Chapter Sixteen #2
“Just Mom being Mom.” He takes my elbow and guides me through the ballroom and past the string quartet playing in the corner.
“Where are we going?” I ask, confused.
“Somewhere alone so I can kiss you,” he says in a gruff voice.
Immediately, my body responds, my nipples hard peaks, and as much as I want to go with him, I also want to throttle him because I’m wearing a silk dress.
The last thing I need is someone noticing! “Lucas!” I hiss. “We’re going home together. We need to wait,” I say regretfully.
“Just one—”
“Rainey!” a female voice calls out.
I turn to see Blaire Reynolds waving to me, and Lucas is forced to stop and release my elbow.
“Blaire. How are you?” I force out. I knew she would be here but was hoping to avoid her. Her M.O. is to fawn all over me while hating me behind my back.
She treats me to a fake smile. “You and Kaylee have done a wonderful job here.” She sweeps her arm around, and I take in the greenery woven into draperies on the ceiling and the tall centerpieces with white lilies inside.
“Thank you so much. But we were just stepping out for a moment.” I tug on Lucas’s tuxedo jacket, now willing to sneak out with him.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”
I sigh. “Lucas Carras, this is Blaire Reynolds. She owns Sun Coast Events. Blaire, Lucas,” I say, tipping my head toward him.
“It’s so nice to meet you.” She stares as if unable to take her eyes off him.
I clear my throat. “Really, we need to be going.”
“Did you know that Rainey and I went to high school together?” she asks.
“No, I didn’t know that,” Lucas says. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”
She tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “I’m not surprised she hasn’t mentioned me. When we met,” she says, using finger-quotes, “Rainey said she didn’t remember me from high school.”
“We had a large graduating class,” I murmur. The conversation was uncomfortable the first time we’d had it, and it never got any easier considering she mentions it every time we run into each other.
“We had a different group of friends,” Blaire says. “You know how it is. Cliques and all. But we ended up in the same profession. Friendly competitors!” she all but chirps.
“This is interesting, but we do need to—”
“Get going. Yes. Well, take care. I’m sure I’ll see you around, Rainey. Maybe I’ll have gotten the job next time.” She waves her fingers at us and walks away.
“What was that about?” Lucas asks.
“A competitor. In many ways.” I pause, then say, “She’s an odd one. But good at what she does. We’re just… better. And she has a hard time handling it. But I’m used to her.” I shrug.
“Now can we sneak out?”
I’m about to give in when the lights flash, the signal that it’s time for the sit-down meal. “I’ll be missed if I don’t take my seat.” I squeeze his hand and release it. “We’ll make up for it later. I promise.”
I sit through the speeches, barely taste my meal, and talk to my family, not even registering what they say because all I want to do is be with Lucas. Miles slips out of his seat, and my mother takes his place.
“Someone can’t take their eyes off the table next to us. And since it’s the Carras family and their friends, I think it’s Lucas you’re staring at.”
God, Mom is always so intuitive. “You can’t tell Jack!”
“Tell him what?” Her eyes crinkle in confusion. “That you have a thing for Lucas?”
“I don’t have a thing for him.”
“Rainey Noelle, you can’t lie worth a damn. You never could.” Mom laughs.
“I’m only Rainey Noelle when I’m in trouble,” I mutter.
“You’re not in trouble. I’ve just caught you in a lie. Okay, so maybe you don’t have a thing for Lucas. Maybe you’re already head over heels.”
I cough on my own saliva at her words. “I’m not—”
“Lie.” She picks up a clean fork, takes a bite of the chocolate cake at my brother’s seat, and pops it into her mouth.
“Fine,” I hiss under my breath. “But you can’t tell anyone. Especially not Dad or Jack. Or the twins.”
She places her hand over mine on the table. “If you want to talk about why it’s a secret, I’m here to listen.”
I swallow hard. “I appreciate that, Mom. But you wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me. I went through a lot before actually admitting my feelings for your father. You’d be surprised what I understand.” She turns in her seat so she’s facing me.
Looking at her, I’m struck by the resemblance, from our long, wavy, chocolate brown hair to the freckles on our nose despite us both wearing foundation. I smile, then get back to thinking and talking about Lucas.
“It’s just that professionally, I’m trying to rebuild the business from the Atwater fiasco and Lucas is helping me do that. I don’t want to be seen as unprofessional in any way.”
Mom tips her head to the side. “And you think being with Lucas is unprofessional?”
I nod. “While we’re working together, yes. But there’s also Jack. They’re best friends and business partners. Jack never let any of his friends near me that way. He threatened anyone who tried. I can’t come between them. And I don’t want to mess up their partnership.”
It’s my turn to grab a fork and dig into the cake, then shove it into my mouth so I can savor the taste. I swallow and lift a glass, taking a sip of water before putting it back down. “And there’s that old bro code saying: you don’t date your best friend’s sister.”
Mom shakes her head. “Since when do you care what your brothers think? If Jack is upset, he’ll have to get over it.”
I take another sip of water. “And Dad?” I ask.
“What does Dad have to do with anything?” she asks. Now her crinkled eyes give her an even more confused expression.
I glance across the table to where my father is deep in conversation with Hudson. “When we were younger, I remember you and Dad warning Jack to stay away from Lucas.” I keep my voice low. I don’t want anyone to overhear.
“When he first came to live with his foster family and he was getting in trouble, yes. But obviously he’s changed.
He’s your brother’s partner now. The past is the past.” She shakes her head and sighs.
“I see you’ve given this a lot of thought.
” She reaches out and cups my face in her hand.
“My sweet girl. Always the overthinker.”
“If you overthink, you can’t make mistakes.” I shrug because those words defined how I tried to behave my entire life.
Mom treats me to a soft smile. “If you overthink, you can miss out on the most wonderful things.” She taps my nose. “Give that some thought.”
“Any chance I can steal my chair back?” Miles asks.
Mom nods. She turns to me. “Remember what we talked about, Rainey. And give that your long thought treatment.”
Smiling, she rises from her seat and my brother lowers himself into the now empty chair.
“Everything okay?” he asks.
“Just fine,” I lie. “Just fine.”