Chapter 17
PRIVATE
RORY
“It’s not necessary to bully her,” Miranda said. “She looks silly enough without any help from me.”
Rhodes’s eyes flashed. “I beg your pardon—”
“Mrs. Barrington?” Philips called from the patio. “Can you come and inspect the ribs, please? Chef is requesting you.”
“Chef won’t save you next time,” Rhodes said icily, as Miranda slid out from under him and strode to the patio.
He turned to me. “What the hell was that all about?”
“I’m not sure. I think she doesn’t like me very much?”
“Is that a question?” Rhodes dropped down into her seat.
“No, it’s not. I’m not sure why I said it like that. She definitely doesn’t like me. She doesn’t like you much, either.”
He laughed. “No, she doesn’t.”
We watched through the doorway as Miranda barked orders at Chef and Philips. She didn’t appear satisfied with the barbecue.
Rhodes turned so he could speak directly into my ear. “She doesn’t like the fact that you’re here with me, socializing with the board, flashing that ring. We’re making progress.”
I nodded, shivering as his cool breath wafted over me.
“I need to turn the volume up on this. Play along, okay?”
He rose to his feet, pulling me with him. “Ladies, gentlemen—we hate to cut our evening short, but Rory and I won’t be staying for dinner. We’ve got… other things… to attend to.” Rhodes playfully pulled me closer as the guests laughed.
One of the men raised his glass. “Ah, to be young.”
“I’ll drink to that!” The woman with the huge watch raised her spritzer. “We’ll see you at breakfast tomorrow. Have fun, kids.”
We hustled away, just as Miranda came back, scowling. Rhodes’s hand skimmed my dress, halting on my ass—that was the final thing his stepmother would see of us tonight.
Once we’d made it to the hallway, he dropped his hand, laughing. “Nice work.”
“Yes. Good job.” But I was cold without his arms around me. Having Rhodes so close did something wild to my insides—I felt hot and cold, jittery and excited when he touched me.
And when he pulled away, I felt bereft.
I wrapped my arms around myself, and Rhodes frowned. “I’d offer you my coat, but I don’t have one.”
“It’s okay.” We made it to our room, and suddenly, it was awkward.
“I’ll have Philips bring us some dinner,” he offered.
“Great.” I still had my arms wrapped around myself.
“Do you want to change?” He asked. His gaze dropped appreciatively. “Although I’m pretty partial to that dress.”
“Ha.” My cheeks burned. “Yes, I’d love to get changed.
” I looked in the bureau, self-conscious; I was pleased that Rhodes liked the dress and, at the same time, totally confused by what was going on with my body.
I felt hot, but also cold and prickly. Electricity was shooting through me.
There was a charge in the air—or was it just me?
I tried to stop thinking as I found some high-end sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt. Much to my relief, I also found some cotton underwear and a matching bra, all the better to try and become Modest Rory again, not Pretending-to-be Sexy Rory.
Sexy Rory could not be trusted. She wanted the billionaire to put his hands on her bare skin again and see what happened. Modest Rory was having none of that; she was the energy I needed to get through the rest of the night.
I hustled into the bathroom, relieved to be alone for a moment, and stripped off the wretched dress.
I scrubbed the makeup from my face, ditched the thong, and almost cried in relief as I put on my cozy outfit.
When I went back to the room, Rhodes had also thrown on sweats and a T-shirt.
He sat on the bed, staring out the window at the darkening skyline, and I tried not to stare at his enormous, chiseled chest and huge biceps.
Oh, the biceps! Who knew I was such a sucker for them?
His gaze tracked to me as I tentatively sat down on my side of the bed. “You look comfortable,” Rhodes said. “What would you like for dinner?”
“What are you having?” I asked. I didn’t know what the options were.
“I’m thinking a burger. And truffle fries. And a salad. And chocolate cake.”
“I’ll have what you’re having,” I said gamely.
He smiled. “Well, all right.” He called the kitchen and requested our dinner.
“Can you always do that?” I asked. “Call the kitchen and order food?”
“Of course. You can order whatever you like, whenever you like—the kitchen stays staffed overnight. They’re prepared to make anything you could want.”
“Wow.” That was really incredible. I thought of Josie and especially of Bo—he would think he was in heaven. “My little brother would think this was Disney World.”
