Other staff he’d introduced me to once we’d gotten there, the event, in all places, a VIP box at a basketball game. I hadn’t made the connection that the gathering would be there. Not even with the Chicago address (United Center). I hadn’t been there before, so I’d assumed other events besides sports could be had. Like banquets or whatever. It wasn’t until Guy handed me my VIP badge, I realized we’d be at a damn Bulls game during all this.
Of course, that was where we’d be.
I couldn’t seem to get away from sports, sports people, and the like. It was like it followed me like an angry storm.
Even still, I was civil, introducing myself to Guy’s friends. Outside of the chaos and uproar from the game and its viewers, one would never know we were actually at a basketball game. The VIP box sat well away from the fray, private, and the game itself like wall decor. It played out behind a glass wall, and inside, another world of opulence, riches, and shimmering walls of silk and flashy lighting. The room resembled the VIP lounge at an exclusive club, formal attire required.
I shook Blake and Daniel’s hands above my handbag, tucking it under my arm after the greeting. Guy, Daniel, and Blake fell into cozy conversation, and after I became room furniture, I slid a glass of champagne off a passing server’s tray. The bubbly might help me settle my nerves and forget the fact I was here and didn’t want to be. I just had to get through the night.
“Oh, Brielle. There’s Ramses.”
My gaze darted in the direction of Guy’s point, and sure enough, there was his current student.
And with an entirely different look.
For starters, he’d buzzed his hair, wispy dark curls gone and replaced with an equally dark fade. Their absence did nothing to take away from how classically handsome he was. If anything, his chiseled features stood out more without the distraction of them. He appeared striking without his hair, even older. He had a blond on his arm who he introduced as people swarmed him like a celebrity socialite.
The girl by his side was Penthouse Barbie, fully equipped with a buxom chest and cocktail dress that rested well above her knees. She paired perfectly with him, a young CEO in his fitted suit with the open collar. Tailored, the smooth gray ran down his lean body like butter, his jacket tight and coursing thickly with his muscles. He placed a hand over hers on his arm, grinning when others shook his shoulder or acknowledged him. Was he with her?
Do you care?
Of course, I didn’t. He wasn’t mine, but I couldn’t help but stare. I also had no idea why he was here.
Guy’s friends Blake and Daniel immediately went over to Ramses with, surprisingly, many people from the room. The event was maybe fifty or so, but Guy stayed with me.
“I suppose I’m not surprised,” Guy continued on, finishing his other statement surrounding Ramses’s arrival. He faced me. “This is his box.”
Wait. His box. As in this was his charity event, his party?
“Come on. Let’s go say hi.”
I didn’t want to say hi at all, but Guy had a hand behind my back and nudged my heels in the direction. I just about stumbled in my stilettos, adjusting myself and the slit of my dress so I at least appeared presentable. The amount of skin I displayed was nowhere near centerfold celebutante’s, but the slit in my dress did hit above my thigh and the dark gown was strapless, my shoulders bare. It was something I’d dug out and had worn to countless events I used to frequent over the years with my ex-husband. He often went to things like this, and the black silk evening gown got the job done. I’d paired it with a red lip and my hair down. Completely functional.
“Ramses,” Guy greeted. “Good seeing you.”
But one would have thought I’d been scandalously clad, naked the way Ramses’s sight followed down the length of me. It stopped on my slit, a flash of my thigh parting through black silk, before Ramses smiled and found my eyes. He was that arrogant about it.
And I forgot where I was.
I forgot how to breathe and with whom I’d come. I forgot myself, being stupid when Ramses’s hand eased out for Guy’s and Ramses completely forgot about his date. Well, he hadn’t forgotten about her. She was there and he introduced her. Her name was Meredith, one of his classmates.
But with all that out of the way, he came right back to me, that arrogant confidence of his returned. He was too bold to stare at me in such away, acknowledge me in that way after our history, and Guy knew he’d been my student. I’d told him that so I could be nosy.
“You know Professor Whitman-Quintero,” Guy reintroduced, grinning at Ramses. “She was just asking about you.”
Okay, I hadn’t been just asking. I’d asked about him. In the past, past tense.
I certainly hadn’t in a while, and Guy made me sound completely thirsty.
“I hadn’t just asked,” I cut off, attempting to save face. “But I have. In the past. How are you? Doing well in Professor Donahue’s class, I assume?”
I hid behind my champagne flute, a long and full drink. Even then, I didn’t escape the stretch of Ramses’s grin nor his hand seeking mine.
“Quite fine, Professor,” he said, and I almost believed he’d kiss my hand. He certainly held it for long enough. He cradled the back in undying heat before letting go, and I passed that off with another drink. He shook his head. “And it’s nice to know you’ve been asking about me.”
So goddamn arrogant, so cool.
He stood in front of me in a way that blatantly teased. Though, no other parties outside of us would know. We just had an underlying thing between us, something we both could read. Right about now, I’d be shoving him while he made me smile.
Another stiff drink as Ramses went on about how well he was doing. His marks were already at the top of the class in the shortened seminar, something Guy quickly let our small group in on. Ramses seemed to be shining without me and doing so beautifully. His lovely guest stood rather silently beside him and seemed more fascinated studying the way the lights flickered across the walls than actually engaging in conversation. This pretty, young thing was eye candy, nothing more, but that didn’t mean she and Ramses weren’t a thing.
Why does it matter?
It didn’t, another solid drink on my part. I needed to take it easy since I was driving after this. I wasn’t going home. Too late for that, but I did need to head over to the hotel I’d booked before getting on the road. I was staying downtown.
“Well, we don’t want to keep you,” Guy stated, being polite. He was polite, seemed like a good man, but he wasn’t my man. I really wasn’t interested, but he wasn’t bad to socialize with. He shook Ramses’s hand. “We’ll let you get back to it. Great event as always.”
So this was his party, interesting.
This surprised me. Especially since Ramses only started going to Pembroke this term, and the money tonight went to the school. I suppose the Mallicks did donate money to the university. Perhaps, Ramses was merely here as a representative. I knew Evie wouldn’t be here tonight, another event she had going on back in Maywood Heights. It wasn’t charity, something about a country club event, but she had invited me since there was a dinner and she had another plus one.
I kind of wished I’d taken her up on that now, Guy passing his final greeting off to both Ramses and his date. I gave the same, but not before catching Ramses’s eye. I found almost a promise in them, something I didn’t realize until, well, he did corner me later that night.