Chapter 9 – Georgie
9
GEORGIE
“W hen did you know Silas was the one?” Fiona Prescott asks me. I glance at her and take in the woman Hazel and Silas call Momzilla. I would never have pegged her with that name just by looking at her. She’s tall, like both of her children, with short dark hair styled back from her face. Dark eyes, with the same air of mystery Hazel seems to have sparkling in her eyes. The smile Fiona is giving me sends a spark of guilt threading through me, so I look back out over the crowd of people. I thought this would be easy. Earn some money to pay down the hospital debt. But the Prescotts have been so sweet to me since we arrived a few hours ago. Which makes me feel guilty.
“I don’t want to be rude, but we’re just dating, Mrs. Prescott.”
“I told you to call me Fiona, dear. And at least for Silas, this is serious.”
I search out the man in question. He’s been distant since that moment in the car. It was like a switch was flipped. One minute there was smolder, and then he was just Silas, all around asshole.
He’s talking to his friend Milo whose family owns the resort.
“Georgina?”
I blink and look at Fiona again. All of a sudden, I feel the backs of my eyes burning.
“Is something wrong, dear?”
I shake my head. “No one calls me that. Not since my mother died, at least.”
Her hazel eyes soften, and an understanding smile curves her lips. “How long has it been?”
“Two years.” That was her death date, but the truth is, my mother was lost to me those last few months.
“And your father?”
“He died when I was ten. Drunk driver.”
“Oh, dear, so you are alone in the world?”
I shrug. “I guess in a way, but I have friends.” Okay, it includes Mrs. Bennet from across the hall and Hazel.
“Friends are good.”
Before she can interrogate me anymore, a man who looks remarkably like Milo steps up.
“Evening, Fiona. I hope everything is up to your standards?”
“Of course, they are, Theo. Have you met Silas’ new girlfriend Georgina? Dear, this is Theo Darling, Milo’s brother.”
He turns his clear blue gaze my way. Good god, what is it with the men at the function? They’re all insanely good looking.
“Georgina,” he dips his head.
“Georgie, actually. It’s nice to meet you. I take it this is your resort?”
“My family’s, but I don’t have much to do with the business.”
“You do so,” Fiona insisted. “He’s a chef, who usually runs the kitchen here. The menus are all his.”
“Oh,” I say. “The food was so amazing tonight.”
He dips his head again. He might look like Milo, but there is a sense of darkness…or maybe sadness about him. The band, who had been on a break, comes back and starts to play a slow song.
“Would you like to dance?”
I open my mouth to refuse, but Silas interrupts. “I think I get all the slow dances with Georgie, Theo.”
There is a thread of menace in his voice I don’t think I’ve ever heard. Not that I talk to him that much, but everything I know about Silas is that he is calm under pressure. In fact, Hazel calls him a robot…a lot. Right now, though, the irritation I see on his face is anything but robotic.
“Of course,” Theo says with a smile as Silas takes me by the hand and leads me out to the dance floor.
He pulls me into his arms, expertly dancing. Of course he does. He does everything perfectly. He’s Silas Prescott. I follow his lead, only stumbling a little, but he makes sure I don’t fall, and no one notices. But one thing I notice is the bulge against my stomach.
“You need to stay away from Theo.”
I pull back and look at him. “Why?”
“He’s a womanizer. He sees a beautiful woman and sets his target.”
“I’m here with you.”
“That doesn’t matter to him,” he mutters, and I snort. He looks down at me with narrowed eyes. Oh, my, there’s Mr. Prescott. It sends an extra thrill through me.
“I can assure you it might not matter to him, but it does to me.”
We are barely moving as he searches my gaze. I can’t seem to draw a deep breath.
“That’s good to know.”
Then, he pulls me closer so that we are so close I can feel his heartbeat. My body grows warmer, need spiraling through me as I try to keep myself from losing control and doing something really stupid like climb him like he’s a tree.
I’ve known lust, need…but never for a specific man I could get this close to. Do I have a huge crush on Chris Evans, aka Captain America? Yes. But it’s not like we’re going to be this close to each other or that I would have a chance of touching him. Now, not only am I touching Silas, but my entire body is pressed up against his and I can’t seem to get close enough. I want to burrow into his suit jacket. I also would like to see him naked.
That thought hits me so hard. I mean, yeah, I knew that it was there in the back of my head. Now, though, it is there in the forefront, but he’s kind of been a crush of mine for a long time. Well, since I started at the company, and he walked past me the first time.
“You’re really quiet.”
His voice rumbles in his chest, the vibrations comforting me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been held this close to another human. Hazel gives me hugs, but those are definitely different.
“Enjoying the music.”
Big lie. I have no idea what is playing right now. All I can seem to hear is his heartbeat. His body heat surrounds me. God, he smells good.
