Read Online Kaylee’s First Crush by Erin M. Leaf - Free Book Online Page B

sensed something deeper than what he’d said beneath
the simple words. And he’d used the word “Love” to sign it!
    “What’s that?”
Darla asked, stepping up beside her. She was wearing a midnight blue gown that
made her skin look amazing. Her blue eyes gleamed as she nodded at the piece of
paper in Kaylee’s hand.
    Kaylee debated
whether she should show her, but her friend’s unwavering support had been a
wonderful surprise from the beginning. She’d expected moving to the city to be
overwhelming, difficult, and frightening, but she’d also never expected it to
be so… she struggled to find the right word and settled on empowering ,
but she hadn’t done it alone. She smiled, and held the note out.
    Darla slid it
gently from her fingers and read it, lips moving. “Wow, Kaylee. That’s—wow.”
She grinned at her friend. “I see he signed it this time. No more secrets?”
    Kaylee nodded,
chewing on her lip. The butterflies in her stomach were holding a rally.
    “He’s going to
show up at the party, you know. Even though he’s not invited. I wonder how he’s going to get in? ” Darla pointed to
the ceiling. The gala was being held in the Starlight Roof ballroom on the
nineteenth floor of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. Very
exclusive, very posh digs for this particular fundraiser.
    “If they see
him coming, they’ll open the doors for him, invitation or not,” Kaylee
remarked. “Don’t forget, we’re trying to raise money and he’s loaded.”
    “Hmm, you’re
probably right,” Darla replied. “Ha! This is awesome. He’s going to crash the
party.”
    “I’m know I’m right,” Kaylee said, taking a deep breath. She put
her shoulders back and willed herself to calm down. He would be there; she just
needed to be patient. “We should go, or we’re going to be late.”
    Darla handed
the note back. “I can’t wait to see what happens next.”
     
    ‘What happened next’ is the party turned out to be
kind of a bummer , Kaylee mused darkly. Here I am, holding up the wall again. Ugh. She
slumped in a corner of the ballroom, out of the way of most of the guests. The
euphoria she’d felt earlier had entirely dissipated, and now she was just
tired. Sad. Hugo hadn’t shown up. Everyone had eaten
dinner, sat through the presentations of the larger donors, and the whole time,
Kaylee kept looking toward the door like an idiot. She never found what she
most wanted to see: Hugo Valtree, striding through the ballroom.
    After they’d
eaten, she’d stood on the sidelines throughout most of the dancing. The band
was excellent, but she really didn’t care. She sighed, leaning back against the
wallpaper. She wanted to go home, take off her heels, and drown herself in her
bathtub. Damn Hugo, anyway, for getting her hopes up.
    “This sucks,”
Darla said, walking over.
    Kaylee
shrugged, but didn’t say anything. If she tried to speak, she’d probably start
crying.
    “What the hell?
I thought he was a nice guy? You said he was a nice guy,” Darla said, anger
coloring her tone. “Where is he?”
    “He’s a busy
man, Darla,” Kaylee said.
    “Bah. That’s no
excuse.”
    Kaylee shrugged
again. What was there to say? Darla opened her mouth, probably to explain, in
great detail, why Hugo was an ass, but a sudden commotion across the room
caught their attention before she could speak. Kaylee craned her neck. She
couldn’t see anything except a whole lot of wealthy people suddenly crowding
around the entrance to the room like hard-core fans at a rock concert. Her
heart leaped, still hopeful, but she refused to move. He would’ve come before
now if he’d really meant everything he’d said in those notes, right? She
fingered the diamond drop nestled between her breasts and tried not to get
excited.
    “Wait a second.
I think it’s him!” Darla suddenly said, her tone going from disgust to glee.
She was standing on her tiptoes, and since she was several inches taller than
Kaylee, she could probably see