She’d been on the board for the gala, but as far as I knew hadn’t done a damn thing except give her opinion about everything and anything.
I shifted to look past her. Sure enough, there were little green balls on the carpet. Oops.
“Not sure,” I said. “But I don’t think Dante was in charge of the food, was he?”
I plastered a smile on my face.
As I looked over her shoulder, I made eye contact with the mayor. He was heading my way, trying to make his way through the crowd.
Shit.
The mayor had a hot nut for me since we met. We’d been on one date. It was fine. Not even a kiss goodnight. It was for the best.
In the old days, I would’ve fucked him in a heartbeat. But now, he made me want to run far and fast away. He was good looking, intelligent, powerful, compassionate, and funny.
In other words, dangerous as fuck.
“Excuse me!” I said to Beatrice Stanford and fled toward the kitchen.
I rushed through the swinging double doors and let out a huge over-the-top sigh.
The staff, a cook, and a few waiters looked startled.
“Sorry,” I said, looking for the dark-haired waiter.
He was in the back, slouched against the wall near two other waiters. They were smoking vapes. I knew what was inside the cartridges. My instincts had been right.
I pointed my finger at him and crooked it.
He pushed himself off the wall, and his friends shoved him and made snide comments.
When he got in front of me, he gave me a cocky grin.
To my surprise, he was taller than me. And even better looking close up. He exuded an animalistic sensuality. His eyes bored through me.
“At your service, Ms. Santella.”
I was a little surprised he knew who I was, but didn’t say anything.
Instead, I met his eyes. He licked his lips. I stared at his lips. Fuck. He was a baby. How could I look at him that way? I quickly looked away.
“I need your vape.”
He grinned. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I only brought enough to get me and my boys through this night. It’s all gone.”
Oh, he was a cocky one, wasn’t he?
“I’ll make it worth your while,” I said, my eyes narrowing.
“How you gonna do that?” he said, and his eyes roamed my body. “I don’t need your money.”
“You like your job here?” I cocked my head.
He frowned.
Shit. I’d pissed him off.
“Listen. I’m just asking for a favor here. If you could hook me up with something to get me through this god-awful night, I’d appreciate it. I’d owe you. I’d owe you a favor. I don’t give favors lightly.”
“Is it that bad out there?” he said, jutting his chin toward the ball room.
I sighed. “What do you think? I’ve got a bunch of rich fucks who think because they paid a small fortune to be here they get to tell me about their fucking bunions and stomach ulcers. Normally I would tell them to fuck off, but since I’m on the board…and it’s for a good cause.” I paused. “I have to at least be polite. It’s killing me.”
He nodded.
“I need to go get my stash. It’s in the car. Meet me on the roof in fifteen minutes.”
The last time I’d arranged to meet someone on the roof, I’d arrived to find him dead.
“Fine,” I said reluctantly.
I watched him go and, despite myself, admired his long, lean body and his muscled forearms. At the last minute, he turned and caught me checking him out. My cheeks grew hot. I felt like a fucking pervert. Ugh.
As soon as I stepped out of the kitchen, I saw Dante across the room.
He was talking to James.
That’s when I had to admit to myself the real reason I wanted to be drunk and high. I didn’t want to face James.
Not after what had happened.
On the plane back to San Francisco from Indonesia two weeks ago, I had thought about all the people I loved who I might see again. When I thought of James, I felt a warm, nostalgic bond. I had thought my feelings for him were gone. After all, we had broken up so very long ago. He had a new life with a wife and kids.
I would always love him, but it would no longer hurt to see him.
Oh, how wrong I had been.
I had been away a long time. And a lot had changed.
He was now a widower. And someone’s boyfriend.
Now, seeing him talking to Dante was like a knife in the heart.
Again.
I was regressing. Both men stopped talking and looked over at me. My heart stuttered. Then they said something and laughed.
I heard a voice say, “Gia Santella! There you are. I’ve been looking for you for the past hour.”
Of course he had.
It was another dude from the gala board who always stared at my tits.
But instead of wanting to run away, I now felt relief.
I turned and gave him a brilliant smile, turning toward him and placing him in front of me so he blocked my view of Dante and James.
The last thing I saw before his big head took over everything was Nicoletta in her white dress with the ugly-ass mermaid tail hem sidling up to James and putting a protective hand on the back of his wheelchair. She was staring at me with a smug fucking look the entire time.
Time to bail.
“Excuse me,” I said. “I have to use the ladies room.” I headed for the exit.
“Wait,” I heard him say behind me. “The restrooms are the other way.”
But then I slipped outside and opened the door to the stairs with my employee key card.
At the top of the stairs, the door to the roof was propped open. As I neared it, the first thing I saw was a midnight blue sky full of twinkling stars—a rare sight in San Francisco, which often had a glowing, orange night sky.
I stepped out and inhaled deeply. The air smelled like a combination of salt from the ocean breeze and the fresh
