Owen didn't object. With perfect gentlemanly grace, he escorted her out.
But he only took her as far as the ground floor.
Once Seraphina was gone, he headed straight back upstairs and slid into the booth with his younger cousins.
"Are you guys still going shopping after this?" Owen asked, waving a waiter over for another set of silverware.
The suffocating tension with Seraphina had completely ruined his appetite earlier. Now, he planned to mooch off Claire and the others to fill his stomach.
Though, naturally, he'd be the one footing the bill in the end.
"We're going to the salon this afternoon," Yolande replied. "School starts soon, and I desperately need a touch-up."
Her mother had actually tried to drag her to the salon a few days ago, hoping to make her the center of attention at Padgett's birthday banquet.
But Yolande had adamantly refused, not wanting to steal any of Claire's thunder.
"I'm getting my hair done, too," Sebastian chimed in, never one to pass up a chance to pamper himself.
Claire didn't think she needed a new style, but Yolande practically begged her to join them.
Fine.
She supposed she could put a little more effort into her appearance for college, even if she preferred keeping a low profile and focusing on her studies.
Still, shooting down her cousins now would just make her seem like a killjoy.
Seeing that they already had an itinerary, Owen didn't press the matter.
"Owen," Claire asked once she had finished her meal, "you aren't actually going to get back together with her, are you?"
"Nonsense. Where did you get that idea?" Owen lightly tapped the top of her head.
"There is absolutely zero chance of that happening."
"Then why the lunch date?" she countered swiftly.
"She just got back to the city and wanted to see me," he explained defensively.
"Besides, plenty of people want to grab a bite with me. I have plenty of ex-girlfriends -does that mean I'm going to reignite the spark with all of them?"
Owen's playboy attitude didn't fit the Churchill family mold at all.
Fortunately, he never paraded his flings in front of the family, so they could easily turn a blind eye.
"Right."
Claire shrugged, not actually invested in his romantic escapades.
The trio parted ways with him that afternoon. But what Claire hadn't expected was to
bump into Jocelyn Hunter at the high-end styling salon.
Jocelyn had already been dumped by Larkin.
Today, however, she was here to catch him red-handed.
She couldn't believe he'd discarded her over a simple evening gown, only to
immediately parade around with a new flavor of the month.
To top it off, Larkin was actually accompanying this new woman to the salon. It was absolutely infuriating!
Amid the ensuing shouting match between the three of them, Claire and her cousins slowly pieced the drama together.
"Are we sure that's not the same woman from lunch?" Yolande whispered, tugging on Claire's sleeve.
"No, that's her twin sister, Jocelyn Thorne," Claire explained quietly. "We saw her at the banquet the other day."
Yolande pursed her lips in disgust. They knew exactly who the older man at the center of this ridiculous tug-of-war was it was Larkin Wade.
The man was far past his prime, yet here he was, stirring up drama and making women fight over him. It was genuinely pathetic.
The worst part was that Larkin wasn't even remotely attractive.
It went without saying exactly what these two women saw in him.
"Larkin, you said I was your favorite! Who the hell is she?" Jocelyn Hunter screeched.
"Excuse me, but you've
misunderstood," Jocelyn Thorne replied with infuriating calm. Larkin and Daren't involved like that We're strictly friends."
"Friends? Friends who go on dates, shop together, and buy you all this garbage?" the first Jocelyn snapped, pointing a trembling finger at the mountain of designer chopping bags stacked beside her rival.
Larkin had easily dropped tens of thousands of dollars on that haul.
He had never been that generous with her!
She didn't think she was any less attractive than this new girl, but it was obvious the Thorne woman was much better at playing the innocent victim.
No wonder she'd managed to wrap Larkin around her little finger.