Fresh Temptation

I’d never attend another one of these God-awful shindigs. We have an agreement. She gets to dress up and throw a fancy party for all her friends, and I get drunk enough to pretend I wanna be here.”
    Victor almost spit out his drink, laughing.
    “It’s true,” Douglas said. “We could raise more money if we didn’t have to use the best caterers in town or rent this ballroom.” He sighed. “Oh well. C’est la vie. When are we having that lunch we always talk about?”
    “Uh…soon.”
    “Don’t worry, son. I’ll not try to sway you to reconsider.” Douglas gave him a knowing smirk.
    Victor was stunned that the old man brought it up so casually. He knew from a few quick email exchanges that Douglas was disappointed about the broken engagement. He could also tell Douglas had no idea Alexis had cheated. The two men had become fast friends, and Douglas welcomed humble, hard-working Victor into the family as his own son, hoping he would be a good influence on his daughter. And perhaps, subconsciously, that was why Victor had avoided Douglas’s friendly invitations for lunch or drinks after work. He would take no chances on being persuaded to give the woman a second chance.
    But there was a murky place deep inside Victor’s heart that still longed for Alexis. Aside from her pampered rich-girl tendencies, she was actually a smart, lovely woman six years his junior and fresh out of law school. And she was undeniably hot. Long auburn hair. Sparkling blue eyes. Legs for miles. She would have no trouble landing another eligible billionaire in no time. Landing one who would so easily win Douglas’s approval again…that would be tricky.
    Victor took another sip of his bourbon and looked Douglas in the eye. “Soon, then. This week, maybe next.”
    “Wonderful.” Douglas smiled and slapped Victor’s shoulder. “Now if you’ll excuse me, there are some stuffy socialites I need to see.”
    A few minutes later, as Victor chatted absently with people he’d never met before, the lights dimmed for an instant. A voice rang out over the speakers. “Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. Dinner will be served in five minutes. Your table assignment can be found on your ticket.”
    Victor pulled his ticket from his pocket to see he was assigned to table number eleven. He briefly glanced around the room for his ex-fiancee, then breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t seen her all night. With any luck, she was keeping her distance and he could go the entire night pretending she didn’t exist.
    There were ten chairs at table eleven. Victor sat in one of the four that was vacant. An elderly couple quickly filled two of them. The guests at the table commenced with small talk. The chair to Victor’s left was still empty when the wait staff began distributing the first course.
    And then, seemingly from out of nowhere, the empty chair moved.
    Unconcerned, Victor turned to greet the new guest. He closed his eyes for a moment and smothered his groan before it could leave his throat.
    Alexis, of course. Auburn hair clipped atop her head, hanging down in deliberate ringlets. Long black dress, cut low at the chest, with a slit from her heels to her thigh. In other words, she was gorgeous.
    But she was still the coddled heiress who cheated on him.
    “Hello, all.” Alexis’s tone was perky as she addressed her table mates. “I hope we’re all having a lovely evening so far.”
    A few people returned her greeting. Victor immediately decided to be as quiet as possible. He saw the awkward glances from a few others at the table who obviously knew of the break-up and probably wondered if they were now back together. When the appetizer was placed in front of him seconds later, he said, “Bourbon, please,” to the server.
    Alexis was silent for a moment as the others at the table talked amongst themselves. Then she cleared her throat. “So you won’t talk to me? Or look at me?”
    “I’m here to support a good cause. That’s all.”
    “You could at least be civil.”
    “I am being civil.”
    She edged closer and lowered her voice. “Come on. There’ll be a scene if you ignore me. You know people are watching us.”
    Looking straight ahead, he answered through gritted teeth. “Then perhaps you shouldn’t have sat down next to me. Or had us both assigned to the same table.”
    “Well…I thought maybe you wanted to talk to me. Why else would you be here tonight?”
    “I already told you. To support a good