“Don’t be such a spoilsport.” He chuckled. “Oh, I think that’s our cue.”
“Excuse me,” I said to Miriam and Martha. Miriam was still looking at me with a strange expression and I tried to silently reassure her I was fine. Cooper didn’t intimidate me, even if his touch was unwelcome.
“Ah, Celeste, you’re here, good,” Mom said as if she hadn’t seen me right over there, talking to Miriam and Martha.
Because it occurred to me, she didn’t care. All she cared about was getting the perfect photo for the press release that would hail her as some kind of philanthropist. A woman of the people.
Please.
Cooper stepped up beside me as the photographer directed us into his desired pose. We were too close, too familiar.
“Okay, Sabrina and Jeanine, if you can get in behind Celeste and Cooper.” Mom stepped up beside me and Mrs. Sinclair joined Cooper on his left side. “Good, that’s great. Big smiles.”
My brows knitted. It all felt very unnecessary. I searched the room and saw the same disapproval on Claudia’s face. But it was Zane’s expression that made my heart stutter in my chest. His eyes zeroed in on where Cooper’s hand brushed mine, flaring with jealousy.
“And maybe slip an arm around her,” the photographer said, but I barely heard the words over the roar of blood in my ears as Zane watched us.
Watched me.
Cooper banded his arm around my waist, startling me.
“What the hell are you doing?” I said.
“It’s just for the photo. Smile.” He smirked down at me, theclick click clickof the camera going off in front of us.
“Perfect. Now look directly at me—”
A door slammed loudly, and the room seemed to pause, glancing over to see what was happening.
But I already knew.
Because Zane was gone.
Zane
I blewout of the center in a cloud of anger.
He’d touched her. That pretentious asshole with the smirk had put his hands on my girl.
Except she isn’t your girl.
Fuck.
I’d clocked the way he watched her, like a predator stalking his prey. I wasn’t the only one. Grams had pinned that fucker with one of her ‘I’ve got your card marked’ looks too.
I paced back and forth, trying to temper the storm raging inside me.
Seeing her was like a blow to the stomach, but seeing him touch her like that, like he had ownership over her, made my fucking blood boil.
He was exactly the type of guy her parents would want her to be with. Entitled, smug, a rich boy who walked into the place like he owned it and everything in it.
Jesus. It was fucking with my head.
Shewas fucking with my head.
The door opened and Claudia’s voice filled the air. “I swear to God, Tina, if I have to watch Sabrina flaunt her daughter around the place like she’s the second coming for a minute longer, I will scream.”
Shit, that was Celeste’s mom? I mean, now that I knew, I kind of saw the resemblance. But they were so different.