Wright Together, page 9
I nodded resolutely. “You’re right. Let’s go.”
13
Eve
“Holy shit, Eve,” Blaire said when I strode out of my bedroom.
“What?”
She gestured up and down. “You look totally bangable.”
“Is that even a word?”
“It is now,” Piper said. She slung her boots onto the floor and rose from the ottoman she’d been lounging in. She had on fitted bootcut jeans and a little crop top. “Are you trying to get fucked tonight?”
I ran my hands down the green dress I’d picked out. Honestly, I’d thought it was tame. I had much slinkier pieces. Sure, it had a V-cut and showed off my rack, but wasn’t that the point?
“I don’t think she’d mind one bit,” Blaire said with a smirk on her lips.
She was in a miniskirt-and-crop combo that was mostly athletic-inspired. But at least we’d gotten her out of leggings, an oversize T-shirt, and a baseball cap.
“Not after last weekend,” Piper agreed.
“I don’t know what y’all are talking about. Are we going?”
“Ahh, come on.” Blaire jumped up and grabbed my arm. “Give us the details!”
“There are no details,” I said with a laugh, shaking her off. “Honestly.”
“There is nothing honest about the way Whitt looked at you last weekend,” Piper said. “Hollin is more surreptitious.”
“Hollin couldn’t keep a secret if his life depended on it.”
Which wasn’t precisely true since he’d kept mine when I needed him to. But Hollin was loud, bold, and generally just…a lot. Whitt had hardly been that obvious.
“Oh, she’s got it bad,” Blaire said.
“Is the dress for him then?” Piper asked.
“The dress is for the party, obviously.”
“Did you buy it so he could take it off?” Blaire winked at me.
“I will not deign any of this with a response.”
“She’s a steel trap.” Piper sighed. “We’re never going to get anything out of you.”
Blaire pouted. “You’re no fun.”
“Y’all are being ridiculous.”
“Of course we are,” Blaire said, throwing an arm over my shoulders. “And you do look hot.”
“Super hot,” Piper agreed.
“Bangable even,” Blaire added.
I just shook my head. “You’re not going to give up, are you?”
“Can you just tell us if you’re dating?” Blaire’s eyes were wide as we all grabbed our purses and headed out to Piper’s Jeep.
She was legitimately interested. Even Piper looked like she wanted the answer.
“No,” I told them as I got into the backseat, “we’re not dating.”
“Why not?” Piper asked.
I shrugged. “I haven’t really dated since last year.”
Piper pursed her lips, looking at me in the rearview mirror. “You’re still upset about Daddy Sinclair?”
I couldn’t help but smile at their nickname for Arnold. It wasn’t wrong, but it was so wrong. “I’m not still upset about him. I wasn’t even upset when it went down.” I brushed my hair off of my shoulders. “I should have known separated wasn’t divorced, but, oh, he was a good liar.”
“Bastard,” Blaire growled.
“But he did fuck up my entire life, and I’m not interested in a man doing that again.”
“But Whitt isn’t like that,” Blaire said earnestly.
Piper nodded. “He seems like a real stand-up guy.”
I almost opened my mouth to say the part that I was actually afraid of. When it inevitably went south, where would I be? Wouldn’t these wonderful girls, who I was just starting to call friends, choose a Wright over me? Didn’t everyone in this town?
Instead, I just laughed. “You’re telling me. He’s definitely too good to be true.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Blaire said.
I shrugged. Things that seemed too good to be true…usually were.
When I didn’t say anything, Piper forced a change in topic. The girls chatted about Blaire’s wellness speaking tour happening this fall while I sat back and got lost in their conversation.
Why did everyone have to complicate things? Whitt and I were whatever we were, and that was good enough. Safe enough.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot of Wright Vineyard. The lights were on inside, and I could hear music filtering through the speakers. Wright Construction had rented the place for Whitt’s promotion party. I was honestly surprised that he had let anyone throw him a party. It didn’t seem like him, but I’d agreed to come when he texted to ask. I was, after all, currently under contract with Wright Construction. I belonged, even without my friends.
Piper parked up front, and we piled out of the Jeep.
Wright Vineyard was a sprawling expanse of land on the south side of Lubbock. A large barn sat in the middle of the grape fields with an office and cellars nearby. The barn was now used for parties, weddings, and occasionally Campbell and Weston’s band, Cosmere. When Cosmere showed up though, there were thousands of girls trying their hardest to get inside the place. They’d needed security a few times just to keep people off the property. I didn’t know how Blaire and Nora dealt with having boyfriends that famous. If I were in a committed relationship, I wasn’t sure I’d be that okay with sharing.
We traipsed down the stone walkway and to the double doors. The bouncer, Max, stood guard with his beefy, tatted arms crossed in front of him. We’d hooked up briefly a few years ago. He’d been a fun fling at the time, but we were friends now. His buddy did all my tattoo work.
“Hey, Max,” I said with a grin.
He eyed me up and down. “Eve. Stunning, as always.”
I winked at him. “Thanks.”
“Can I see it?”
Blaire and Piper exchanged a look.
“See what?” Piper asked.
