Chapter 29
CHAPTER 29
“You’re going to talk to your dad tonight?” Porter asked me again.
“Yes, I promise.” I refrained from rolling my eyes.
We had gone to blows over this a few times in the last week. He wanted to hunt my father down and tell him about the beetle letter and the attack in the bathroom. I knew how Dad operated. You couldn’t make him do anything. So, I left a few messages and now waited for him to call back. Despite my attempts to talk to him, Dad hadn’t returned any of my calls.
Things between Porter and I had shifted. In the last week since my attack, Porter had taken it upon himself to become my personal bodyguard. He drove me to work, picked me up, and basically never left my side.
The funny guy that I liked to banter with had been replaced with a dangerous soldier, who acted like we were under attack. He guarded me like it was his mission, and not once did he let his guard down. It comforted me, but it also left me confused. I mourned the loss of chemistry and sexual tension between us. Ever since my attack, Porter had been a completely different guy .
There had been no more hot kisses, no more physical overtures.
I shifted the conversation away from me. “So, have you talked to Felicia?”
He glanced over at me. “No.”
Of course not. He was too busy acting like my security detail to worry about his own life. I found myself constantly wondering what was happening between them. Did he still want to go back to her? Did he still have feelings for her?
I pushed for some sort of clue from him by feigning indifference. “You know, you don’t have to worry about me. If you want to spend time with her, you can.”
“I know.”
Did he want to spend time with her?
“What does that mean?” the question blurted out of me.
His look held meaning. “I’m not a player.”
“What does that mean?”
We pulled into the parking lot of Bayswater.
He turned off the engine, and his grey eyes rested on my face. “I’m a one-woman kind of guy.”
He got out, leaving me reeling with that statement. I knew he was a one-woman kind of guy. But who was the woman - Felicia or me? Did he still want Felicia? Was he impatiently waiting for this nightmare to be over with so he could get back together with her?
The hundred-person engagement party was in full swing when we walked in.
Mom rushed up to me. “You wore the pink Chanel,” she admired me with approval. “That was my first choice.”
Mom had left no less than three phone messages instructing me to wear this dress. I had been tempted to wear whatever the hell I wanted but decided it wasn’t worth the fight. My usual rebellion against Mom didn’t hold the same appeal it used to .
“Of course.”
“Well, you look simply gorgeous.” She tucked her arm into mine. “Come. There are so many people I want you to meet.”
Meet . As in, be introduced for the first time. As in, I don’t know anyone at my own engagement party. I sighed and glanced back at Porter. Our eyes met. His expression matched my feelings - he was dreading tonight as much as I was. I let myself be pulled around by Mom.
The party was a mind-numbing whirl of small talk and champagne. Mom laughed gaily with everyone, talked a hundred miles a minute, and always worked into the conversation a reminder of Dad’s upcoming election.
“Where’s Dad?” I asked her when we had a moment alone.
“His flight from Hong Kong was delayed, but he’s going to come straight here.”
I made eye contact with Porter from across the room. Three men stood around him, talking, but he seemed indifferent to the conversation. Instead, his gaze watched me with such intensity, a shiver wracked my body. Beneath Porter’s exterior simmered a forcefulness, a ferocity that excited me. It awakened in me, a longing, a hunger, that I desperately wanted to explore.
“Where are all the waiters with the hors-d’oeuvres?” Mom fussed, pulling my attention away from Porter. “I’m going to go find Roo. He needs to be on top of that.”
I stood back, grateful for the small reprieve. My feet were killing me, and my cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
“I see you’re still engaged,” a voice spoke low in my ear.
My entire body stiffened. “Hello, Yates.” I didn’t bother hiding my sarcasm.
He moved to stand beside me. “You’re making a big mistake.”
I glanced across the room at Porter. He politely listened to an older man speak.
“No. Marrying a cheating philanderer would have been a big mistake. ”
“I hear you ran into some trouble last week. Someone trying to warn you off?”
I spun around and glowered at him. “How do you know that?”
He shrugged. “I know way more than you think.”
“What does that mean?”
He downed the remained of the amber liquid in his glass. “Watch your back.” He walked away.
Determined to find out what he knew, I started to follow him, but Roo appeared at my side, tugged on my arm, holding me back.
“Not now, Roo.” I tried to shake him off.
“The cake is about to come out.”
“Fine,” I dismissed.
“There’s someone in the kitchen who wants to speak to you. She’s causing a scene.”
I paused. “Who?”
“She’s not on the guest list, and she’s threatening to come out here and talk to you in front of all these guests unless you go and talk to her.”
I hesitated. Was it Traci? Did she have some sort of information?
With one last frustrated look at Yates’ back, already halfway across the room, I sighed. “Fine, show me the way.”
Roo led me through the double swinging kitchen doors. “When we bring out the cake, the media will take photos of you and Porter, so be sure to smile with your teeth.”
We stepped into the bustling kitchen. The bright florescent lights burned my retinas. Kitchen staff in white aprons loaded trays of pastries. A monstrous, tiered cake sat on a cart, ready to be rolled into the party.
“Where is she?” I searched the room for Traci.
“Right there.” Roo pointed into the corner. “Who is she?”
Felicia.