by Patt Marr
His eyes shifted ever so slightly, a dead giveaway that he hadn’t been honest with her. That was all right. She didn’t expect more from a professional spinmeister.
“Let me talk to Daddy, George. I’ll try to make things right with him though I won’t budge about Bruce.”
Nodding, his face a mask, George signaled for Clive to take them inside.
Reproach blazed from Clive’s weasel eyes as he guided them to the front corner of the ballroom near the side steps to the dais. “You might think of somebody besides yourself for once, Sunny,” he snarled and walked off.
Pete started after him, but she grabbed his arm. “It’s okay. Clive’s just doing his job. We’re supposed to be intimidated.”
Sucking in a deep settling breath, Pete murmured, “I don’t know, but it could be he’s just miffed because we didn’t bring him some of your cheese-cake.”
Bruce slipped into the projectionist’s room overlooking the ballroom. He ought to be working this crowd who’d paid megabucks a plate to honor Sam. After tonight, he’d need to tap every one of their checkbooks. More important for the moment, however, was a place to hide. His aide said Margo Price was drunk and looking for Brucey. If there was one man Bruce chose not to annoy tonight, it was her husband, that monster Clive.
His aide also said Sam wanted him down by the stage to hook up with Sunny and ease her date out of the picture. He peered out the projection room window, trying to spot her, but the people were practically ant-size at this distance.
“Looking for somebody?” one of the techs asked. “Try these.” He handed over a set of binoculars.
From the pirated Dream Date episode he’d been shown, Bruce recognized Pete Maguire right away, but the babe with her backside to him couldn’t be Sunny…though she had Sunny’s bright hair. The woman turned and he got a frontal look. Whoa! He’d seriously underestimated the girl’s potential.
His instincts about women seldom failed him, and, for the most part, he’d been right about Sunny when they were engaged. He’d known she wouldn’t tolerate him fooling around. He just hadn’t counted on getting caught.
Now instinct said they ought to give up on her, but Sam was obsessed these days, ordering him to “pour on the charm,” as if that would make a difference. He’d like to see Sam charm a woman who hated his guts and clung to the arm of a guy like Pete Maguire.
No, he’d sit this one out. If Sunny came through, Sam could take the credit. If she didn’t, he didn’t want the blame. He’d done his part, providing a stand-in.
Pete watched the large crowd move about the ballroom. “There must be at least two thousand people here,” he murmured.
“Daddy packs them in.” Her eyes flitted about apprehensively.
If she was nervous, he wasn’t doing his job. “What did that guy George say to you?”
“Just the same old stuff about me getting back with Bruce. Now we’ll see if I’m welcome on my terms.”
Outraged at the position they’d put her in, he said, “If you have to wonder, do you actually care if you’re welcome?”
“I care. If my parents can respect me, I want them in my life. The love’s not all gone, at least not on my side.”
“And if they won’t accept you without Bruce?”
“I guess it is just on my side.”
Pete laced his fingers in hers. He didn’t know how she managed the calm in those butternut eyes. Her parents and Daniels had betrayed her, deceived her and still wanted to manage her life. Yet, here she was, turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, wanting to love them.
Someone or something behind him had her attention. “Heads up,” she muttered. “Blonde at two o’clock.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw who she meant and felt his blood pressure rise. “Ah, no,” he groaned, “it’s my ex.”
She grinned. “Don’t worry. I can handle blondes with one hand tied behind my back.” She tugged him toward Lisa.
Resisting, he growled, “What are you doing?”
“It’s high time that woman knew what she’s been missing.”
“This is not a good idea, Sunny.”
“Trust me. It’s a great idea!”
Lisa glanced his way, did a double take as if something about him were familiar, then looked away without recognition.
“Say something,” Sunny muttered. “Talk to her.”
He sighed. “I don’t want to talk to her.”
Lisa whipped her head toward him. “What did you say?”
She’d recognized his voice. There was no escape now. “Hello, Lisa.”
She stared at him as if she were seeing a ghost.
