The Seduction of Alex Parker(25)

“Good to see you, Alex.” He smiled as they shook hands.

“Good to see you, Edward.”

Edward looked me up and down before taking hold of my hand and bringing it up to his lips.

“And who, may I ask, is this beautiful woman on your arm?”

“Edward this is my friend, Emerson James. Emerson, please meet Edward Hollings.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Edward.”

“Believe me when I say the pleasure is all mine, Emerson. You are a very stunning woman.”

“Thank you.” I smiled.

After their light conversation, Alex and I went to the bar for a drink.

“Glass of wine?” he asked.

“Yes, please. Pinot would be great.”

He turned his back and flagged down the bartender. As I looked around the room, I heard a voice behind me.

“Emerson, is that you?” The familiar voice made a pit in my stomach.

I slowly turned around and gulped.

“Christian?”

“Oh my God, it is you.” He smiled. “I didn’t know you were back in California. What’s it been? Eight years?”

“Yes, and I’m only here temporarily. I’ll be leaving soon.”

“You look amazing.”

I heard Alex clear his throat as he handed me my Pinot.

“Alex Parker, this is Christian Billings. Christian, meet Alex Parker.”

The two of them shook hands and I could sense something off with Alex.

“So how do the two of you know each other?” he asked.

I graciously smiled at Christian. “Would you like to tell him or should I?”

“We used to date when we were teenagers,” he spoke nervously as he looked at me.

I placed my hand on his chest. “Oh come on, Chris.”

“Oh boy,” I heard Alex mumble.

“Chris and I had been dating for almost a year before the accident. When I woke up from the coma, I was told by my friends that he broke up with me and went off to college.” I laughed.

“Emerson, I—”

“Save it, Billings. You’re a total douchebag for doing that. At least you could have had the common courtesy to wait until I woke up. You never called me to explain why you left and you never checked to see how I was doing. Not only did I lose my twin sister and parents, but I also lost the one person who I thought would always be there for me. And you know why?” I tilted my head. “Because you said you loved me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know if you’d ever wake up and I couldn’t put my life on hold waiting for you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to walk away from this conversation.”

“No. Please, Christian, let me do the walking this time.” I lightly placed my hand on his arm as I took my Pinot and walked away. Alex followed behind.

“I’m sorry.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be. Best thing that ever happened to me.”

“You never mentioned him when you were telling me about the accident.”

“He wasn’t worth mentioning.”

Alex mixed and mingled with the elite while I stayed in the background and watched as people pulled out their checkbooks. I left his side to go to the bar for another glass of Pinot. He was so busy chatting that he didn’t even notice I had left. Sipping on my wine from the barstool and looking around, I noticed Alex was gone. I got up and walked around the ballroom, but I didn’t see him. As I stepped out into the lobby of the hotel, I saw him kissing a tall, elegant-looking woman with curly but frizzy brown hair. My heart started to pick up the pace as my stomach bottomed out. I quickly turned around and walked out of the Four Seasons Hotel. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was feeling at that moment, but I couldn’t let on what I saw. My phone dinged with a text message from Alex.

“Where are you?”

I took in a deep breath before responding.

“Outside. I just needed some fresh air.”

A few moments later, Alex walked up behind me.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah. It was just a little stuffy in there.” I gave a small smile.

“Are you referring to the air or the people?” He grinned.

“Maybe both.”

“Well, dinner is about to be served. So let’s go inside and have a nice meal and we’ll leave after.”

“Okay.”

The last thing I wanted to do was go back inside and see the woman he was kissing. Alex led us over to our table and he was gracious enough to pull out my chair for me.

“Thanks.”

He gave me a nod and took his seat next to me. As dinner was being served, I looked at the table next to us and there she was, staring at me. Or should I say, glaring at me. As I placed my napkin on my lap, I glanced over at Alex.

“That woman over there keeps staring at me.”

He looked at her and she quickly turned away. “Maybe she’s jealous of you.”

“Why would she be jealous of me?”

“I don’t know, Emerson.” His tone sounded irritated.

I ate dinner in silence while Alex talked amongst the others around the table.





Chapter 19


Alex

I hadn’t seen Bella in almost five years. Seeing her tonight was a total shock at best. It wasn’t something I had planned on. Hell, I didn’t even know she was back in L.A. Emerson was being quiet and it bothered me. She was never this quiet and I got the impression something was wrong. When I found her outside, she said she was fine, but I didn’t believe her. I bet it was seeing her ex-boyfriend. I made a promise to myself five years ago to never let another woman get to me. I’d made good on that promise because I never dated anyone too long to let things get serious. Much like Emerson, once they started showing signs of wanting a commitment of some sort, it was time to leave; to walk away and find the next person with the hopes they just wanted to have a casual fling. That was what Emerson wanted. Her thinking was very much like mine and I was grateful for that. Tonight, we had something in common. We both saw our exes after a number of years and old wounds were reopened.