Page 67 of The Encounter
But there were always a few reporters who made it into the event to cover it.
“Jace, darling,” a female voice rang out.
Jace glanced up to find Samantha Barnes coming toward him. She worked for a tabloid who liked to cover his whereabouts regularly, and had made it a personal effort to always cover his life and who he was dating. The stories were mostly lies, so he tried to ignore them. Anyone who fell for the garbage they dished was gullible.
“Good evening, Samantha.”
Maddie’s grip on his arm tightened, so he pulled her closer to his side.
“This is my girlfriend Maddie. Maddie, this is Samantha. She’s a reporter for Celebrity Status.”
The last part he said only to make Samantha believe they hadn’t read her articles. Acting as if Maddie would know who she was only gave power to Samantha, something he didn’t want to do.
Maddie smiled politely as Samantha looked her up and down.
When Samantha finally met Maddie’s eyes, she said, “Aren’t you looking stylish?”
The tone of her voice dripped with sarcasm. Jace tugged Maddie closer.
“She is. I think she looks incredibly beautiful tonight.”
Maddie smiled up at him, but didn’t say anything to Samantha. He silently applauded her ability to stay quiet. Nothing ever good came from talking to Samantha, and he didn’t want Maddie to get caught up in her games.
“Thank you, Jace,” Maddie said to him.
“You’re welcome, beautiful.” He pressed a kiss to her lips briefly before turning back to Samantha. “If you don’t mind, I think we ought to find our seats.”
“Actually, I wanted to ask you a few questions—” she started.
Jace tugged Maddie with him as they walked away. “Maybe another time. I would like to enjoy the night with my girlfriend.”
They left a stunned Samantha standing near the front doors where she had approached them. The expansive room was filled with large round tables that each sat eight people. White linen tablecloths covered them and a snowflake centerpiece was in the middle of each one with several tea lights around them. Silver and green garland spread out from there, with Christmas lights woven through them.
Each place setting contained a white plate with silver edging around the outside and a smaller plate on the upper left for bread. A teacup sat on the upper right along with a water glass and an empty wine glass. An array of silverware was on both sides of the plate in the proper areas for the different courses they would have throughout the evening. Linen napkins were folded like swans in the middle of each plate.
Maddie stared at the various Christmas decorations around the ballroom. Ice sculptures were in every corner, one of a snowman, a snowflake, a Santa Claus, and a sleigh with reindeer. A few bars were on the outside of the room, allowing people to line up if they wanted a drink. A dance floor sat in the middle of the room, breaking up the flow of the tables. In the right corner were the silent auction tables with several people surrounding them, bidding on the various items they wanted.
Maddie’s eyes met Jace’s after she took everything in.
“Wow. This is just… wow.”
“We like to go all out for this event.”
“I can see that. It’s stunning. This is more amazing than most of the events I went to in New York.”
He smiled. “I’ll give your compliments to my design team.”
Her eyes widened. “You did all this?”
“Not me. But my team did. I told them to go with a Christmas theme, and this is what they came up with.”
“It must have cost a fortune.”
“It did. But it’s worth it for this reason alone.” He gestured toward the double doors where the children poured in. Several were being wheeled in in wheelchairs, some were on crutches, and others could walk.
Their eyes lit up and choruses of “wow” were exclaimed as they looked around the room.
“Come on,” he said to Maddie as they made their way over to them.
