Chapter 8
LORI LOOKED STUNNING, IN MALCOM’S opinion, but that wasn’t what had his thoughts jumbled. This morning he’d reached out to Ian, who’d talked to Brandy, and she’d agreed to look at the financials for his company. “Give me a couple of days,” she’d said.
So did that mean she might have some results by tomorrow night? Or the next night? It was one thing to wonder and worry on his own, but if Brandy came back with things that he couldn’t brush off . . . then what? Confronting his brother on anything never turned out well. He’d learned that lesson in high school.
“The light’s green,” Lori said.
Malcom blinked. “Sorry.” He pressed on the gas and continued through the intersection.
“I’m already a terrible date.” He glanced over at her. “Did I tell you that you look beautiful?”
She smiled. “You did. But that compliment always makes me suspicious.”
“How so?”
“Do I only look beautiful if I put on a formal dress and pile on the makeup?” she teased.
He winced. “That’s not how I meant the compliment at all, but I see what you’re saying. How about I tell you that you looked beautiful when I first met you. And you look equally beautiful now?”
Lori laughed, but her cheeks had flushed. “You’re pretty good at flirting when you put your mind to it. I guess we should practice before I meet Penny?”
Malcom slowed at the next light. It seemed he was hitting every red light in town. “I’m not flirting . . . yet. Just being honest. And yeah, we need to talk about Penny.”
“Is that what has you a million miles away?” she asked.
Malcom sighed. “Not exactly.” The light turned green, and this time he didn’t need any prompting. “Brandy agreed to look over my company’s financials.”
“Oh. Wow. That’s great.”
“Yeah.” He accelerated and took the next turn leading to the highway.
“You don’t sound too excited about it,” Lori said.
“I guess I’m nervous about what she’ll find.”
“Because then you’ll have to do something about it?”
“Exactly.” Malcom checked his blind spot and merged onto the highway. “If she finds something, I can’t just pretend it’s my own paranoia.”
“But then you’ll know,” Lori said. “And what you choose to do at that point is up to you. Having the information will be what you need to make the best-informed decision about your next steps.”
“True.” She was right, absolutely right.
Lori reached over and squeezed his arm. “It will be better to know than not to know. It will stop eating you up inside.”
“You’re right,” he said. “You’re beautiful and wise.”
Lori laughed. “Okay, don’t overdo the compliments. Without all my wise advice, you’d come to the same conclusion all on your own. You’re just emotionally invested and I’m not, so it’s easier for me to cut through all the other stuff.”
“Like I said, wise.”
She smirked. “So . . . what’s our plan for Penny? How are we going to pull this all off?”
Malcom took the next exit and slowed for the light. “Great questions. She’ll know that we’ve recently met—at least since the condo project started.”
“Right. So we aren’t too far into our dating relationship?”
“Exactly.”
“Which means she’ll be watching to see if we’re affectionate.”
“Likely.” Malcom turned onto the road leading to the hotel where the gala was being held. He stole a glance at her. Yep. She looked beautiful. Tonight, and every time he’d seen her. “We can’t be completely hands off, but we can’t be kissing every minute either. Too much.”
“Um, you didn’t say this date would include kissing.”
“It won’t,” Malcom rushed out, his heart lurching. What had he said? “I meant—”
Lori laughed. “You should see your face.”
He blew out a breath, his stomach in knots. “I mean, I could step it up if needed.” He pulled into the hotel parking lot and drove to the front doors, where a valet waited.
“I don’t think so, Romeo,” she said with another laugh. “Penny wouldn’t buy it. Well, maybe she would, but it would feel over the top.”
Malcom stopped the truck and looked over at her before climbing out. He wouldn’t mind kissing her, but if he ever did, it wouldn’t be for public display. And not in front of Penny. This wasn’t anything he could confess to Lori, though. “I think plenty of flirting and some hand-holding would be perfect.”
Lori’s eyes were bright with amusement. “Okay.”
He exhaled, trying to steady the nerves that kept zapping him. “Okay. And thanks again for all of this.”
“Like you said, the food will probably be great.”
Malcom laughed. Maybe this evening would be better than he expected. Maybe having Lori with him would keep Penny at arm’s length and the crushing worry about his brother at bay. He climbed out of the truck, greeted the valet, then walked around to open her door.
He held out his hand to help her down, and her fingers grasped his. It was easy enough from there to just keep holding her hand, so he did. It fit neatly into his, and he decided that his thudding heart was from the event as a whole, and not just a simple touch from Lori.
