Then & Now (21 page)

Shock, along with mortification, painted Thea’s cheeks a lovely shade of red as her deep blue eyes widened in embarrassment while she finally became aware of him standing behind her friend.  She motioned for her friend to stop talking while smiling in an awkward acknowledgment.

“What?” Turning to face in the direction Thea had pointed, her friend eyed him carefully before whirling back.  “Oh, you
sooo
owe me for this!  He’s gorgeous.”

Confused he said nothing, only watched Thea’s reaction.  From what he gathered out of their conversation, the redheaded whirlwind had “bought” him for Thea.  His night had suddenly become so much more interesting.

Absolutely humiliated, Alethea turned away from his dark eyes, and prayed that the world would just open up and swallow her whole.  He was far more attractive than his picture portrayed.  Her nerves began to quiver, and her stomach knotted into a tight ball, as it always did when she got uneasy around highly attractive men.

That was one thing she could honestly say she was jealous of her sister; men.  Mytrice always had away with men.  Bating her big blue eyes, along with those long—fake—eyelashes and men seemed to just fall all over themselves.  Where Alethea seemed to become unvocal and clumsy whenever it came to men.  Especially when it came to men she liked.

This guy was ringing all sorts of bells, even some that hadn’t been rung in a long time.  This was a big warning sign for her.  She just should have voted for Bachelor Number Two.  Although cute, he didn’t have any effect on her, unlike this unrealistically beautiful man who was making her weak.  Why was he staring at her?  Was he hoping she wasn’t the one who bet on him?

“Hello, I’m Leya. I’m the one who won you.”  Extending a well manicured hand, Leya flipped her auburn hair seductively over her shoulder.  “But I’m not keeping you.  You’re a gift for my friend, Alethea.”  She grabbed Alethea by the arm and practically shoved her into the poor guy.

Waiting for a disappointed look or at least a confused one, she didn’t look up when she greeted him. “Most people call me Thea.”  She stated quietly.

“Either way is beautiful.  Thea…very lovely.”  The way he said her name caused tiny electric pricks to zing down her spine.

Her head snapped up as he dropped a soft kiss on her hand.

“Chivalry.  Very nice.  You don’t see that very often.”  Leya gushed.  “Your mother will love that.”

Sending a warning glare over her shoulder, Thea quickly pulled her hand from his. 
“Thank-you, for the complement.”

“Greek isn’t it.  Your name is Greek, correct?”  He asked with a tilt of his head.

“Yes.”  She answered, truly surprised.  “It means—”

“Truthful one.”
  He finished for her.  With a quick nod, he answered her bewildered, unspoken question.  “I studied Greek for many years.”  He smiled with a devastating blow to her defenses.

Leya gave her a little shove as she laughed. “Well there you go, perfect! My job here is done.”  Throwing her bag over her shoulder, she turned on him.  “If you give her any grief over what she has planned for you, you’ll regret meeting me.”  With her expression deadpan, Leya raked her eyes over him.  Then, flipping like a bipolar, she flashed a brilliant smile and wiggled her fingers.  “Now, you two have a great time tonight.  See you later.”

Watching her friend sashay her way through the room towards the exit, Thea shook her head with disbelief.  Now what? 

“You friend is….interesting.”  He smiled.

Nodding, Thea agreed.  “She’s really great once you get to know her.  At least that’s what I keep telling myself.”

He let out a soft chuckle.  Gesturing towards the shadowy end of the bar, he offered to buy her a drink. She agreed timidly unsure how to go about this.  She was so out of her element here.  Normally, well normally she didn’t date, but the off times that she had drinks were usually weeks after the first meeting, not minuets.

“I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name.”  The auction program gave no names only descriptions.

“Jace Kamber.”  He answered easily.

There was something about his eyes that had her staring a little longer than she probably should have.  They were such a dark brown that it reminded her of a milk chocolate bar with dark chocolate chips sprinkled throughout.  They were mesmerizing.  He reminded her of someone, yet she couldn’t figure out whom.

“Are you from around here, Jace?”  She asked while getting a feel of his name.

“Yes, I grew up here.”  His answer was a little short handed, which made her worry.

“You know, you don’t have to go through with this if you don’t want to.”  The words flew out of her mouth before she really gave it much thought.  Leya would be furious if she let the guy off the hook. 
Though she couldn’t very well ask him to lie to her family when he didn’t even want to be there in the first place.

“And what makes you think that I don’t want to go through with this?”  He asked with an amused smile.

Confused she glanced over her shoulder.  “Because the pretty one left.”

A whoop of laughter emerged from his mouth, startling her. 
“In who’s opinion?”

She gave a small shrug, completely taken aback.

“Trust me; I got the one I wanted.”  He was so sincere that it gave her no room to argue.

Shying away she took a small sip of her drink.  She heard a softer chuckle before he asked.  “So, what do you have planned for me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your friend said you had something planned for me.  What may I ask?”  He took a slow, casual drink waiting for her answer with true interest.

Oh, crap.  How in the world was she going to invite him to an engagement party that would be filled with a bunch of crazy Greek family members, who would mistake him as a serious boyfriend? 

“I didn’t mean to pry, but I thought I heard something about a party?”  He asked casually as if it was no big deal.

Ha!  What the man didn’t know could scare the hell out of him.  “It’s nothing.  I can’t ask you to go with me.  I mean it’s completely irrational.”

“What is?”

“My family…”  She shook her head at the thought of ridicule that her family would put her through for the rest of her life if they were to ever find out.

“Your family is irrational?”  Jace asked confused.

“What?  Well, yes.  Sometimes. Especially over something like this.”

“Like what?”

“You.”

“Me?  Wait, I think I’m missing something.”

