I lean down and whisper in her ear. “If you hadn’t, I would’ve.” I can feel her cheek rise. I love that I can make her smile.
When we pull apart, I keep my hand on her hip and gaze into her eyes. I’m about to tell her who I am when an old family friend approaches us.
“Owen, it’s good to see you.” Mr. Richter sticks his hand out for me to shake, leaving me no choice but to remove my hand from Ensley’s hip. In this moment, I despise my father’s old golf buddy.
“Mr. Richter, thank you for coming. Allow me to introduce you to Ensley Anderson, party planner extraordinaire.” The two of them shake hands.
“Owen’s mother has told me all about you. I hear congratulations are in order.”
Ensley looks at me questioningly. I shrug having no idea what he’s talking about.
“So, when’s the big day? The Mrs. And I don’t want to miss it.”
“Oh,” I say. “We haven’t set a date yet, but I’ll make sure my mom lets you know.” Within a few seconds, he’s gone and I’m wide eyed staring at Ensley. “Shit, I’m sorry. My mom mentioned Mr. Richter was having issues keeping things straight but I had no idea he was that bad.”
“Oh, it wasn’t that bad, to assume we’re getting married before we’ve actually started dating or getting to know each other.”
“Haven’t we?” I ask, taking the window of opportunity.
Ensley meets my gaze. “Excuse me?” she says softly.
I set my empty champagne flute down and ask her to follow me, even though I’ve taken her hand firmly in mine and have tugged her behind me. It takes me a moment or two to find a secluded space among the party goers, but do outside. When a waiter and another tray of champagne walks by, I grab us each one, needing the liquid courage.
“I have something to tell you, but I need you to listen before you say anything or walk away from me.”
“I’m listening,” she says.
I clear my throat and take a drink of the champagne. Here goes nothing. “In college, I was a flirt and dated, but never found someone I wanted to spend any time with. And then, Damien and I opened the company and women flocked to us, but none of them ever sparked any interest and after a month or two, I knew none of the women I dated at the time were the one for me.
“Then, I went to this gala back in September and met this woman and I knew she was the one I’ve been waiting for. But the problem was, we met while wearing these masks and neither of us were willing to take them off because I think we both liked the mystery and the thrill of what we were doing. We didn’t exchange names and by morning, she was gone.
“I couldn’t get her out of my mind and did the only thing I could think of and reached out to the owner of the Panthers and asked for the guest list because I needed to find out who this woman was. When I described her to him, he actually laughed at me and said my description sounded like Ensley Anderson, the party planner.
“To the web and I went, and as soon as I saw your picture, I knew it was you but couldn’t for the life of me, figure out how to tell you I wanted to see you again, so I decided to throw the Halloween bash, and I fired the other party planner I had used before to do this charity event because I had to put myself in your path.
“Earlier, I referred to you as extraordinaire when it came to your planning services, but a word like extraordinaire doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of who you are to me. I know I’m risking it all, our friendship and budding romance, when I say this, but I’m the one behind the mask. The man you’ve shared secret rendezvous with, who you’ve allowed to ravage your body in ways I only dreamed possible. I’ve wanted to tell you so many times but haven’t found the courage and even now I’m sweating bullets and my heart is beating out of my chest. I’m so afraid you won’t want to be with me after this confession.”
“Ensley, there you are,” Jordan interrupts.
Ensley tears her gaze away from mine. “What is it, Jordan?”
“The ice sculpture is melting into the cake. The fondue fountain is burning the chocolate. I can’t find the catering manager. The champagne fountain is overflowing.” Jordan throws her hands up in complete exasperation.
Ensley looks at me and I tell her to go. It’s her company, her job. I have to respect that and knew she would have to work some of the night. I just had no idea everything would go to hell in a hand basket as soon as I started spilling my guts.
I lean over the railing and look out over the city. Many times, the media conglomerates from New York City and Los Angeles have tried to buy Damien and I out or have come to use with proposals to merge and move to either city. Each time we’ve said no and worked to make our company bigger and better. The day we landed the Panthers broadcasting contract was huge but made sweeter when we signed the deal for the Hornets. Damien and I realized we don’t need the big city because what we have here is perfect.
“How’d she take it?” Damien mimics my stance.
“Don’t know, she got called away.”
“How do you think she took it?” he rephrases his question.
I shrug. “The other night at her house, we kissed. I think if I would’ve put more moves on her, we would’ve ended up in bed or fucking in her hot tub. I like her a lot and I think she likes me. The question is, does she like the guy behind the mask more.”
Damien looks over his
