“I did manage to drag my girlfriend along with me though,” Oliver continued.
“Is that so? Well, I’d be delighted to meet her…” Max let Bradley’s words wash over him for a moment. Girlfriend. The word thumped its way around his mind. It wouldn’t be.
But then Oliver turned and beckoned to a woman, and Max’s gaze shot over to her. And it was her.
Josie.
Josie, looking fucking stunning in skin-tight black jeans and heels to make her long legs look even longer, and a high-necked green, white, and black top. She stood out more because she wasn’t wearing a dress, and was now walking over to them as if she owned the room, smiling brightly at Oliver. She’d grown out her bangs, which suited her, and her hair was pulled up in some kind of elegant knot, studs glinting in her ears.
He saw the moment she clocked him. Her gaze darted from Oliver and around their little group, traveling over Chloe, Liam, and Erin until it landed on him last. He saw her stride falter slightly, before she whipped her gaze away from him so fast he didn’t have time to properly register the expression there. Those gorgeous eyes, ones that put the color “brown” to shame, stayed focused on Oliver as she came up to join them. Max found he was gripping his glass too tightly and flexed his fingers deliberately, trying to relieve some of the tension that had sprung through his entire body.
“This is Josie,” Oliver said proudly, gesturing toward Bradley. Josie’s eyes were fixed on Bradley alone as she held out a hand, smiling, Max thought, a little tightly, her jaw locked into place.
“So nice to meet you.”
Bradley smiled. “Is that another English accent I hear?” He didn’t give her the chance to answer. “Charmed. She’s a keeper,” he said to Oliver, even though he didn’t know the first fucking thing about her. She hooked an arm through Oliver’s and he wrapped his around her waist. Max couldn’t look away, though she was refusing to look back at him, like she was deliberately trying not to. He wanted to clear his throat, to make her look at him, but what the fuck was he supposed to say when she did? She shouldn’t even be here, in this city, and especially not with this prick. He’d cheated on her, for Christ’s sake.
“Well,” Bradley said, clapping his hands together. “It seems I’m surrounded by Brits! Max here is from England too, Ollie, he’s been working on my little apartment project, so I’m sure you’ll find lots in common.” Max tried and failed to pull his gaze away from Josie, aware that she must be able to feel it on her, that that was probably why she wouldn’t return it. She had barely any makeup on, but she seemed to glow more in the dim lighting than either Erin or his sister. He took a deliberate sip of his drink. Lots in common, indeed.
Chloe cocked one eyebrow up, in a way that he’d taught her to do when they were twelve, and folded her arms. Max spared her a quick glance, checking for any warning signals that she was about to pipe up. She’d clearly taken offense at the fact that no one had properly introduced her yet. Liam seemed to realize this at the same moment and said quickly, “Can I also introduce you to Chloe, Mr. Vane?” Oliver and Bradley both turned to look at Chloe as Liam indicated her, but Max saw Josie’s gaze pass over Chloe to Erin before she quickly looked back at Oliver. Look at me, he pleaded silently with her. “She’s Max’s sister,” Liam continued, “and English too.” Bradley spared her a perfunctory smile, and Chloe nodded politely, with a fleeting glance at Max as if to acknowledge that yes, he was indeed the dick Max had claimed.
But Max barely paid attention to any of that, because at the sound of his name, Josie had finally turned that gaze on him, as if she knew she couldn’t avoid it any longer. And he’d given her every right to want to avoid it, hadn’t he? His throat tightened as her lips twisted to form a smile that seemed painted on.
She cocked her head in that way he remembered. “Hello, Max.”
Max cleared his throat, feeling like a complete and total idiot. “Hi.” Jesus, what the fuck was wrong with him? Hi? Hi?
Josie nodded, then pulled her gaze away from him again, that fixed smile of hers slightly faltering as she flicked a quick glance at Oliver, then around the room. Bradley looked from Max to Josie and back again, a mildly interested expression on his face. “Oh, so you two know each other, do you? England really is delightfully small, isn’t it?” He turned to Oliver, lowering his voice and leaning in, absentmindedly handing his empty champagne glass to a passing waiter. “Ollie, I’ll catch up with you in a bit, yes? I’ve just got to go and say hello.” Oliver nodded, his arm still around Josie, while Bradley waved a hand in the direction of two middle-aged men who had appeared on the second floor. As soon as Bradley left, Oliver turned to stare at Max in a way that stopped ever so short of a glare, and his arm tightened enough on Josie that it seemed to force her closer against his side. So, he had placed Max, then. At the same time, Tim stepped in to take Bradley’s place, maneuvering it so that he was next to Liam and immediately starting up a stream of instructions to him. Liam nodded along, grimacing at Chloe apologetically.