Wright Together, page 4
“Are you sure?” Emery asked.
He nodded. His gaze shifted back to me. “Any last notes?”
“No notes. You’ve got this,” I assured him.
I offered the notecards back to him. He took them and tucked them back into his suit.
“I assume you’re lying, but thank you anyway. Maybe we can sit down together before the next one. Jordan said you’ve become a valuable asset at the company.”
“I’d like that,” I told him and then stepped away.
Jensen’s campaign manager ushered the rest of the family and friends who were backstage out of the area to fill up the VIP section they’d reserved at the outdoor auditorium in Mackenzie Park for Jensen’s announcement. I caught up with West and Nora on the stairs.
West shot me a look. The weird thing about having a twin was that sometimes we didn’t have to say a single thing to the other. We weren’t like the twins you saw on TV, where we were the same people who wore the same clothes and said the same things. That never happened. But that didn’t mean that it didn’t feel like we could read each other’s mind. And right now, we both felt out of place in the midst of all these actual Wrights.
Still, once we reached the back of the group, I explained what had happened.
West sighed. “Fuck.”
“Tell me about it.”
“That’s terrible,” Nora said. “I can’t believe he’s still doing all of this.”
“He has to,” West said. “The show must go on.”
Jensen couldn’t cancel. Not when the entire place was jam-packed with supporters. Not without explaining something he very publicly did not want people to know about. Not without getting in front of what had happened. Something he didn’t even know about yet.
While all of that was going on, my mind was elsewhere. My eyes scanned the crowd, seeing a sea of unfamiliar faces.
Eve had said she was coming.
She’d told me she’d see me here.
Her roommates were already in attendance. Piper stood with her boyfriend and Nora’s brother Hollin. Blaire stood next to them with Annie. Nora’s other brother and Blaire’s boyfriend, Campbell, wasn’t in attendance, but that wasn’t surprising. West had said that Campbell frequently got mauled in public and big crowds without security wasn’t good for him. The life of a rockstar.
But no Eve.
“What are you looking for?” West asked.
I whipped back around. “Nothing.”
I hadn’t told him that Eve and I were working together. Or that I was still very much interested in the perky brunette. I’d given up after what happened after the wedding. Then, she’d sauntered back into my life yesterday, and a desire I couldn’t ignore had reignited.
“Nothing,” West said disbelievingly. “Sure.”
Fuck our mind reading sometimes.
One of Jensen’s staff came onstage to announce him. A roaring cheer went up from the crowd, and still, there was no Eve. She hadn’t taken me up on needing a ride. I’d thought that she would get one with her roommates. Maybe her car was still messed up, and she’d tried to Uber in this mess.
I considered pulling my phone out to text her when I caught sight of her at the top of the stairs that led down to where we were sitting. She had her high heels in one hand. Her dark hair pulled up high on her head. Her blue dress formed to her curvy features. Even from a distance, she was the most arresting figure I’d ever seen. I couldn’t tear my eyes from her.
“Oh,” West said next to me.
And he didn’t have to say anything else.
Oh was fucking right.
6
Eve
From one girl to another, I wouldn’t recommend running through wet grass in thousand-dollar high heels. Louboutins were made to be admired. Preferably from behind as I bent over a fancy desk. Not ruined as they squelched into uncharacteristically soggy ground. I’d kicked them off and scooped them up on the way over. I wasn’t about to turn a fucking ankle for fashion. Not when our soccer championship was right around the corner.
Now, I was not only late for the announcement I had promised everyone I would attend. I was also barefoot and perspiring.
Excellent.
I stopped before the outdoor auditorium, craning my neck for my friends. The place was packed. People had brought blankets and folding chairs to camp out on the surrounding grass, like they would in a few days for the Fourth of July fireworks. Only Wrights could draw crowds like this. How the hell was I going to find anyone in all of this?
My eyes scanned the crowd. Nora had texted earlier and told me that they’d roped off an area for friends and family. I supposed that was me even if I still questioned that.
Then, in the midst of the chaos, I found him.
Whitt.
It was like two magnets snapped together by the force of their attraction. He was in a suit, taller than nearly everyone else in attendance, other than his twin at his side. And he was looking directly at me.
I considered raising my hand to wave, but I was stuck, trapped in that gaze. Even all the way across the auditorium with thousands of people between us, Whitton Wright had found me.
I shivered all over.
“No,” I whispered to myself.
I’d decided not to do this. We were working together. I was going to keep it professional.
I broke the gaze and focused on getting down to my friends. This had nothing to do with Whitt. Jensen was currently being introduced by a woman that I didn’t recognize. Well, at least I hadn’t missed the main act.
An opening appeared on the green, and I pushed my way off the grass. I slid my heels back onto my feet with a grimace before striding purposely down the stairs. People moved out of my way as if my high heels and work dress made me look important. Little did they know.
I shouldered past people who had clearly been there a lot longer than I had. I received some irritated looks, but I couldn’t help that my friends were up at the front, and I wasn’t about to stand around by myself. I hadn’t really wanted to come in the first place.
