When she opened the door, my heart and my dick were hit with twin blasts of my beautiful, sexy woman. She wore a dark purple dress fit for royalty. It clung around her curves as if Michelangelo had painted it on himself. Her hair was up in a loose style that left a few tendrils hanging loose. My fingers itched to pull out the pins and bury themselves in her hair.
"I feel sorry for all the other women who will be there tonight," I said as I slipped my arm around her and tugged her close for a kiss.
"And why's that?" she asked as we ended the kiss.
"Because no man alive can be around you looking like this and not have his eyes glued to you."
She smiled, and the radiance of it hit me straight in the heart. "That's sweet to say, but all the women at this party have men who only have eyes for them. But I will say you look very handsome too. Thank goodness the women there are in love with their husbands or I might have some competition."
She had no idea how much her words meant to me. Essentially, she was saying I was hers. Or that was how I chose to interpret her statement. I kissed her again as a thank you because I knew I couldn't say the words that I really wanted to say, which were, “I'm all yours, Kate. Now and forever."
Fortunately, the traffic wasn't too bad from the Coast, where I picked Kate up at her condo, out to Anaheim Hills to Dane MacLeod's house. On the way, Kate explained how Dane and his wife, Bridget, held parties like this all the time. She also explained to me who was bound to be there, which included people who were at Ethan's, along with a few others including shipping magnet Claude Monroe, whom I was aware of because my aunt Eleni, Zach’s wife, was his right-hand woman. I would also meet the mayor of one of the cities around here and her husband, who also worked for Claude.
"It really is a small world, isn't it?" I said as I pulled into the large expansive driveway of Dane MacLeod's home. "I mean, what are the odds that all these people from all over the world, much less from a large populace like Southern California, would all be interconnected like this?"
Next to me, Kate shrugged." I guess it's that six degrees thing."
I parked the car.
“I hope I won’t be quizzed. This sounds like a big gathering.”
She smirked at me. “The thing that might overwhelm you are the kids. There's a lot of them at these things. Your uncle Zack's partner, Troy, has a brood. There's like four or five more after Bridget. Most of the kids who come are around ten and twelve, but now with Ethan and Lucy, Lane and Archer, and Harper and Noel, there are toddlers and babies too."
I looked over at her. "You say that like you don't want children." I hoped that wasn't the case. Five years ago, when we were planning a life together, children were included, but maybe she changed her mind.
"It's not that I don't like kids because I do. It's just when there's a huge number of them together, it’s loud and chaotic. There's a lot of shouting, and half the time, it's the adults telling the kids to settle down or stop doing whatever. I much prefer them in groups of one or two."
When we walked into the house, I was immediately hit with what she meant. It wasn't just the noise, it was the activity. Kids were running, and in several cases, they were followed by an adult telling them not to run.
I took Kate’s hand, squeezing it. "I see what you mean."
Ethan stepped into our path. His gaze fixated on my hand holding Kate’s. When his gaze drifted up, I held my breath, hoping he wasn't going to say or do anything to disapprove.
He leaned forward, giving Kate a kiss on the cheek. It reminded me of when I had mistaken him for a suitor not that long ago.
"Welcome to the chaos." He extended his hand toward me. I was surprised and at the same time hopeful. I clasped his hand, giving him a firm shake, hoping it conveyed my intentions toward Kate.
"Everyone's here. Although good luck hunting down anyone specific."
"Is there a table large enough for everyone?" I asked. Thanksgiving at our house was a pretty big deal involving lots of family, but not like this. There certainly weren't this many children. Or maybe I should say grandchildren, because all the children like me were grown up, or at least nearly grown, like my sister Vivian and my cousins. They were in college. I had a vision of having the first real grandchild in our family.
Don't get too ahead of yourself, Sam.
"Let's go out on the back terrace. If the kids aren't swimming, that is usually the least rowdy place at these things," Kate said.
Making our way through the house, I said hello to a few people I had met before and was introduced to others I hadn't yet met. As I watched the group of people who were mingling and laughing, it struck me that while it was loud and a bit chaotic, it wasn't intense. There was a sense that everyone liked everyone else.
There wasn’t an air of pretense or snobbery despite the fact that the room was filled with a shitload of some of the wealthiest people in Southern California, or in the case of Claude Monroe, richest in the world. It was exactly how my family was when we were together.
When Kate and I stepped outside, the noise immediately dropped at least by half. I glanced over at her, my lovely enigma. She was surrounded by all these people who were clearly kind and generous. Where had they been when her life had gone to shit five years ago? As far as I knew from what Harper told me, Kate only had Ethan.
"How long have these parties been going on?" I asked as we walked to the far side of the yard where there was a view to the west overlooking the lights of the valley below.
"I don't know all the history. I've only been coming in the last year or so. I started getting invited because of Lucy, who came with Ethan, who was invited by Dane. But I get the sense that Bridget's dad, Troy, and his group of buddies including Claude Monroe and Ryder Williams, all started having these types of parties back when Bridget was a kid."
"It's kinda nice, isn't it? Close family and friends."
She tilted her head up to look at me. The narrowing of her brows told me she was suspicious about what I was asking. Anything too mushy always had her going on guard. "I guess so. Why?"