The ceremony was lovely and simple and over very quickly. Before Eva knew it, the groom was kissing the bride—and his brother and his bride’s best friend. In his exuberance, he even kissed the officiant.
After the service they hopped into a cab and went to a restaurant in Soho. “They haven’t opened yet,” Ruth explained as the car pulled up to the curb. “Since they’re still working out the kinks in the kitchen, I got a great deal on a luncheon. It’s a fair trade: We get a wedding party, and they get a last chance to put everything in order before the huge opening gala we’re arranging for them next week.”
The restaurant, which was large, with high ceilings, great lighting and distressed-brick walls, was precisely the kind of place Ruth’s agency always represented. No doubt it had a celebrity chef in the kitchen.
Since this was an impromptu reception, the room had been decorated very simply, with glowing candles and white paper wedding bells. The tables had been arranged on one large dais and there were already people milling about sipping champagne. Eva recognized Billie, Ruth’s boss, and Matthew, her assistant. Both were dressed for an informal lunch reception, and Eva couldn’t figure out if they’d gone home to change or if that was how they dressed every day.
“I can’t believe you pulled this off at the last minute,” Eva said, as she accepted a flute from a white-gloved waiter who was standing by the door.
“Of course you can,” her friend said. “This is what I do.”
Before Eva could respond, Ruth was carried away by her boss. Eva turned to Mark’s brother, Alexander, whom she’d met several times before. He lived in the city, on the Upper East Side. They talked for a little while about his business—he sold advertising for a major television network—and his parents, who lived in a gated retirement community in Florida.
“They should be here any second,” he said, looking at his watch. “As soon as Mark told them the news, they jumped into the car to catch the first plane out. I’m not sure if they even packed luggage.”
“They must be disappointed to have missed the ceremony.”
“Yes,” he agreed, “but don’t worry. They’ll make Mark and Ruth do the whole thing again in the spring. Not that the newlyweds realize it yet. They still think they got off scot-free.”
“There you are, Eva,” said a familiar female voice from behind her. “I knew you’d be here.”
Eva turned around. It was Jenny, at whose birthday party she’d devised her plan to bring Ruth and Mark together. She introduced Alexander to Jenny and chatted with them for a while. Jenny had just returned from a buying trip to Paris and was excited to talk about the latest styles. Alexander, whose job never took him anywhere glamorous, listened with a rapt expression. After a while, Eva excused herself. As the lone bridesmaid, it was her duty to mingle.
It was a little after twelve and the restaurant was now crowded with well-wishers. She didn’t know how Ruth had pulled it off. Even though it was Friday, it was still a work day and yet all these people had abandoned their obligations to celebrate for a little while.
Deciding it was time for another drink, Eva negotiated her way to the bar. She had just ordered a glass of red wine when Mark waylaid her.
“Eva, Eva, darling Eva,” he said, snaking an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close. “I don’t believe you’ve met my boss, Randolph Higgins. Randy, this is Eva Butler, the woman responsible for all my happiness.”
Eva laughed as she accepted a glass of pinot from the bartender. “Surely, Ruth has something to do with that,” she said, offering her hand to the editor from Newsweek. She’d never met Randolph Higgins before, but she’d heard a lot about him. Mark liked his boss and always spoke very highly of him.
“Yes, I suppose she does,” Mark agreed with a crooked smile. “Speaking of which, I haven’t seen her for a good ten minutes. She better not be in the kitchen again, telling the line chefs where to stand. That woman doesn’t know how to be a guest at her own party. Perhaps I better go look for her.”
Watching him disappear into the crowd, Eva smiled and turned to Mark’s boss. “He doesn’t seem to realize that he doesn’t have to make up excuses to go look for Ruth. It’s his wedding day. He’s supposed to act like a smitten fool.”
“I don’t think foolishness comes naturally to Mark. He’s spent too many years covering war and famine to relax completely.”
