“What do I think?” Harper mused, glancing disdainfully at the velour seats-hot pink to match the exterior. She raised a hand to her hair, which had been carefully smoothed back into an elaborate upsweep-thanks to the lack of a roof on the rose monstrosity, she’d probably arrive at the dance looking like she had a birds nest on top of her head. “I think I like your taste in cars about as much as I like your taste in women.”
“Classy, Harper, real classy,” Kane told her scornfully. Kaia, who had yet to say a word, just smiled and slid a hand onto Kane’s inner thigh. She leaned over and, eyes never leaving Harper’s face, whispered something in his ear.
Kane’s eyes widened, and they both laughed.
“My thoughts exactly,” he said, and began kissing her neck. As his hand grazed Kaia’s breast and her lips found his, Harper recoiled in disgust.
Adam always looked handsome in a tux. With his broad chest and chiseled features, he looked like a film star from the fifties, full of glamour and chivalry, ready to sweep her away on some elegant adventure. He gently pinned on a small corsage-a delicate white rose-and she wondered how her eye ever could have strayed to someone else. Much less a teacher.
All the stupid fighting-she’d come so close to losing him. Beth shivered at the thought.
“Are you cold?” he asked, tucking her silver wrap around her shoulders and rubbing his warm hand up and down her back.
Inside the house everything had been so loud. Her brothers running circles around them. Her parents hopping up and down, snapping pictures and fawning over Beth as if they’d never seen her in a dress before. But out here on her front step, it was quiet and dark. Just the two of them.
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “Let’s get going.” She was eager to get to the dance-and through the dance- because she had a surprise waiting for Adam at the end of the night. The sooner it came, the less time she’d have to worry about it.
She’d never ridden in a limousine before, and when she saw the long black car waiting outside her tiny house, she stopped and closed her eyes, savoring the moment. Then Adam took her hand and they walked down the path together to the curb, where their carriage awaited. It was such a romantic, regal procession, under such a bright, starry sky.
Beth felt like a princess-and she knew it was going to be a perfect night.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?” Adam asked, handing her a glass of champagne and leaning back against the seat of the limo. It had set him back a hundred bucks, but it was worth it for the look on Beth’s face. He owed her so much-she could never know how much.
“Only a couple hundred times or so,” Beth laughed, tucking a tendril of hair behind her ears and blushing. “But keep going, please.”
“Ravishingly beautiful. Awe-inspiringly beautiful,” he told her, moving closer. “The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. More beautiful than-”
She kissed him, and he drank in the intoxicating feel of her.
It wasn’t just a line. She really was more beautiful than he’d ever seen her-the pale blue of her dress matched the deep ocean of her eyes, and its silky material hugged her body, revealing curves that he hadn’t even realized she had. Her cornflower blond hair, usually loose and flowing over her shoulders, was swept up into a loose bun, long tendrils framing her delicate face. And the way she was smiling-it was radiant, almost mysterious, as if she had some secret happy thought hidden away in the recesses of her mind. She was glowing-and looking at him as if he was the one who’d made her glow. Even the way she held her glass, her long, slender fingers curling around the narrow stem-even that was soft, elegant, perfect.
She was perfect. And every time she looked at him with her loving, trusting eyes, he had to look away in shame. After all, every word out of his mouth was a lie, just pretty phrases designed to hide the truth. He could mean them all he wanted-and he did-but it wouldn’t change things. It wouldn’t change the one thing he could never say.
“Are you okay, Ad?” she asked, and he realized he’d been staring at her.
He smiled.
“Just thinking of what a great night we’re going to have together,” he told her. Another lie.
More lies piled up by the minute, and his skin crawled with the fear that everything was going to come apart. Especially tonight-when he and Kaia, and worse, Beth and Kaia, were bound to come face-to-face.
“It’s going to be a wonderful night,” Beth sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder. “It’s going to be perfect.”
Adam slugged back his glass of champagne and poured himself another-anything to get him through the night.
Perfect?
Unlikely.
Miranda jumped out of the car almost before it pulled to a full stop-it had been all she could do to restrain herself from jumping out miles ago, at full speed. Between Harper and Kaia’s intermittent sniping and Kane and Kaia’s apparent inability to keep their hands off each other, the fifteenminute ride had felt like an eternity.
Now that they were finally here, she just wanted to get out and away as quickly as possible-and if she managed to avoid being seen emerging from Kane’s hot pink cotton candy machine, that would also be a perk. Though the way her luck was running, it seemed unlikely. Speaking of incognito-
“Harper!” It was Harpers hideously annoying sophomore clone.
“Miranda!” And her equally annoying sidekick.
“Kane and Kaia!” they chorused. “Hiiiii!”
It was too late to escape. The two girls, dressed in identical satin slip dresses (Mini-Me in lavender, Mini-She in eggshell blue) tottered up to them on shaky heels. Their dates, two pimply sophomores who, in matching crew cuts and rented tuxedos, looked as identical to each other as the Minis (one was blond, one was brunette-they were otherwise interchangeable), trudged dutifully behind them.
Kaia, Harper, and Miranda each nodded wearily at the fan club-Kane couldn’t even be bothered to do that much.
“Kaia, your dress is gorgeous,” Mini-Me gushed. “Where’d you get it?”
“Bitches-R-Us?” Harper suggested.
“Anna Sui, actually.” Kaia glared at Harper. “Where’d you get yours, Wal-Mart?”
“That’s where I got mine, too!” Mini-She cried. She linked arms with Harper and leaned toward her conspiratorially. “So, Harper,” she asked in a low voice, “where’s your date?”
“Oh, Harper and Miranda came together,” Kaia simpered. “Isn’t that adorable?”
Now it was Harper’s turn to glare. She extricated herself from the sophomore and moved quickly over to Miranda’s side.
“Are you guys, like, a couple now?” Mini-Me asked, eyes agog.
“No, no,” Miranda said hastily. God, this was just what she’d been afraid of. Worse, even. “We’re just-I-”
“We told our dates to go screw themselves,” Harper jumped in. She glanced at Kaia. “Not
“Looking for some testosterone?” Kane asked, suddenly paying attention. “Why didn’t you say so?”
He grabbed Kaia and swooped her down into a dramatic dip, kissing her as her hair grazed the ground. The sophomores giggled and Harper and Miranda just shook their heads until finally he pulled her up and took her hand.
“Well, milady shall we away?”
And they walked inside, Mini-Me, Mini-She, and their unfortunate dates in hot pursuit.
“Suck it up, Rand,” Harper said, as Miranda’s eyes followed Kane’s figure into the gym. “You know he could care less about her-he’s just trying to be an asshole.”
“He’s doing a pretty good job of it,” Miranda admitted.
“Now see, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Harper pointed out. She grabbed Miranda’s arm and pulled her forward. “Come on, let’s go find some real men. You ready for this?”
Miranda nodded and followed silently.
