Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“What’s going on?” I asked once we were far enough away from the cheering crowd where he could finally hear me. He was still leading me by the wrist. I stopped walking, which pulled him back toward me for a second. He looked back and let go.
“Sorry, I have to deal with something,” he said.
Very cryptic. Again. I remembered then the real purpose of my being there.
“Care to tell me what that is? Why you’re dragging me out of the party? I assume it’s not to go cuddle in your room.” I had my arms crossed at this point.
“No, I don’t particularly want to tell you, because it further exposes me and my family to you. But I suppose I will. When I’m finished making sure she’s not here.” He turned and continued toward the house.
“Who?!” I called out. When he didn’t stop, I shouted, “Maggie?”
He turned to ask, “Margaret Flame?” His drawn eyebrows together and lack of understanding made me even more perplexed.
“I saw that she called you the other night. You made up an excuse about it being a board member!” I said, catching up with him.
“It was a board member. It was… well, it was Maggie’s father. He’s a member of our board.”
I drew in a quick breath, accompanied by a stinging sense of foolishness. “Does his first name start with an M?”
“Martin.”
I hung my head and sighed. I cycled from embarrassment to lingering doubt, back to humiliation, to the fear I was losing my mind, and finally settled on relief. Why had I jumped to conclusions? If only I’d brought it up when it first happened…
I put my hands together as if in prayer. “I’m so sorry. Can we pretend I didn’t say anything?”
“What exactly have you been thinking this whole time? That Maggie and I have something going on?”
I shook my head. “I’m not sure what I thought. Let’s just forget it.”
“Forgotten,” he said way too fast. “For now. Let me just make sure Andrea doesn’t ruin this wedding.”
Again, he was off like a shot. Who was Andrea? And why was it Colin’s job to make sure she didn’t ruin the wedding?
I followed Colin, tracing his steps through the pool area and into the house. My poor little feet weren’t going to take this much longer with the very high heels I’d chosen.
“Colin, what is going on?” I asked again to no avail as we zig-zagged through the house to the front door, where Malia was standing with an iPad.
She showed it to Colin. “She’s at the gate. We closed it in time, but there’s a party guest who can’t get through. Should I call the police?”
Colin took the iPad from her. “No. That’s what she’ll want. A scene to film and post online. Not to mention word spreading through the party that the police have been called.”
Malia’s face showed she disagreed, but she didn’t say a word.
“I’ll go talk to her,” Colin said, giving her back the tablet. “Can you get Katelynn something to drink while I do that?” He didn’t wait for either of us to respond and was out the door in a second.
“What would you like to drink?” Malia asked me.
“Uh… nothing,” I said, twisting my fingers awkwardly. “I guess I’ll sit here and wait,” I said, sitting on an upholstered bench by the stairs.
“It’s his ex-fiancée,” Malia said.
This revelation certainly piqued my interest. “Oh?”
“She was after him for his money and connections,” she said.
“Yes, he mentioned something about posting things online.”
“Hmph. She has a lot of nerve showing up here today,” Malia said.
“But what does this have to do with his brother’s wedding? Why tonight?” I asked, hoping the older woman would help me connect the dots.
“You’ll have to ask Colin that,” she said and walked away, leaving me by myself in the large foyer that connected to the living room.
I wandered around anxiously after a few minutes, admiring the impeccable white and beige coastal design choices for the furniture and natural wood elements throughout. It looked like a house out of a magazine.
There were no pictures anywhere. I roamed the length of the living room looking for evidence of life, and I finally found it on a built-in shelf lined with frames and family photos.
The pictures must have been of their summers there.
Most were of the three boys together, silly grins plastered on their faces.
A couple of the photos included the family of five. None were from the last twenty years.
When the sound of the front door opening brought me back to the present moment, I raced back to the foyer, wishing I’d brought a different pair of shoes to go with that dress.
Colin stood in the middle of the foyer, watching the tablet again. “She’s gone,” he said in a flat tone. “The guests were able to get through to the party.”
