Jade's whole body snapped into rigidity at the sound of Max's deep baritone, then she forced herself to turn. One look at the amusement in his silver-gray eyes as he waited for her reaction made her pride come to her aid. Although she was dying a thousand deaths inside, she managed an inquiring smile, even cocking her head slightly to one side.
That's right! I don't know you!
"And, this is my little brother, Tristan Masterson," Marcus clasped his brother by the neck, pulling him down until their foreheads were touching before releasing him.
"Not little, Marc—definitely younger, though," The gorgeous man quipped.
Amber took that moment to return, giving Jade a few precious minutes to gather herself while more introductions were made.
Max fucking Powers wasn't even his real name!
Why was she even surprised? He'd played her from the beginning...false name, false intentions, false hope. Had anything he'd told her been true, she wondered bitterly. Almost succumbing to her blind fury, she felt Amber move closer to her side before linking their arms together in a show of support and solidarity. Somehow, Amber knew that the man standing in front of them was responsible for Jade's recent misery.
"Hello, Jade...my brother never mentioned how beautiful you are." The jerk said, a stupid grin on his stupidly handsome face. "Please call me Tristan,"
Oh, so he's not even going to acknowledge that he knows me?! Fine!
"Nice to meet you, Tristan," She refused to ruin her friends' party by calling him out; she'd have plenty of time to tell them later that Marcus' precious younger brother, Tristan Masterson, used the moniker Max Powers to deceive women.
"Tristan, hello," Amber put her hand out, distracting him. "Am I beautiful, as well?"
"Yes, of course," He stiffly closed his hand around hers. "Hello, Amber,"
Jade turned a bright, expectant smile on Lana and Christopher, dismissing the bastard with one move. "I'd love to hear old stories of Mum and Dad, Aunt Lana. Amber, did you know that my parents are friends of Mr. and Mrs. Masterson?"
"No way! What a small world..." Amber exaggerated her genuine interest.
Jade kept her body turned away from the arrogant man while she conversed with Lana and Christopher. It helped immensely that the couple were friendly and humorous, regaling their younger audience about their past exploits with Jade's unorthodox parents. Their lively conversation drew quite a crowd as the topic shifted to the Masterson Group and, of course, world news. Jade soon found herself enjoying the evening, almost forgetting about Max—no—Tristan's existence.
With Amber as her shield, she was able to move around the room easily and avoid alone time with the man. When she did encounter his piercing stare, she had casually nodded to him before turning back to speak to whomever was trying to get her attention. Therefore, she missed the amused smirk on his handsome face.
"I'm going to the ladies' room." Jade told Amber.
The elegant powder room was empty so she took advantage of the cozy sitting area to calm herself. She had succeeded—she had managed to treat Max—no, Tristan—with a perfect combination of professional politeness and cool indifference. Unlike most people in her situation, she hadn't thrown accusations or made a scene.
She was a woman scorned but she hadn't acted like one! She had her pride and dignity and she would rather walk over fire than let the bastard know how much he'd hurt her! Besides, he'd pretended not to know her just now—so she'd done the same!
Tit for tat!
Taking a deep breath to calm herself before rage overtook her hard-earned composure, she counted to ten before standing up. At least, she looked damn good tonight. She didn't want the manwhore back but she at least wanted him to see what he was missing out on! Smirking slightly at her reflection, she fluffed her pony-tail before exiting the ladies' room to rejoin the party.
The last thing she expected was to find herself pushed back into the ladies' room. She lost her balance slightly, reaching out and grabbing onto the person in front of her.
"Excuse me—I didn't see you—" She began to apologize before looking up to find glittering gray eyes watching her in amusement.
"You are not excused, baby," Tristan said, his tone softly mocking. "Did you wait long?"
She arched an eyebrow in question, not understanding him at all.
"I got away as soon as I could. Have you missed me?"
Did the man actually think that I left the party as a signal for him to join me? Unbelievable!
Jade's lovely lips thinned slightly in annoyance. "You are aware that this is the ladies' room?"
She took advantage of his surprise at her reprimand and pushed away from him, side-stepping him smoothly before making her exit. As she didn't wait for his response, she hoped that he would take the hint and leave her alone.
"I take that as a no, then?" He followed closely behind, his large presence affecting her more than she cared to admit.
However, Jade refused to take the bait, ignoring him as she continued walking towards the main foyer. She just reached the corner when she felt his large hand on her bare elbow.
"Don't touch me!"
"Ah. Finally, I get a reaction from you." He had the audacity to laugh while still keeping a firm grasp on her.
She turned slowly, trying to gather her scattered wits at his mere touch. She forced her gaze up...and up...and up, to his amused eyes. Her hands fisted as she resisted the urge to punch him in his perfectly straight nose.
"Can I help you with something?" She gritted out.
"Why so rude, baby? Is it because I acted like a stranger earlier? I'm sorry for that but I didn't want to have to explain it to my family." He released her elbow as he shrugged wide shoulders. "Our past history."
Pfft...past history?
"That's your problem. Good-bye." She tried again to leave but he hurried to stand in front of her, blocking her exit.
"Come on, baby...loosen up a little. Though, with the way you're acting—I take it you're mad which means that you have missed me. Am I correct?"
"And why would I miss you, Max? Oh, I'm sorry, Tristan." Sparkling green eyes rolled upwards in disdain. "What possible reason could I have to miss a man who ghosted me after sleeping with me? Huh?"
"Alright, I'll play along this once." He sounded almost angry, his eyes narrowing slightly before a charming grin spread over his handsome face.
Jade watched him in confusion, her brain not quite registering his words or the meaning behind them.
"How about I show you how sorry I am all night long, baby? Let's get out of here." He caught her hand in his much larger one.
Caught off-guard, she allowed him to lead her towards the bank of elevators. Only when he reached out to press the call button did sanity return and she drew back sharply. "Where are we going?" She demanded, tugging free of him.
He shrugged nonchalantly. "My place, your place—it doesn't matter as long as there's a bed."
"Why?" She glared up at him.
"For round two, of course," Gray eyes ran over her slim body, the meaning clear.
Jade's tenuous grasp on her temper promptly dissipated, her face reddening with rage. "Are you bloody kidding me here, Max—fuck—Tristan or whatever the hell your name is!"
Her body was taut, hands clenched at her sides as she stared up at him scornfully. In her anger, she was no longer intimidated by his size. "You are the most arrogant, despicable, pompous…asshole!" She stopped long enough to inhale a steadying breath and said tightly. "I'm not into one-night stands and while I have no problem with people who do—I am not one of them! Nor do I like those who lie about their identity, pretending to be someone else just to get into someone's pants!"
He snorted, arms crossed as he peered down at her. "You were one of those people a few months ago. And I said I was sorry for lying about my name. Wasn't my parting gift enough?"
She gasped, speechless at his words.
Is he for real?
"Besides, when you left that morning, I never said anything about seeing you again, did I? We both got what we wanted that night…"
"You know as well as I do that that was my first time!"
"Hence my gift to you. Thank you for entrusting me with your first time, baby."