“Yes, that’s probably true,” Eva said, eyeing a tray of mini-quiches that were slowly approaching. “I wonder what he’s going to do now that he’s got a wife. I can’t believe I’ve just said that—Mark with a wife! How unexpected.”
“Have you known Mark very long?”
“Since college.” The mini-quiches were within reach now and she took two. “He, Ruth and I all lived on the same floor our sophomore year. I knew him before he discovered journalism. When we first met, he was enrolled in the engineering school.”
“Engineering?” he said, with a look of patent disbelief.
“I know. It didn’t make any sense back then either. He knows nothing about numbers and doesn’t understand most advanced mathematical functions, but he spent two semesters sequestered in his room trying to master quadratic equations,” she recalled fondly. “It wasn’t until he failed calculus for the second time that he finally gave up. I think he chose journalism as his major because most of the classes met after one o’clock.”
“Now, that sounds like Mark,” said Randy. “He’s still not a morning person. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve called him in some far-off place like Marrakech and woken him at ten o’clock.”
Eva and Randy talked for a while, exchanging their favorite Mark stories. She was telling him about her scheme to bring the two together when he interrupted her with a soft whistle.
“Hmm, that’s strange,” he said, his eyebrows drawn together.
Eva, who’d had her eye out for a wandering tray of summer rolls, twisted her neck to see where he was looking. “What?” she asked, when she could see nothing amiss.
“Over there, by the door. Isn’t that Cole Hammond? What’s he doing here? And why is the owner of our rival magazine greeting my star reporter with a hug?” he wondered. “I hope he’s not offering him a job.”
The surprise Eva felt was quickly supplanted by pleasure, and she was suddenly eager to find out why indeed Cole was there. “Actually, he’s with me,” she said. “Or at least I think he is. I better go find out.”
Eva excused herself and walked to the front of the restaurant, where Cole was now hugging Ruth. She got there in time to hear him apologize for being late. “I would have been here earlier, but I got stuck in a meeting.”
Ruth shrugged off his apology. “This entire thing was done with so little warning I’m surprised you could make it. Actually, I’m a little surprised that anyone could make it at all.” Then she saw her friend hovering a few feet away. “Eva, you didn’t mention that Cole was coming.”
Of course she didn’t. She hadn’t invited him. “Well, I guess I just assumed he—”
“There was so much happening this morning,” Cole said, rushing to explain, “she probably just forgot.”
“Well, there’s plenty of food and drink, so please help yourself,” Mark said pleasantly. “We’ll be sitting down to lunch in”—he looked to Ruth—“ten minutes or so, right?”
Ruth made a face. “They’ve had a small incident in the kitchen, so it’ll be more like thirty minutes. Which reminds me, I should probably duck my head in to see how things are going.”
Her husband forestalled her with an arm around the shoulder. “No, you should not. Have someone else do it. You go mingle.”
“I’ll take care of it,” offered Eva, although she wasn’t sure what the task entailed. An incident in the kitchen sounded ominous to her.
Mark sent her a grateful smile. “Excellent. Now, if you’ll excuse us, I have a sudden desire to dance with my wife.”
“Before you go off,” said Cole, “I wanted to offer you my house
in the Bahamas. I don’t know if you’ve made any plans for a honeymoon, but if you haven’t please consider the house yours for as long as you want.”
At this offer, jaws dropped—Mark’s, Ruth’s and Eva’s.
“Really, we couldn’t,” stammered Ruth, who had made a career out of getting fabulous things for free. “It wouldn’t be right.”
Cole dismissed her scruples with a wave of his hand. “What’s not right is how little the house is used.”
Mark looked at Cole and then at Eva and finally back again at Cole. “I suppose if you’re sure…”
“Positive,” he said. “You’d be doing me a favor, as I hate shopping for wedding gifts.”
“All right.” Mark offered his hand. “We’ll take the house. Thank you.”
Ruth hugged him again. “You’re very kind to two people you barely know.”