“Thank you.”
I frown and force myself to lean back to look up at him. “For what?”
“Saying that I smell good.”
My face burns. “I said that out loud?”
His mouth quirks and he nods, his beautiful chocolate brown eyes dancing.
“God, how embarrassing.” I lower my forehead to his chest once again.
His responding chuckle warms my heart…and other body parts.
“Just so you know,” he says, as he spins me around, then dips me dramatically. My heart leaps to my throat at the need I see burning in the depths of his eyes. “I think you smell nice too.”
I’m smiling when he pulls me back up.
“Thank you.”
“No problem, Georgie.”
I like the way he says my name, as if he is savoring it like it’s a delicate treat.
Like I’m a delicate treat.
Oh, God, where did that thought come from? I can feel my entire body start to heat up and it has nothing to do with the dancing. But I can’t seem to control my thoughts. I blame it on the three sips of champagne I had earlier, which I did not really like that much.
“Your mother is kind of…” I lean closer to him to whisper. “Scary.”
He chuckles. He’s holding me so close that I can feel the vibrations of it.
“Now you see why I’ve resorted to my sister’s plan.”
He’s smiling down at me, and he is not the kind of man who smiles that much. I mean, I never see him smile at work. He seems lighter here, as if he hasn’t a worry in the world. Well, except for the fact that we’re deceiving his mother and everyone here.
Ugh. I don’t mind a little white lie, but his mother is really nice. Intrusive and a little pushy, but in the nicest way. I don’t do well with guilt.
“No. Don’t do that.”
I look up at him. “Do what?”
“You look upset. I don’t like it. You’ll stop it right now.”
“Wait, what? Did you just order me not to get upset?”
He nods.
I blink. “You can’t order someone to do that.”
“I think I can.”
“I guess you can. Doesn’t mean that I’ll do as your order.”
His frown turns darker, and he stops dancing. Right there, in the middle of the dance floor. He grabs my hand and starts tugging me toward the open French doors that lead out to the patio and the gardens. Of course, Silas ignores the stares of the people at the party, including his mother—who appears to be horrified— and his sister who is beaming at me.
My face is hot by the time we step out on the patio. But he doesn’t stop there. He tugs me along like I am some kind of lost puppy. When we are in a secluded area, I dig in my heels and wrench my hand free.
“What the hell, Silas?”
I don’t know how to describe the look on his face, but horrified is close.
“I don’t think you understand who is in charge of this weekend…that would be me, by the way.”
I open my mouth, but no sounds come out. I know it’s because I am just so confused by everything that is happening right now.
“I don’t understand this, Silas. Why would you have a problem with me being upset?”
“I just am.”
I raise my arms up and then let them fall to slap against my legs. “I don’t know what’s happening.”
“I don’t either and I don’t care as long as you aren’t upset. I cannot have that.”
“You can’t order things like that. Life doesn’t work that way.”
“Well, it should.” The jut of his chin tells me he’s irritated about this conversation, and he totally believes his statement.
“Oh, Silas, you are an odd man.”
He looks offended. “I’m odd because I can’t bear the thought of you being upset?”
“It’s no big deal, Silas.”
“It is to me.” He steps closer and his crisp sandalwood scent replaces the gardenia. He cups my face with one of his hands. “I don’t like seeing you worried.”
It takes me a second to get my voice back. Mainly because there is a lump in my throat.
“I’m okay with it. It’s part of life.”
He shakes his head. “Life should be easier for you.”
I smile, blinking against the tears that threaten to spill over. “That’s sweet.”
He opens his mouth to say something, but Fiona lives up to her name of Momzilla.
“Silas, quit manhandling Georgina and come back in here. I want to introduce her to Margery.”
He rolls his eyes, then mouths the word ‘busted.’
A giggle bubbles out of me. I can’t help it. I have only known Silas to be serious. Before this week, I never would have thought of him as joking about his mother.
His eyes darken as they focus on my mouth. I can’t help it. My tongue slips out over my lips. He growls in response. I’m pretty sure my panties have just been destroyed.
“Silas!”
He sighs and pulls back, offering me his arm. “This conversation isn’t over.”
I have no idea what that means, but I try not to think about it as we walk back into the ballroom. It’s difficult with Silas as a hulking silent figure beside me, and I feel as if I can’t think straight when he’s close. It’s worse because he’s playing the part of the jealous suitor, glowering at every man who comes within twenty feet of our group.
We are definitely going to have a talk about his behavior when we get back to our room. Because this might be only pretend, but I can’t handle his Alpha kind of behavior. Other than being embarrassing, it is making me get hot and bothered. Very hot. And very bothered. I don’t want to make a fool out of myself when I know he doesn’t feel the same way.