Something About Emmett (Billionaire Romance) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 11 - Something Crazy

The dress was a sultry emerald, in a richly soft fabric that hid my curves in what the girls called a "tantalizing" manner. It was cool to the touch, like silk over my skin. I felt luxurious. Beautiful.

Maybe tonight wouldn't be as bad as I thought.

Each of the girls went to their houses to prepare for the party, and I stayed behind to do my hair and makeup, all the while mentally encouraging myself to attend the party, to have an enjoyable night with my friends, and to completely disregard his presence.

Emmett would most likely be exceptionally busy, what with all the beautiful people around him, all of them there for him. The gorgeous and willing women, the rich and successful men.

It gave me the hope that he would pay me no more attention than that of a safe, polite greeting. Maybe he would be so caught up with his guests that he would not even be able to catch a glimpse of me. The party, Maddie had said, would be at his house.

I had never been there before, for the address he had given her wasn't the family home's, and I guessed that he must have purchased it only recently. In between his time in New York, and his new travels down south, he would need a house, and I had reason to think it would be a large one, large enough to become invisible in.

It was with that thought in mind that I stifled my nerves and managed to step into Aria's car.

•••

It was large. Yet it was not overbearing and excessive. Only exceptionally beautiful.

The architecture was of a contemporary Spanish style villa, and the two floors of the house overlooked a vast entrance of cobblestone that was protected by a fence of black steel. A perfectly maintained landscape of deep green pines and white gardenia adorned the outside of his home, and the moment I stepped out of the car, I could smell the subtle richness of the flowers.

There was an extensive area of grass where the cars were being parked by hired valet drivers, and impeccably dressed guests pored out with class. They were allowed inside only when they said their names to the security guards outside the grand double doors of dark cherry wood.

"I feel as if I'm in a Hollywood opening," I muttered. "This is dreadful."

Each one of the women protested, walking over high heels toward the entrance. They agreed that the Hollywood charm only made it better, but I, on the other hand, had a swarm of butterflies deep inside my stomach.

The charm, the perfection, the luxury... it made me both uncomfortable and horribly misplaced.

The guards let us in easily, and we were met inside by popular music and smooth, silver-blue lights. People drank from tall glasses of what looked to be champagne, ate from silver trays of varied hors d'oeuvres, all the while talking and dancing and laughing with those around them.

Yet there was poise. Not one person was unrefined.

"This is amazing," Aria sighed.

The girls were quick to agree. I surveyed the area around me for a certain man, and felt my chest relax when he was nowhere to be found. A woman carrying a tray of drinks came to us, and I took a glass.

"What do you think about dancing?" Beth asked.

I nodded quickly. "Sounds like a good idea." The dance area was more clustered, and therefore a much better hiding place than the open entrance.