“How old is he?”
“Eight.”
Rhodes nodded. “You’re close with him and your sister?”
“Yes, very. They’re great kids.”
“What about your parents?”
“Um, my dad was never in the picture. Neither was theirs. And my mom’s traveling right now, so.” I shrugged, making it clear that the conversation was closed. “It was good to see Luke tonight. I told him I’d take him swimming tomorrow.”
“That’s really nice of you. I’m sure that would make him happy. But we do need to plan an entire wedding.”
“I know,” I said quickly. “But he needs to have some fun. It’s okay if I take him for an hour, right?”
Rhodes’s gaze softened as he looked at me. “Of course it is. I’m glad that you’re bonding with him.”
“Me too.”
There was a knock on the door, and Philips arrived, wheeling in a cart with our food, already magically prepared.
“How are you everywhere at once?” I asked. “You were just serving ribs at the barbecue!”
“It’s my duty to be as omnipresent as possible,” Philips deadpanned. “Here are your burgers. Enjoy your evening.” He swept into a deep bow and left us.
“Having a butler’s pretty awesome,” I said.
Rhodes surprised me by laughing. “Yes, I suppose it is.”
He grabbed our trays and set everything up on the bed, pouring us each a glass of water. The food smelled divine; I realized I hadn’t eaten since that morning. My stomach snarled with hunger, so I dove in.
The burger was amazing. I sat cross-legged and ate the entire thing, along with my fries and salad, not pausing to say one word. Rhodes sat across from me, eating his own dinner and simultaneously watching me, dumbfounded, as I devoured my food like a ravenous animal.
I finished long before he did. In a last-ditch attempt to be polite, I waited to eat my cake.
As soon as he’d finished, I cleared the dishes and brought over our desserts.
I wasn’t sure why, but sitting on this giant bed, eating room service in our sweats, was sort of fun.
For the first time at Barrington Manor, I wasn’t so intimidated—probably because I was starving, and then entranced by the delicious food, so I didn’t have the bandwidth.
“That was so good,” I said as I polished off my last bite of cake.
“I guess so.” Rhodes eyed my plate. “Do you want the rest of mine?”
“Sure!”
He laughed as I gamely slid his plate on top of mine and kept eating.
“What other types of food do you like?”
“Um… I’m pretty basic,” I admitted. “I like pizza, anything Italian, chicken nuggets.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Chicken nuggets?”
I shrugged. “It’s chicken—shaped like a nugget.”
When he didn’t laugh, I rolled my eyes. “Don’t worry, I won’t eat anything embarrassing in front of your board.”
“I’m wondering what we should serve at the wedding,” he explained.
“Ah. Probably not chicken nuggets.”
“Probably not,” he laughed.
“Steak?” I asked. “Salmon?”
“Probably something along those lines. I’ll instruct Chef to keep it simple,” Rhodes said.
“Okay.” I thought for a moment, then asked, “Can he make a chocolate cake like the one we just had?”
“You liked that?” He glanced down at all the empty plates. “Yes, you liked that.”
“I love the fudge frosting.”
“Then you shall have fudge frosting. Is there anything else—any details that are important to you about the ceremony?”
“Uh…”
I’d imagined my wedding day, of course. But I was light on details, and I couldn’t even imagine what a Barrington wedding should look like. “If it’s all right with you, I’d like Luke to be the ring-bearer. That will at least give him something to do.”
Rhodes looked surprised and touched. “That’s perfect. Of course.”
“Good.” I cleared the plates, brushed off the comforter, and sat back on the bed. “Will you choose my dress?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Yes,” I said. “I don’t know what’s appropriate. And I don’t want to end up looking ridiculous, like I did tonight.”
“You didn’t look ridiculous,” Rhodes said immediately. “But Miranda must’ve instructed your maid to choose that dress. She wanted you to be uncomfortable.”
“She succeeded,” I said, lightly.
Rhodes sat next to me, but on his side, his muscular frame sprawled out. “We’ll find you a proper dress for the wedding. You’ll make a beautiful bride, Rory.”
“Thank you,” I said, surprised.
He glanced over at me. “This is working out better than I expected.”
Another shiver worked its way through me. “Good,” I said, and I meant it.
But what I meant exactly, I wasn’t so sure.