Chapter Fourteen
“Holy Moses.” Her hands on her hips, Liz surveyed the tables across the far wall of the Baron family ballroom. Once she’d gotten over the fact that the family home had its own ballroom, Liz was able to spend more time oohing and aahing over the wonderful donations that had been arriving steadily since Paige got the word out that the Steer’s Den was in need of aid. Who knew that many rich people cared about one restaurant owner.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” In a pair of jeans and layered shirts, Devlin’s grandmother was amazing. Liz had no idea how old the woman actually was, but since most of her grandchildren were in their thirties, and none of their parents had been child brides, Lila Baron had to be at least eighty years old and didn’t look a day over sixty-five. Not only did she have limited wrinkles, her posture was so erect, Liz found herself constantly straightening her own shoulders whenever Mrs. Baron walked by as though she had an invisible book on her head.
A small, blue velvet lined box of what looked to be tiny crystal barbells stared up at Liz. For the life of her she could not imagine what the heck were these supposed to be for or why would anyone want to bid on them. Though upon studying the box, she did discover the crystal was Baccarat. Liz might not be rich and famous, but even she recognized the probably enormous price tag that came with anything Baccarat. She fingered the box of crystal barbells. “It’s all lovely.”
“My mother had a set of knife rests very similar to those. I think we gave them to Andrew as a wedding gift.” With a twinkle in her eyes, Lila Baron smiled at Liz before picking up a box and carrying it across the room to another table.
Liz cast her gaze on the barbells again. Knife rest . Somehow that made sense. Especially with a fancy white linen tablecloth at stake, but looking over at the older woman speaking animatedly with one of the family maids, Liz had the distinct feeling that Mrs. Baron knew all along that Liz had no idea what they were and extremely politely informed Liz without making her feel stupid. That’s what Emily kept saying good manners were all about. Making the next guy feel comfortable. When everyone knows what is expected of them, no one is uncomfortable. Maybe being rich wasn’t about one-upmanship. Maybe it wasn’t anything like the movies made it out to be. And better yet, maybe fitting in wouldn’t be so hard after all.
“Hey.” His boot heels clicking with every step, Devlin crossed the massive room. “I heard you were here today helping. Looks like quite the haul.”
“Why in the name of Jehoshaphat would anyone donate this?” Paige came walking in with a raggedy cardboard box in her arms and dropped it on the table nearest the doorway with a thud. “I mean really.”
“What?” Liz followed Devlin over to his cousin.
Paige lifted the folded lids, exposing the contents. “Look at this stuff.”
Considering what she saw, Liz understood the woman’s reaction. Piles of miscellaneous ornaments, tinsel, garland, a few pine cones covered in sprinkles, a couple of sprigs of what she suspected was mistletoe. Pulling one of the sprigs out of the box, she glanced at it. “Maybe it’s not a lost cause? Maybe if we hang these around the place, call it Christmas in July, we can coax a few folks into spending more?”
“Why?” Devlin reached for another sprig.
Bobbing her head at Liz, his cousin smiled. “Could work. Maybe getting kissed by strangers will put folks in a better mood?”
Devlin raised one brow at his cousin, but didn’t say a word.
“Yeah. You’re probably right.” Paige sighed. “But you can’t blame us girls for trying.” Scooping up the box, she turned her back on them and walked way.
It took a second for Liz to realize that she was still holding one of the sprigs. Lifting it into the air, she called out to Paige, but she was already out of earshot. “I guess I can toss it in the trash as easily as she can.” Holding it in front of her, she stared at the sprig, a grin tugging at her cheeks. “Unless?”
“Unless what?” Devlin’s brows crumpled in confusion.
Raising it a little higher, she stepped closer to him. “Tradition.”
His frown remained and her mouth went suddenly dry. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything. Other than hold her hand for a few minutes the other night, Devlin hadn’t made another gesture towards her. Maybe he was trying to find a polite way to ease out of the proposition.
Just as she was about to spew out some excuse for her silly proposition, Devlin took a step in her direction.
Her breath caught as he continued moving closer until she could see the rise and fall of his chest with every breath. Dear lord, he was going to kiss her. His head dipped and his warm breath fanning her face, he paused, his gaze locked with hers, scanning her eyes, possibly reading her soul.
She couldn’t move, couldn’t blink, and then his mouth closed the distance and pressed ever so tenderly against hers. For the first time in her life, she was sure her toes had curled in her shoes.
Too soon, he eased away and taking a single step in retreat, straightened to his full height. A soft smile took over his face. “That was nice.”
