9. Sterling
“I’ll be right back,” I said to Katherine, my date for the evening. I left her chatting with Maurice Hunt to go in search of more champagne. Maurice had cornered me early, making sure to secure a financial pledge from the Alexander estate. Only I hadn’t agreed to anything yet. There was a game that needed to be played. Rules of engagement, as it were. There was a certain level of conversation to be had, maybe even a presentation to sit through. It seemed like a buzzkill to whip the checkbook out and make my contribution before all of the festivities even happened. Fortunately, tonight, there wasn’t a stage with a podium for speeches. Tonight was all about chit-chat and networking.
Katherine smiled and let her hand trail down my arm before grasping my fingers and squeezing. So far this evening, other than the confusion and mild unpleasantness surrounding having Cecelia watch Georgie, I was having a great time. Katherine made it abundantly clear that she anticipated returning home with me when we were done here.
Could I leave Georgie with Cecelia all night? I didn’t think that was going to be an option. After all, Cecelia had not seemed onboard with the whole idea, anyway. So, speeding this evening along seemed like a good idea. That way, I could still show off my dance skills and spin Katherine across the floor, get her back home for a proper seduction, and return to Cecelia’s in time to pick up Georgie before midnight.
There was a bit of a commotion off to my left, but someone always got a little drunk at these things. Especially if they had a private happy hour in their limo on the way over. Having big money didn’t always mean people knew how to behave appropriately. As if the money excused piss-poor decisions, like arriving at a charity ball buzzed. This was supposed to be a classy event, a fundraiser for friends of the children’s museum. And as such, those of us with deep pockets were invited.
Ignoring the commotion, I sauntered back to Maurice and Katherine, intending to make a financial promise that would either turn Maurice into my best friend for the rest of the evening or get him off my back. I hoped for the latter.
‘What’s going on over there?” Katherine asked as I held up the glass I brought back for her.
I glimpsed over my shoulder and shrugged. I didn”t know and I wasn’t particularly interested.
Just then, a couple of loud women walked past us chittering about someone’s baby mama and how young women of this current generation have no sense of decorum. I shook my head. If there was a baby-mama situation going on, it probably had more to do with the lies the poor girl had bought than anything else. Probably, some guy made promises and forgot to tell his wife about getting his side piece pregnant, or he failed to make child support payments. Either way, it wasn’t something I intended on giving my attention to.
I was here to contribute and enjoy myself while doing so. Gossip wasn’t my thing.
Katherine’s fingers bit into my arm. “Sterling,” she hissed out my name through clenched teeth.
“Katherine, what’s the matter? Are you all right?”
“It’s that woman,” she said. Her hand tightened on my arm.
“What woman?” I twisted to look back at the area where the commotion was going on. Cecelia was storming toward me with Georgie in her car seat carrier hanging in her hand. “Crap.”
“You said she was your nanny. She is not acting like a nanny, Sterling. Is there something you need to tell me?”
I didn’t like the tone in her voice. She was accusing me of not being truthful. I didn’t like that very much, especially after she had already joked about the situation seeming a little too strange to be real.
I let out a long breath. “I’m not sure what you are insinuating, and I do not know why she is here. Excuse me,” I said. I adjusted my jacket and walked toward Cecelia. Whatever she thought was doing, it needed to stop right now.
“You need to leave,” I said as I approached her.
She stopped on the edge of the space between the tables and the dance floor. She glared at me and lifted the car seat out to me.
“Take Georgie and go home. We will discuss this later.”
“No, Mr. Alexander, we will not. We can talk about it right now in front of everybody, or?—”
I took the car seat in one hand and wrapped my other hand around Cecelia’s arm. I moved her out of the center of the event and toward the back wall. We were not going to do any of this with an audience.
“Get your hands off me.” Cecelia writhed in my grasp. She was soft, and my fingers bit into her arm deeper. “You’re hurting me.”
I released my hold of her. My intention wasn’t to hurt her, just to move her.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. “I said I would be back later.”
“I don’t know what you think my job is, Mr. Alexander, but I am not Georgie’s babysitter or her nanny. You overstepped.”
“I overstepped. My bad. I am kind of in the middle of something here. So, will you take Georgie back? I’ll give you the key to the penthouse. You can take her there where all of her toys are, and we can discuss this when I get back.”
“You keep saying that, but I don’t think you are actually listening to anything I am saying.”
“Sterling, do you want to tell me what’s really going on here?” Katherine joined us, a strained expression on her face.
I was not going to be pleased if Cecelia’s little stunt got in the way of my plans.
“Is it true, what I keep hearing? You’re the baby’s mother?” Katherine asked.
Cecelia let a rather unladylike snort out of her nose. “What? Are you kidding me?”
“Katherine.” I tried to keep my voice down. “I told you, she is from the agency.”
“I am not Georgie’s mother. Didn’t he tell you about the baby in the limo? I mean, you were there when he abandoned her with me.”
I turned and glared at Cecelia. “I did not abandon Georgie with you. I left her with you to watch for the evening.”
“That is not something I agreed to, therefore, child abandonment,” Cecelia snapped back.
“Why is she here, then?” Katherine asked.
“I’m here because Sterling thinks he can do whatever he wants. And I am not some flunky he can order about.”
Katherine looked at Cecelia while she spoke. A sneer marred her lovely face as if she were looking at something distasteful. I tried to see what she saw when she looked at Cecelia. Only, I didn’t see someone worth grimacing at.
Cecelia’s clothing, while perfectly reasonable at any other time, was not appropriate right here or right now, like a zit on a beauty queen’s forehead the day of the competition. Her jeans showed off her curves, and her shirt was a bit too tight across her chest. I thought she looked delightful.
Katherine obviously thought otherwise. She turned to me before speaking. “You need to get your employee taken care of. I don’t really care what you have to do, but this is embarrassing.”
“I don’t work for him,” Cecelia snapped.
Katherine barely glanced at Cecelia before locking her eyes with mine. “Take care of this, Sterling, and get rid of the kid, or I’ll be calling a car to take me home.”
I narrowed my gaze at Katherine. I didn’t like how she was behaving toward Cecelia. I wasn’t a fan of Cecelia’s being there, but she was, and I had to deal with it. Katherine’s idle threat on top of everything else was poorly timed. Right at that moment, I wasn’t focused on whether I’d see her red dress on my floor tonight. I was a bit more concerned with how to rectify the situation I was now forced to deal with.
“Don’t do that, Katherine. Calling a car isn’t necessary,” I said evenly.
“Good.” She crossed her arms and looked down her nose at Cecelia and at me as if she expected us to perform for her.
I carefully set Georgie’s car seat on the floor. It was the first time I noticed the baby was blissfully asleep. At least one of us was unfazed by everything going on.
“Cecelia, please, take the baby back. I’m on a date and I need you to watch Georgie for me.”
“I can’t,” Cecelia started. “Maybe if you had spoken to me earlier about this?—”
“Yes, you can. And you will.” Katherine picked up the car seat and shoved it at Cecelia. The action was rough and jerky.
Georgie started crying.
“See what you have done? The brat is crying, and you need to leave. Take her and go,” Katherine said.
I didn’t like seeing Georgie in distress, especially when she had nothing to do with any of this.
“Katherine,” I growled.
Cecelia had placed the car seat back on the floor and knelt down next to it, trying to comfort Georgie.
“Is everything okay over here?” Robin Johnson, Maurice’s co-chair of the event, calmly joined us as if we were simply chatting about the weather.