“My latest ink,” I reassured them. I flipped my hair to the side and drew my strap off of my shoulder so he could see the full peony work.
Max whistled. “Damn, Joseph does some good-ass work.”
“He really does.”
“May I?” he asked, gesturing to the tattoo.
“Yep.”
He gently lifted my arm and examined Joseph’s work. Max was working on full sleeves. I’d considered it, but right now, I was so enamored with my peonies that I wasn’t sure I wanted anything to take away from the beauty of it.
“Damn,” he said.
A throat cleared behind him. I glanced up and into the piercing eyes of Whitton Wright. His jaw was set, and he had a hard, possessive look across his features. Blaire’s and Piper’s eyebrows shot up. Max dropped my arm. I slowly dragged my sleeve back up to my shoulder.
“Hey,” I said with a smile. “Congratulations.”
Blaire and Piper jumped in immediately.
“Oh, yes, congrats!”
“The man of the evening!”
“Thank you,” Whitt said, his voice as smooth as glass.
“We’ll talk later,” I told Max. I patted his arm twice and then stepped across the threshold to the very tall, aggressive alpha male who looked like he was ready to eat me for dinner. “Hey,” I repeated.
“Hey,” he said.
“You look nice.” I ran my hand down the front of his green tie.
Somehow, we matched, and it was a complete accident.
“I like your dress,” he said, his voice tight.
“Well, that’s good. Blaire and Piper think I wore it so you could take it off.”
“Did you?”
“Maybe,” I teased.
He arched an eyebrow. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“Because I’m a modern woman and I wear my clothes for myself. I don’t need to do anything for a man.”
A grin cracked through his veneer. “Ah, there’s the Eve that I know.”
I looped my arm through his and moved us toward the bar. “And you? Did you wear that suit so I could take it off?”
“Obviously.”
“Is that why you were all alphahole when you saw me with Max?” I raised an eyebrow questioningly.
“Alphahole? Is that a real thing?”
“Oh, definitely a real thing.”
Whitt cleared his throat when we reached the bar and ordered us drinks. I took my wine, glad it was an open bar, thanks to the Wrights’ generosity.
“You and Max used to date, right?”
“Sure. A couple of years ago.”
I waited for him to say something more, but he didn’t. He let that simmer between us.
I took a sip of my wine. “Was there another question in there?”
“He was touching your tattoo.”
I laughed. “Yeah. Jealous?”
“Curious,” he said instead.
“Max’s buddy Joseph does both of our ink. He’s a genius. Max hadn’t seen my new peonies.”
“Oh.”
I smacked his arm with a laugh. “Yeah. Oh.”
He looked like he wanted to say more. I could see Mr. Relationship all over him. The need to know whether Max and I were well over. The possessive glint I’d seen in his eye that said he didn’t like anyone else touching me. I’d be a liar if I said it didn’t turn me on. I could see that he was half-tempted to throw me over his shoulder and walk out of the room with me. And even though I’d said that I didn’t belong to anyone, I wouldn’t complain. Not a bit.
“So, how did they get you to have this whole party?” I asked him.
The place was packed. Not just with Wright employees, but all of the Wright friends and family were in attendance, too. Couples were dancing in the center, people drinking near the bars and congregating around food displayed on long white-clothed tables. A Congratulations, Whitt! banner was strung up across the top of the stage. A balloon arch was against one wall with a WC logo backdrop for pictures. All of this must have been courtesy of Nora, who was the vineyard event planner. I didn’t know how she had the time since she was planning celebrity weddings now as well.
“I tried to get out of it,” Whitt admitted. “Jordan told me we weren’t having a promotion party.”
“And yet…”
“Yeah, you try saying no to Morgan.”
Morgan Wright was a fierce and wildly independent go-getter. That was how she’d made CEO of her family company before she turned thirty. She was a force. I didn’t blame him one bit.
“Fair.”
“It’s not so bad,” Whitt said. He held his glass up. “Free drinks.”
I quirked my lips. “If you think you’re selling this, you’ve failed.”
“Yeah.” He took a long sip of his wine. “I’m incredibly competitive, but only with myself. I want to succeed to meet my own wickedly high expectations. I don’t need the acknowledgment from anyone else to know I’ve hit my goals. It sounds strange to other people, but…”
“It doesn’t sound strange,” I told him. “It sounds like you.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” Then, he took my hand in his and placed a kiss on it. “I’ll admit that having you here in that dress sure makes this all worth it.”
I flushed at the compliment. Much better than when he’d been jealous about Max. “If you keep talking like that, I might actually let you take the thing off.”
His eyes heated. “Is that a challenge? Because we just acknowledged that I am very motivated to win.”
I bit my lip. “I suppose we’ll see tonight, won’t we?”
“Challenge accepted then, Miss Houston.”
14
Whitton
Eve’s pink cheeks made me want to forget the whole party. Anything that made her blush made me hard as a rock. If the party wasn’t in my honor, I would have already left with her.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t leave. She’d already monopolized too much of my time. I was sure that there were others who wanted to shake hands and schmooze. It was all so exhausting. Part of the job in its own way, but my least favorite part.
“Hey, don’t look so glum about it,” Eve teased. She flipped her dark hair off her shoulder. “The party won’t last all night.”
