Always Then and Now

Chapter 32

LIAM

I didn't like these events. They were a great way to network and make new business contacts, and they brought in a ton of money for some very worthy charities, but the whole thing just seemed so over the top. For the attendees, these events were just elaborate excuses to show off how much money they had, each person trying to outdo the next. Conversation was polite but always edged with politic and competition. It was like swimming with sharks. Years ago, when Roger and I had first started to get successful, I hadn't minded attending. I'd even found it exciting to be invited to something so glamourous, and the added success we'd gained from networking at these galas had made it even more exciting. We'd both been very cocky back then, two young, single, good-looking guys who'd easily found success in the world of big business, largely because of the influence of our fathers. But the bigger and cockier you got, the more competition you had. The harder people tried to tear you down. Back then, we hadn't seen the sharks in the water. We'd been on top of the world, and nothing could tear us down. Until they did.

I'd been cocky, but Roger had been truly out of control, and easily led into a...compromising position at one of these galas by a competitor. Tabloids had had a field day with it, and the drop in our reputation had been so bad that we'd nearly lost our company. It'd taken years to climb back up to the top again, scratching and clawing every step of the way for much of it. That had been my wakeup call. These events weren't just for schmoosing and partying. They weren't just an opportunity to donate some money and do some good for the community. This was where we sized up the competition and planned how to take them down, or at the very least, learned how to stay afloat and avoid the sharks.

Now, I found these events truly exhausting. I had to be on my toes the whole time, make sure I didn't slip up and say the wrong thing, and what was more, I had to keep a close eye on Roger and make sure he didn't say the wrong thing either. I wasn't sure why he'd never really had the wakeup call that I'd had. He'd reined in his behaviour somewhat, but since that night, years ago, I could never fully trust him to come to one of these things alone. All it would take would be one drink too many, or one gorgeous blonde, and we could end up in the same situation we were in back then. Maybe I was catastrophizing things, and he really would be fine on his own, but I wasn't going to take the chance.

So here I was, sitting at a table, very slowly sipping my wine, Roger and his date (whose name I couldn't remember) getting handsy with each other on one side of me and my date, Courtney, on the other, watching people mingle and catch up. I'd done my mingling earlier, and now I sat here, ready to get the hell out of this place, waiting for the right time to make an exit. It was still early, as gala standards went, with plenty of time for Roger to make an ass of himself here. As soon as he and Blondie left, I was out of here too.

Courtney, thankfully, was in conversation with another beautiful woman beside her, pointing out various rich and famous people and trashing other women's fashion choices. God, I was glad I wasn't a woman. Put on a tux, and I was good to go.

I'd tried having a conversation with Courtney, and it'd been painful. It was clear that her beauty was the best thing she had going for her. She was so vapid; all she seemed to be able to do was talk about herself in the most superficial way, in between tearing down other women and telling me how hot I was. I was a hundred percent sure she thought she was going to get some tonight, but I was a hundred percent sure she wasn't. After listening to her catty remarks all night, I was the opposite of attracted to her. In the past, I wouldn't have cared. A beautiful, eager woman and the need to get off would have been more than enough motivation to go back to her room with her, fuck her senseless, and then come back to my own for a rare, decent sleep. Not anymore. I needed more than that now, more than just a beautiful, willing body in bed. Now I needed a connection, that connection that would drive the attraction up to the nth degree. This woman and I? Definitely didn't have it.