by L A Pepper
She stood up, both hands on the table and glared at me. “Of course you are. It’s required for the staff at Worldly Magazine. The invitations went out six months ago.”
I smiled at her. “Yes. And I have only worked here for four months. I never received an invitation.”
Rachel smiled back. “That was an oversight. You are already on the guest list and you need to be there, ready to play the game, and woo the millionaires who are dying to get into Nick’s good graces. I want you to make sure you dress up to look your best.”
I choked, too offended to be eloquent. “What?”
“You may not like to play the game, but you’re in the game, Chloe Beckett, and you could go far with the right connections. You can start making them here. I wanted you on our staff because of your abilities, but more than that, for who you could be. So. Listen to your auntie Rachel--”
“You’re not my auntie, you’re not much older than me--”
“And show up wearing a fabulous gown and shmooze with the rich people who love pretty, talented women. It makes them feel special if they think they’ve discovered the next new sensation.”
“You have got to be kidding me. I’m a writer, not a salesman.”
“This is a business, Chloe. You need the money people on your side. That includes Nick, I might add.”
I pressed my lips together. He didn’t want me on his side. Or he wouldn’t have pretended the elevator didn’t happen. “Well, I can’t go. I’m a poor writer. I don’t have a couture gown for a billionaire’s gala. All the money people will see is a country girl dressed up in rags.”
“I was hoping that would be your only objection!” She said, her bright smile back. “I have the perfect dress for you. It’s just a bit too small for me and I think it would fit you just right.”
“I’m not taking your dress.”
“It’s not really my dress. One of the perks of being in publishing are all the glamorous connections. The dress was a gift from a designer whose show I covered. However, it never quite fit so I never wore it. It’s just taking up room in my closet now. So I’ll bring it on Thursday and you’ll take Friday off to go to the spa.”
“I can’t afford a spa--”
“I have a gift certificate, and before you says you can’t take my gift certificate, it’s swag from an awards show and a competing company to my aesthetician so I simply cannot use it out of loyalty. You’ll take it. Take the dress and be early to the gala. You may not know this, but you’re my protege. I have plans for you. And I don’t intend your modesty to ruin them.”
I blinked at her. “Okay.” What else was there to say?
“Good. You also work too hard, so you can take this as me making sure you don’t burn out, and will continue to be the writerly beast you are far into your career. Yes?”
“Yes.”
She smiled. “Okay, get back to work before Nick decides to come back in and lay into you.”
“What?” My heart stuttered.
“Go,” she said. And I went.
* * *
I arrived there early, like Rachel asked. I’d taken the day off, got my hair and makeup done at a fancy salon, and wore the dress.
“You look amazing,” Rachel said when she saw me. “I knew that dress would be fabulous on you.”
I looked down. It was. The dress came up over one shoulder and fell long and sleek, with a slit ending high on my thigh. The deep red made my light olive skin glow and my dark hair gleam. “It’s a beautiful dress, Rachel. Thank you. Point me towards the money people you want me to shmooze. I’m ready to play the game. I promise.”
She laughed and swiped a couple of glasses of pink champagne from a passing waiter. “No, you don’t have to work tonight. I actually just wanted you here to have some fun. You work way too hard and you need a night out. Go ahead,” she waved at the still empty ballroom. “Drink champagne, dance, find someone to flirt with. Enjoy yourself.”
“What? I thought it was a work event.”
She shrugged and chuckled. “Nope. The staff hates this thing. It’s a work/life balance requirement. Oh I think I see someone I have to…” but Rachel was already gone before she could finish making an excuse. I glared at her as she made her way across the parquet floor to a group of people chatting under the high chandeliers. “I was brought here under false pretenses.” The dress. The spa day. All of it? A group of laughing people entered the room, and I decided I’d need more champagne to deal with all this socializing. It was still early. There was plenty of time to get buzzed to make this less painful.
