Unbroken (24 page)

“Lead the way,” Jake said
as the young man approached. 

Looping her arm through his, Melinda
walked beside him as they followed Matthew through the maze of tables scattered throughout the immense ballroom.

It wasn’t until they were almost to
the front of the room that he saw her.  She stood beside Ian McNealy, conversing with another couple just a short distance away.  He stopped short, his eyes widening in surprise.  She was dressed in an elegant evening gown, her hair was styled to perfection and her beautiful features were enhanced with an artful application of cosmetics.  She looked stunning.  He couldn’t believe it.

“Jake, is everything alright?” Melinda asked.

“Sorry, what?” he said, turning to look at her.

She regarded him curiously. 
“Is everything alright?” she repeated.

He saw that Matthew had stopped at a table just a few feet in front of them.
  “Uh, yes, everything’s fine.” 

“H
ere you are.  Enjoy your evening, Ma’am, Mr. McCoy,” he said, nodding politely to each of them in turn.

As Jake pulled out a chair for Melinda, his mind was reeling. 
What the hell?
  Britney had made it clear that she couldn’t go back to being Britney Ellison, yet here she was with Ian McNealy for anyone and everyone to see, looking like a dammed supermodel no less. In a crowd this size, on the arm of one of the wealthiest men in America, someone was bound to recognize her.  Christ, he could hardly believe it.  For
him
she hadn’t been willing to make the sacrifice, but now, for McNealy she was?  So what, were they a couple now?  The mere thought of it made him feel as if he’d been punched in the gut.

Hearing Jake’s name, Britney spun ar
ound, her eyes searching through the crowd.  She saw him then at a nearby table, holding out a chair for a beautiful brunette in a black, strapless gown. She felt her stomach drop. As the woman took her seat, Jake looked up and happened to meet her gaze.  She tried to smile, but seeing Jake with another woman had thrown her completely off balance.  Although she’d considered the notion that he might bring someone to the fundraiser, to actually see him with another woman was altogether different and she was suddenly at a loss for how to react. 

Meeting Britney’s gaze, Jake
, struggling to control his rioting emotions, merely tipped his head in response and then quickly turned his attention back to Melinda.

Britney
could only stare in stunned silence as Jake merely nodded in her direction and then abruptly turned away.  It was hardly the reaction she’d been hoping for, and for a brief moment she felt almost dizzy as the room seemed to go in and out of focus around her.  Struggling to steady herself, she turned back to Ian just as a cultured voice came over the loudspeaker. 

“Ladies and g
entlemen, if you will please take your seats, dinner is about to be served.”

Ian turned to her with a smile.  “Shall we?”

She could only nod, too shaken to articulate a coherent sentence.  

As she took her seat at the table, Britney’s thoughts were spinning in a mad whirl.  Was
she too late?  Had Jake already moved on?  Had he found someone else?  The sickening notion might have buckled her knees if she’d still been standing.  As it was, she could scarcely draw a steady breath.  Dear lord, the past three weeks without Jake had been unbearable, so how then would she ever manage to endure a lifetime without him?  The mere possibility was nearly more than she could bear.

Although the food set before her was excellent, Britney barely touched the delectable meal, for with her stomach tied in knots it was virtually impossible to eat.

“You’re not eating,” Ian commented a
few moments later, eyeing the scarcely touched food on her plate.

“Too many butterflies in my stomach,” she explained with a wry smile.

Ian’s expression was sympathetic.  “What will you do if he doesn’t come tonight?” he asked quietly, so that their tablemates wouldn’t overhear.

“He’s already
here,” she told him, motioning with her head toward Jake’s table.  “And it appears he brought a date,” she added morosely.

Ian
’s eyes widened as he swiveled his head in Jake’s direction.

“The brunette in the black dress,” Britney clarified, as Jake was seated between her and another woman at the table.

Ian turned back toward her.  “So he didn’t come alone,” he said.  “That doesn’t necessarily mean that he and whoever she is are involved,” he stated optimistically. 

“Yes, I suppose that’s true,” she said, trying to sound positive. 

“Stop worrying, Britney,” Ian coaxed.  “Everything is going to work out.  You’ll see.”  He smiled reassuringly.  “Now be a good girl and eat your lobster.”

“Yes, boss,” she replied with a
smile.  She could only hope that Ian was right and that everything
would
work out like he’d said.

Looking up from the half-eaten steak on his plate, Jake watched in mounting frustration as Britney and Ian tilted their heads together, smiling fondly at one another as they conversed.  Christ, they’d left Stanley less than a month ago.  How could she have moved on so quickly?  Had his feelings for her been that much stronger than her feelings for him?  That, more than anything, hurt far more than he cared to admit, even to himself.

Once the dinner dishes had been cleared and the dessert plates set out, the tuxedo-clad emcee took the stage to announce the winning bid for each of the auction items. 

As each winning bid was
heralded, along with the name of the winning bidder, the dollar amount on the meter board continued to rise, accompanied by a hearty round of cheers.  Not surprisingly, Ian’s donation received one of the highest bids of the night and sent the meter climbing.

When the emcee
finally got to Jake’s donation a short time later, Britney was on pins and needles. 
This was it.
  She turned her gaze to Jake, watching and waiting, her heart in her throat.

“W
ith a winning bid of twenty-five thousand dollars, at table number two, Miss Britney Taylor,” the master of ceremonies intoned, his booming voice carrying throughout the room.

The accompanying round of applause competed with the sudden roaring in her ears as she
awaited Jake’s reaction.

