Total pages in book: 190
Estimated words: 181992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Finally, he rounded up the conversation.
“It was real good seeing you both again,” Beckett told us. “Take care.” With that, he shrugged past us.
Dax’s hand glided from my nape down to the spot between my shoulder blades, and then he gently urged me forward. I followed the hostess to a table not too far away, and the people there graciously stood with polite smiles.
After greetings and introductions were exchanged, Dax and I took our seats. Several people made a point of congratulating us on our marriage.
A graying male with rugged features pointed at me. “You must be related to Ollie and Dane Davenport. You remind me of them.”
I nodded. “Ollie is my brother; Dane is my father.”
“I’ve had the pleasure of doing business with both in the past,” he told me. “They’re ruthless men.”
I smiled. “Excellent compliment.”
Some soft chuckles drifted around the table.
“When and where did you two meet?” one of the wives asked, her pretty blue gaze dancing from me to Dax.
He replied, “We’ve known each other for many years. Our families are well-acquainted. I’ve done business with Dane myself on a number of occasions.”
How wonderfully he completely dodged her question. She didn’t even seem to have noticed.
Other questions floated our way …
How’s married life?
Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Did Dane bless the wedding or does he hate Dax for making the cardinal sin of touching one of his daughters?
On and on it went.
Dax answered for us, working around the questions he didn’t want to fully answer; outright lying at other times.
When the attention finally eased off us, I leaned into him and whispered, “You’re good at that. Bullshitting, I mean. I actually envy just how skilled you are at it.” I noticed one side of his lips quirk.
His thigh bumped mine beneath the table as he placed his mouth near my ear. “Were you ever involved with Beckett?” The words tickled my ear, stirring the little hairs there. It wasn’t really a question, it was a guess.
“Only briefly a few years ago,” I replied. “Why?”
Dax’s only response was a flat hum.
It was right at that moment that the rest of the guests arrived. Soon after, the server took orders and then melted away. The small talk around the table changed to business matters once the food and wine appeared.
A few of the wives seemed to work with their husbands, so they were sure to make their input known on the aforementioned matters. The other women at the table—myself included—didn’t contribute much. I mostly just watched and listened.
One flirted a little with Dax—not taking it so far that it couldn’t be considered playful, but enough that I wanted to throw my fork at her. Instead, I kept a placid smile on my face, refusing to make any kind of scene. It wasn’t as if he was giving her any encouragement. In fact, he made a point of not making much eye-contact with her, which increasingly irritated her as the evening went on. Ha.
Well, at least I’d got to talk a little about Sapphire Glade. People had only asked out of politeness what I did for a living, but several had requested a business card.
The food was absolutely amazing, if not a little pretentious. But I couldn’t deny that I was relieved when the dinner was over.
Outside, we slid into his car. Clicking on my seatbelt, I gave him a false grin. “Wow, that was so much fun.”
“Yes, you looked riveted by the conversation.” His tone was as dry as mine.
“You seemed a little bored yourself at times.”
Driving out of the lot, he said, “There’s often too much circling around ideas and proposals. It’s sometimes like a dance. I’m too direct and eager to move forward for me to have much patience for that.”
I’d be the same in his shoes. Dithering frustrated me. I’d rather make a decision and act on it than spend too much time deliberating.
“How serious were you and Beckett?”
The unexpected question made my forehead crease. “Not very. We weren’t together long.”
“Why not?”
I shrugged. “Quite simply, he hadn’t liked that I had more money than he did. He’d wanted me to give up my trust fund—either to charity, or to my siblings.”
Dax let out a scornful grunt. “He wanted you to suffer for his own insecurities, essentially?”
“That was pretty much the case, yes. I refused his request. He understood why but couldn’t accept the situation, so we parted ways. It was an amicable split.” I cocked my head. “Why do you want to know?” He never asked me about my exes. Not even Lake.
He opened his mouth to respond, but then his cell phone rang. As it was linked to the car’s Bluetooth, I could see Raven’s name on the vehicle’s small monitor.
Dax answered the call via Bluetooth, “Yes?”
“I’m sorry to bother you with this, especially on a Saturday night,” she began, sheepish, “but I have a bit of a problem.”