“There you are.” Bronson’s voice sounded from across the lobby area. He wore a tuxedo as well. He stood about six inches shorter than Malcom, and his eyes were a pale blue like his mother’s. “I wasn’t sure if you’d already arrived. You didn’t answer my texts.”
“I was driving,” Malcom said, keeping his tone even and light. Irritation already prickled his skin. Was his stepbrother really embezzling from the company? Was his wife, who stood next to him in a flowy multicolored dress, spending money left and right? She’d always seemed so conservative compared to her sister, but maybe she spent her money differently. Right now, she wore small diamond earrings and a small diamond pendant. Classy but expensive?
“Who do we have here?” Bronson’s gaze landed on Lori.
“This is Lori. Lori, this is my brother Bronson and his wife Kari.”
“Great to meet you,” Bronson said, stretching out his hand, his curious gaze sweeping over her from head to foot. “I didn’t know you were bringing a date.”
“The invitation said to bring a plus one,” Malcom said, again fighting to keep the irritation out of his tone.
Before Bronson could answer, Kari said to Lori, “You look so familiar. What’s your last name?”
“Harding,” she said, releasing Bronson’s hand, then turning to Kari.
“Oh, that doesn’t sound familiar,” Kari continued. “Where are you from?”
“Everly Falls.”
“Oh.” Kari laughed.
Had her laugh been fake? Malcom wondered. He’d never thought anything about her was fake. So this was a new observation for him.
“Are you friends with Penny?” Kari continued with a bright smile.
Definitely a fake smile. What was going on?
“Who’s Penny?” Lori asked, her tone curious and sweet at the same time.
Malcom wanted to tug her close and kiss her right then and there just for saying that.
Kari’s brows shot up. “My sister. She and Malcom are really close, so I thought a friend of his would be a friend of hers too.”
Lori looked up at Malcom, her gaze wide and innocent. “Why haven’t you told me about Penny?”
“I guess because we’ve had so many other things to talk about.” He felt Bronson’s sharp gaze, and Kari’s suspicious one. Malcom had to do something here . . . He slipped his arm about Lori’s waist and drew her close. “You’ll meet her tonight—she’s great.”
“Oh, I can’t wait,” Lori said, possessively placing a hand on his chest.
If he didn’t know this was fake flirting, he would have been totally convinced.
“Speaking of Penny,” Bronson cut in, “she’s inside the ballroom, saving us a table.”
“Excellent,” Malcom said, sliding his hand away from Lori’s waist and grasping her hand again. He felt Kari tracking every movement. Maybe the person they had to convince was her, not Penny.
And now Malcom was annoyed again. He’d brought up his concerns about Penny more than once to his brother, who had always laughed them off. But now it seemed like Kari was invested, which meant that Bronson knew exactly what was going on.
As they followed Bronson and Kari into the ballroom, Lori leaned close and whispered, “Smooth moves, Romeo.”
He grinned down at her. “Right back at you, Juliet.”
She returned his smile, and Malcom realized that despite all the irritants bombarding him, tonight might be fun. With Lori. Flirting with her—and yeah, holding her hand—was completely and undeniably enjoyable.
He tugged his gaze from hers, if only to not trip on his own feet, and spotted Penny. She was waving at them, a smile plastered on her face. Her eyes had already zeroed in on the woman at his side.
“Oh boy,” Lori said under her breath. “I think I see Maleficent.”
Malcom chuckled. “She’s definitely noticing you.” He liked the way Lori’s fingers tightened around his.
Penny had gone all out, of course, wearing a dark yellow dress covered in sequins. Her blonde hair was piled on top of her head, complete with dangling earrings that looked like they were dripping with diamonds. Probably fake diamonds? Otherwise those earrings would cost thousands. Although Penny had a good salary as operations manager, it wasn’t extravagant.
“Malc,” Penny said as soon as they neared the table. She stepped close and kissed him on the cheek, lingering much longer than necessary. He couldn’t remember when she’d ever kissed him on the cheek, so that was a new development. Wasn’t bringing a date to this gala a deterrent for that?
“Hi, Penny,” Malcom said, moving a step back from her, still holding Lori’s hand. “This is Lori. Lori, this is Penny.”
Lori stuck out her free hand. “Nice to meet you, Penny.”
Penny glanced at her hand but didn’t extend her own. “Nice to meet you too.” Her expression tightened, then she looked over at her sister. “I told the waiters about your allergies, so they should come up with something you can eat.”