The music started up, and I decided I was going to enjoy myself. This was part of what I wanted, wasn’t it? To get the chance to live and not be stuck in the mountains tending bees and flowers where nothing ever happened because you were snowed in all winter? Here I was, rubbing shoulders with billionaires who weren’t my boss and hadn’t been ignoring me for weeks and who hadn’t been showing up in my dreams to drive me mad.
In fact, it was a good thing Rachel had brought me here under false pretenses, sneaky but good. She was right. I should get out there. Move on. Find someone else to think about except for the entirely unsuitable and hopeless Nick Meryton.
So that’s what I did. There were so many trays of champagne being carried through the party that I lost count of how many I had, dizzied by the crystal chandeliers and the beautiful gowns and just how not like my own life this gala was. And when a man with sparkling honey brown eyes asked me to dance, I said yes, and I ignored the memory of Nick’s face that came to mind.
This man was not Nick Meryton, who wasn’t even here. This was someone else entirely. And he wanted to dance with me, unlike Nick, who didn’t even want to be in the same room with me. I liked being in his arms, even though they weren’t Nick’s arms. I liked the way he seemed to hang on my every word and I liked the way he laughed when I made a joke, even though his laugh came a second after Nick’s would have, because for some reason, Nick always seemed to get my joke before I even finished it. For some reason, Nick seemed to get me, before the words ever came out of my mouth.
But I pushed thoughts of Nick aside and looked at this man, who actually paid attention to me, unlike Nick, and when he leaned in to me, I let him. And when he smiled with that quirk to the corner of his mouth that reminded me of Nick, it almost made me angry. Because this was NOT Nick, and I had to remember that.
I said his name as often as I could to remind myself. “David,” I said. “David…” and asked him inane questions just to keep talking. He didn’t seem to notice they were inane though. Nick would have, and he would have mocked me mercilessly and I would have returned fire. But no, David just wanted to get me into bed, and it was simple and obvious. It probably wasn’t going to work, but I was considering it. I knew I needed to get over Nick. And I didn’t think David would ever help me get over Nick.
Chapter Seven: Attached
I bypassed the tray of champagne that the waiter carried around and went straight to the bar for a double scotch neat. I was no amateur when it came to my family’s charity events. I wouldn’t have come to this one, but it was required of me. I made sure to come as late as I could get away with and still call it ‘fashionable.’
The gala was in full swing. And I was in a full bullish mood. Everyone noticed. It wasn’t as if it were subtle. And I knew what it was, which made it worse.
It was Chloe.
I couldn’t get her out of my mind. For three weeks all I could think of was getting her alone, tasting her bare skin again and that just wouldn’t do. I was not allowed to lust over my employees. So I’d spent most of the last three weeks avoiding her, which wasn’t easy when neither of us ever seemed to do anything but work. I was just glad to have a night out where I wouldn’t have to see or think about Chloe. No one at Worldly Magazine actually wanted to come to these deadly things.
Clearly, my only solution was to find some other woman to be obsessed with. With those intentions, I leaned back on the bar and sur
veyed the room to see if there were any new faces in the crowd. Or old ones who wouldn’t mind another go around.
It didn’t take me long before my eyes caught on a woman in a red dress that hugged her mouthwatering curves in all the right places. Her long dark hair streamed down her back in luxurious waves and when she laughed at something, the man with her said, her laughter floated across the room and gave me chills. She flicked her hair and the grace of her arm and wrist set up a resonance in me, a tug, that was just what I was looking for. All I could see was her back, but I could tell.
I smiled and settled in to observe for a bit. She didn’t look all that familiar with her companion so I doubted I couldn’t win her away from him. I was, after all, a famous billionaire who was legendary for making the ladies fall in love with me. Why not take advantage of that? The guy stepped around the woman and whispered in her ear.
