Fever (Breathless #2)(70)

“Bethany?”

Mia’s soft voice filled the silence.

“I’m sorry. Was it something I said?” Mia asked.

Bethany lifted her gaze, meeting the concern in Mia’s eyes. “It was your expression. It said it all.”

“Jace told you about me,” Bethany said bluntly. She was amazed she was being so bold and putting it out there. It wasn’t typical of her. She avoided conflict at all costs. She certainly never instigated one.

It was then Bethany noticed that Mrs. Hamilton had quietly left the kitchen. Mia walked around the bar and climbed onto the stool next to Bethany.

“Yes, he told me,” Mia said in a calm voice. “I don’t think he would have but when I suggested you going to the club with us, he warned me. He’s obviously protective of you and he knows how my girls and I are when we go out. He didn’t want us to push you into anything. But Bethany, you have to understand, what he told me doesn’t make me think badly of you. It doesn’t make me think anything at all other than my brother has found a woman he cares deeply about and that makes me happy. You make him happy. So I’m going to like you no matter what’s in your past.”

Bethany swallowed against the knot forming in her throat. “I hope I do make him happy,” she whispered. “I don’t have anything to give him.”

Mia smiled. “And you think I have anything to give a man like Gabe? Like he doesn’t have everything he could possibly want or need? He seems to just want me and is happy with just that. I have a feeling Jace is the same way.”

Bethany smiled back. It was hard not to like Mia. She was genuine. There wasn’t an ounce of fakeness to her.

“Okay, let me get this gravy done,” Mia said, sliding from the barstool. “The menfolk will start to get restless and cranky.”

Twenty minutes later, everyone was seated at the formal dining table. The centerpiece was beautiful. Gorgeous, vibrant red poinsettias with elegant tapered candles on either side. Elaborate candelabras were positioned on the sideboard and the lights were dimmed to cast an intimate glow over the table.

Gabe and his father occupied the two ends of the table with Mrs. Hamilton on her husband’s left and Mia to the left of Gabe. Bethany had been positioned across the table from Mia and Gabe and Jace were on either side of her, with Ash next to Mia and across the table from Jace.

The food was delicious but Bethany found herself lost in the flow of conversation. The problem with being homeless and penniless was that she had nothing in common with these people. No common interests. She hadn’t kept up with recent events. She was clueless about sports, the world of finance, and even more clueless about business.

The longer the meal went on, the more conspicuous Bethany felt because of her prolonged silence. The others were starting to glance at her with concerned looks and Bethany pasted on a bright smile, nodding and acting as though she were concentrating on her food. And she was. Even being with Jace for as long as she’d been now, it was still ingrained in her not to waste food. She still lived with the idea that she never knew when her next good meal would be and so she had to make the most of the one she was enjoying.

As if finally sensing just how ill at ease she was, Jace reached underneath the table, rubbed his hand down her thigh and then lightly squeezed just above her knee.

He leaned over her to get a roll and murmured, “Relax, baby.”

She was mortified when it appeared that Gabe heard Jace. Gabe glanced in her direction, his eyes softening.

She just wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole. Better yet, she really just wanted to go back to her apartment. She was in sensory overload. Too many people. Too much conversation. She wasn’t used to having to perform social niceties.

It wasn’t that they were horrible or that she didn’t like them. It was just awkward and out of her scope. She felt completely inadequate despite Jace’s repeated attempts to make her feel as though she belonged.

That was on her. Jace, his family, no one had made her feel that way. It was strictly her own doing. Her own insecurity.

“I love your tree,” Bethany said quietly in Mia’s direction.

Mia beamed. “I do too. I adore Christmas trees. Jace used to always take me to Rockefeller Center for the lighting of the tree. It was a tradition I looked forward to. It was where Gabe proposed to me.”

Bethany’s heart twisted at the instant warmth that spread over Gabe’s features. His gaze was riveted on Mia.

“I love Christmas trees too,” Bethany said wistfully. “I never had one. A real one, I mean. In an actual home.”

As soon as the words popped out of her mouth, she wanted to die. Her look of horror couldn’t be contained. She couldn’t believe she’d just blurted that out. She couldn’t bear to gauge the others’ reactions to what she’d said.

Before she said anything else to humiliate herself, she shot up from her seat. Jace reached for her, but she was just beyond his grasp. She left the table, heading blindly for the kitchen.

“Jesus,” Ash muttered. “She’s never had a Christmas tree?”

Jace was standing, torn between going after her and giving her a moment to compose herself. He glanced at his friend and then at the grim expressions on Gabe’s and Mia’s faces, the soft sympathy in Mrs. Hamilton’s eyes.

“This has been torture for her,” Jace said quietly. “This whole day. Damn it, I shouldn’t have made her come.”