She looked around for the only two people in the crowd of nearly two thousand students and guests who should be attending the commencement ceremony because of her. There were clusters of people everywhere. Chloe quickly realized that she was the only one who stood alone.
On the band shell stage where all the college officials and faculty had been seated they, too, congratulated themselves on successfully shepherding another enrollment of students from freshman through senior year without any incidents that made the local papers or embarrassed the school, themselves or the students. And she suspected that by the end of the evening, the responsibility for this latest graduating class would all have been forgotten by those who had guided and tried to teach them.
Chloe was suddenly caught completely off guard when a young woman, almost twice her size, grabbed her in a fierce bear hug. The sharp edges of her awards pressed into her through the fabric of her gown. Her mortarboard fell off her head and landed at their feet. The woman stepped on it.
“Girl, thank you, thank you, thank you! I would not be standing here if you hadn’t helped me through that first year. Lord, I just knew I wasn’t going to get through.”
Chloe extracted herself and bent to retrieve her cap. “Darlene, you don’t have to thank me.” She carefully brushed loose grass and dirt from the cap. “You did all the work, and you worked really hard.”
Darlene, a big woman with a big voice and laugh and exuberance, shook her head. “Uh-uh. Don’t let it go like that. You kept me on point. All those times you helped me do research in the library. I couldn’t face my grandmother if I had failed. I’m the first person in my family to go to college.”
Chloe shrugged lightly. “Me, too.”
Seeing Darlene’s surprised expression she rushed on, not allowing her classmate a chance to ask questions, and sorry that she was so unguarded in her choice of words.
“Is your grandmother here?” Chloe asked.
“She sure is. Said she wouldn’t miss today for anything. You know, she could never come on parents’ weekends, so I want to show her around. The campus sure isn’t like where I grew up.” Darlene stopped suddenly, looking a bit embarrassed. “You know what I’m talking about, right? You were always alone on those weekends, too.”
“I know what you mean,” Chloe responded smoothly.
Darlene looked beyond her. “What about you? Did your…”
“They’re here somewhere,” Chloe spoke confidently. “It’s crowded. They’re probably wandering around right now trying to find me.”
“Yeah. Right,” Darlene murmured. “Well, I gotta go. My grandmother can’t stand too long. I’ll see you at the party later, okay?”
She rushed away before Chloe could answer, saving her the trouble of admitting she knew nothing about a party. She carefully placed the graduation cap back atop her head, straightened her gown and began meandering through the hundreds of milling people, looking for one couple in particular.
The great field in front of the band shell stage was beginning to empty. She’d walked the grassy area twice and was now wondering if anyone had shown up at all to see her graduate, to see her win the President’s Award for scholastic merit, the Hollington Discovery Award for entrepreneurial spirit, a plaque recognizing her volunteer work tutoring kids living in shelters in Atlanta. There was also a check for five thousand dollars from an anonymous benefactor. It sounded impressive, but Chloe knew she would trade it all in a heartbeat for a look of love and pride from her own family.
She turned at the whoop of laughter behind her and found a sizable gathering surrounding Beverly Turner. People were taking endless digital pictures of Hollington’s statuesque and pretty homecoming queen, and it was clear that, as always, Beverly was enjoying being the center of attention. But to her credit Beverly had always been understated about her God-given gifts of beauty and personality. She was well-liked, incredibly popular and in the top fifteen percent of the graduating class. Darlene had once said, not without a bit of envy, “I swear that girl lives a blessed life.”
Chloe smiled tightly to herself. Beverly’s pictures were sure to end up in the local paper the next day: “Hollington Homecoming Beauty Says Goodbye.”
Chloe sighed and turned away, encroaching disappointment eating away at her early euphoria. There weren’t many people left on the field. The custodial staff was already spread out, collecting the folding chairs and disconnecting the audio equipment on stage.
“Hey! How come you’re still out here? I’ve been looking all over the place for you.”
Once again Chloe found herself grabbed, this time from behind. She scrambled to hold on to her awards, but they all dropped to the ground.
She was pulled into someone’s arms and kissed unceremoniously, catching only a glimpse of the man crushing her against his lean body. Once again, her mortarboard fell from her head. Caught off guard, Chloe was unprepared to ward off the assault and could only react instinctively. She kissed him back.
Her mouth was compliant and soft. He controlled the pressure and intensity and contact with her tongue, gently forcing it to dance with his. She inhaled his scent and found it pleasant, almost comforting. Somewhere in her mind Chloe knew this was inappropriate, a mistake. But she also sensed a familiarity that made the embrace nonthreatening. And very seductive.
Chloe’s assailant seemed in no hurry to…hurry. But then he pulled back as swiftly as he’d grabbed her, releasing her so suddenly she stumbled backward, stunned…and giddy.
“Oh, man! I’m so sorry,” the tall handsome graduate said, chuckling.
Chloe blinked silently at him. It was hard to take the apology seriously. He looked only mildly taken aback and more than a little amused. He was tall with a sinewy athletic leanness. He also had a cocky stance as if he hadn’t really done anything so terrible and, of course, she wasn’t going to hold his mistake against him.
He was also very good-looking, his skin a latte tone broken only by the devilish goatee that grew around his wide mouth. With teeth that were even and white, his smile made him look rakish. Chloe had the distinct feeling that he was totally aware of his appeal, and had no trouble playing on it. If the gossip on campus was half-true, Kevin Stayton, if not exactly a womanizer, was at the very least a seasoned heartbreaker.
Trying to catch her breath and her voice, Chloe stared at him. Of course she recognized him. It was certainly confirmed by the sudden roiling of her stomach and the heated ignition of her hormones. She struggled not to betray herself. She lightly placed her fingers over her lips, as if to seal the taste and feel of him. An unexpected bonus to the day was how she saw the encounter—an unexpected graduation gift.
“I think you’ve made a mistake,” Chloe said the obvious.
A slightly wicked and totally noncontrite expression crossed his face as his gaze roamed thoroughly over her.
“Yeah, seems like it. Hey, I didn’t mean to jump you like that.”
Chloe pursed her lips, the implication creating an image for her of what that would be like. His voice, this close, was every bit as resonant and deep as she’d imagined. She knew more about Kevin Stayton than he could ever know.
“I see you like to act first and ask questions later.”
Kevin grinned, a “what can I say?” look on his face.
“I swear, from the back you looked just like…anyway, I’m really sorry…”
A trio of young men hurried by in their gowns. They shouted