Resisting Sin (Gold Diggers #1)

Episode 15 : Making A Mess

Hayley half-expected laughter to follow her outside the ladies' room. There was nothing, just the sound of the three women continuing to chat with one another.

They'd already forgotten her.

Fortunately, she was too distracted by her need for the ladies' room to wallow in her humiliation. The staff who had escorted her was gone and there was no one around to ask if there was another bathroom nearby.

She looked toward the house. There had to be bathrooms there, right?

It was a long, uncomfortable walk to the house, but she did find one of the indoor staff to direct her to a bathroom. It was empty, thankfully. After she was done, she contemplated finding her room and staying there for the rest of the evening. It wasn't as though anyone would miss her. Gabriel had his friends; he wouldn't be bored or anything.

But that would make her a coward. What's more, she was getting paid to be Gabriel's girlfriend tonight, as well as the next few weeks. She couldn't just take the night off just because she couldn't handle a couple of snooty, catty women. What had she expected, anyway? That his rich friends would all welcome her with open arms? Nobody knew who she was. They probably thought she was with him for the money.

Which she was, even if it wasn't exactly the way they probably thought.

So she made her way out the back, steeling herself to face whatever animosity was waiting for her at the party. She wasn't in a hurry to get back, so she took deep breaths of the cool, refreshing night air. It must be nice living here at the beach. But Edward didn't live here. According to Gabriel, his cousin had rented the beach house for his party. A few of his close friends — including Gabriel and her — would be staying at the dozen or so rooms in the house for the two nights Edward was celebrating his birthday. The other guests had either rented nearby homes or booked rooms in the nearest hotel.

She sighed. That meant she had to find some way to enjoy herself among his friends for another day and a night.

As she walked down the steps, her attention was caught by a loud, drunken singing from the direction of the pool. Either the singer was slurring his words so badly that she couldn't understand any of them or he was singing in another language.

Was that... German?

She paused. The voice sounded familiar, too.

She retraced her steps then headed toward the pool. The figure of a tall man stood on the deck, a bottle in hand.

"Reinheart?" she called out.

The singing stopped and the man turned to face her. "Hello," he said. "Join me for a drink?" He raised the bottle.

"I'm good, thanks." She moved closer. "You don't recognize me, do you?"

"Of course I do!" He cocked his head. "Brigitte?"

"Er, no. It's Hayley." The pool was brightly lit, but she figured he couldn't see her clearly as she was standing on the grass right outside the lit area.

"Of course!" He grinned. "Gabriel's new girlfriend." He raised his bottle again, this time swaying unsteadily. "We must celebrate. You like vodka?"

He really was drunk, she thought with an inward groan. Should she call Gabriel? Or maybe she could convince him to come back to the party with her.

"I like champagne," she said. "Let's go back to the party and get some."

"Pfft. The party is boring." His face lit up. "I know! Let's call Gabriel over and the three of us can have our own little party here."

"How about we both go get him?" Somehow, she felt she shouldn't leave Reinheart by himself. He looked like he was ready to do something really stupid. A couple of somethings.