Chapter 4 #2
Darwin wondered for half a second if he should lie in order to make Grace like him, but decided against it. Katrina didn’t seem concerned about her mother’s approval, so maybe he shouldn’t be worried about it, either.
“Afraid not,” he said, giving her a smile. “My family is from Pennsylvania, so I don’t think any of them have ever moved this far west. Except for me, of course.”
“And what do you do for a living, Darwin?”
The woman’s tone was nice enough, but something told him there was definitely a wrong answer here.
He once again considered lying, but didn’t.
Besides, what would he say? That he was an investment analyst?
With his luck, she’d engage him in conversation about stocks, and there was no way he could pull that off.
“I’m in the Navy,” he said simply. “I’m assigned to a platoon on Coronado.”
Darwin wasn’t sure what he expected Grace to say, but he had to admit he was stunned when the woman let out a sniff of what seemed like disappointment before turning to Katrina.
“I just realized I didn’t even greet you properly, dear,” she said as if Darwin wasn’t there, stepping forward to hug Katrina.
Katrina returned the gesture, if a little awkwardly. Darwin wasn’t sure if it was because they didn’t hug very often or because Katrina was annoyed at her mother for blatantly snubbing her boyfriend.
He repeated the word in his head again.
Boyfriend.
He had to admit it’d been surprisingly cool to hear Katrina refer to him like that. They might technically be on their first date, but it was still nice to know she thought of him like that.
“You remember Upton Vandermark, don’t you, dear?” Grace said, stepping away from Katrina and motioning toward Mr. Perfect, who was looking at her like she was a midnight snack.
Darwin was hating this jerk more and more by the second.
Katrina looked from Upton to Grace and back again, a baffled expression on her face. “Upton, what are you doing here?”
“Your mother invited me. She suggested to Asher that I be one of his groomsmen.”
Suggested or demanded? Either way, Darwin didn’t have to be a genius to know the woman had done it because Katrina was one of Khloe’s bridesmaids. Something told him that poor Asher couldn’t have refused to allow Upton to be part of the wedding if he wanted to.
Grinning, Upton stepped forward, arms wide and clearly ready to hug Katrina.
Despite how cringeworthy the whole thing was, Darwin almost laughed when she smoothly sidestepped the man and moved even closer to him.
Flushing, Upton dropped his arms, looking crestfallen and a little embarrassed.
If the guy wasn’t trying to make a play for his girlfriend, Darwin might have felt sorry for him.
“Mom,” Katrina said, giving her a pointed look. “Is there something you forgot to mention?”
Grace smiled sweetly. “A few minutes ago, I might have asked you the same thing.”
Katrina stared at her mother for a long moment, like she was daring her to say more, but Grace simply reminded Katrina to make sure she said hello to her father before whisking Khloe and Asher away with her and Upton to meet someone important.
Beside him, Katrina sighed. “I’m sorry about that. My mom can be a lot to deal with sometimes.”
“Don’t be,” Darwin said, giving her a small smile. “It isn’t your fault.”
“Maybe not,” she agreed. “But I still hate that she was so rude to you. And that stuff with Upton is annoying.”
He sipped his wine. “So, what was all that about?”
“That was Mom trying to set me up with someone she thinks is appropriate for me.”
“And I’m guessing she thinks Upton falls into the appropriate category, while I don’t?”
Darwin tried not to sound defensive, but was pretty sure he failed.
“Don’t take it personally,” Katrina said, reaching out to grasp his hand, interlacing her fingers with his.
“Mom might not be as ruthless as Dad when it comes to business, but she definitely has opinions on whom she believes is good enough to associate with the Weber family. Upton comes from old money. Mom likes that.”
Darwin winced, reminded once again how rich Katrina’s family was. They clearly had standards when it came to their daughter. Grace obviously thought he didn’t measure up.
“Don’t worry about it. Really,” Katrina said. “My mom and dad aren’t going to ever like any decision I make, no matter what it is.”
“Speaking of your father,” he said, not wanting to think about how inadequate he was in the eyes of Grace Weber any further. “Should we go look for him like your mother suggested?”
Katrina made a face. “Not yet. I mean, we’ll have to go say hello to him at some point, but let’s put that off for as long as possible. I need to decompress after that conversation with Mom.”
Darwin could understand that.
So instead, they helped themselves to the desserts on the nearby table––which turned out to be as delicious as they looked––then walked around the ballroom, stopping occasionally so Katrina could introduce him to a few people.
They were working their way to the far side of the ballroom when Katrina released his hand to hurry forward with an excited cry to hug a middle-aged woman with wavy shoulder-length red hair and big, round glasses.
Darwin couldn’t help noticing how much warmer their embrace was compared to the hug she and her mother had shared.
“Francesca, I didn’t know you were coming!” Katrina exclaimed.
“Like I’d miss Khloe’s wedding,” the woman said, pulling back to look at Katrina fondly. “Or a chance to see you.”
Katrina took Francesca’s hand and led her over to him.
“I’d like you to meet my boyfriend, Darwin Sutton,” she said. “Darwin, meet Francesca Miller. She was my nanny growing up. Well, she was Khloe’s nanny, too, but she always liked me better.”