Cole shrugged. “I’ve been reading and coveting Mark’s work for so many years, I feel like I know him. And, besides, from what Eva tells me, I had an unwitting hand in bringing you two together.”
Ruth laughed. “Yes, it was your towel-clad body that set this whole thing in motion.”
As soon as Mark and Ruth disappeared, Eva turned to Cole and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “That was very nice. Thank you.”
Cole looked at her, but the pleasant expression that had been on his face for the past several minutes had been replaced by stormy eyebrows and tight lips. Surprised, Eva cocked her head and stared at him. “You’re annoyed,” she said, knowing him well enough by now to pinpoint the emotion exactly.
“Yes,” he said, his voice abrupt.
“Why?”
“Because I had to find out about this party from the guy who sits next to you at Wyndham’s,” he explained in clipped tones.
“David told you about the party?” she asked, wondering how he could have possibly known about the reception in Soho. When she’d left work all she’d said was that her friends were getting married downtown. “How’d he know about it?”
“Actually, he didn’t. The temp Ruth’s office hired to field calls told me about the party,” he explained pedantically. “But that’s not the point.”
Eva had never seen Cole like this. He was more than annoyed. He was angry. “That’s not the point?”
“No, that’s not the point.”
“Then what is the point?” she asked.
“You didn’t invite me,” he stated. They were standing near the entrance to the restaurant and guests were still arriving, so he moved them over to the side.
Eva leaned against the brick wall and considered him carefully for several moments. “I didn’t invite you?”
“You didn’t invite me.”
“Why would I invite you?” She sounded completely mystified by the idea, and Cole growled angrily. “It’s just some college friends of mine getting hitched. It has nothing to do with you. You didn’t factor into the equation at all.”
“Factor me in,” he said.
“What?”
“Everything that has to do with you has to do with me. Get used to it, Eva.”
Although the words sounded nice, Eva took exception to his tone. What right did he have to come to her friends’ wedding and pick an argument with her? And then to start telling her what to do! It wasn’t his place. Get used to it, Eva! Well, we’ll see about that. “Excuse me, I have to look in on the kitchen.” She turned and walked away from him. Cole followed her. Even without looking she knew he was right behind her.
The incident in the kitchen had to do with a spilled pot of hollandaise sauce. The mess had been cleaned up, but there was lingering tension over who had caused the spill. Eva, who knew nothing about mediating kitchen disputes, didn’t care which chef tipped over the saucepan and just wanted everyone to go back to work. Nobody in the kitchen responded to her straightforward tactic and she watched in amazement as Cole stepped in and mediated a solution.
But that’s what he does, she thought, watching him. He greases wheels and makes sure the machinery runs smoothly. And he’s so darn good at it.
When he was done making peace, he turned to Eva. “I don’t believe we were finished talking,” he said, his voice still stiff but he no longer seemed angry. Having settled one dispute made him eager to settle another.
Eva agreed. She knew how persistent he could be, and there was little chance of enjoying the rest of the party until they had it out. “Fine, let’s get some fresh air.” Once they’d stepped out onto the busy sidewalk, she turned to him. “You’re angry with me. I get that. But I don’t understand why, and I don’t understand where you get the right to come here on this very special day and start throwing around orders.”
Cole clasped his hands behind his back. “So you admit this is a very special day.”
“Yes.”
“And that Mark and Ruth are very important people in your life?” He sounded suddenly like a prosecutor cross-examining a witness.
Eva couldn’t imagine where he was going with this. “Yes.”
“And it never occurred to you to invite me to share this very special day with these very important people?”
Suddenly it struck her: He felt left out. Somehow, this imperious billionaire who owned houses in the Bahamas and God knows where else felt left out because she hadn’t invited him to her friends’ informal wedding party. It seemed highly implausible and sent her mind reeling, but it was the only explanation that made sense. She’d hurt his feelings by not inviting him. “I’m sorry,” she said sincerely. “I should have called you. I didn’t think of it. But if it makes you feel better, I didn’t think of anything when I got off the phone with Ruth except getting to the Municipal Building as quickly as possible. I didn’t even tell my boss.”
