Chapter Two #4
“You know, if you’re determined to visit the gardens, me escorting you should bring Rhett along sooner rather than later,” Cross was saying.
He acted concerned, but could she trust any of these people? She doubted it.
“No, thank you. I just need a breath of fresh air.”
He stepped back. “If you’re sure.”
She slanted a quick glance at him. Did he know she planned to bolt? He stared at her as though he did. She moved toward the terrace doors without another word.
Cross called after her, “I’m glad I got to meet you, Lily Foster.”
What could she say? Good-bye? Good night? He’d surely know her plan then, and he obviously knew Rhett, so best if she kept silent.
~ ~ ~ ~
“You really like it?” Delia cooed and tugged Rhett’s arm tight against her breast.
He didn’t even glance down. His eyes stayed possessively on the blonde as she maneuvered between guests near the bar.
Rhett used to watch me like that. Delia suffered a wave of fury for the woman who had temporarily usurped Delia’s place. Summoning her seductive wiles, she eased his arm over her ample breast, then leaned in with the perfect amount of pressure.
“I’ve missed you,” she said in her most sultry voice.
He glanced down at her, an odd expression on his face. “Have you?” he said, his manner casual. “As I recall, you tossed me for that well-hung Argentinean polo player.”
“I didn’t toss you,” she protested, thrilled he’d mentioned Raoul as if the man mattered. “You just don’t like sharing your toys.”
She tugged Rhett’s arm tight against her soft breast and narrowed her eyes. “Neither do I.” She shot a pointed glance at Lily accepting her drink from the bartender.
Rhett pried his arm from her grasp. “Which is why we have never had a real relationship.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, we have used each other on occasion as the need arose,” he said evenly, “which suited our lifestyles perfectly.”
“I’ve never used you,” she insisted, feeling her hold on him slipping.
“Come on, Delia. We’re good friends who have slept together on occasion.”
“And we need to do that more often.” She pressed her breasts against his chest and reverted to her sultry voice. “Like tonight, so everything can get back to normal again.”
She peered up to check on her seductive effort and found Rhett glaring toward the bar.
“What’s Cross doing here?” he growled.
“Trying to meet your date by the looks of it,” Delia taunted.
“Why’d you invite him?”
She snaked an arm around Rhett’s waist. “Aidan’s a good friend too.”
“Playing both ends against the middle, Delia?”
She nudged in tighter to hold him in place since he looked ready to escape. “Aidan and Daddy have invested in a couple developments together is all.”
“I’ll just bet. Maybe I need to curtail my investments with Chester if that’s the case.” Rhett shifted, but she managed to stay with him.
“Now, darling,” she cooed, but he wasn’t looking at her anymore.
His hand had balled into a fist at her side, and she tracked his gaze back to the bar. Aidan Cross was just brushing a kiss across the hand of Rhett’s little slut, and Delia wanted to squeal with glee. Rhett’s chief competition after Rhett’s new girl.
Rhett extricated himself from Delia’s hold, but her guest of honor, Grant Horning, chose that particular moment to step over to them.
“Good to see you, Rhett,” Horning said and extended a hand.
Unable to flee just yet, Rhett forced a smile Delia knew he didn’t feel, and she hid her own smug smile.
She cast a furtive glance toward the bar.
Rhett’s blonde had ditched Aidan Cross, and Delia watched her slip out to the patio.
A peek back at Rhett told her he hadn’t missed the blonde’s departure either.
Garrett rejoined them as soon as Horning approached, and after the usual pleasantries, Rhett asked Garrett to give Horning a quick rundown on their new Boca Raton development and explain how Boca could be the model for their new San Antonio development scheduled for a construction start the following year.
Delia clung tenaciously to Rhett’s side. With any luck, the blonde would be with someone else by the time Horning had finished with Rhett.
In the next breath, Rhett nodded to Garrett and said, “Be sure to tell Grant about your eclectic tree collection.”
“I love specialty trees,” Horning gushed, suddenly all ears.
“I know,” Rhett said. “I make it my business to know the preferences of all my prospective business partners.”
Horning beamed. “You’re an astute executive, Buchanan. I think I’d like doing a project with you.”
“Glad to hear it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go round up my date. She appears to have slipped away.”
“Wait!” Delia objected and rather loudly. The three men turned to her.