“Oh, you! Stop that!” Francesca admonished with another laugh and a wave of her hand. “I love both you and Khloe equally, and you know it.”
Katrina grinned. “I know. I just love teasing you. You’re so cute when you’re exasperated.”
Shaking her head, Francesca gave him a smile and held out her hand. “So nice to meet you, Darwin.”
“You, too.”
Darwin smiled as Katrina and Francesca chatted, loving how much fun his new girlfriend was having.
“As much as I love talking to you,” Francesca said with a sigh a few minutes later, “I need to say hello to your mother, so I have to scoot. Talk later?”
“Definitely!” Katrina said.
“Can’t wait! In the meantime, why don’t you and Darwin go dance?”
Francesca gave Katrina a wink and another hug, then flashed Darwin a smile before disappearing into the crowd of people around them.
“She seems pretty awesome,” he said.
Katrina grinned. “She is.”
“So, do you want to take Francesca up on that suggestion and dance?” Darwin asked, gesturing toward the dance floor and a dozen or so couples moving around it.
Katrina smiled. “I’d love to.”
Picking up the four-count beat the string quartet was playing, Darwin slipped an arm around Katrina and moved into the first steps of a waltz, slowly merging in with the others gliding around the dance floor.
“You are a man of many talents, Petty Officer Sutton,” Katrina said, resting her hand on his shoulder. “Where did you learn ballroom dancing?”
“During basic underwater demolition training,” Darwin replied. “It’s right after Hell Week because the Navy doesn’t want to waste time teaching the waltz and rumba to anyone who’s not going to become a SEAL.”
Katrina blinked up at him, mouth agape. “Are you serious?” she finally asked after he led her through a natural turn in the corner of the dance floor. “I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.”
Darwin couldn’t keep a straight face anymore.
“No, the SEALs didn’t teach me to dance while going through BUDs.
My grandmother owned a ballroom dancing studio and taught me.
She insisted it was a skill every man should know.
That, and cooking.” He’d thought it was ridiculous at the time, but now, he’d have to call and thank her.
“How about you? Where did you learn to dance?”
“My parents insisted we take lessons when we were teenagers.”
“Well, you’re a great dancer.”
“So are you.”
They both fell silent after that, losing themselves in the music and each other.
It was rare that Darwin got to dance with such a beautiful woman.
Ballroom dancing wasn’t really a thing for people their age.
Which, he had to admit as he gazed into Katrina’s pretty blue eyes, her body so close to his, was a shame.
“You never told me how things went last night,” she asked after a moment, her voice casual, as if they were talking about the weather. He could tell she was curious, though.
Darwin considered going with the standard it’s-classified-so-I-can’t-talk-about-it line, but decided against it. There were only certain aspects of the project that were classified anyway. Most of it was your average everyday Navy stuff. He could tell her about that part.
“It went okay,” he said. “It’s just some testing we’re supporting on San Nicolas Island. Nothing big.”
He felt her relax at that, and they both fell quiet again as they went back to dancing.
All too soon, the quartet stopped playing to take a break, and he and Katrina were forced to leave the dance floor. Personally, he would have stayed there, holding her in his arms, but that probably would have looked silly.
“There’s my father,” Katrina said with a sigh. “I guess we should go say hello.”
“I’m game if you are,” Darwin said, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.
Giving him a grateful smile, Katrina led him over to where a group of men stood talking. A tall, distinguished-looking man with dark hair graying at the temples stopped in mid-sentence at their approach.
“Dad,” Katrina said, giving him a small smile. “I know you hate to be interrupted when you’re talking business, but Mom wanted me to say hello and introduce you to my boyfriend.”
The man turned his attention to Darwin, his steel gray gaze assessing him in much the same way Katrina’s mother had. He seemed equally unimpressed.
“Darwin, this is my father, Jameson Weber, and my older brother, Rhett,” she said, gesturing to a younger dark-haired man with blue eyes like hers, standing beside him. “Dad, Rhett, this is Darwin Sutton.”
“Sutton?” Rhett echoed as he shook Darwin’s hand. “That wouldn’t be the Silicon Valley Suttons, would it?”
Darwin smiled and shook his head. “No relation.”
That earned him a disappointed look from both Katrina’s father and brother. Whoever the Silicon Valley Suttons were, they must be loaded. Maybe he should ask if they wanted to adopt him.
“Your mother and I weren’t aware you were seeing anyone, Katrina. What do you do for a living, Darwin?”
“I’m a Navy SEAL,” Darwin said.
Jameson’s gaze went to Katrina for a moment before settling on Darwin, sizing him up again. Whether the man liked what he saw any better after hearing that was anyone’s guess.
Two of the men in the group exchanged glances, but didn’t say anything. Darwin was sure he’d seen them before but couldn’t quite place where. He was hoping Jameson or Rhett would introduce them, but neither did.
Katrina slipped her hand into his, giving her father and brother another polite smile. “We’ll let you get back to what you were doing.”
Darwin gave them a nod, letting her lead him away. He glanced over his shoulder at the two men he thought he recognized, still trying to figure out where he’d seen them.