“Who is Andrea, and why does she want to crash the party?” I asked, purposely leaving out the fact that Malia had told me who she was. I didn’t want to get the housekeeper in trouble for gossiping.
“Remember the influencer ex-fiancée I told you about?” He put the tablet on its dock on the wall. “That’s Andrea. And she merely doesn’t want to crash the party. She wants to ruin the wedding.”
“I don’t understand. What does your ex have to do with your older brother?”
His entire body seemed to stiffen. “They’re both shitty people. That’s what they are. And they slept together a few weeks ago. She’s threatening to tell Haley, Stephen’s fiancée.”
I crossed my arms. His own brother? Gross. “Well, maybe Haley should find out who she’s marrying. Or do you approve of all of this?”
Any interest I’d had in eating the smorgasbord of food down by the beach was suddenly gone.
“Haley knows. She caught him right after it happened. But she still wants the Gordon name and money, I suppose, and didn’t leave him.
She comes from money, but her father won’t finance her ventures.
Her own company is in a growth phase. Now, if the affair is called out in front of all the guests…
I guess that would force a situation in which she’d have to leave him.
At the very least, it would cause a scandal. ”
“Hmmm. So, Andrea slept with your brother?” I whispered, half-fascinated, half-disgusted. “Aren’t you furious?”
“My older brother and I have never gotten along, so it doesn’t surprise me that he feels no brotherly loyalty toward me. What surprises me is that he would go for Andrea, even though he was aware of the money-grabbing mischief she was capable of.”
“Some men only care about one thing,” I said. Then I realized how hopelessly na?ve I must have sounded. As if I were an expert on men. No serious relationships. Less than a handful of sexual partners.
He smiled. “I’m glad you realize that it’s only some men.” He took a few steps toward me and slid his hand up my arm. “I’m caring about a lot more than that with you. Though I have to admit to fantasizing about what it’s going to be like to have all of you.”
My face grew hot quickly. “I have to admit to thinking about the same thing.”
“I’m sorry about all of this. That I dragged you inside without an explanation to take care of my brother’s mistakes.” He was sliding his finger up and down my arm, goosebumps prominently taking over my body.
I looked at the stairs, wishing he’d carry me up them and throw me on the bed so we’d both quit thinking so much and start doing. But the glow from the tent on the beach was visible through the living room window and beckoned.
“We should go back to the party,” I said reluctantly.
He nodded, took my hand, and we made our way back.
The rest of the evening was exactly what I had originally imagined.
Luxurious and fun. The dinner was so delicious that I almost asked Colin if seconds were possible, but I held my tongue.
Good thing, too, because dessert was a serve-yourself buffet of cakes.
I sampled three different cakes, ensuring my sugar levels had a decent enough spike to keep me going for at least another hour.
Colin stayed by my side the whole time, including me in all conversations and singing my praises to all who asked me what I did.
“She takes care of her department. They’d be lost without her. The agency would be lost without her,” he said to a board member.
“That’s not true,” I said, touching Colin lightly on the arm.
The man looked at my hand and back at the two of us.
“You two are dating? What does your father say about that?” the man asked. Since I’d met several board members, I had trouble remembering his name.
Colin put his arm around my waist but maintained a serious countenance. “I suppose we’ll find out when we give him notice.”
“He’ll blow a gasket,” the man said with a chuckle. “You know how he gets about anything that can potentially blow up the company.”
“Thanks, Ron. I’ll keep that in mind. Excuse us,” Colin said, guiding us away.
“Did your dad know you were bringing me?” I asked. He must have. Malia had greeted us as if it had all been planned out.
“Yes, ignore Ron,” he said. But his face didn’t look like he was ignoring anything at all.
We weren’t even a couple yet. This was only our third date, technically. No need to stress out about such a thing. Right?
A few minutes later, I was being introduced to M Flame. Maggie’s father. He was a good-looking older man, not at all unlike Colin in his demeanor. He seemed quiet and serious, but our interaction was positive until he moved on.
Colin danced with me, but I sensed he did it to appease me and that he had no interest in being on the dance floor. After a couple of dances, I let him off the hook and said I wanted to walk along the beach like the others we’d seen strolling by on the shore.
