But if anyone could figure out how to do it, it was Shawn.
Granted, I didn’t know her well. But I figured I knew her well enough to know that when she set her mind to something, she could do impressive things.
Still, though, I found myself doing a hell of a lot of worrying about what might have happened to her in some random foreign country with only a stack of cash to her name. I didn’t even know how much money I’d had on me at the time. It had looked like a couple grand, maybe more if the bills were larger.
Enough, I told myself when a knot formed in my stomach from stressing about it, it was enough money to get her what she needed in the exchange rate of one of the countries nearest to the Maldives.
Once the gala was over, I was going to see if I could entice poor, overworked Nia into helping me track down Shawn so I could see if she was alright. And, you know, to ask her questions about Adams. Couldn’t forget that part.
I’d gotten so distracted by my attraction to her that I hadn’t gotten much of any information out of her.
“Theodore!” I said, feeling the first burst of dopamine I’d had in days as I caught sight of Theodore Kane (the 3rd). You could usually tell someone was old money by a suffix like that. “What are you doing all the way up in Jersey?” I asked, knowing he was typically down in Florida, running his family business and hanging out with his biker friends.
Teddy was a little person who had this penchant for wearing hats that almost no one else I’d ever known could pull off. That night, he’d gone with a gray tweed ivy cap that matched his suit.
“Familial obligation,” Teddy said, jerking his head toward the event hall we were standing in front of. “You know how it is,” he added.
“I do,” I agreed.
“You look like hell, man,” he said, brows furrowing.
“I, ah, I got a taste of my own medicine the other day,” I admitted. “Then some jet lag.”
“Where from?”
“Maldives,” I told him, getting a nod from him. Teddy was one of the few people I would have stay at my villa if he was interested. I’d known him since we’d both attended the same damn summer camp when we were in grade school. It was the kind of place that taught crochet and horseback riding and fencing and had celebrity chefs cooking our meals. It was a place where we could almost have such a good time that we’d forget our parents wanted to pawn off our care on others whenever it was possible.
“Nice. No one hanging off your arm this time? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at an event without a date.”
He wasn’t wrong.
But right until that moment, the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind to find a woman to bring with me.
Again, strange.
“I was passed out from the jet lag. Just barely managed to get dressed to come here. Maybe I’ll find someone here,” I said, but there was no eagerness in my voice. “If you get tired of your hotel room, you are welcome to crash at my place,” I invited. “Great view of the beach,” I added.
“I’m crashing with my man Huck’s sister and her man while I’m here,” he said, shrugging.
I’d partied with Teddy, Huck, and Huck’s crew in Miami once. And I had distinct memories of Huck’s little hellion of a sister named Gus of all things. It was hard to picture her settling down.
“Theodore!” some random woman called from the doorway of the event hall, making Teddy sigh loud enough for me to hear before he plastered on a fake smile and made his way toward her.
I got his strain.
Sure, I loved a good party as much as the next guy. More, even. But these events were always stuffy and formal with terrible music and pretentious food. And then there was the fact that we’d both been to hundreds of them in our lives.
It was why I typically did bring a date. To ease the dullness.
I would have to endure it alone this time, though.
And as I went inside and grabbed a flute of champagne, I didn’t even find myself scanning the crowd for a beautiful waitress or even an ex-conquest who I could bring home for a good time.
For the first time in what felt like my entire life, I didn’t have any interest.
I wasn’t even going to try to unpack that.
I had a feeling if I did, I would come up with a simple conclusion.
Shawn.
And I swear to all that is holy, it was like thinking her name conjured her.
I didn’t believe my eyes right away.
First, because it was the absolute last place on Earth I expected to see her.