“Oh thanks,” Kari said, holding her sister’s gaze as if trying to teleport some information.
Penny turned back to Malcom with a tight smile. “You can sit here, Malc.” She motioned to a free chair between Kari and what looked to be Penny’s seat, since a small purse sat at the place setting. “I didn’t account for you bringing a friend, but there’s a place by Bronson. Otherwise, the other seats are saved by someone else.”
Penny was smooth, he’d give her that. “I’ll be sitting by my date ,” he said. “You won’t mind sitting by Bronson, will you?”
Her smile remained, but her eyes grew stormy. Malcom merely smiled back, then led Lori to the other side of the table. “Here’s your purse,” he said, picking it up and handing it over.
Penny practically snatched the purse away and strode over to where Bronson had seated himself.
Malcom pulled out the chair for Lori, and once she was seated, he sat down as well. “Is this the menu?” he asked, picking up the printed paper from the dinner plate in front of him. He felt the heat of Penny’s gaze, but refused to meet it.
Lori nudged him. “Malc, huh?” she said in a quiet voice.
“Not my nickname,” he said, turning his head. “Mac is okay, but not Malc.”
Lori raised the water glass to her lips. “Noted.”
He smiled, and she smiled back, then took a sip.
It was hard to look away from her, so he didn’t. Openly staring at his date was acceptable, right? “Good water?”
Lori laughed. “Excellent.”
Malcom was grateful for the music playing overhead, and the general hubbub of the room, so he could talk to Lori without everyone overhearing. He picked up his own water glass.
“You know, she’s really pretty,” Lori murmured. “I wouldn’t blame you if you decided to ditch me for her.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Malcom said, and was happy to see Lori’s smile appear. “I’ll take real over fake any day.”
Her smile widened. “Are you flirting now, Romeo?”
He set his arm around the back of her chair and leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “No, I was speaking the truth just now, but this . . .” He brushed her shoulder with his fingers. “This is flirting. What do you think?”
Lori shifted slightly so they were face to face, only a few inches apart. “I think . . . you’re very skilled, Malc.”
He groaned. “You did not just say that.”
Her pretty smile appeared. “I did.”
“I’ll let one slip past, but after this, you’ll be in trouble.”
Her brows lifted. “What does that entail?”
He smirked. “Uh, I could drag you out of here and make you miss dinner.”
“ Drag me ? I’m stronger than I look.”
His gaze dipped to her mouth. “I could kiss you senseless, so you forget all about any nicknames.”
“Remember we agreed on no kissing?”
It was true, but she was leaning quite cozily against him, and he didn’t mind at all. “Right.” He dragged in a breath and gave her a little space. “Maybe we should dance. Take a break from our audience.”
Lori peeked at them from the corner of her eye. “No one else is dancing. Maybe after dinner?”
“That works too.”
Three others arrived at their table and took their seats. Introductions were made all around. A man named Doug said he ran a water heater company, and the conversation springboarded from there, although Malcom barely remembered what anyone else said.
A waiter approached their table and took drink orders. By the time he left, a conversation had started between Doug and Penny. He was asking her questions about their business.
“Bronson is the magic behind everything,” she gushed. “He’s really the renaissance man, the idea man. As operations manager, I just keep up with him. And my sister Kari is a whiz at marketing and community outreach.”
Doug seemed enthralled.
“Malcom over there is the boots-on-the-ground guy,” she said. “He knows how to keep employees happy, which is so important. He has a kind heart and good listening skills.”
All the words coming out of Penny’s mouth were compliments, but they didn’t feel like it. They felt like the praise someone would give a kid in school.
“Congratulations on your award tonight,” Doug continued, smoothing down his comb-over. “Construction company of the year—really impressive.”
“Thanks,” Penny said, apparently the spokesperson tonight. “We should exchange information. I’d love to talk to you about your water heaters.”
Malcom glanced at Bronson, but his brother didn’t say anything.
“We have a five-year contract with another water-heater company,” Malcom finally said. “Which we signed last year.”
Penny shrugged. “Contracts can be broken if they aren’t upheld.”
He stared at her. “What’s not being upheld?”
She merely smiled. “We can talk business later. Tonight is about celebrating and enjoying ourselves? Right, Lori?”
Lori lifted her chin. “I’m planning on it.”
Penny laughed, a little too loud. “I like her, Malc. Where did you two meet?”