Knowing You (The Jade Series #2) (13 page)

Sadie leans closer to Evan. “I love that dress, Jade. Where did you get it?”

“Garret got it for me. I don’t know where he got it.” I look at him to tell us but he doesn’t.

“Wow. You did that, Garret?”

Evan says something quietly in Sadie’s ear, then stands up. Sadie gets up, too. “I guess we’re going to grab a drink and some food. It was good seeing you, Garret. Nice to meet you, Jade.” Evan drags her away as we say goodbye.
 

Garret takes a drink of his soda.
 

“How long did you two go out?” I ask as I glance back at Sadie again.

“Two months.”

“When did you break up?”

“Let’s not talk about her. I’m with you now.”

“I was just asking.” I focus back on my plate and pick up my fork to continue eating.

Garret turns to me. “Wait. You weren’t jealous just now, were you?”

“No. Of course not,” I lie.

He shakes his head. “Yeah, I don’t know why I even thought that. Half the time I’m not even sure you like me.”

“You know I like you,” I say, kissing his cheek.
 

He kisses me back on the lips. “Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?”

“Yes. But thank you.” I feel my cheeks get warm as that annoying blushing problem occurs again.
 

A few minutes later, an older couple comes and sits at our table. They’re probably in their eighties. They hold hands as they eat, which works because the old man eats with his left hand.
 

“Are you two going steady?” the old lady asks Garret.

I almost choke as I laugh while drinking my water.

Garret just smiles and says in a serious tone, “Yes. We
are
going steady.”
 

The old man glances up at us, then goes back to eating. He’s far more interested in the food than us. His wife continues. “We got married when we were about your age. We’ve been married 64 years now.”

“Congratulations,” Garret says. “That’s great, isn’t it, Jade?”
 

“Yes. Congratulations.”
 

She smiles at both of us. “You think you two will get married soon?”
 

What is with people thinking we’ll get married? First the mariachi guy and now the old lady?
 

“I don’t know.” Garret looks at me, a mischievous grin on his face. “Do you think we’ll get married soon, Jade?”

The old lady smiles even wider as she awaits my answer. “Um, no. I don’t think so. We’re too young.”

“Love knows no age, dear.” And with that, she goes back to eating like the conversation is over.
 

“You hear that, Jade? Love knows no age.” Garret tries to be serious, but can’t when he sees me ready to burst out laughing. He gets up, pulling me up as well.
 

“Don’t laugh at the old lady,” he kiddingly scolds once we’re in the hallway. “She obviously knows what she’s talking about if she’s been married that long.”

“I wasn’t laughing at her. I was laughing at your reaction to her. Acting all serious about that marriage crap. It’s just like at the Mexican restaurant.”

“Maybe I
was
being serious.”
 

“Yeah, right. Like we’re going to—” I stop when I see Katherine, Garret’s stepmom, walking up to us. I try to let go of Garret’s hand, but he won’t let me.

Katherine glares at Garret and me, daggers in her eyes. “Jade. I didn’t expect to see you here this evening.”

“Ava and I are no longer together,” Garret says, glaring back at her. “Jade’s my girlfriend now. I thought you knew, but apparently my dad forgot to tell you.” He glances around the room. “So where are all the photographers tonight?”
 

“Mr. Sinclair wouldn’t allow them in until he gives his speech later.” Her tone is cold as ice. “He wanted to enjoy the party without cameras following him everywhere.” She turns to me. “So, Jade, how is school going?”

“Fine.” I look right at her and smile, not letting her get to me.
 

“Did Lilly go to bed, yet?” Garret asks, taking the attention off me. “I wanted to say goodnight to her.”

“She’s already asleep.” The Lilly question took Katherine by surprise and now she doesn’t seem to remember what she was going to say to us.

“Tell her to call me this week. Goodbye, Katherine.” Garret quickly walks away, still holding my hand. “That wasn’t so bad,” he says as we enter yet another huge room. This one has a dance floor and a band playing off to the side.

“She gave us the death stare, just like your dad gave you earlier,” I remind him.

“They give me that look all the time. That’s nothing new.” He turns to face me. “Do you want to dance?”

The dance floor is full of couples who are much older than us. “I don’t know. I’m not very good.”

“It’s not that hard, Jade. You just sway side to side while a hot guy holds you in his arms.”

“So we’re not even dancing together?” I tease.
 

“You see?” he says as he finds us a spot on the dance floor. “Shit like that’s why I think you don’t like me.”

“I was joking. Now show me what to do.”

“Haven’t you been to dances before?”

“Yes, but I didn’t really dance. I just hung out there.”

He places my hands on his shoulders, then puts his hands on my hips. “Start with this.”
 

The longer we dance the closer we get. After a while, my head is resting on his chest and his arms are fully around me. I close my eyes, pretending nobody else is around. But then I feel Garret’s muscles tense up and open my eyes to see his dad standing there, grabbing Garret’s arm.
 

I quickly pull away from him.
 

“Garret, I need to talk to you.” Oddly, his dad almost sounds more concerned than angry.
 

“Dad, I know what you’re going to say. And I’m not going to have this conversation with you anymore. Jade and I are together. Deal with it.”
 

“Come with me to the study.”

“I’m busy right now. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Listen to me!” His dad raises his voice. “We need to talk. Now!”

“Come on, Jade. Let’s go.” Garret grabs my hand and starts walking out, with Mr. Kensington following right behind. “And by the way, Dad, I’m not going to the Caymans for Thanksgiving. Tell your wife. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.”

“Garret!” Mr. Kensington almost yells it. He stops following us, but I glance back and see him watching us leave.
 

