every way and it pisses me off. The guy is model attractive and muscular but still inferior to Evan in nearly every way. I shake my head in frustration that everything in my life now seems to focus on one of two things: how to keep Aaron in my life or how to keep Evan out of my head .
I can see the valet is slyly checking me out and I know the club has strict policies against such things. If I knew my mother wasn’t waiting for me and I knew she wasn’t the type of person to get crazy about a person being late, I might take a few minutes to outright flirt with him just to see what would happen. But I don’t have the time for that kind of fun, so I just give him a cordial half smile and make my way to the grand entrance of the main building.
The club facilities include golf, tennis, swimming, spa, several restaurants and a lounge. The main buildi ng houses the largest restaurant, where I am meeting my mother for lunch.
Although the place i s already packed with groups of mostly older women gossiping over their first (or possibly second) Mojitos of the day, I easily spot my mom, who is decked out in a wine-colored sleeveless draped Donna Karan jersey dress that must be new because I’ve never seen her wear it before. Not that my mother ever wears the same outfit twice. That would be unheard of in her social circle where everything is worn once and deposed of just as quickly as it was acquired.
“Hello, Mother,” I mutter as I bend down to place a light kiss on her cheek.
“What are you wearing?” my mother whispers when she sees the dress I selected. I didn’t have much time to consider an outfit for the lunch with my mom so I admit I threw on an older Chanel little black dress I had hanging in the back of my closet, hoping my mother wouldn’t notice. I don’t know what I was thinking. Of course she notices .
“That dress is three years old,” my mother manages to whisper through gritted teeth. She is already fuming and I haven’t even sat down yet.
“I know, Mother,” I snap back. “But I assure you it hasn’t been worn yet.”
As I slide into the seat across from my mother, I already feel like a puppy that has been beaten by its master.
“I hope no one realizes that design is from a dated line. I spotted it immediately.”
I want to tell my mother that I doubt any of her friends care what her daughter is wearing but I know it’s not true. Every woman who enters the club is immediately and harshly judged by every other woman there. If I have a chipped nail or a hair of place, I’ll be the subject of gossip for weeks. And that is the last thing my mom wants to deal with: all of her friends gossiping about what’s wrong with her daughter.
“And you wonder why you can’t get Aaron,” my mom snaps and I feel like she’s already slapped me in the face with her harsh words. That didn’t take long. It may be a new record.
I want to tell my mom if Aaron actually cared about designer clothes he wouldn’t be caught dead with Rainy Dey, who wouldn’t know the difference between Valentino and Versace.
But I refrain.
Instead, I inquire about the extra place setting I notice. “Is someone joining us for lunch?”
“I invited Theresa Donovan,” my mom says nonchalantly but I immediately feel my stomach tense as I realize I’ve been ambushed by my own mother. “What’s wrong, darling,” my mother continues. “You look pale.”
I gulp. I can’t believe my mother invited Aaron’s mom to have lunch with us and didn’t even bother to tell me.
“Since I knew we were meeting for lunch, I skipped breakfast,” I reply but the words sound lame as soon as they come out of my mouth.
“You still need to watch your figure, Keira,” my mother admonishes. “Or Aaron won’t give you a second glace.”
“I already practically starve myself to stay a size two,” I retort.
My mom glares at me. “Size zero is the new two.”
“Well, I don’t have a personal trainer to work out with for four
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