“It was.” She could feel her lips tipping up into a smile. Her first proposition seemed to have worked out. Would it be too forward to suggest they do it again?
Suddenly, his warm smile slipped and his eyes staring over her shoulder narrowed. The soft words “oh, crap” slid from his lips.
Two of her least favorite words in the English language had Liz glancing over her shoulder in the direction Devlin was frowning. One glimpse of the sauntering female and she had to agree. “Oh, crap.”
“Do you think she sees you?” Liz nudged Devlin out of the line of sight of the doorway.
Devlin shrugged one shoulder. “I didn’t notice her look up from her phone. Maybe not.”
“Then you have time to hide.” Liz nudged him another step back. Why, even when she was pushing at him, was she so irresistible?
“Hide? Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not twelve.”
“No.” Liz nudged him a bit more forcefully. “But from everything I’ve heard, she’s a royal pain. Maybe if you try out of sight out of mind, she’ll tire and go after someone else.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
“See?” She nudged him again.
“I don’t mean the hiding, I mean the finding her someone else to focus on.”
“Fine. You think about it from the storage closet.”
Before he realized what had happened, Liz shoved him into the small room and didn’t quite close the door all the way. Holding onto the knob, he was about to swing it open and argue he did not need to hide when Courtney sauntered straight toward Liz, her smile wide and as phony as her long red nails. Suddenly the idea of hiding, not for self-preservation but for snooping, held more appeal than he’d expected.
“You don’t want to give up, do you?” Courtney shifted a large vase from one hip to the other.
“Excuse me?” Glancing toward the closet door, Liz turned her back to where Devlin was hidden and grabbed a nearby box, busying herself with the unpacking.
“When are you going to realize that Devlin has no interest in you? You’re not his kind. A man like that needs a woman who can bolster him to new heights.”
Liz turned just enough so Devlin could see her face. Her expression shifted from momentarily baffled to what he suspected was slowly increasing irritation. “And you think you’re that woman?” Her tone dripped with disbelief, teetering on disdain.
“I’m more woman than even Devlin can handle, but the important thing is that I can handle him.”
She was certainly more woman than Devlin ever wanted to handle. Always had been. He often wondered if she’d gone to the Lucretia Borgia school of ambitious women. One thing he was sure of, all Courtney cared about was money and power. Her modus operandi seemed to be when a man richer and more powerful fell for her charms, she’d discard the current poor schnook she’d married and take on the new one. As far as handling him, she’d have to catch him first. Liz had been correct, hiding was the right move.
“At least I’m sure of one thing. Even with all your money, you’re quite delusional.”
The way Courtney’s eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared, Devlin considered bursting out of the closet and scooping Liz to safety. The gold-digging barracuda looked ready to blow her top.
“You simple-minded fool. You have no idea what you’re up against, but…” Courtney leaned forward, setting the vase on the table. “As sure as any fool can see this paperweight glass vase by Tiffany is worth at least fifty thousand, Devlin will see you for the gold-digging cretin that you are.”
“Pot calling the kettle black?” Liz was practically sneering with delight.
Shaking her head, Courtney eased back. “No man wants hamburger when he can have steak. And I, my dear, am Grade A, prime beef. Once Devlin has had a taste of me, nothing else will do.”
Liz shrugged. “The Barons do seem to like cows.”
In order not to be heard, Devlin had to slap his hand to his mouth to stop his laughter from resounding through the ballroom. Who else would have the nerve to call Courtney a cow?
“Keep dreaming, Emily. You won’t win this one.” Courtney took another step back and spun on her heels. When she reached the doorway, she called over her shoulder, “Tell Paige she can thank me later. That vase will bring a pretty penny. Just like me, everyone in the place will be clamoring for it.”
Under her breath, Liz muttered something that sounded like what a witch. Or she could have said something stronger. Either way, Liz had it right. “You can come out now. She’s gone.”
“And stupid. She thought you were Emily.” It had taken an enormous amount of self-control not to shove the door fully open and share a rather angry piece of his mind with the barracuda. If she were a man, he most definitely would have been delighted to wipe that smug grin right off her face.
“She’s lucky I’m not. Emily probably would have slugged her for some of those comments.”
He chuckled softly. Liz had a point. Emily just might have slugged her. Not for offending Emily, but for attacking Devlin. No one with any brains messed with people Emily cared about. From the way Liz continued to stare down the hall, her teeth grinding, he had the distinct feeling that if Courtney had any idea of what was good for her, she’d stay away from both Carter sisters. And, hopefully, him too!