But what had she really been expecting when she’d seduced the town bad boy?
“No, you’re right. Jake and I weren’t close,” she lied. Swallowing, she glanced around the backstage area and caught sight of her mother, who stood in the wings like a statue, a frown carved into her mouth. Barbara Lockhart gave a brisk nod, a clear signal that she wanted a word with her daughter.
“Excuse me,” Bree said to Maddie. “My mom has summoned.”
Squaring her shoulders, she strode across the room, no question in her mind as to what her mom would say. And although Bree had just turned thirty last month, she couldn’t help but feel like a little girl who was about to be reprimanded by her mommy. That always happened when she was around her parents. Her entire life, she’d had to deal with their overly high expectations of her. Get good grades, go to law school, be successful. Marry a wealthy man.
That last requirement ranked number one on their priority list, and Jake Bishop had never stood a chance of making the cut. Her parents had been absolutely furious when they’d discovered her involvement with Jake all those years ago.
“Why did Henry Bishop’s son bid on a date with you?” Barbara demanded after she’d led Bree out of earshot.
“I don’t know,” she answered truthfully.
Her mother pursed her lips. “I’ll talk to your father about getting you out of this.”
Bree bristled. “Do I have to remind you that you and Daddy were the ones who talked me into this to begin with?”
Talked into? Try forced. Or maybe bludgeoned was a better description.
The last thing Bree had wanted to do on her first vacation in years was put herself up on the auction block, but when one of the bachelorettes dropped out at the last minute, her mother had begged her to step in. She’d hoped to spend the week working on her opening statement for the big case she had coming up, but Barbara had her methods when it came to getting her way. Methods that involved endless nagging and veiled threats. It had only taken two hours for Bree’s mother to wear her down, and in the end, she’d decided that a few hours of her time wouldn’t kill her, especially for a good cause.
Now, with the disturbing notion of being alone with Jake hanging over her head, she wished she’d stayed in Denver.
“I don’t want you spending time with that boy,” Barbara said coldly.
“He’s not a boy, Mom. He’s a thirty-year-old man.”
“He’s the boy that nearly destroyed my daughter’s future,” Barbara corrected, her blue eyes hardening to ice.
“Jake had nothing to do with everything that happened.” She sighed. “I’m the one who screwed up, not him.”
“Because he was a bad influence on you. Do I need to remind you that you nearly jeopardized your admission to Princeton because of him?”
Because Bree had been so damn smitten with her bad boy that she’d let her grades slide. And blown off the SATs. Yep, she remembered. Fortunately, her father had stepped in and fixed the situation, she’d taken the test, pulled her grades up, and Princeton had been in the cards after all.
“It was a long time ago, Mom. I haven’t seen Jake in years, and one dinner isn’t going to hurt anyone.”
Funny, how she’d been trying to come up with a way to get out of this dinner, yet the moment her mother took the same stance, Bree ended up switching sides. Her parents always managed to trigger her rebellious side.
“I’ll talk to your father,” Barbara said as if Bree hadn’t spoken.
“No,” she replied firmly. “Seriously, Mom, I don’t want to cause any trouble. I agreed to do this for charity, and I don’t want to cost the foundation Jake’s donation. Now if you’ll excuse me, I should go find my date.”
She left her mother and marched toward the side door that led out to the ballroom, wondering what the heck was wrong with her. Her mother, as irritating as she was, had a point. Jake was a bad influence on her. She’d nearly thrown away her entire future for the guy, caught up in silly fantasies that she and Jake Bishop might have a real shot. He’d quickly burst that bubble when he’d announced he was enlisting in the army right after graduation—and told her not to wait for him.
It had hurt, but in the end, she’d realized he’d been right to cut her loose. She wanted more from her life than hot sex. She wanted a career, a husband, a family. Jake, with his impulsive nature and adventurous streak, would never have fit into that kind of life. They’d had the sex thing down to a T, but stability? Definitely not Jake’s strong suit.
Stepping into the ballroom, she searched the crowd, needing to get this over with as soon as possible. So what if her body had been consumed with heat when she and Jake had made eye contact? She wasn’t a horny teenager anymore. She controlled her hormones now, not the other way around.