“Everything sparkles,” Teri murmured, leaning toward Aria, who squeezed her hand.

“So do we,” Aria said. “You look gorgeous. I bet every young guy in here is looking at you.”

“They’d better not be,” Eli grumbled, steering them farther into the room.

Aria found she liked being at his side. Not a single one of the well-dressed men could rival Eli, and he drew admiring gazes from most of the women. While she liked being next to the sexiest man in the room, she was also uncomfortable receiving so much attention—glares from women and assessing glances from men. Thank god this wasn’t part of her day-to-day life. Having so many women lusting after her man would be a nightmare. Not that Eli was her man. But she could pretend, for one night—like Cinderella with her prince, except instead of an evil stepmother, there was an evil mother-in-law. She grinned at the thought.

Eli strode through the crowd, sweeping Aria along beside him, with Therese shuffling behind. He’d spotted Victoria Burns across the room conversing with his parents and knew instantly that his mother had set this up, hoping to divide him from Aria. And she doesn’t even know about the pregnancy yet.

He had no interest in reuniting with his old flame. Not when he was burning for Aria alone. And for god’s sake, Victoria had humiliated him in front of every reader of The Star magazine, and every person those readers gossiped to. How could Frances even contemplate a reunion between them?

A voice over the loudspeaker announced it was time to take their seats, so he led Therese and Aria to their table; as a man who liked to be prepared, he’d located it earlier in the night. They hadn’t yet sat when Frances and Phillip headed toward them with a third person in tow. He groaned out loud.

“Are you okay?” Aria asked, concerned. The poor woman didn’t realize just how awkward the night was about to become.

“The woman with my parents is my ex-girlfriend,” he muttered. Shame welled up inside him that his parents would play such a dirty trick. Though he could handle it, Aria shouldn’t have to.

“Your ex-girlfriend?” she asked, her voice strained.

“Yes,” he confirmed, pressing her closer to his side.

“She’s gorgeous.”

He hated how disturbed she sounded. Yes, Victoria was attractive, but she didn’t have nearly as much heart as Aria. He didn’t desire her with the same intensity, and never had.

“You’re more gorgeous,” he replied, and then ground his teeth together in frustration when she raised a dubious eyebrow.

“She’s a hell-bitch,” Therese said matter-of-factly.

“Teri!” Aria scolded, but Eli thought she sounded pleased. Odd; he’d never realized his little sister had such strong feelings about Victoria.