Chapter 20: Chapter 20

Natalia tipped her head back and downed her third glass of punch in a single gulp, wishing she had something stronger. She was trying to work up the nerve to march over to Brad and say hello, but she was finding it harder than she’d imagined it would be. She’d been following him with her eyes pretty much since she walked into the room, but he was never alone, and what she had to tell him was for his ears only.

Kasey may have thought she needed to come back to her reunion to lay her past to rest, but Natalia knew the real reason she was there. She’d been in school and couldn’t afford to take the trip for her fifth year reunion, and then she’d been in Europe on tour for the tenth, but the current tour she was on was in the United States so she saw her fifteenth year reunion as the perfect opportunity—the perfect opportunity to see Brad and thank him.

“Stop lying to yourself, girl. You want to do more than just thank him,” she muttered under her breath. Okay, she could admit it; she still harbored a pretty heavy crush on the handsome, unattainable star

quarterback of the football team. Even before he’d shown any genuine

interest in her, she, like all the other girls in school, had salivated over the blonde hunk. In high school she’d tried a couple of times to flirt with him, but he always seemed disinterested, bored even. Back then his actions had really stung her pride. There wasn’t a boy at Bayside that she couldn’t bed, except Bradley Wellington. Brad was the only one who

turned her down more times than she could count. Even after they’d

become sort of friends, things had never gone very far. At the time it had been frustrating. His cold shoulder toward her had nagged at her and with her self-esteem as low as it had been back then, she’d internalized his rejection. Back then she convinced herself that Brad didn’t want her because he thought he was too good for her. And she couldn’t blame him. In her mind, he was. But it wasn’t until she became an adult that she realized Brad had been a man who lived up to his word. He’d been trying to show her that her true worth didn’t come from lying on her back, and he’d been serious about keeping his hands off of her to prove it.

Brad’s actions toward her had helped her realize her sense of self

worth and eventually led to a turning point in her life. She knew she

owed a great deal of her success to him and his belief in her. And now she wanted him to know that.

She gulped down another glass of punch, knowing she was going to have to pee really soon if she kept this up. She chucked the empty plastic cup in the waste basket nearby as she dragged in a deep breath and gathered up her courage. She was just about to go in search of Brad when a deep familiar voice washed over her like a gentle breeze.

“I can tell you that if you’re looking to get drunk, you should probably try something far stronger than Hawaiian Punch.”

She spun around, her eyes wide in surprise. Her eyes grew bigger when she realized Brad only stood about two feet away from her, much closer than she’d expected.

“B—Brad. Hi,” she squeaked. Her stomach flip flopped and she wanted to hang her head and wait for the earth to just open up and swallow her. She was so embarrassed. She sounded like Minnie Mouse on speed.

He stepped closer to her, edging into her personal space, causing her heart to beat faster. She felt trapped and claustrophobic, all at the same time, but she didn’t move. She simply lifted her chin to meet his gaze, holding her ground.

“Were you ever planning to come say hello or were you just going to stare at me all night?”

She blinked furiously as heat rushed to her cheeks. “I—I.” She cleared her throat trying to stop her silly babbling. “You were never alone. I wanted to talk to you alone.”

He smiled that heart stopping smile where his dimples in both cheeks popped out and his eyes twinkled. She resisted the urge to fan herself, but damn it was getting hot in there.

“That’s funny. Because I wanted to talk to you alone too. Do you have time to have dinner with me?”

She gawked. “Tonight?”

He shrugged. “I’ll be here for the week visiting my parents, so it doesn’t have to be tonight. But the night is young and this finger food has only served to piss me off so I was hoping you would join me.”

She smiled at his words, because she knew he was telling the truth. Chicken tenders and a veggie plate would piss her off too if she were 6’6 and 270 pounds of solid muscle. She was surprised he hadn’t already passed out from hunger pangs.

“Well, I’m still on tour right now and I’ll only be here for two more days so I guess it will have to be dinner tonight or not at all.”

His face lit up at her words and he held out his elbow. “Great.

Then shall we go?”

She nodded as she tucked her arm in his and allowed him to usher her out of the school, all the while pretending she didn’t see the shocked expressions of her classmates as they walked by.

Inwardly, she rolled her eyes knowing without a doubt that the gossip line in the small town of Bayside Florida would be on fire all night

long regaling the tale of the wicked prodigal daughter’s return to Bayside to ensnare the town’s most upstanding son.

Ahhh, but some things never changed.