She stumbled over her words as she tried to downplay her relationship with him. "No, not that well. I've seen him at family functions and he's always been kind to me. I think he's a nice person and doesn't mean any harm. That's all I meant by that."
I decided to let her off the hook but Joshua wanted to add one more thing to no one in particular. "Ethan needs to learn his place and stay there. His mouth is going to get him into real trouble one day."
Vivienne looked very uncomfortable and excused herself to the ladies’ room.
I tried to comfort Joshua. "Don't let him get to you. You told me he has animosity toward you so just ignore him."
"I wish it was that easy. He works for the company so I have to see him all the time. Mother insisted that he have a senior-level position, so when we took over, Jake, myself, and Ethan became automatic partners in the company. That was the one case of partners not having to earn their position. Since we had to run the company mother felt that dad and my uncle would have wanted all of us to run it together. But like I told you, Ethan got sloppy and partied too much. So his voting power was reduced drastically. But he still has personal interaction with clients and he does bring in new business, so I am forced to put up with him and his antics.” He stopped and looked at me with those gorgeous eyes.
"You know what? You look beautiful, and we are at this wonderful party. We shouldn't be wasting time talking about Ethan. Would you like to dance?"
There were the butterflies again. You’ll probably affect me like this forever.
"I would love to dance with you."
Everyone in the room melted away the minute he pulled me into his arms. As we moved to the music, our bodies pressed together and I let out a soft sigh as I laid my head on his shoulder. I wish I could have frozen that perfect moment in time. I want to stay like this with you forever. There it was. I finally gave in to my feelings for Joshua. I decided to completely embrace my feelings for him realizing I would just have to take a chance that he had real feelings for me also. This was more than a contract. I wanted so badly to tell him how I felt but I didn't want to scare him away. His thumb slowly rubbed my back and he pulled me tighter to him. I could feel his erection as our bodies molded together. We stayed like that until the song ended and then Joshua held the back of my hand to his lips and kissed it. He looked at me, his eyes smiling at me.
"Thank you for the dance. I'm going to the restroom and when I get back we can go mingle. I will introduce you to some of mother's friends."
"Okay, I will be here waiting." I smiled at him as he walked away. This night could not be more perfect.
I was fluffing my hair when I felt a hand touched my arm.
"Would you like to dance?" Jake was smiling down at me.
"I would love to."
As we were dancing, I decided to find out where his head was regarding Vivienne. "So tell me, how are things with Vivienne?"
"Moving right along, I suppose. Although, I think she has something going with Ethan." He was completely unfazed.
"Are you serious?" I knew something was going on there.
"Pretty sure. I've noticed that they've been spending a lot of time together. Honestly, I don't care. That probably means something, huh? Indifference is worse than getting angry in my book because when you're angry that means that you still care on some level. You know what Sarah? I've been doing a lot of thinking since we talked. You had a lot of valid points and I think I might end things with Vivienne pretty soon."
Good for you Jake. "Well, I just want you to be happy. Life is too short not to be."
We were just finishing our dance when Ethan appeared. "May I cut in? I'd like a chance to twirl around with the belle of the ball."
I looked around for Joshua but didn't see him anywhere. I didn't want to be rude so I indulged him. Jake looked at me and raised his eyebrows, silently asking if it was okay if he cut in. I looked at him and nodded. He then stepped aside and Ethan stepped in and pulled me a little too close. We glided across the floor effortlessly.
"You can relax your grip on me anytime now." Annoyance was bleeding into my voice.
"I just want to be close to the girl who seems to have captured my cousin's heart." I stiffened in his arms, irritated that I was intrigued by what he was saying. I've captured Joshua's heart? He pulled me closer and whispered in my ear. "Relax."
I tried to push away from him but he held me tight as he twirled me across the floor. I fixed my steely gaze on him and pursed my lips. Amusement danced in his eyes as a smirk tipped up the corners of his mouth. "Now, now, calm down. I would just like to dance with you. The Hunter brothers aren't the only ones allowed to do so, are they?" He looked at me and had the most obnoxious look on his face. My expression must have given something away. "Oh, wait a minute! Has my dear cousin Joshua captured your heart as well?" His hand started to slide down over my backside.
My body completely stiffened as I grabbed his hand and stopped him. "If you move that hand one more inch, I will break every one of your fingers!" I quietly spat out the angry words as I did not want to make a scene. My words must have caught Ethan off guard because he relaxed his grip on me. The moment he did, I pushed away from him. "We're done here."
As I turned to walk off of the dance floor, I was relieved to see Joshua but his piercing eyes were shooting me an accusatory look. I walked up to him and Ethan was trailing right behind me.
"Joshua, dear cousin, your companion is an excellent dancer." He lowered his voice and taunted Joshua with his next words. "She really knows how to move that sexy body."
Joshua's face turned beet red with anger. I whipped my head around, staring daggers at Ethan. Joshua jumped in to speak before I had a chance, his eyes ablaze. "You are still the snake you have always been. You're lucky we’re at my mother's birthday party or…”
"Or what? You would hit me, beat me up? I'd like to see you try." He snickered as if it was impossible.
"I would wax the floor with that smug face of yours." Joshua spat out the words through clenched teeth.