“It’s not that…I just…”

“What?”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Rush’s brother looking our way. He put a hand on the shoulder of the man he had been talking to and then shook hands as if he was wrapping up their conversation. When he took the first step toward us, I thought I really might be sick this time.

Elliott took a few more strides in our direction, and Rush caught him in his peripheral. “Looks like we don’t have to decide to say hello. Your villain is heading right toward us.”

I must’ve looked like a deer caught in headlights. Even though I had a naturally tan complexion and soaked up the sun this summer, I felt the color drain from my face. I had to be as white as a ghost.

“Well, isn’t this a wonderful surprise,” the blond Ken doll said as he approached with his hand extended toward Rush. “Lauren told me she invited you, but I figured you’d be too busy out east to stop by.”

I couldn’t help but stare. Did Harlan have so many teeth? Rush’s brother’s smile was so broad, it seemed like his mouth was crammed with pearly whites.

“Elliott,” Rush nodded. “We were just going to come over and ask you how it felt to be an old man in your thirties.”

Still frozen, I held my breath as the two men shook hands and then his brother turned his attention to me. The plastic smile on his face stayed firmly in place. “Elliott Vanderhaus…” He extended his hand and our eyes locked. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

Somehow I managed to raise my hand to meet his. Elliott’s eyes were the same beautiful green color as Rush’s, but lacked his brother’s warmth and sparkle. Unlike Rush, whose eyes were a window to his soul, Elliott and Edward viewed the world through cold eyes that were shuttered and unreadable.

I wasn’t sure if my hand was cold or his was particularly hot, but when he clasped his long fingers around my little hand, the heat made my palm start to sweat. When I didn’t say anything for an unusually long period of time, Elliott prompted me. “And you are?”

I cleared my throat, and yet my voice still croaked. “Gia. Gia Mirabelli.”

If my name rang a bell to him, Elliott hid it well. “Nice to meet you, Gia. My brother so rarely brings anyone from his personal life to meet his family. You must be someone very special to him.”

Rush squeezed my hip. “She is. Which makes me realize maybe I was a little crazy for bringing her with me.”

Elliott threw his head back with a deep chuckle. It must’ve been a Vanderhaus move that Rush luckily hadn’t inherited. It struck me as an exaggerated response—one that was done more for show than an expression of true amusement.

“Well, it was lovely to meet you, Gia. And we’re not half as bad as my brother will make us out to be. I promise.”

He turned his attention to Rush. “Carl Hammond is here from England. He’s on our board at Sterling Financial. I’d like to introduce you to him when you have a chance.”

“Sure,” Rush said.

Elliott reached out and squeezed Rush’s shoulder offering a plastic smile. “I really am glad you came, little brother.”

And just like that, Elliott turned and was gone. Seeing him up close, I would’ve sworn it was Harlan. But apparently I was wrong. He hadn’t recognized me, nor did my name even ring a bell with him. Obviously, I was losing my mind.

I felt out of breath, and my heart pounded in my chest like I’d run a marathon, even though I hadn’t moved. Just like what had happened that time I’d gotten in between two patrons fighting at The Heights, my adrenaline started to spike after the incident.

I had been wrong.

Harlan was not Elliott.

So why did I still feel so anxious?

“So…what did you think?” Rush grabbed two potato puffs from a passing waiter and handed me one. “Looks like every other annoying douche from The Heights who walks in with a whale or horse on his pastel polo, right?”

“Yeah. He definitely has a familiar feel.” I wondered if someday I’d think what had just transpired in my head was funny and tell Rush all about it. Somehow I doubted it.

My brain was still a jumbled mess from the scare of my life, and I needed another minute to myself in order to get my emotions back in order. Not to mention, the extra water that I’d been trying to drink every day had my bladder feeling full. “I’m sorry. I need to use the ladies’ room again.”

Rush pulled me close. “Want me to come with you? I’d give my left nut to make your moan sing out over the expensive audio system they have blowing elevator music through this place.”