“Don’t you recognize me?”
“Pete?” She scanned his face, taking in all the changes.
“I was in an accident,” he blurted, not wanting her to think he’d had plastic surgery for cosmetic reasons. “Like the caps?” He showed off his teeth, letting her see the gap between his front teeth wasn’t there anymore. It had always bugged her.
Speechless, she looked at him as if he weren’t quite human. It wasn’t like Lisa to be at a loss for words. He smiled, realizing how altogether satisfying that was.
“Pete, you look…fabulous,” she said breathily.
He’d like to say the same back, and Lisa did look more sophisticated, but older and harder, especially compared to his sweet Sunny.
“Isn’t he a hunk?” Sunny interjected, wrapping herself around him, undoubtedly for Lisa’s benefit, though it felt great.
But Lisa had no time for Sunny. “Pete, what are you doing here?” she asked, glancing at their surroundings, silently questioning his presence at a high-ticket, high-society party.
She hadn’t changed. He ignored the question and smiled down at Sunny. “Lisa, I’d like you to meet Sunny Keegan.”
“The senator’s daughter?” Lisa said, obviously impressed.
“It’s lovely to meet you.” Sunny extended her hand. “Any ex of Pete’s is a friend of mine.”
Coughing, he tried to cover wild laughter.
Lisa’s eyes narrowed. “How do you two know each other?”
Sunny drew his arm around her. “Actually, you can see for yourself. Tune in to the TV show Dream Date, next Wednesday. We were the winners when the show was taped several weeks ago. It’s been a whirlwind romance, hasn’t it, darling?”
Darling? He kind of liked that. “Love at first sight,” he said, snuggling his girl. Thanks to Brad and his camera, he was an old hand at this.
Sunny batted her big brown eyes at him. “You know, Pete, I think Lisa should be the first to know.”
Know what? He passed the ball. “You tell her, sweetheart.”
“Love to. Tonight, as we drove in from Pete’s lovely beach house in Malibu Colony…”
Lisa’s shocked expression said that was a three-point shot.
“Oh, you didn’t know,” Sunny said sympathetically. “Pete must have come into his money after you left.”
Lisa deserved a little torture, didn’t she? He added, “It happened the day we signed our divorce papers.”
Technically only the accident happened that day. The money had come later, but it was more dramatic, stated that way. Maybe Lisa would think twice about upgrading again.
“On the drive in tonight,” Sunny continued, “Pete proposed!”
Lisa gasped. “I thought you were engaged to Bruce Daniels.”
“Oh, that. Just a media story, Lisa. We parted last summer, thank goodness, or I’d never have met Pete. Pete’s the most wonderful, kind, generous man I’ve ever met.”
Leave it to Lisa to pick up on “generous” and glance at Sunny’s naked ring finger. His sweetheart had laid it on a little too thick. How would she get out of this one?
“Pete, darling, now I wish we hadn’t left my ring in the car. It needs to be sized,” she explained. “I didn’t want to risk losing a three-carat marquis.”
“Three carats?” Lisa repeated in a strangled voice.
Pe
te wasn’t sure what kind of ring that was, but for a reaction like that, he’d buy Sunny two of them.
“Pete, I think Daddy wants us,” Sunny said, providing their escape. “Lovely to meet you, Lisa.”
Strolling back toward the dais, he glanced back and caught Lisa watching them, openmouthed. How sweet it was, this gentle revenge.
Judging from the glow in Sunny’s beautiful eyes, she agreed wholeheartedly. “You liked that, didn’t you?” he said, teasing his girl.
“It was perfect! Lisa won’t sleep a wink tonight.”
“I’m going to get you that ring,” he vowed, “first thing Monday morning.”
She protested, “Oh, no! Please! I just had to say something that would really zap her. And don’t worry about people thinking we’re really engaged, not even if Lisa tells it.” The words peppered out of her like nails from a gun. “With my reputation for leaving a guy at the altar, we can say I called it off. People will just think I’m a flake. Maybe I am. It doesn’t matter.”
