it was Cecilia or anyone I didn’t really know.

“Hey,” Trace said nervously, shoving his hands in his pockets. He had ditched his tux jacket and his hair was mused with the many times he had run his fingers through it.

“Hi,” I turned away and stared down into the blue depths of the water.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he murmured and his dress shoes clacked against the pebbled floor. “I was getting worried.”

“Well,” I spread my arms, “here I am.”

“You mean everything to me, Olivia.
Everything
,” he pleaded. “These people and their money, means
nothing
,” he growled, spreading his arms. “Why would you think I wanted to be with someone like that?” He tilted his head, studying me intensely.

“Because,” I kicked the water and it sprayed up, covering me in droplets, “you deserve to have someone like you.”

“
You
are someone like me!” He exclaimed, pointing a finger at me. “Why can’t you see that?” He gripped his hair. “I have never fit into this crowd, neither has my brother, and neither did my dad. I was
born
into this family, I didn’t
choose
it,” he jabbed his chest. “But I did choose to be normal. I chose to become a mechanic and live on my own in an apartment that
I
pay for. I chose to pullover that night in October and help a girl change her tire, and dammit if that wasn’t the best fucking decision I ever made,” his green eyes were fierce. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, Olivia,” I heard him pace behind me, “especially with Aubrey and I vowed to myself to never make those same mistakes with you.”

I heard the sounds of him pulling his shoes and socks off, and a moment later, he was sitting beside me, forcing me to look at him with a finger held to my chin.

“Why do you have to be so stubborn?” He asked. “Why are you fighting this?”

“I don’t want to get hurt,” I whispered, biting my lip, and gazing at the ground.

“You look hurt to me,” he rubbed under my eyes, where I knew they were red and puffy, “and
I’m
hurt. Do you like hurting me, Olivia?”

“No!” I exclaimed fiercely. “Of course not!”

“Then please, stop fighting what we have. I can feel you pulling away from me. I’ve felt it ever since you found out about my family and that’s the last thing I want. I didn’t tell you, because this,” he indicated the house, “isn’t important. Who I am and who you are, that’s what’s important. Everything else is just…details. You know the real me, Olivia. This,” he plucked at his dress shirt and grinned, “is me playing dress up.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I like your plaid shirts better.”

“I knew it!” He grinned cockily. “It was the plaid shirts that drew you to me.”

“What can I say?” I smiled. “I have a thing for lumberjacks.”

Trace threw his head back with laughter. “Lumberjacks,” he chuckled. Sobering, he gazed at me for a moment, and asked, “So, are we good?”

“We’re good,” I nodded with a smile.

“No more running away and freaking out?” His eyes sparkled with laughter.

“No more running away and freaking out,” I repeated. “I promise.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear,” he leaned towards me and pressed his soft lips to mine. I was unaccustomed to the feel of his smooth cheeks and instantly missed the stubbled ones I’d come to love.