Read Online Sweetblood 02.5 - Enchanted by Blood by Laurie London - Free Book Online Page B

hand.
    “I agree,” said Deb.
    Kari twirled the swizzle stick in her drink. “Damn. I obviously went home with the wrong man.”
    “Thank God you did,” said Rose Marie. “I don’t want to think what could’ve happened to Char if he hadn’t been there.”
    “The dude I did go home with turned out to be a total bust, too,” Kari continued, ignoring Rose Marie’s comment. “He keeps giving me one excuse after another why I can’t meet with their vendor manager about selling into their company.”
    “I thought he was the one making the decisions,” Charlotte said.
    “Yeah, I did, too.” Kari rolled her eyes. “So, speaking of good hookups, your man looks loaded.”
    Charlotte glanced over at Trace, who was still in line at the bar. “I don’t know about that.”
    She purposefully angled herself so that Kari would have to turn her back on Trace in order to continue the conversation. His family might be wealthy, but he seemed pretty unaffected by it. He was more down-to-earth and relatable than many of the guys she’d dated.
    “Bull. I saw the car you guys drove up in. That had to set him back over eighty K.”
    “I don’t pay much attention to cars, so I wouldn’t know. It was nice, I guess.”
    Kari let out an exasperated sigh. “How could you not know that?”
    “Not everyone’s a gold digger like you, Kari,” said Rose Marie.
    “Humph,” Kari replied. “Maybe he’s overcompensating for something.”
    Deb laughed. “You can be such a bitch sometimes.”
    Charlotte had to agree, though she didn’t find it funny.
    “Who’s the chick your hottie is talking to?” Kari asked, taking a sip of her pink-colored cocktail.
    Charlotte glanced up but Trace was no longer in line. She followed Kari’s stare to the other side of the dance floor. Trace was talking to two people—a woman in skinny jeans and a man with a cane.
    Trace angled close to the blonde, said something in her ear before ushering her through the crowd toward a side exit. When they got to the door, she spun around to face him. From the looks of it, she was arguing with him. Given his stiff posture and the stern set of his jaw, he was pissed. Clearly, they had some sort of history together.
    A twinge of jealousy shot down Charlotte’s spine. Was she an ex-girlfriend? He hadn’t mentioned that he knew anyone who worked here, but then again, maybe the man was an Xtark employee, not the woman.
    “Beats me,” Charlotte said breezily, though she was curious, too.
    Rose Marie and Deb turned around to look just as the blonde put her hand on Trace’s arm and took a half step closer. Charlotte’s cheeks heated, the twinges of jealously turning into full-fledged barbs. She wished she could read his expression, but he was turned slightly away from where the four women stood.
    “Looks like he’s trying to get her to leave,” Kari said, “but she doesn’t want to. Do you think he’s doing that because he doesn’t want the two of you to meet? Maybe she’s his not-so-distant ex and he thinks he can still can control her.”
    “Jesus, Kari,” said Rose Marie. “Sometimes you go a little too far.”
    Charlotte set down her plate and decided to scratch Kari from her list of friends. There had to be a reasonable explanation. The bar had no line now, so she headed over and was soon sipping on a glass of the house cabernet.
    Could there be any truth to what Kari had said? Was the woman a former girlfriend of Trace’s? It certainly wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. Was that why he’d insisted on coming tonight, hoping he’d run into her? Staring into her wineglass, she considered that a moment. A man like him playing games? No, it wasn’t possible. If he wanted to see someone, he’d just do it. He wouldn’t make up some elaborate story just so he could come with Charlotte.
    Someone jostled her arm, almost spilling her wine, and a conga line weaved past her. She quickly moved out of their way before one of the dancers grabbed