Read Online Twisted Rogue (The Twisted Love and Rogue Love Collection) by Ophelia Grey - Free Book Online Page B

I was also tiny. When I stood next to her willowy body, my head only came up to her shoulder.
     
    As I looked in the mirror, admiring how I looked all dressed up in the beautiful designer gown that Blake Harrison had left for me, I was finally able to admit that I could be beautiful. I didn’t have time to contemplate it for too long though, because one glance at the clock told me that guests would start arriving in half an hour.
     
    I grabbed my clutch off the bed and ran down the hallway as fast as the tall stilettos would let me. I let out a small sigh as I reached the top of the main staircase. Even though I had pictured it a million times in my head, refining every detail, seeing it in person was incredible.
     
    All the lights were out except the large crystal chandelier and hundreds of tall candles places strategically around the room in safe but aesthetically pleasing arrangements. The dim lights revealed the lovely flower arrangements spread around the room, designed to make it look like a wild garden. Long tables lined the sides of the hallways, with small gourmet bites of food that were designed to reflect the whimsical appearance of the entryway.
     
    I walked down the hallway to the open doors of the ballroom. It had been cleaned out and spruced up with candles and flower arrangements like the entryway. A large champagne fountain flowed in the middle of the room and a bartender was busy at work on a variety of signature cocktails at the back bar.  Each one was exquisitely crafted, with layers of unmixed alcohol, floating flowers, or flames flirting around the top. A string quartet played quietly on stage and I could see the other musicians were preparing in the back.
     
    Everything was ready. I just hoped that the guests would come, and that the guest of honor would remember his entrance.
     
    The first wave of guests arrived all at once in a flurry of perfumed silk.  A line of limos pulled up to the grand front door and out climbed chatty socialites, business tycoons, gorgeous models, and celebrities in designer gowns and expensive suits. The sounds of laughter and chatter drowned out the soft music as the guests poured through the door and picked up the glasses of champagne and masquerade masks offered to them by the door attendants.
     
    As the guests poured in, I watched from the side of the hallway to make sure everything ran smoothly. One of the servers handed me a glass of champagne, which I took with a grateful smile and sipped quickly to calm my nerves. The effervescent, almost floral tasting bubbles gave me an instant boost. I wasn’t used to alcohol at all, as it was just one of many things that my parents condemned as sinful. Of course Mercy River High School students often snuck beers behind the bleachers, but I had always tried so hard to obey my parents that I had only ever tried a sip or two.
     
    “So good to see you Cassie!” The tall woman threw her arms around an equally gorgeous woman standing by the table next to me. “It seems like ages since we’ve been to a good party.”
     
    “I know. I get so tired of the city sometimes. But I wasn’t expecting this invite. Guess Blake Harrison’s back on the market?” The girl giggled and picked up a strawberry, which she dipped in her Cristal champagne and popped into her mouth.
     
    “Yeah, heard that he’s been in hiding cause his wife ran off with someone or something like that. Guess he has enough pull to keep it out of the media. Let’s go find him. I wouldn’t mind being the next Mrs. Harrison. He’s loaded!”
     
    The giggling models wandered off, arm-in-arm while I looked disapprovingly at their perfectly shaped tiny butts walking away. They were certainly beautiful enough, but I didn’t think Blake Harrison deserved some snotty gold digging model. I felt a protective anger flare inside me when I thought about how flippantly they talked about his heartache and how they clearly cared more about the Harrison fortune than