“Let him go, Delia,” Horning drawled with a grin. “I saw Rhett’s date when they walked in, and so did every other man in the room. If he doesn’t corral that filly, someone else will steal her.”
Delia ground her teeth in frustration as Rhett stalked through the crowded great room.
She swore she would get Rhett back if it was the last thing she ever did.
Her daddy was a city councilman and an important man in Jupiter.
He could find out who that blonde was and get some dirt on her.
Every woman had some dirt to hide. Delia intended to unearth the blonde’s dirt, then spread it out for Rhett to see.
He would come running back, and Delia would be waiting.
And this time, she would play for keeps.
~ ~ ~ ~
Lily paused at the edge of the brick patio and stared out over a moonlit replica of an English courtyard garden that stretched to the Intracoastal canal at the back of the property.
Walkways lined with meticulously trimmed hedges were flanked by gazebos on either side and crossed by a series of arbors at critical design points.
Subdued landscape lighting provided a romantic atmosphere for the guests though no one had bothered to venture out into the night.
Lily would have complimented Ms. Armstead if she didn’t already detest the woman for finding and catching Rhett first.
She briefly surveyed the garden layout to determine the shortest escape route, then relinquished her drink to a wicker end table alongside a matching settee.
She had to hurry. Rhett would eventually seek out his date, right?
But then she had insisted on meeting him at the party, so maybe he felt comfortable staying inside with his beautiful socialite instead of hunting for Lily out here.
He certainly hadn’t minded the woman smushing her breasts up against him.
The thought made Lily’s throat ache as she swallowed the ridiculous hopes she had allowed herself today.
Darting down the brick steps and into the maze of hedges, she forced herself to focus on a soundless escape.
A left, a right and a left, and she should reach the side walkway she hoped would lead between the separate multi-car garage and the east side of the house.
She paused to listen for sounds from the patio, but silence reigned in the garden.
Rhett hadn’t yet thought to search for his date.
She reached the side walkway, which did indeed wind between the garage and the house.
The brick path fell in line with an eight-foot Podocarpus hedge on her left and a variety of shrubs and evergreens woven together along her right, thus creating a darkened corridor with the house floodlights turned off to promote the landscape mood lighting in the garden.
She focused on her footsteps through the deepening shadows, not wanting to trip and top off her humiliation for the night. A few more yards, and she’d be back out in the well-lit front drive. Intent on her steps, she missed the figure emerging from the shadows ahead.
A hand grabbed her arm. Yelping in surprise, she got her heeled sandals tangled together and started to go down. An arm clamped around her waist and hauled her up against a rock-hard chest.
“Going somewhere, princess?”
Though too dark to clearly see his face, Lily knew the voice belonged to Rhett, and he didn’t sound happy. Her heart trip-hammered like the fledgling mockingbird she had picked up in the nursery a few days earlier. Like the fledgling, all she had wanted was an escape flight.
Suddenly conscious of her body crushed against Rhett’s muscular form, she couldn’t manage a breath, which, of course, rendered speech impossible.
Rhett slowly eased her down along the front of his chest, letting her feel every square inch of him as she slid down his torso. Her sandals eventually touched earth, and still he held her until her full weight was settled and her balance steady.
“I have to tell you, this is a new one for me,” he growled. “I’ve never had a date try to run out on me before.”
Her own anger flared. “Maybe you never took one to your girlfriend’s house before.”
The full moon escaped a passing group of clouds, and she could see his eyes glitter dangerously. “Touché.”
He waited for her to speak.
“I-I was—” She gulped a very obvious and very loud lungful of air. It was that or pass out from lack of oxygen. “—g-going for a walk.”
Her cheeks flamed with heat, and she hoped he couldn’t see.
“A walk to your car?” he said flatly.
Hank always said, “If you don’t like your answer, ask a question.”
“How did you find me?”
He still had one hand cupped on her elbow to ensure she didn’t take flight. If she did, she’d surely lose her slipper, and then where would Prince Charming be? She choked back a half-sob half-laugh.
“Am I missing some humor here?”
“No.” More clouds drifted in to cloak the moon, and the meager light around them dissipated. Though she could no longer see his eyes, she could feel his expression—the anger and the hurt. “I just thought it odd where you found me and wondered . . .”