He laughed; he was still annoyed with her but there was genuine amusement in the sound. “I have never met anyone who is so capable at skewering my ego as you,” he observed. “No, you little monster, I do not take consolation in the fact that you find me as forgettable as your boss.”
“Oh,” she said, wondering if that was what she’d really just said.
“Oh indeed,” he repeated mockingly. Then he sighed deeply and stared at her for several long seconds. “Eva, this isn’t easy for me either.”
She wasn’t sure what he was talking about, so she uttered a vague yes and hoped he’d elaborate.
He did. “All of it’s different, none of it’s familiar, and it would be extremely helpful if you could give me some indication that I’m not wasting my time.”
“Wasting your time?” she asked, still not following.
“With you.”
His words sunk in slowly as did the meaning, and she could only gawk and sputter, “With me?”
“Damn it, Eva,” he said impatiently, “we agreed no games and I haven’t played a single one. I’ve been honest and forthright and completely upfront during this entire relationship and I think I deserve equal treatment. If you don’t feel the same—if your not inviting me today is an indication of your indifference—then I’d wish you’d just say so.”
“My indifference?” she repeated before she could help herself. That her heart wasn’t in her eyes or on her sleeve was a fantastic revelation to her. But Cole was unamused by her continued parroting of his words and gave her a speaking look. “No, you’ve got it all wrong. I just didn’t—well, even if I had, I wouldn’t have invited you. You just got back from two weeks in Asia on Wednesday and you have a ton of work to do and oh, that’s right, you run a multi-international conglomerate. It never would have occurred to me that you’d want to take time out of your schedule to come to my friends’ party. But I’m very happy that you came—ridiculously pleased, actually—and I promise to invite you to every single thing in the future. And, no, you are not wasting your time. Or rather, if you are wasting your time, then I’m wasting mine too and isn’t it wonderful that we’re wasting it together.”
Cole listened to this rambling speech with a bemused look in his eyes. “Right,
that’s all I wanted to know. I suppose we can return to the party—”
Before he could finish his sentence, Eva launched herself into his arms and kissed him passionately. It was a completely spontaneous act and something she thought she’d never do—attack a man on bustling Spring Street in broad daylight—but she was so moved by him that she couldn’t resist. She didn’t deserve to be this happy. Nobody did.
Although he was surprised by Eva’s action, he quickly fell in line with it and wrapped his arms tightly around her. After a while he pulled away and rested his forehead on hers. “Now you’ve gone and made a liar out of me,” he said softly.
“Have I?” she said, her heart pounding. It was a constant surprise how much he could make her feel. “How so?”
“Suddenly I don’t want to go to the party at all. I’d much rather go back to your apartment.” He kissed her again and groaned as he felt himself pulsing with desire. “Forget that. Your apartment is too far away. We should just check into a hotel. The Soho Grand is around the block.”
Eva’s brain was muddled with passion, but she had enough sense to realize she couldn’t leave the party, no matter how much she wanted him. “I can’t—”
He pressed a hand against her lips and halted her apology before it could be uttered. “I was just kidding, Eva. I don’t want to leave either. This is a very special day for two very important people. I understand that. Now, shall we go back inside and mingle?”
Eva hugged him. “You have no idea how much I want to get that hotel room,” she said, pressing against him. “Or maybe you do. But, yes, let’s go inside and mingle.” She linked her elbow with his and pulled him toward the door. “Mark’s boss is here and he’s terrified you’re going to hire Mark away from him. Maybe should play it up and see if we can freak him out enough to get him to give Mark a huge raise.”
Cole held the door open for her and followed her into the restaurant. People were taking their places at the table, and Eva spotted two empty seats next to Ruth.
“Actually, that’s not such a bad idea,” said Cole as he considered the newlyweds.
Winner Takes All Page 21