“It feels like it might,” I said.
I glanced around the room. All the Wrights and my coworkers and so many people from the company that I didn’t know. The networking part was half the reason I hadn’t advanced in my last job. I couldn’t kiss ass well enough. I did the work, but I hated brownnosing. At least here, that counted for something.
Then, I caught something over Eve’s head. Colton Wright was here. Huh. I was shocked that Jensen had brought him. Maybe he didn’t trust him alone at home, and what kind of babysitter would watch a fifteen-year-old who could run circles around them?
He was leaned back against the wall in the shadows of the barn, typing on his phone and sneaking sips of wine from a glass he not-so-sneakily hid behind his back.
My face went white, “Fuck.”
“What’s going on?”
“Give me a second.”
My gaze swept the room with a more discerning eye. Jensen was standing near the stage with Jordan. Emery was at the center, dancing with her friends Heidi and Julia. Morgan was in a conversation with Austin, Landon, and her husband, Patrick. Julian was ordering drinks with Hollin, West, and Nora. Anyone who would be looking into Colton’s activity was currently occupied. I didn’t know if someone was supposed to be watching him or if they thought he’d be fine at this party. Clearly, they were wrong. And if anyone saw him drinking, I had a feeling shit would hit the fan.
“Whitt?” Eve asked, concern in her voice. “What’s wrong?”
“Come with me and act natural.”
She shot me a curious look but did as I’d suggested. I could have stormed over there myself, but there was no way I would make it across the entire barn alone without someone stopping me. Plus, if someone realized exactly what I was doing, it might alert the remaining Wrights that I wanted to keep them ignorant of what was going on.
Eve stayed on my arm the entire walk over. She smiled and waved at people, but we didn’t stop to make conversation. With her at my side, I had more immunity to the party. She must have realized what I had a second before we reached Colton.
“Oh,” she whispered.
Colton caught sight of us approaching him and shoved the wine behind his back. He took a step away, as if he were going to head for the exit.
I stepped in front of him before he could bolt. “Either you want to get caught or you’re stupid. Which is it?”
Colton pursed his lips and set the wineglass down on a nearby table. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I don’t think you’re stupid,” I continued. “But if you get caught, that would be really stupid.”
He looked ready to argue with me. I didn’t know what good it would do. Trying to get his dad’s attention by drinking at the only event he’d been allowed out of the house to go to, other than work, was pretty stupid. He’d probably known it and done it anyway. That rebellious streak was familiar. I’d done stupid things like that to get my dad’s attention, only to realize that nothing worked. I didn’t think Jensen was that way at all, but Colton was desperate and mad after what happened in the city. None of those things made for good decision-making.
“I drank all the time in New York, you know,” Colton finally said.
I laughed. “I believe you.”
“I was drinking at fifteen, too,” Eve said. “Doesn’t mean that I should have.”
Colton did a double take at the sight of her. “Who’s this?”
“Colton, this is Eve. Eve, Colton.”
“This is the girl you’re texting all the time?”
I wanted to put my head in my palm. “Yes, this is Eve.”
“Damn, boss. You did good,” Colton said with a nod of his head.
Eve chuckled. “Uh, thank you?”
“You know the boss is super into you?”
“That so?” she asked with an amused look.
“Sure. Can’t blame him.” Colton grinned deviously. A look that probably broke the hearts of many high school girls.
Eve looked like she was trying not to laugh.
“Stop hitting on her,” I said, smacking the back of his head affectionately.
Colton laughed. “Worth a shot.” He met my gaze again. “Are you going to tell my dad?”
“Would I have come over here if I was going to do that?”
“Guess not.”
“Go be a kid or whatever,” I told him. “Try not to get in trouble for an entire night.”
“Lame, bruh,” Colton said. he just winked at Eve and then disappeared into the crowd.
I wasn’t sure it would keep him from drinking. He wanted attention, and we’d given him some. Hopefully, that would slake his thirst for the spotlight. One that was surely going to get him arrested again if he didn’t get his shit together.
“What an…interesting kid,” Eve said.
“He’s a little shit.”
“Yeah. Weren’t we all at that age?”
“I wasn’t.”
She snorted. “Of course not. Whitt Wright has never done anything wrong.”
“Well, I was a shit at a younger age than him. Then, I realized it wasn’t getting me anywhere and turned it around. I hope he does, too.”
Eve nodded, a small frown touching her features. “Yeah, I wish we all learned that lesson.”
Before I could ask her what she meant by that, Jordan was at a microphone, and my name was being called. “Whitt! Come on up here.”
“Oh fuck,” I grumbled.
Eve pushed me forward. “Go on. Get your recognition.”
“You’re supposed to save me.”
“Later,” she promised with a discreet ass grab as I walked away.
I jerked around to find her straight-faced, somehow smothering the laugh still evident in her eyes. I shook my head at her and then strode to the stage. The crowd cheered me as I stepped onto the stage. Jordan shook my hand. Morgan was there a second later, congratulating me for my new position. I smiled in the hot lighting as they went on about my achievements at the company. I hadn’t even been there that long, and already, I was such an asset.