We get our coats and wait outside for the car to be brought around. “Sorry about that,” Garret mutters. “I was hoping he wouldn’t act like that with so many people around.”

“It’s okay.” A cold gust of wind blows and I reach for my scarf but it’s not there. “My scarf is missing. I have to go back and get it.”

“We’ll get it later. I don’t want to go back in there.”

“I have to get it. It’s not my scarf. It’s Harper’s. Just wait here. I’ll be right back.”

When I go back inside, I spot the woman who took my coat earlier. “Excuse me, but I’m missing my scarf. Can I go check where you had the coats?”

“Wait here. I’ll go get it.” She takes off, not even asking for a description of the scarf.

I stand there, hoping Mr. Kensington doesn’t appear. The foyer is empty now. Most people are either eating or dancing in one of the side rooms. I turn and look out the window. Garret’s car is now sitting in the circular driveway and he’s standing there talking to Paul.

Someone touches my shoulder. I turn, expecting to see the lady who was getting my scarf, but instead it’s Mr. Sinclair. “Are you leaving already?”

“Yes,” I say, noticing he’s standing way too close. I back away slightly, hoping it’s not too obvious.

“Are you interested in politics? Because I’m giving a speech shortly to talk about the campaign. Maybe you’d like to stick around.”

“Um, no. I need to go. But good luck with everything.”

“Perhaps you could ask your parents to vote for me in the caucus. You said you’re from Iowa, right?”

“Yes, I’ll tell them,” I lie.

He looks at me, not saying anything. It creeps me out. I wonder if he’s some pervert who likes teen girls.
 

“Royce, there you are.” A thin woman with overdone makeup and hair walks up to him. “Your speech is in a few minutes. You should really get in there.” She notices me and puts her hand out. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Victoria Sinclair.”

I shake her hand. “Hi. I’m Jade. Nice to meet you.”

“She’s dating Garret,” Mr. Sinclair says.

“Oh. I see.” Victoria glares at me. She must be mad that Garret is no longer dating her daughter. “I don’t think you mentioned your last name.”
 

I purposely avoided saying my last name because people here judge you by your last name. By asking for my name, Victoria is trying to gauge how much money I’m worth.

“It’s Taylor. Jade Taylor.”
 

She pauses to search her mind’s rolodex for a Taylor. “Yes. Your father owns Taylor Investments in Greenwich.”

“No. Must be a different Taylor.”

Mr. Sinclair takes hold of his wife’s arm. “Dear, as you said, we need to get going. The speech starts soon.” He smiles at me. “Enjoy the rest of your evening, Jade.”

As they walk off, the woman finally arrives with Harper’s scarf. I hurry outside where Garret is waiting.

“What took you so long?” He opens the car door for me.
 

“I was talking to your girlfriend’s parents.”
 

“My girlfriend doesn’t have parents,” he says once he’s in the car.

“Well, your ex-girlfriend’s parents. They seem pretty upset you’re not still dating her. At least her mom does.”

“You met Victoria? Ugh, I can’t stand that woman. She’s so phony. She’s just like Katherine. Somehow Sadie didn’t turn out like her. But her sisters did.”

“How many kids do they have?”

“Four. All girls. Sadie’s the oldest.”

“I didn’t like that guy. There’s something weird about him.”

“All politicians are like that. You feel like you can’t trust them.”

“It wasn’t that. I felt like he was checking me out.”

“I told you. You’re hot. Every guy in there was checking you out.”

“But that guy was
really
checking me out. Which is disgusting because he has a daughter my age.”

“Well, you never have to see him again. So anyway, I was thinking we should go somewhere. It’s only 10. Do you want to get dessert? We could stop at the diner by campus.”

“Dressed like this?”
 

“Sure. Why not?”

“Okay. But I’m not getting that giant sundae this time.”
 

The diner is the one he took me to my first day on campus. We shared this huge sundae that could easily feed four or five people.

After stopping for dessert, we go back to campus and up to his room. As he opens the door, he kisses me and we keeping kissing as we move inside his room. His one hand grips my waist as the other one shuts the door.
 

He slides my coat off, letting it drop to the floor, then takes the scarf from my neck. I feel his hands touch the skin on my back and a tingling sensation rushes through me. I’m really loving this backless dress thing.
 

After a few minutes, he breaks away from the kiss to take off his coat and tuxedo jacket. Then he turns on the blue ceiling lights and comes back, stopping for a moment to look at me. “Did I tell you how gorgeous you look in that dress?”

“Yes, Garret. You’ve told me several times. I’m starting to think I must look really bad all the other times you’ve seen me.”

He laughs. “No. I don’t mean it like that. You always look good, but it’s nice to see you in something other than a black or white t-shirt.”

“Well, I didn’t think I’d ever wear purple but I really like this dress. I guess I like
dark
purple or plum or whatever this is.” I glance down at the fabric.
 

His hand cups my cheek. I lift my head to see him gazing at me. “You’re so beautiful, Jade.”

I look away. “You don’t need to keep saying that. I’m not beautiful. I’m not even that pretty. And I’m fine with that because I’m not really into my looks. I mean, I care how I look but I’m not obsessed with it, I just—” I stop because I realize I’m rambling on like an idiot. I’m not at all good at accepting compliments. Probably because I don’t get them very often.
 

Garret turns my face back toward his. “I hate to break this to you, Jade, but you’re more than pretty. You’re beautiful.” He kisses me. “And gorgeous.” His lips travel down my neck. “And sexy.” His mouth trails back up to my ear and his voice drops to just above a whisper. “And so. Damn. Hot.”

He brings his lips back to mine and gives me a kiss that’s even better than the one we had in the pool a week ago. I slip my heels off as we continue to kiss. He slowly leads us over to his bed.