Nora turned around then and waved at me. She must have seen my text that I was on my way. I waved back, not paying attention to anything but getting through the crowd and to her side.
I was nearly there when a pair of children ran under my feet. One shoved me in the back as they rushed after the other. I gasped as I careened forward, my very fancy heels giving me no resistance as I scrambled to stay upright.
It was no use. I reached blindly for anything to keep me upright. I floundered for a few precious seconds before an arm shot out, stopping my forward trajectory and cradling my body protectively.
“I got you,” Whitt said.
Icicles froze up my spine at the first crash of his baby-blues against my emeralds. The rest of the world disappeared in that one look. The crowd, the boys who’d pushed me, even my friends hovering nearby. Nothing cracked through the freeze frame from being in Whitton Wright’s arms again.
“Hey, Eve,” Whitt said, a half-smile quirking on his perfect, lush lips.
I hastily cleared my throat and pushed myself out of his arms. “Uh, hi.”
Whitt quirked an eyebrow, as if to say he’d seen exactly how I’d gone jelly in his arms. “You okay?”
“Fine.”
“Hmm,” he grunted.
A lie. I was not fine. Not at all. Not with him standing in front of me, looking like a whole fucking meal. Not with the lingering feel of his hands on my body. I shivered as if I could still feel every indent in my skin.
“Thanks to you,” I added. “I appreciate the save.”
“You’re late,” was his only response.
West cleared his throat, covering a laugh. “Good to see you, Eve. Ignore my brother. Punctuality is next to godliness or whatever.”
Nora snorted. “That sounds right.” She pulled me in for a hug. “Glad you made it. Sorry I saw your text so late.”
“That’s all right. I thought I was going to miss the whole thing.”
“Did you get stuck in traffic?” Nora asked.
I laughed. It was hard not to. “In Lubbock? What traffic?”
Nora breathed out heavily through her nose. “Fair. Fine. But it’s a busy weekend.”
“No, I got caught at a showing. It was only supposed to be one house, and the next thing I knew, we were looking at ten houses in neighborhoods all over town.”
“Real estate agent problems.”
“Tell me about it.”
I put up with a lot of shit, but I actually liked these clients. It was why I’d put in the extra effort. I wanted them to find their dream home. That moment when they walked through the house in a daze and just knew. Their eyes meeting across a kitchen island as they pictured filling the space with their things and making memories. It was the best.
“How’s the car?” Whitt asked.
West and Nora jerked their heads to him simultaneously. Whitt didn’t deign to meet their interested expressions.
“Still at the dealership. They gave me a loaner. Thanks for the assist.”
“Sure,” he said, his gaze intense.
“What assist?” Nora asked, interjecting herself into our conversation.
West was looking at his brother, but Whitt purposely glanced away.
“I had some car trouble, and Whitt helped me out,” I said as if it were no big deal.
And honestly, from anyone else, it wouldn’t be. Nora would have done it in a heartbeat. But of course, I didn’t want to bang Nora.
“Really?” West said. “Whitt is good with cars.”
“Found that out,” I admitted.
A vision of him shirtless with his hands under the hood flashed through my mind. A flush rushed through my chest and centered on my core. Yeah, I couldn’t stop thinking about that muscled torso and biceps and shoulders and…
Fuck, brain! Shut the fuck up!
“What did Brian say?” Whitt asked.
“He agreed with you. Timing belt.”
And it was going to be at least five hundred dollars. I’d winced at the amount when I’d first heard it. He’d even said it was a deal because he was friends with Whitt. I didn’t know how he knew everyone in town when I’d lived here longer, but I was thankful for the discount. Even if the amount quoted was going to bankrupt me until I got that Wright money coming in.
Nora sidled up next to me. I could see that she had questions in her eyes. Nora, after all, was the person who had first tried to get me and Whitt together. I’d admitted my attraction to him, and she’d laid the groundwork for us. She’d never understood when I told her it hadn’t worked out. I bet I was going to get an earful once we were alone.
Thankfully, she didn’t dive in at that moment because the crowd roared its approval as Jensen Wright strode out onto the stage. I winked at her and faced forward. Whitt’s attention was still on me though. I might have been able to fool Nora if he wasn’t still intently staring at my face. Watching me as if I had a secret that he was trying to decipher.
West hit him on the shoulder, and he broke my gaze to look at his brother. Then cleared his throat and faced Jensen as he began his announcement speech.
I didn’t give two shits about politics. The politicians and policies certainly hadn’t been designed for people like me. But it was hard not to get swept up into Jensen’s enthusiasm. He had a charisma onstage that couldn’t be faked. Either you had it or you didn’t. And Jensen had it in spades. No wonder he’d been an incredible CEO for the company. With the Wright good looks, a sharp wit, and an even wider smile, he won the crowd over instantly. By the end of the speech, the audience was in a fit, screaming his name.
“That was so good,” Nora said. “Especially considering what happened.”
“What happened?”
Nora sighed. “His son was arrested.”
My eyes widened. A Wright had been arrested. “Here in town?”
