Free Reunited (The Love You Left Behind #1) by Annie Kelly

crowd.
                  It doesn’t take long for someone to notice her, to recognize her – not that I’m shocked, since she looks almost as young now as she did then.
                  “Cassandra Erickson?”
                  A petite woman with dark hair and even darker eyes walks closer to Cass. She’s holding a glass of white wine and she smiles expectantly at both of us.
                  Yep. I have absolutely no idea who she is. But Cass is smiling at her warmly.
                  “Hey Miranda. How are you?”
                  Oh, yeah. Miranda…what was it? Yates? Gates?
                  Cass turns to me and gestures toward the other woman.
                  “Jay, you remember Miranda Tate – she was the president of the Student Government Association our senior year?”
                  Tate. Right. Although, no, of course I didn’t remember her being secretary of anything. That was the last thing I was thinking about when I was a senior in high school.
                  “Sure – how are you?”
                  Miranda is smiling back and forth between me and Cass, a knowing look in her eye. I narrow my gaze a bit, feeling like we might have just stepped into the proverbial lion’s den of gossip. Before I can politely side step the conversation, Miranda pips up.
                  “So, are the two of you here together, then?” Miranda asks almost batting her eyelashes as she speaks like there’s some kind of seduction at play.
    Cass is quick to shake her head, a fact that pisses me off more than I’d like to admit.
                  “No, no – we just ran into each other in the elevator,” Cass says, glancing quickly at me, then away.
                  “Of course.”
                  The way Miranda says those to words, though – it’s like she’s placating Cass. Like she doesn’t believe her. I decide to pretend I see someone important, and suggest Cass come along with me. She excuses us with a sugary smile, but she’s frowning when we leave Miranda behind.
                  “God, she was totally fishing. I’m sure she’s going to spread all kinds of rumors.”
                  A rumor that Cassandra Erickson and Jay Shumaker are fucking wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world in my opinion. But I get that something like that getting back to Carter would make life difficult for her. That’s the last thing I want to see happen.
                  “Don’t worry about that,” I say, patting her arm. “Let’s get a drink and relax a little bit. This is supposed to be fun, remember?”
                  She practically snorts in disbelief. “Right.”
                  I steer her toward the bar where there are a handful of empty stools. As I order our drinks – a dry martini for her, whisky for me – I can’t help but notice how nervous she continues to look.  She taps her manicured nails along the bar and continues to look glance back over her shoulder as though expecting someone to sneak up on her.
    I’m about to offer to walk her back upstairs, to suggest that we just go get dinner or something, when I hear a high-pitched squeal.
    “Bitch! I can’t believe you actually came – and without your Negative Nancy fiancé, too!”
    Laura Bennett – or Laura whatever-her-last-name-is-now – spins Cass around by the shoulders and tugs her into her arms. Seconds later, she plants a kiss right on her mouth.
    “God, I missed you,” she says, pulling back. I notice now that she has a drink in one hand – a Long Island iced tea from the looks of it.
    Cass looks completely shell-shocked by both the general enthusiasm and the kiss.
    “Laura, I saw you for lunch a couple months ago…”
    “More like six months ago,” Laura scoffs. She turns and peers into the crowd,