He couldn’t take it, not those words, not that reproach of herself. He tipped her chin up and said sternly. “Don’t ever talk that way again. I love you just the way you are.”
Those big brown eyes melted. “You love me?”
“Like I never thought I’d love anyone.”
“I love you, too.”
It was the most precious moment of his life, but that’s all it would be, for he saw Sunny’s dad bearing down on them. He’d never met the man in person, but that was him, all right.
Chapter Fourteen
Senator Sam Keegan, professional mover and shaker, approached with his arms opened wide, his face wreathed in smiles. Cameras flashed as he embraced his daughter. Something about it turned Pete’s stomach. He knew what it felt like to love Sunny, and this wasn’t it.
Flash after flash, the media snapped father and daughter standing side by side, their likeness unmistakable. She beckoned him near and said, “Daddy, I’d like you to meet my special friend, Pete Maguire.”
Pete put his arm around her, letting the world see she was his, caressing her shoulder, willing her to feel his love.
“Maguire,” her father said, extending his hand, smiling.
“Senator,” he acknowledged, surprised at the cordiality.
“I understand you met my daughter on the same television show that employed your sister.”
So, the senator knew about Dream Date. But why mention Meggy?
“And your mother exhibits her work at the Foster Gallery in Phoenix?”
He nodded, unperturbed. It was okay for a man to check up on the guy seeing his daughter.
“I understand your mother still misses your father, though it’s been, let’s see, about two and a half years since he passed away. About the time your wife divorced you, isn’t that right?”
Sunny saw the pattern and knew it for what it was, a tactic designed to intimidate Pete. But he stood there unflinching, his half smile saying he wasn’t rattled by the senator’s efforts to push his buttons.
“Sounds like you’ve been checking up on me, sir.”
“Pete,” she said, “if I know Daddy, he had a complete dossier on you within hours of knowing you’d be my date tonight. He probably has it all, right down to your shoe size.”
Her father smiled. “My daughter knows me well.”
“Perhaps I should be flattered,” Pete said, staying so cool, she could have hugged him.
“Not necessarily,” the senator said, turning his head, dismissing Pete in one swift move.
Behind the senator’s back, Pete winked at her. Good for him. She’d seen that move demoralize lesser men.
“Charles tells me you didn’t come in the limo,” her father said, addressing her only, his voice edged with ice.
Sunny lifted her chin. It was her turn. Pete hadn’t folded, and neither would she. “We didn’t need the limo. Pete drove.”
“What? Your Jaguar? Enjoyed that, did you, Maguire?” her father asked with a smirk.
She hated it when her father acted this way. “We didn’t come in my car, Daddy,” she corrected him quietly. “Not that it matters.”
“You didn’t show up here in Maguire’s old pickup?” the senator said in mock horror. “Well, for the sake of a good tip, I trust the boys at valet parking were kind.”
Sunny had forgotten what a snob her father could be.
But Pete reacted magnificently. “I’m impressed that you know about Old Red, Senator.”
Her father lifted a questioning brow.
“My pickup,” Pete explained with feigned innocence. “Old Red’s like one of the family. I’m sorry. I supposed you knew that.”
Sunny hid a grin. It wasn’t much of a jab, but she’d liked it.
“Maguire, you’d be surprised what I know about you,” her father retorted pompously.
“Or think you know,” Pete shot back.
“Let’s put it this way, Maguire. I know all I need to know.”
“I’m beginning to think that’s a two-way street, Senator.”
When had anyone ever stood up to her father this way? She was proud of Pete for giving as good as he got and terribly disappointed in her father. “Daddy, a person’s worth hardly depends on his transportation. Surely there’s something more interesting we can talk about.”
“There is, but first let’s get Maguire on his way. Thanks for bringing my daughter,” he said, his smile insincere as he reached in his pocket and brought out a large bill. Tucking it behind Pete’s breast handkerchief, he said, “Use this to tip the valet attendant, or keep it for yourself if he snickers at the pickup.”