“No,” Whitt said. “He has an older son from his first marriage. He’s in high school in New York.”
“Oh yeah. I’ve seen him around before.” But still, I was shocked that a Wright would do anything to get arrested. “What did he do?”
“We don’t know,” Whitt said.
“And it’s none of our business,” Nora added. She nudged me.
“I bet the news is going to report on it once they find out since Jensen is running for office,” Whitt said.
“Why do you have to be a Debbie Downer?” Nora joked. “West, make him be nice. This is just going to blow over.”
West chuckled. “Have you met my brother? He’s probably formulating a new five-year plan for Jensen to take this stain off of his immaculate reputation.”
“I’m doing no such thing.”
“He’s a Wright. He’ll be fine,” I said immediately.
“Can we go to the carnival and forget about this?” Nora asked.
I’d promised another client that I’d see them in a few hours when they got off work. Which meant I had a few hours to kill…
“All right. I have clients later though.”
“Boo!” Nora said. “Get out of it! Think about it—you, me, Ferris wheel!”
“Funnel cakes,” Whitt added.
My eyes snapped back to his. So, he really had been listening. “I suppose I can’t resist a funnel cake.”
“That’s the word on the street,” he teased.
I licked my lips and averted my gaze. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see that my sister was calling.
“I have to take this. Y’all go ahead, and I’ll catch up.”
“I can wait,” Whitt offered.
I stepped aside, my stomach sinking. There were few reasons why Bailey would be calling me. And every single one of them was a bomb waiting to go off. I didn’t want to take this call. But I couldn’t not take this call.
“Bailey?”
She immediately launched into conversation about what was the newest problem in Midland. My heart sank as I listened and watched the crowd of people migrate from the auditorium toward the carnival grounds. It was like watching from outside of my body. So easy for everyone else to live in the moment. To forget the world around them and head to the carnival, where they could spend money without worrying about where every dollar had come from and laugh without wondering if someone was going to tear them apart for just existing.
The longer I was on the phone with Bailey, the more I remembered why that wasn’t my reality. Why I couldn’t be that carefree. Not when a tether held me under the water. Not when my responsibilities back home were still drowning me.
Whitt hesitated nearby, as if he was going to wait for me. The promised funnel cake inviting me to get off the phone quickly. To forget what my sister was saying on the other line. To get lost in him.
But I couldn’t be the girl who ignored the call. I had to deal with this. If I didn’t, then no one else would. It had to be me. Even if I wanted one day when I didn’t have to deal with anything.
Instead, I waved him off.
His brow furrowed. I thought he might disagree with me. That he might wait. But eventually, he nodded and left with the rest of the group.
I sighed. “Okay, okay. Slow down, Bails. I’ll handle it.”
Like I always did.
Part II
Dream Catcher
7
Whitton
“Knock, knock.”
I glanced behind me to find Jordan striding into my office with a roguish smile on his face. I’d been working with Jordan long enough to know that wasn’t a good thing.
“What happened?”
“Why does something have to have happened?” Jordan asked.
“Because I know you.”
He laughed and took the seat across from me, crossing his ankle at his knee. Oh boy.
I closed out of the memo I’d been writing on the survey Eve and I were going to look at in Midland this afternoon. She’d done every scrap of work sent her way almost immediately. Her lateness only seemed to be in relation to meeting in person. Which hadn’t happened since I’d seen her at the mayoral announcement.
She’d claimed that she was going to come to the carnival, and then she’d bailed without a word. Even Nora seemed concerned. I spent the rest of the afternoon wishing I could bail, too. Between being in Nora and West’s lovey-dovey gravity and fending off West’s attempts to get me to explain what was going on with Eve, I’d been exhausted by the time I did get home.
West didn’t really know how to take no for an answer from me. I’d say it was a twin thing, but I was pretty sure he was just an annoying younger brother. I’d get the same treatment from Harley if she were here.
Not that there was anything to say. Eve and I were working together. We’d flirted while I helped her with her car. That was all it was.
“I’m giving you an intern for the summer.”
I blinked at Jordan. “An intern? Why?”
“Special circumstances.”
“There’s only eight weeks left before the end of summer.”
“I know.”
There was something he wasn’t saying. I hadn’t ever asked for an intern. Really, I hadn’t ever wanted one. As nice as it was to have someone to file my paperwork and run for my coffee, I didn’t have the time to train anyone. Not with this massive project on my plate. What was Jordan thinking?
“Let’s call it a personal favor,” Jordan said with a grin.
“Since when are we doing personal favors at work?”
“Since Jensen’s kid is coming in from New York City and needs someone who won’t coddle his ass.”
I nearly choked. “Colton is coming to Lubbock?”
“Yep.”
“Because he was arrested?”
“Yep.”
“And you want him to work for me? The boss’s kid?”
“I want someone who won’t treat him like the boss’s kid. He can’t work for anyone who has grown up with him. And he can’t work for anyone who will treat him with kid gloves. He’s not glass; he won’t shatter under pressure.”
