“My boyfriend?”
Julian glanced at me.
Something amused flickered in his eyes.
Then he drew me closer.
“Yes.”
Vanessa’s face changed.
“You’re dating?”
“That’s usually what boyfriend means,” I said.
She stared at me.
Then Julian.
Then Mason.
“This is insane.”
I couldn’t resist.
“Interesting choice of words considering how we all got here.”
Mason snapped, “Claire, don’t.”
I looked at him.
“Don’t what?”
“This isn’t the place.”
I laughed softly.
“Mason, you literally mailed me directions to the place.”
A woman near us covered a smile with her champagne glass.
Mason’s ears turned red.
Vanessa looked furious.
“This is what you wanted?” she asked him. “You invited her here for some kind of ego trip, and now my ex-fiancé is standing at our reception pretending to be her boyfriend?”
“I’m not pretending,” Julian said.
I nearly looked at him.
Nearly.
Instead, I stayed perfectly still.
Mason’s expression sharpened.
“You knew who she was?”
Julian looked directly at him.
“No.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
Vanessa suddenly laughed.
Not happily.
“Of course.”
She shook her head.
“Of course this would happen.”
Mason reached for her.
“Vanessa—”
She stepped away.
“Don’t touch me.”
The room had become painfully quiet.
I watched them for another moment.
And then something unexpected happened.
I lost interest.
Not because the drama wasn’t spectacular.
It was.
But because I suddenly understood how small Mason looked.
This man had once seemed powerful enough to determine my worth.
Now he was standing in the middle of his own wedding reception trying to explain why humiliating his ex-wife had been important to him.
I didn’t need revenge anymore.
He had done a better job than I ever could.
I turned to Julian.
“Let’s leave.”
