Chapter Twelve #2
Iris frowned. How dare Candy Sumlar and her PR manager–agent assume they could use Matt in some PR stunt?
And from the sound of it, Candy intended to take it a little further.
Well, she had news for both women. It wouldn’t be happening.
Not on her watch. She had no problem throwing a monkey wrench into their plans.
* * *
Matt pretended to be listening to what Sam Skinner was saying. Skinner was an entertainment attorney known to handle high-profile cases. He was telling him about the vacation he and his wife had taken earlier in the year to the Maldives.
Deena had taken off with Charm, and he figured they had gone backstage since it wouldn’t be long before the band came out to play.
Others had wandered off, probably thinking Skinner was too long-winded for them.
Matt had the ability to appear to hang on to every word, while his mind traveled elsewhere, which was what was happening now.
He took another sip of his drink, nodding every so often at what Skinner was saying, while at the same time wondering how Iris was spending her Saturday night.
More than once yesterday, he had reached for his phone to call her, but decided she needed to make the next move.
He hoped she made it and that it wouldn’t take her long to do so.
“I read that press release in yesterday’s paper,” Skinner finally stopped discussing his Maldives vacation long enough to say. “I was a huge fan of Sid Roberts while growing up in Oklahoma. Most kids were.”
“I was included in that number,” Matt said. “Of course, at the time, I didn’t know he was my father.”
He hoped that ended the man’s conversation about it, but just in case it didn’t, he then asked Skinner, “So, you would recommend a Maldives vacation at the resort you used?”
“Definitely yes. However, Scotland is also a great place to visit if you play golf.” Then Skinner told him about his vacation last year to Scotland.
Matt was glad when the emcee appeared on stage to announce that the band was about to start playing.
He could tell by the number of younger people in attendance that Dylan Emanuel had been the big draw.
He’d only heard of the band a few years ago when Deena began playing their music, seemingly all the time.
And when Emanuel showed up at Cheyenne’s birthday party with his wife, Charm Outlaw Emanuel, who was a part of the Westmoreland family, Deena almost went into cardiac arrest.
Suddenly, Matt felt a tingling sensation low in his abdomen. He glanced around and noticed a woman headed in his direction. She was beautiful, and the off-the-shoulder gown she wore looked great on her. However, he was certain his body’s reaction had nothing to do with her.
He shifted his gaze from the woman to scan another section of the ballroom but didn’t see anyone he recognized.
He nodded when Skinner said he was heading to the buffet table and walked off, leaving him alone.
Was he imagining things, or was he now inhaling a familiar fragrance?
Namely, Iris’s scent? He glanced around again and noted the woman he’d seen earlier was within a few feet of him with a huge smile on her face.
“Matthew Caulder?” she asked, approaching him.
Before he could respond, he felt an arm wrap around his waist from behind. Suddenly, Iris appeared, stepping in front of the woman at the exact moment several flashes of a photographer’s camera went off. Where in the world had Iris come from?
“Hello, sweetheart,” she said, leaning in to brush a kiss across his lips. Then she quickly whispered close to his ear, “Play along with me.”
Matt didn’t know what the hell was going on, nor did he care.
And as far as her request that he play along with her, he would do just about anything with her.
“Hello, baby,” he told Iris as she took a place, a very close place, by his side with her arm still wrapped around his waist, definitely giving the impression that the two of them were together.
She then smiled at the woman, who looked as if she was at a loss for words. Then Iris said, “Hello, Candy. Nice seeing you. Have you met Matt?”
Candy glared at Iris. “No, I was about to introduce myself.”
“I can save you the trouble,” Iris said, smiling. “Matt, this is Candy Sumlar.”
Matt extended his hand to her. “Ms. Sumlar, nice meeting you.”
The woman took his hand and gave him a huge smile. He noticed how she deliberately rubbed her thumb over their joined hands. “Likewise, Mr. Caulder, and I hope I may call you Matt.”
“You may.”
Her smile widened. “And please call me Candy. What Ms. Michaels forgot to add was that I’m an actress.”
“Oh,” he said, not knowing what else he should say. Now that she’d mentioned it, he did recall seeing her at one time or another in a movie or two. Since he didn’t watch television or go to the movies much, members of the Hollywood crowd weren’t immediately familiar to him.
At that moment, the band began playing, and Charm and Deena came to join them. “Iris, it’s good seeing you,” Deena said, smiling brightly and giving Iris a hug. Charm gave her one as well.
Matt turned to introduce Charm and Deena to Candy Sumlar, but it appeared she had gone.
“We got a reserved table that’s close to the stage. Shauna is already sitting there,” Charm spoke up to say.
“Alright. Just lead the way,” Matt said, taking Iris’s hand.
They followed Deena and Charm while navigating through a crowd of people. Candy Sumlar had seemingly disappeared, but he felt certain Iris would enlighten him as to what all that had been about.
To be honest, Matt didn’t care. Iris was here, and he was holding tight to the hand of the woman he wanted.