Kristin swore everyone in Amesport had gathered at the Youth Center for their reception. Although logically she knew the whole town wasn’t there, the place was so packed that it seemed as though every resident was in attendance.
“Dinner? Helloooo!” Mara Sinclair waved her hand in front of Kristin’s face to get her attention. “Kristin!” she finally shouted.
Pulling out of her own thoughts, Kristin finally looked at Mara. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear what you said.” She was busy looking at a figure dressed completely in black sitting in the corner of the ballroom of the Center by himself.
Xander?
Mara sighed and snagged another glass of champagne from a passing waiter. “I asked if you and Julian wanted to come over to our place for dinner next week. We haven’t done anything since you got back from Hawaii.”
“Let me know what day and I’ll check with Julian. I know he needs to fly to California for a couple of days to do a promotion for his movie,” Kristin answered distractedly. “Mara, do you know if that’s Xander sitting over there in the corner?”
Mara glanced over to where Kristin’s eyes were focused. “Yeah. That’s Xander. Jared just went over to talk to him a while ago. He said he didn’t have much to say.”
“He showed up,” Kristin answered with hope in her voice. “It’s a step in the right direction.”
“Yeah. I think everybody is a little confused about why,” Mara responded before she took a sip of her champagne.
“Julian is his brother. I’m not sure if he even knows our marriage is all a sham.”
“Is it?” Mara raised her brows as she stared at Kristin.
“Of course. I told you the truth,” Kristin said defensively. Since Mara was her best friend, there was very little that she didn’t share with her.
“You two were looking pretty much like the happy couple on the dance floor. And Julian does look amazing in a tuxedo,” Mara answered suspiciously.
“Almost any man looks good in a tux.” All of the Sinclairs had dressed up for the occasion, every male in formal dress, and the women were wearing cocktail dresses.
Mara looked stunning in a red dress that ended right above her knees, something Kristin’s friend would have never worn before she met Jared. Mara had blossomed into an attractive young businesswoman, but she was still the same person inside. Money hadn’t changed her one bit.
“Admit it. Being married to Julian is one of the best things that has ever happened to you. You look happy. You look relaxed and rested. And you look incredible. Love that dress, by the way,” Mara said, giving Kristin her don’t-bullshit-me tone.
It was yet another item that had magically shown up in Kristin’s closet, a gorgeous emerald-green dress that Julian swore matched her eyes. Yes, she’d gone through the trouble of carefully doing her makeup and hair, and even though the heels she was wearing were already killing her feet, she’d worn them because Julian thought she looked beautiful.
“The dress was all Julian. Probably something his assistant picked out.” She didn’t know how to answer Mara’s assessment, so she simply said, “You know this isn’t going to last, Mara. He’s been good for me, and what he’s done for my parents is something I can never repay. But the marriage is only temporary.”
“We’ll see,” Mara answered mysteriously.
Exasperated, Kristin looked over toward the group of Sinclair men and Jason Sutherland standing around together talking. Julian had gone to join them for a few minutes so he could talk to Micah, but they looked like they were all trying to bust each other’s balls right at the moment. She saw Grady say something and all of the men started to laugh. There was a lot of back-slapping and laughing going on in that circle of handsome men.
The wives were right behind her and Mara, all of them chatting at once and trying to catch up on what was happening in their lives.
She and Mara had stepped away for a moment of private conversation.
Kristin leaned in a little so she wasn’t overheard. “It’s temporary. Do you really think Julian is going to be happy here in Amesport? He’s lived most of his adult life in California.”