What?
For a split-second he wasn’t sure that he’d heard correctly.
 
Turning his gaze to Britney’s table, his thoughts spun in confusion. Oblivious to the congratulatory comments directed at him from the other occupants at his table, his attention was focused solely on Britney.  She was looking directly at him, her expression guarded.  But as their eyes met, her lips curled slowly upward into a slight, tentative smile.

“Jake?”

Bewildered, he turned to Melinda.  Her hand was resting on his forearm, her expression curious.  “Hmm?”

“I asked if you knew her,” she repeated.  “The woman with the winning bid,” she clarified.

“I…yes… as a matter of fact I do,” he managed, his mind still reeling.  Shaking his head in confusion, his gaze flicked back to Britney, but she was no longer looking in his direction.  With a frown, he turned his attention back to Melinda.

Melinda
studied his face, her eyebrows rising questioningly. 

“
She’s…well, it’s a bit…complicated,” Jake hedged.

Watching as Jake’s attention once again turned to the lovely brunette at his side, Britney’s heart sank.  
Perhaps she was too late after all.
  Tearing her gaze from the two of them, she fought to maintain her composure.  Ian, apparently noting her struggle, leaned toward her. 

“Britney, are you alright?”
he whispered, his expression full of concern.

She looked up
then, noting the curious gazes of their tablemates. 
Don’t fall apart, not here
,
not in front of everyone
, she cautioned herself.  And so, summoning her inner fortitude, she lifted her champagne glass from the table, smiling at the group as she held it aloft.  “Well, it looks like
I’m
going to be spending some time on the ice.  Does anyone have a pair of elbow pads I can borrow?” she asked, keeping her tone deliberately light and playful. 

As she’d hoped, her
question garnered a round of chuckles and several optimistic remarks regarding her future hockey lesson.

Fortunately
though, she didn’t have to keep the pretense up for long, as everyone’s attention was soon diverted by the emcee as he moved on to the next item.  Ian however, was still eyeing her worriedly.  “I’m fine Ian, really,” she lied.

“Are you sure about that?”  He didn’t look convinced.

She felt the looming threat of tears.  “I-”

Ian pushed back his chair.  Standing, he spoke to the table at large as he extended his hand to Britney.  “Will you all excuse us
please?” he said with a polite smile.  “We’re just going to step outside for a moment.”

Taking his hand, Britney rose from her seat.  Without further comment, Ia
n tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and led her toward the ballroom’s main entrance and then out into the main lobby.

“Let’s get you some air,”
Ian said, steering Britney toward the nearest exit.

Jake glanced up just in time to see Ian escorting Britney from the ballroom. 
Damn it! 
He turned back to Melinda, who was eyeing him intently.  “Melinda, will you excuse me for a moment?  I-”

Melinda held up her hand.  “No need to explain.  I get it.  It’s complicated,
” she said with an understanding smile.

He nodded. 
“Thanks,” he said with an answering smile. 

Rising from his seat, he
wended his way through the multitude of tables, moving swiftly in the direction Britney and Ian had taken.  As he exited the ballroom his anxious gaze quickly swept the wide expanse of the lobby.  He spotted them moving toward one of the side exits and hurried to catch up.

As she and Ian stepped outside,
Britney drew in several deep breaths, but despite her best effort the tears she fought to control began to roll slowly down her cheeks.  Fortunately, aside from her and Ian, the small enclosed courtyard where they stood was empty.  “I’m too late,” she uttered in a hoarse whisper.

“Britney, you don’t know that
for certain,” Ian began.  But he was halted from saying anything further as the door they’d just come through swung open.

Concerned
that the unsuspecting interloper would see her crying, Britney quickly spun around so that her back was to the door.

Stepping into the courtyard, Jake met Ian’s uneasy gaze.  “Hello, Ian.”

“Jake,” Ian replied somewhat awkwardly.

Britney tensed. 
Raising her hands to her face, she brushed the tears from her cheeks and then slowly turned around to face Jake. 

As Britney turned, Jake knew with absolute certainty that his earlier assumption couldn’t have been more wrong. 
“Ian, would you mind if I spoke to Britney alone for a moment?” he asked, his eyes riveted upon her tearstained face.

Ian glanced toward Britney, who
nodded in response.  “I’ll wait in the lobby,” he said, glancing briefly at Jake as he passed.

Once the door had closed behind Ian, Jake stepped forward, closing the distance between he and Britney.
  “Britney, I-”

“
Jake-” They spoke simultaneously, their words overlapping.

“
Sorry, what were you going to say?” Jake asked, motioning for her to proceed.

She hesitated for a moment, her eyes locked upon his beloved face. 
In Stanley she’d foolishly given in to her fears, letting go of the man she loved.  But she wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.  If there was even the slightest chance that she could make things right, that she could spend the rest of her life with this amazing man, she was going to take it.  This time she was going to fight.  “I was going to say…that I love you.”

For a moment he could only stare at her in wonder.  She’d come here tonight, revealing herself to the world,
for him
.  Despite her fears, she’d risked everything,
for him
.  Because she loved him.

Raising his hands, Jake brushed his thumbs across her cheek
bones, wiping the last of her tears away as he leaned toward her.  “I love you too, more than you can possibly know,” he whispered, just before his lips settled over hers.

Britney wrapped her arms ar
ound his neck, kissing him back with a passionate intensity that left them both breathless. 

“So, twenty-five thousand dollars, huh?” Jake murmured when they finally came up for air, a slow smile curving his lips.  “That’s a pretty expensive hockey lesson, Miss Taylor.”