Giving him a quick glance she realized that she wasn’t making any sense.  She turned to face him fully as she tried to explain.  “My brother’s engagement party is this weekend and I don’t have a date.  Now I don’t know how much studding you did on the Greek, but if I show up empty handed my family will execute me.”  Taking a quick breath she continued without giving him any room to speak.  “So, Leya, the interesting one you just met, thought that this auction thing would be a good idea.”

“O-kay.”
  He breathed.  “Let me get this straight.  You need a date for a party that has the family thinking marriage and if you show up empty handed that will lead to aunts setting you up, brother ridicule, and displeasing looks from your father and mother.”  Leaning close to her he raised a thick eyebrow.  “How close am I?”

“Very.”  She laughed. 
“Kind of pathetic, huh?”

Shaking his head he disagreed with such a charming smile she had to catch a sigh before she made a fool of herself.  “It makes sense.  Hell, I wish I thought of it a few months ago.  My aunt Penny is still trying to set me up with some gal she works with.  I have no idea how much longer I can hold her off.”

“I tell you what; if we get through this you can use me to get her off your back.” Clamping her teeth over her bottom lip, Thea turned away from him.  She could not believe her boldness.  He hadn’t even agreed to it, and she was already making the assumptions that he would help her. 

“Deal.”
  He said the one word with such earnest, she found herself turning back to him.

“You would really do this with me?”  The thought of a guy like him—so beautiful she could hardly breathe—going out of his way to help her seemed a little too far fetch. 

“Of course.  There was major money put down for my services, and I can hardly turn it down.”  Although he was being playful she couldn’t help but feel like it was an obligation on his part.

“It wasn’t my money.”  She stated lightly.  “You shouldn’t feel compelled to help because of Leya.  She gets a little too bold sometimes.”

“No, no.  I don’t feel compelled.  In fact it’s a little… ironic, I guess; that I would run into you like this after all these years.”  His genuine smile had her perplexed.

“I’m sorry…”

He laughed slightly.  “I guess you wouldn’t remember me.  I wasn’t much to look at back in the day.  Nothing striking enough to leave a mark.  In fact I was half this size, all glasses and a mouth full of braces last time you saw me.”

Giving him a better look, she could suddenly see her old friend there.  Her hand flew to her mouth at the recollection.
“Bracey Jacey!  Oh, my God!  No!”

“Wow, I haven’t been called that in years.”  He laughed while he shook his head as if remembering those days.

Of course he wouldn’t be called that now.  He went from gangly to full out build that most men strive to become.  The braces were gone leaving perfect straight teeth.  And without his thick rimmed glasses his eyes were like tracker beams that could drag in any woman in within a ten mile radius.

She stared at him with such admiration she could hardly believe that this man was once one of her friends.  Although they hadn’t been close, he had always made her feel better about herself whenever some guy broke her heart in order to get better acquainted with her sister.  He had the best sense of humor.  He could always get a good laugh out of her even when she didn’t want to.

“My, God! I just can’t believe it.  You look great!”  She gushed, feeling the blush flood her cheeks.

“Thank-you.”
  He smiled one of his best smiles that she remembered most.  “Being a part of the Military for eight years has really turned me around.” 

He could say that again.  If someone had told her ten years ago that she would be admiring Bracey Jacey’s rock hard muscles, firm jaw line, sexy chocolate eyes, or that devastating smile, she wouldn’t have believed them.  And yet there she was all weak with bewildering attraction to one of her old friends.  She always thought that he would make it big and marry some lucky woman.

“How did you go from the Military to CEO of a major company?  Better yet, why haven’t you married?  I always thought you would end up married to the girl of your dreams by now…I mean with your sense of humor…You were always a really great guy.”  Shutting up quickly she silently scolded herself.

“You thought that I was a great guy?”  His question was laced with skepticism.

“Yes.  You were always really nice to me and I knew it had nothing to do with my sister.”  She answered honestly without looking at him.

He exhaled noisily before he said. “Compared to your sister, I think you have much more to offer.”

Startled by his comment Thea brought her gaze back to his only to be greeted by a warm smile and a straightforward look.  It was the same look he used to give her when they were younger. 

In high school she thought he was being nice, now as an adult she knew it was something much more complex. 
More sensually raw.  The realization sent a tingle of sexual awareness down her spine, causing the air between them to become charged.

“Are you hungry?”  He asked in a husky whisper that had her skin tingling.

Completely unsure of what he had asked, or the meaning behind it, Thea blinked a few times and swallowed hard before asking a shaky “Excuse me?”

His smile reached his eyes as if reading her mind. 
“Dinner.  I’m trying to ask you to dinner.”

“Oh!”  Licking her lips, she thought for a minute. 
“Now?”

“Yes, if you like.”

“Sure!”  She slamming her mouth closed, she tried to tamper down some of her excitement.  “I mean, why not.  We do need to get our story straight.”

“That won’t be too hard.  We did know each other in high school.”  The husky tone of his deep voice seemed to wrap itself around her as if holding her to him.

“Yeah, right.”  She sighed.  He was
not
the guy she knew in high school.  This man had her excited and unsure all at once.  This might not have been such a bad idea after all.

Jace sat quietly across from Thea at the twenty-four hour dinner watching her while she delicately poured coffee into her cup.  She looked rather adorable as she continued to remain shy, avoiding his eyes and fidgeting with her spoon.

After an enjoyable dinner at
Benoît’s
an expensive French restaurant, he took her on a walk through the park that was lit up with festive lights for the holidays.  Although he knew he didn’t need to impress her with fine dining, he suspected that she didn’t get treated the way a beautiful woman like her should be treated, and the more time he spent with her the more he wanted to treat her to the finer things in life.