Chapter 2

APOV

Tonight is Elliot and Kate's engagement party and I am very excited. We went out shopping last week and got new outfits just for tonight. We are getting ready in the apartment. I'm helping Kate, although she is much better at this than I am. Kate looks beautiful in her black and silver sleeveless Alice + Olivia "Lindsey" dress with allover metallic floral embroidery and bateau neckline. She has an amazing shape and this dress accentuates it perfectly. She has it paired with her silver Jimmy Choo Lang metallic strappy sandal. Her strawberry blonde hair is piled on top of her head in loose curls. She has a pair of black and silver chandelier earrings adorned with Swarovski crystals. "Do I look OK?" Kate asks me nervously.

"Kate, you look beautiful. Elliot is going to love it."

"Ana, you look pretty good yourself." I'm wearing a navy blue Adelyn Rae illusion yoke lace fit & flare dress. My hair is down in soft waves. The only jewelry I'm wearing is a feminine and elegant enameled Sequin Mariposa wide bangle bracelet. I couldn't find any shoes I liked so Kate lent me her nude Christian Louboutin 'Prive' open toe pumps. We get in the car and head towards Pioneer Square since the party is at the Great Hall in Union Station. I'm not sure how many people will be there but considering it's both the Kavanaghs and Greys I have a feeling it will be a lot.

Our Uber driver pulls up to the valet to let us out. "Well, bride-to-be, are you ready?" Kate gives me a huge smile and grabs my hand. We get to the ballroom early so when we walk in we just see Kate's parents, Ethan, Elliot's parents, Elliot, and Mia. We walk up to her parents and I greet them and give them each a hug. Ethan, Kate's slightly older brother, gives me a huge hug and swings me around.

"Hey, Ana, you clean up well." Ethan greets me with a kiss on the cheek.

"Same to you, Kavanagh." Elliot then walks up to us.

"Hi Ethan, hey Ana." Elliot shakes Ethan's hand and kisses me on the cheek.

"You know how to throw a good party, Elliot." I tease him.

"Shhh… I don't want word to get out. Anyway, can I get you a drink from the bar?"

"Actually, I'll join you." While Kate and Ethan talking with her and Elliot's parents I walk with Elliot to the bar.

CPOV

I'm running late for my brother's engagement party because I interviewed a potential sub. She was horrible so it makes being late that much worse. I arrive at Union Station in my R8 and throw my keys to the valet. I don't have time for small talk. I get to the ballroom and see my parents engrossed in conversation with the Kavanaghs. I've done business with Kate's father and quite frankly, he seems slimy so I try to avoid him. I see my brother and make my way to him. His back is to me and next to him is a woman with long brunette hair, long shapely legs, and a nice ass. I wonder who that is. I walk up to him, "Hey, Elliot."

Elliot and the leggy woman turn around when they hear my voice. Fuck. That woman is Ana. "There's the best man. Bro, why do you look like you just sucked on a lemon?"

You wouldn't think my brother is that perceptive, but he is, so I try for my impassive face. "No reason. Ana." I say to her in greeting.

She smiles at me, "Hello, Christian." She is pretty right now. I'm sure it's because I haven't had sex for a couple of months.

The party is in full swing and it's time for the best man and maid of honor speeches. Being the perfect gentleman, I let Ana go first.

"Hello, I'd like to thank all of you for coming tonight to celebrate Kate and Elliot's engagement. Kate is my best friend and my roommate. We've shared good times and bad, we laughed together and cried together. Since I met her, Kate has been my partner in crime - my yin to her yang. So, I am honored to be able to be here tonight for her and Elliot. Kate, you are the closest thing to a sister I will ever know, and I love you. I'll be honest, though, when I was asked to give a toast tonight I was more than a little nervous. I fall into the shy and retiring category, so I obviously tried to think of ways to get out of it. But have you ever tried saying no to Kate and succeed? So, I decided to fall back on what I know, classic literature. Therefore, I thought I would leave you with an excerpt from Jane Austen's Persuasion which I think aptly conveys the feelings of love.

I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in F. W.

I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or follow your party, as soon as possible. A word, a look, will be enough to decide whether I enter your father's house this evening or never."

I have to admit it was a great speech and I am impressed. So little miss boring is at least smart. But then, I could see her being a little bookworm sitting in the library dreaming of the lives she reads about. You can tell she's shy - she has the most attractive blush across her cheeks I have seen. Although, I just noticed she has a tattoo on the inside of her bicep that reads "We read to know that we are not alone." Maybe there is a little wild cat inside of her. I normally don't find tattoos attractive but the way it elegantly curves along the shapely muscles of her bicep is alluring. I am brought back to reality when it's time for me to give the best man speech.