Nova had a small apartment in New York, but each summer she rented a van and traveled around, blogging her adventures. She’d gotten a job with an adventure magazine, and I wasn’t sure if she’d ever stop living out of a van now that she got paid to do it. We were supposed to meet up for a girls’ weekend outside of the city, but Camden’s order squashed that.
“Besides,” Raelynn said. “I have an acquaintance hosting another…party here, too.”
“An acquaintance?” My brows scrunched, taking in Raelynn’s Mona Lisa smile as she scanned the crowd. That smile and the lack of eye contact always raised some red flags with her.
Before she could answer, my dad’s booming voice interrupted the quiet bubble we’d created since entering.
“Verana.” He leaned in and softly kissed my cheek, reminding me of all the times he’d tucked me in at night as a little girl. I’d been short-tempered with my father since graduation, but I had to have faith that, like Mama said, he would always take care of me—he loved me.
“Father.”
“I wish you would have come to the house, so we could arrive as a family.”
“My fault, Mr. M,” Raelynn cut in.
My father’s smile grew tight. He tolerated Raelynn because of her family and their wealth, but he saw her as too wild and a bad influence.
“You look ravishing,” Camden said, coming up behind my dad.
I fought my heavy sigh at Camden’s compliment. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, and from anyone else, I’d smile and say thank you, but annoyance still pricked at the surface from our last meeting.
“Thank you,” I managed to ground out.
He stepped close, sliding his arm around my waist, his fingers skimming along the bare skin of my back. My muscles clenched as if trying to pull away from the slight graze.
“And who is this stunning creature?”
Raelynn’s lip curled into a smile that resembled a snarl. Camden held out his hand, never unraveling his other arm from my back, and waited for Raelynn to place hers in his. I could tell she wanted to do a lot more violent things with her hand than give it to him, but like me, she’d had too much etiquette drilled into her to ignore his request.
Camden brought her hand to his lips and would have probably kissed it for too long if Raelynn hadn’t gently jerked it back.
“This is my friend from college, Raelynn Vos.”
“Vos?” Camden studied Raelynn with a little more interest that went beyond lust. “As in Vos Enterprises?”
“The one and only,” she said, lifting her champagne in a toast to her family company before taking a long sip.
“Will the Vos family be attending our wedding?” Camden asked me.
“Ummm…” I stuttered. We hadn’t even talked about being engaged, let alone the wedding.
“Of course, they will,” Raelynn answered for me. “At least I’ll be there ready to help her bolt, like the good maid of honor I’ll be.”
Camden missed the threat and tipped his head back with a loud laugh. “You’re a funny one. I look forward to getting to know you better.”
“I bet.”
“Well, ladies, we should probably mingle and talk business among the men.” I blinked to hide my rolling eyes at Camden’s condescending arrogance. “Also, I still need to submit the sizable donation the Conti family will be making tonight, of course.”
“Of course.” Raelynn’s smile was small and bland while her eyes narrowed like they were trying to burn him alive.
I covered my laugh with a fake cough, kind of loving her blatant irritation with him. Especially since Camden didn’t notice at all. My father noticed, though. His eyes flicked from Raelynn to Camden, and finally, to me, widening as if pleading to get my friend under control. I almost wanted to send one back for him to get his employee under control.
“Cam. I saw Joe Banks by the bar. Let’s go introduce you as the newest member of Mariano Shipping.”
Camden leaned down and pressed a kiss to the crown of my head, lingering to whisper, “Save a dance for me.”
Before he stepped way, his fingertips dragged down my spine, daring to dip below the fabric of my dress, getting dangerously close to the crack of my ass before finally pulling away.
“What a dick,” Raelynn announced once they’d walked away. “I can’t believe you’re going to sleep with that for the rest of your life.”
I downed the last of my champagne, setting it on a passing tray and grabbing another. “Ugh. Don’t remind me.”
“You know…you could still find someone else,” she singsonged.
“I don’t even want to bother with the effort of it.”
“You could try Tinder.”
“Ew.”
I wasn’t a one-night-stand kind of girl. Especially with the creeps I heard about on Tinder.
“What if…”
“What?” I asked when she didn’t continue.
She licked her lips and studied me like she was trying to guess my answer to whatever her suggestion would be. “What if I told you another kind of party was happening tonight?”