Dammit. It was David. I should have known he’d be here. Of course. I’d known. He was the dutiful son who ran behind our father and jumped through all the hoops so he could have daddy’s approval. And I was the son who never really fell in line. The trouble maker. The one who didn’t care for parental approval and didn’t need it. David was the son who was always trying to catch up, to make them like him. They did of course, but he could never top competing with me. Even though I told him I wasn’t trying to take anything from him. I never had been. I never wanted anything he had… until now.
I took another swallow of scotch and watched my brother hit on the woman in red. He wasn’t very good at it, if I was being honest. It was amusing to watch him try to sidle up to her and how she avoided his reach. Another brother might actually back off if he knew that his brother had an interest in a woman, but we were not like that with each other. He was, and always had been, jealous of me, and I was and, always had been, uncaring of his jealousy.
David leaned in and said something to the woman, his arm sneaking around her waist and drawing her against his side, so apparently his moves were starting to work on her.
I guess I’d have to find a different girl after all. I begrudgingly wished him the best.
Then she turned in my brother’s arms and I slammed my drink on the bar and made my way across the room before I even knew what I was doing.
“David,” I said, menace in my voice.
He took a step back from her, clearly shocked by my sudden appearance. I didn’t care.
Chloe turned and looked up at me, her blue eyes startled. “Nick?”
“Sweetheart,” I said, and wrapped my own arm around her waist pulling her to me, away from my brother. I pressed a soft kiss to her cheek.
She stiffened in shock, but didn’t pull away and I used the opportunity to nuzzle her neck. “I’m sorry I’m late. How beautiful you are my darling.”
“Your darling?” David glared at me, suspiciously. And rightfully so. I smiled broadly back at him. “Are you with her?”
“Yes. Thanks for keeping her company, while she waited for me.”
“I was waiting for you?” Her lips tightened. She was pissed off. Lord help me, I found her annoyance adorable. I repressed my grin.
“Don’t be like that, honey.” I let my fingers play with a lock of her hair. She never wore it down like this and it was glorious. I wrapped it around my finger and brought it up to my lips to kiss it. It did not smell like apple blossoms tonight and I was disappointed. I looked up at her and smiled, she glared back at me.
“Sweetheart. Darling. And now honey?” She arched an eyebrow at me, danger in her eyes. I liked it.
“Would you prefer apple blossom?”
She blinked in surprise and her lips fell open. Kissable.
“She doesn’t look happy to see you, Nick.”
Right. David. I’d forgotten. I turned to look at him. He was slightly shorter, slightly heavier, and his hair was beginning to thin. Everyone had always called me the more handsome brother, and I knew that was part of why he hated me. He was always being compared less favorably to his younger brother. But I’d never had any part in it. Now I was damn well going to use whatever I had at my disposal, because he could not have Chloe. “We’ve been fighting.” I said, I stood up taller and looked down at him.
“Well that’s true, for sure,” Chloe said under her breath. A waiter passed, and she grabbed a glass of champagne from his tray.
“So I still have a chance to steal you away from him?” David turned his attention back to Chloe, putting on a playboy smile that was totally transparent.
“No,” I growled.
This time she put a hand up to my chest and pushed me away. She glared at me and sipped from her glass. “Steal me away? That would require you to have me, wouldn’t it, Nick?” What a challenge. I would rise to it.
“Don’t be like that, baby,” I said, and plucked her hand from where it still was on my chest. I brought it to my lips and kissed her palm, her Aegean blue eyes fluttered. I smiled brightly at her, the smile that made women do whatever I wanted. She yanked her hand back out of mine.
“I’m baby now? Are you planning to claim me?” She was mad. Mad that I’d stayed away from her for three weeks. Mad that I never brought up what had happened between us. Mad that I hadn’t talked to her. And maybe she should have been. I suddenly felt very foolish about it. I suddenly wished I’d asked her out on a real date. Employee or no. It wasn’t a joke. I never thought it was a joke.
“Oh no,” David said. “Please don’t claim her. I want her.”