His smile showed he liked my idea, and I took his arm as he helped me off the tent floor. I’d already kicked off my heels and walked with them in hand, but he took them from me and let them dangle from his other hand. I delighted in how helpful he always tried to be. It was so refreshing.
The moon was out above the water. Though it wasn’t a completely full moon, it lit up enough of the shore that we were able to see well once the lit torches were behind us. We passed several couples. Some were talking, some were laughing. One group dared each other to go into the water.
“I wouldn’t do that,” I said to Colin.
“I did do that. Fastest I ever came out of the water was when I saw a fin coming straight at me.”
“A shark?” I gasped.
“It had to have been. But Stephen didn’t believe me.
He didn’t ‘feel’ like getting in the water after that though, so maybe he believed me enough to be spooked by it.
Anyway, I learned my lesson after that. Though I have been swimming with sharks before off the Bahamas, but that wasn’t in the evening when they’re more likely to feed. ”
“You’ve been swimming with sharks?” I gasped again.
“I’ve also gone bungee jumping and hang gliding,” he said.
“How haven’t you told me this?” I asked.
“We’re still getting acquainted. I have to leave a little mystery to me so you don’t get bored.” He squeezed my hand.
I laughed. “I wouldn’t have ever guessed it in a million years.”
“I’m not always serious,” he said.
“True. I’ve seen many sides of you. But I can’t keep up with any of that adventurous stuff. I don’t even like roller coasters,” I admitted.
“But you like dancing. You were great at talking to everyone, keeping the conversations flowing. We all have our strengths. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to jump out of a plane with me.”
“Good, because I’m pretty sure that I’d die before even getting up in the air. And I won’t make you dance anymore.”
“While I won’t beg you to go dancing, getting to hold you close has its advantages. I won’t say no to that,” he said. This time I squeezed his hand.
The waves touched my feet, and I gave a little yelp at the unexpected sensation of cold water. With one quick motion, Colin picked me up.
I gave another little shout, but locked my arms around his neck. His muscles were hard beneath me, holding me up.
He kissed me then, and I obliged. He put me down slowly, his arms still wrapped around me, holding me tighter.
My own hands caressed his neck and face and around the back of his neck.
I lost all perception of time and place, opened my eyes when we took a few seconds to breathe, and was surprised to see we were still by the beach in the dark.
“There’s at least one thing we have in common,” Colin said, his voice low and rough.
“I suppose we do that well, don’t we?” I said, a little out of breath.
He reached down to hold both of my hands and said, “We complement each other well.”
The little nagging feeling I’d been trying to ignore since he first asked me out on a proper date was surfacing. “We’re not too different? Our personalities? Our… income? The way we grew up. Our families. There are a lot of differences.”
“You’re right—there are a lot of differences. But I think that means we can learn a lot from each other, don’t you? The differences don’t have to be a problem.”
I pondered his words but wasn’t convinced.
Our walk back to the party was more contemplative, the wonderful kiss forgotten for now. As we neared the tent, a woman, coming seemingly out of nowhere, shone her phone flashlight in our faces. My arms came up to protect my eyes from the bright light.
“So how does it feel knowing you failed to keep me out tonight?” the woman said, her arm flailing about.
“Andrea!” Colin growled.
“You can’t tell me what to do, Colin,” she spat out.
“You gave that right up when you dumped me. I would have done every little thing you said, if only you hadn’t listened to your brother.
You know how well I like to be at your command.
But no, you believed your brother over me.
And now I’m going to fuck up his wedding. ”
Suddenly the flashlight went off, and we were in the dark. It took a few seconds for my vision to return. Andrea was walking toward the tent, and Colin was following her. I’d caught a glimpse of his face before he’d taken off, and he was not happy.
I had a choice to make. If I went after them as a spectator, I’d be doing nothing.
I’m not sure how it happened.
I don’t know what possessed me to even have an idea like that, but it took me a split second to decide that it was my only choice.
So I screamed bloody murder.