Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 135847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
“And it’s an open bar,” Hale reminded her.
That did it.
She shot a radiant smile his way.
Within ten minutes, they were crawling behind a line of limousines and town cars in Midtown waiting for their turn to arrive at the red carpet outside Gotham Hall.
Eventually, they did. The car door opened, and Ned alighted first, then Hale, which meant that Blake came out to the wall of sound that accompanied Hale’s appearance.
As he always did, he ignored it as ushers guided them to the front of a line of waiting socialites and celebrities (one of the rare benefits of being Hale Wheeler) to the step and repeat that had the long red carpet, the velvet rope, and the Blazing the Trail/Trail Blazer logoed backdrop.
Ned and Hale sandwiched Blake in her red satin, halter neck dress that had an open back and a wide slit and some gathering at the hip. A dress that suited her perfectly, being stylish and also racy.
However, it was only Hale who held her hand.
It took until the third stop, when a photographer shouted, “Blake! Are you and Hale an item?” And she shouted back, “No. But he’s the best friend a girl could have!” that she indicated she’d relaxed into it.
But hearing her words, he gave her hand a squeeze.
Another indication she’d be okay was she gave that group of paparazzi a sultry side tilt of her head and a smile before they stepped to the next.
And finally, thank fuck, they were through that ridiculous quagmire and had made it inside.
“I need a drink,” Ned announced.
“Hundred percent,” Hale agreed.
But Blake turned to him, got up on her toes, touched her cheek to his and whispered, “You’re the greatest.” She moved away and did the same to her dad, saying, “You’re the greatest too, Dad.”
Then she rushed off in the direction of where Alex was standing with Chloe and Mika.
Ned and Hale headed to the bar.
They’d barely taken their place in the short line when Nora descended on them, and both men did a double take when they saw her in a cream column of a gown with some sheerness, a subtly plunging neckline, and such exquisite beading, even Hale was impressed.
It suited her perfectly, managing to be stately and feminine and edgy and sophisticated, all at once.
Seeing her like that, it was far from the first time he wondered why Jamie hadn’t woken up to the beauty he had in his hands and done something about it (a subject he’d never broached with his friend, because it wasn’t his business, also because the last woman in Jamie’s life he’d worshiped, and he’d had to watch as she died a slow, painful death).
Jamie and Nora had been platonic companions now for over a year. And not only was Nora gorgeous, she was a goddamned hoot, and the only person Hale knew who was more pathologically loyal than Nora was Chloe.
They got more cheek brushes, and then she declared, “If you both don’t push bidding on silent auction items into the stratosphere, I’ll never forgive you. The bid sheets are in the lounge. There’s a family and friends rest station in the Oak Room, both your names are on the list for entry. Ta-ra.”
With that, she strutted away.
“I think we have our orders,” Ned said then tipped his head to the side to ask what Hale wanted, since Ned had made it to the bar
“Gin and tonic, with lemon and lime.”
They got their drinks and did their duty at the silent auction, putting starting bids on items that hadn’t had any bids yet, with Hale noting Jamie, Duncan and Tom had clearly gotten the same instruction, because their names were already on many of the sheets.
Once they accomplished their mission, Hale eventually gravitated away from Ned, touched base with Judge and Chloe, Sasha and Matt, and he was standing, chatting with Tom and Mika, when he saw her.
And when he did, he went perfectly still.
“Hale?” Tom called.
Hale didn’t move as he watched Elsa greet Rix and Alex wearing a dress that was totally her, at the same time it was oddly not, but what it definitely had was the ability to make the crotch of his trousers suddenly too tight and his head want to explode.
“I’ll just…” Mika murmured.
“Yes, honey,” Tom murmured back, then again, more sharply this time, “Hale.”
Hale’s body jolted, he tore his eyes off Elsa and looked to Tom.
“You okay?” Tom asked.
He sucked back the dregs of his G&T and forced out, “Fine.”
Tom looked to Elsa, then back to Hale, and he asked, “Is there something I don’t know?”
“Yeah. After the interview, Elsa and I went on a date. It was a great date. Then she did everything but say it straight that she was using me to get more followers and career-defining deals. Deals she signed within weeks of that interview airing. And I knew that because she was all business after I left her in her apartment. I don’t know what she was playing at with the date, though she was using me for that too, since her family is a disaster, she’s the target of their dysfunction, and she needed someone to run interference. Her friend set it up, but she didn’t work too hard at pretending she wasn’t down with the plan.”