A spike of cold went from my head to my toes. “You can’t have her. She’s mine.”
“Really?” What a challenge. She didn’t realize that she was in the middle of a long standing sibling rivalry. It was just the way she was, and it delighted me as much as David pissed me off. This gala was turning out not to be so deadly dull after all.
“Really,” I affirmed. What would she say to that? She was mine.
“Then I supposed I should put your engagement ring back on.” Her sarcasm dripped from her words.
“Yes. You should,” I smirked.
“You’re engaged!?” David gaped at us. “Mom is going to kill you, Nick.”
“Mom?” She blinked and looked back and forth between me and David.
“I thought you’d already met my brother, Chloe,” I said and my voice was far deadlier than I had intended it to be. Her eyes widened. I was mad too. I couldn’t even look at David. I couldn’t believe she’d let him touch her. That she’d do that to me. I must have let something show in my eyes. She took a step towards me, her head tilted slightly to the side.
“Bro-brother.” She turned her head to look at David, who was watching us avidly. “David. You said you were David— David Meryton. At the Meryton Gala. Oh my gosh! You’re Nick’s brother.”
“I’m hurt, Nick. Your fiance doesn’t seem to know a thing about me.”
“We have no reason to talk about you.”
Chloe was stiff at my side. “Nick,” she hissed. “Nick, can I talk to you? In private?”
“Yes, Nick. Why don’t you go talk to your fiance, while I go inform Mom and Dad that you have decided to cut them out of your life. I mean you didn’t even tell them you’ve made a major decision like marriage?” He smiled viciously at me. He was looking forward to starting an argument. Of course. Anything that made him feel like he was winning.
But he wasn’t winning Chloe, that was for sure. I draped my arm around her shoulders and took the champagne glass from her limp fingers, finishing it off in one swallow. “Why don’t you go do that. Remind them that I do not require permission from my parents to live my life. And I don’t need their approval, either. Can you say the same?”
He sneered at me but didn’t answer, just ran off to go tell our parents. We were grownups but sometimes we still acted like kids still trying to win a sibling war. I heaved a heavy sigh.
“Nick…” Chloe said, her voice shaky. “Did you just tell your brother, who then went to tell your parents, that we are engaged to be married? B
ecause that’s what it sounded like.”
Yes. He had already told them. It was very quiet in the ballroom. Everyone was staring. “Yes. I did,” I ducked my head so only she could hear. Because everyone was listening. “I also told the gossip columnists, Rachel, and apparently everyone in New York City.” A flash went off. Then another. We would be on page six in the morning. “We’re apparently officially engaged.”
“Nick.”
“You look lovely, though,” I said, because I hadn’t said it yet, and she did. We were already in a huge tangle, so I might as well let myself enjoy finally being able to talk to her again. To touch her.
“I would like…” her words faded off like she couldn’t figure out what to say first.
“To talk in private?”
“To kill you.”
I laughed as if she had just said the wittiest thing. Appearances were important. No one could know how all of this was a mess.
Another flash went off. I smiled, instinct, then leaned in to her. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, then kissed her.
Chapter Eight: Driving
Nick smiled and posed for the cameras as they flashed around us, and I did my best to not look like a deer caught in headlights. None of this made sense, but I was trying to go with the flow, play the game, like Rachel wanted me to do. I didn’t think this was the game she meant for me to play. I caught her gaping at me from the crowd for a bit but then I lost her in the dizzying spin of it all.
“Nick,” I pulled him down to me and whispered in his ear. “I need—I need to sit down.”
The mask of perfection slipped and his brows narrowed in concern. “Are you okay? Is this too much?” His hand came up to make soothing circles against my bare skin between my shoulder blades and it reminded me of the way he touched me in the elevator. It occurred to me that he thought I might be losing it again. Gosh, that would be the worst.
“No. I’m not having a panic attack. But I’ve had way too much to drink, and you just told the world that we’re engaged to be married and I was never even asked about it.”