“Pete’s not leaving!” she protested, aghast at her father’s rudeness.
“Sunny, the man’s out of his league here,” her father said, signaling his bodyguards who appeared on either side of Pete.
Pete looked at her for direction, silently asking just how big of a scene should he make.
“Daddy! Why are you doing this?”
“I’m thinking of you! Can’t you see this out-of-work bum is just after your money?”
Not only was his belittling assessment all wrong, it was proof he had no respect for her or her wishes.
“Come with me,” he ordered, grasping her arm.
Resisting, she protested. “Stop it, Daddy.”
An older woman, resplendent in bugle beads and diamonds, wedged her way into their group. “Pete Maguire!” she exclaimed. “I thought it was you.”
The bodyguards took a step back. Her father relaxed his hold.
“It’s about time somebody got you into a tux.” She rained air kisses either side of his head. “Harry, look who’s here.”
Bald, portly, an unlit cigar in his hand, the man greeted Pete heartily. “Pete, my man! I didn’t know you were one of the senator’s supporters?”
“Actually, I’m one of his daughter’s.”
The man’s quick once-over counted her sequins, but in such an appreciative, nonsexual way, Sunny couldn’t really object.
“Do I see a starlet? You want to be in pictures, honey?”
Sunny spotted George tugging on his ear, the signal that said these people had a healthy bank balance the senator had yet to tap.
Her father touched his tie, a signal asking for names.
But Pete introduced them, saying, “Sunny, meet Bev and Harry Sapato. Harry’s got a couple of Oscars for producing movies, though Bev ought to have them for putting up with Harry.”
“You’ve got that right,” the woman said, lightly whacking Pete’s belly with her diamanté clutch.
“Bev, Harry, may I introduce the senator’s daughter, Sunny Keegan. The senator, no doubt, you already know.”
Before she could respond, her father took over. Charisma oozing, he said, “It’s terrific to see you again.”
Harry chewed on his cigar, a devilish look in his eyes. “Actually, Senator, we’ve never met. We’re guests of friends tonight.”
“Then you’ll have to bring them t
o one of our Sunday get-togethers, and we’ll all get acquainted. Have you met Eleanor?”
On cue, her mother slipped beside her husband. Impeccably groomed, elegant in mauve, she was ready for her job. Her husband had cued her to be nice to the couple. Nothing else mattered, certainly not the presence of one wayward daughter.
For once, Sunny didn’t care, not when she had Pete by her side. He caught her gaze and returned it with such approval and love, the feeling washed over her in calming waves.
She must have missed her father introducing the Sapatos, but she heard Bev say, “We’re tickled pink to see Pete here with your daughter.”
Her mother offered her hand regally to Pete. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Eleanor Keegan.”
“Pete Maguire,” he said respectfully.
“You’re going to love Pete,” Bev gushed. “I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
“Mr. Maguire works for you?” her mother said.
Bev giggled. “Does he ever! Pete can fix anything. I’d trade him for Harry anyday. Not only that, his price is right.”
“Bev makes great carrot cake,” Pete affirmed.
“But there’ll be no carrot cake for a man who keeps secrets. We didn’t know Pete knew your daughter, Mrs. Keegan.”
“Yes, well, our daughter has so many friends,” her mother said magnanimously. “I’m sure your handyman—”
Harry’s bark of laughter caught her midsentence. “Mrs. Keegan, Pete’s not our handyman! He’s our next-door neighbor.”
“In the Colony,” Bev added, as if she’d recognized her parents’ snobbery and had little tolerance for it.
“Malibu?” the senator asked curtly, sending his aide a look that made the man flinch.
“Yes,” Harry said, apparently enjoying the senator’s discomfiture. “We’re all one big happy family out there. Pete, how are those plans coming along for that new development?”
“It’s still in the early stages, Harry. But I have an option on a good-size piece of land.”
What development? Had Pete been keeping secrets from her?
“Starter homes for young families,” Pete whispered in her ear. “I’m going to build ’em.”