Chapter 907 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“I’m relaxed,” Candace lied as she quickly drank from her champagne nearly choking on it.

“Is everything alright?” Harry asked as he appeared at her side, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Yes,” Candace rushed to assure him, the last thing she wanted was for him to hear any of this here even if he knew about her past. It would be too embarrassing.

Harry looked at her for a moment and held her gaze to be sure if she wanted him to stay or to leave, and when she gave him a nod, pleading with her eyes that he should leave, he turned to Sam and gave him a warning look.

“It would be in your best interest not to offend her, Sam,” Harry warned before returning to join the other guys.

“You seem pretty close,” Sam said as he watched Harry leave.

“Why is Harry leaving without taking her with him?” Sonia asked with a frown.

“Perhaps she said she didn’t want his help,” Jade said as her gaze met with Harry’s and he shook his head.

“Hey, friends!” Gemima greeted, drawing their attention as her and Matt stopped by their table.

Celsie couldn’t help giggling at Gemima’s attitude and Sonia’s sour expression as she eyes her, “We are not your friends,” Sonia stated.

“I told you she was the worst of them all, didn’t I? Perhaps Bryan must have told her something unpleasant about me,” Gemima told Matt whose gaze was directed across the hall in Candace’s direction as was Jade’s and Aurora’s.

“Anyway, I was about leaving so I decided to stop by and say hello. I didn’t want you thinking I left because I was threatened by you,” Gemima said, and Sonia rolled her eyes.

“Good riddance. Matt, you’re not leaving with her, are you? I think Candace might need your help,” Sonia said, and this time Gemima looked in Candace’s direction as well.

“What did you want to say?” Candace asked, feeling a bit more confident now after Harry had shown up.

“You are a law student, aren’t you?” He asked, and Candace looked at him, taken aback by that.

Was that what he meant when he said she looked familiar? He had seen her in school?

“Yes. Have we met before?” She asked, and he smiled.

“I’ve seen you a couple of times during your lectures but I’ve never approached you. My mom is one of your professors and some times when I visit her I like to sit behind the class and watch her lecture. I’m a lawyer myself. I am part of the legal team here in OmniGlobal,” he explained, and watched as she visibly relaxed.

“Oh! I see. I guess your mother is Professor Ann Sullivan?” Candace asked and he nodded.

“Yeah,” he said, and continued to watch her like he wanted to say something else.

“I’m curious though. Do you take note of all the students in the classroom or is it just me?” Candace asked, and he winced.

“What else?” Candace asked suspiciously, and he sighed.

“I hope this doesn’t make you uncomfortable, I mean no harm. I actually took note of you because I’ve seen you before then. Twice. At the club once. And then another time during my friend’s bachelor party,” He confessed, and watched as she stiffened.

“No. Please don’t panic. I’m not going to breathe a word of this to anyone. Not even Harry. I promise!” He said and Candace didn’t know how to respond to that.

“If you recognized me every time you saw me in the past, that means you recognized me the moment I walked in, didn’t you? You did not approach me because you were trying to figure out why I look familiar,” Candace stated, and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Yeah. You’re right.”

“Why then did you approach me? What do you want?” Candace asked as she straightened her back, and he shook his head.

“I suppose I’m just very curious about you. Seeing you here in the company of Harry and the others. You all seemed to be very close. I know it’s not my business but I was just really curious to know you,” Sam said helplessly, not knowing how to phrase his question.

“You mean you want to know why a law student like me who is close to someone like Harry works as a stripper?” Candace asked, and he shook his head as he looked at her apologetically.

“No. I’m sorry….”

“Well, if you must know, I’m no longer a stripper. I did that to get by during a tough time. They’re my friends and family so they know all about it. I believe that’s all you need to know. Now if your curiosity has been satisfied, I’d like to be excused,” Candace cut in coolly and as she turned to leave, she bumped into someone, spilling her drink on him.

“Oh, shit! I’m sorry,” she said as she looked up to see who she had bumped into, and almost laughed when she realized it was Matt.

“Candace, I’m really sorry. I did not mean to be rude,” Sam said, and Candace shrugged.

“I’m not offended, just done talking with you,” Candace said dismissively before looking at Matt.

“I’m sorry. What were you doing behind me anyway?” She asked in amusement as she reached into her purse for her hankie to dab off the stain while Sam walked away, feeling embarrassed by her dismissal.

“Rescuing you. Sonia and the other ladies. I can see why Bryan is terrified of them. They all insisted you looked like you were uncomfortable and asked that I come save you by asking you to dance with me,” Matt said as he took the hankie from her.

“And what did you tell them?” Candace asked as she looked in Sonia’s direction, and noticed they were no longer seated. She looked around and saw them dancing with their men.

“Well, even though I wanted nothing more than to interrupt whatever you were both discussing, I refused as I was supposed to. And Sonia kept talking about how I was being a jerk and how she would never talk to me again, and the others joined her and when I couldn’t take it anymore I decided to come to you,” Matt said, and Candace shook her head.

“Well, as you can see, I didn’t need help. You shouldn’t have budged. They’re never going to stop trying to matchmake now,” Candace said.

“Who was that guy? What was he saying to you?” Matt asked curiously.

“Why? Did it upset you?” Candace asked sweetly.

---