by Holly Rayner
Seth tucked me into the back of the limousine and I went home. When I got there, Grant was just coming in as well.
“Well, hello gorgeous!”
“Hi Grant. How was your evening?”
He made a boo-boo face at me and said, “Mine was good, but you look like you need to talk about yours.”
“Maybe,” I said. “I’m going to change out of this dress.”
“You look stunning,” he said. “You look much too beautiful to come home so sad. I’m going to open us up a bottle of wine and you can tell me whose ass I need to kick.”
That made me smile. While he went into the kitchen to get the wine, I went in to change out of the dress. I stopped to look in the full-length mirror before I did and I marveled at the fact I could leave the house a few hours earlier in love and feeling like a princess and return confused, hurt and frustrated. I unzipped the dress and stepped out of it. Then I stripped off my tights and shoes and went into the bathroom. I took my hair into both of my hands and twisted it up on top of my head, securing it with an elastic band and then I washed the make-up from my face. I slipped into a pair of flannel pajamas with ducks on them and I went back out to the living room. Grant was sitting on the couch with the bottle of wine and two glasses sitting on the table in front of him. When he looked up and saw me he said, “Wow, even without all the fancy schmancy stuff, you’re gorgeous.”
“Shut up,” I said. Grant laughed.
“Testy,” he said as he poured us a glass of wine. Handing me one he said, “Tell me.”
“Nope, I’ve been a terrible friend lately. You tell me about your night first.”
He grinned a mischievous little grin and said, “Okay sure. Juniper and I had sex tonight for the first time…”
“I met James Hunter face to face tonight,” I jumped in. He had done that on purpose. He knew I wasn’t going to want the details of that.
He laughed at my quick change and then he said, “Did the old thief recognize you?”
“No… I don’t know. He was mean, so maybe. But everyone who knows him says that’s just his normal, sunny personality, so maybe not.”
“What did he say?”
“He made some rude insinuations that I was sleeping my way to the top. He didn’t say that in so many words, but he may as well have. He said it right out in front of people. It was so embarrassing.”
“Oh no, you poor thing. Did Seth hear him?”
This was the part I didn’t really want to admit to Grant. I already knew how he was going to respond. I tried to skip over that and I said, “I met a man who might be able to help me though…”
“Wait! Back up! You completely ignored my question. Why don’t you want to tell me if Seth heard what his father said?”
“Because it’s embarrassing,” I said. “His father so obviously scares him to death… he’s completely intimidated by him.”
“So what did he say?”
“Nothing, really.”
Grant slammed his glass down on the table in front of him and stood up. “Are you freaking kidding me? That cowardly bastard just stood there and let you be insulted by his father? Please tell me you’re joking!”
“Sit down, Grant… please.”
He sat down and said, “You know I just care about you. I can’t stand the thought of anyone being rude to you… but for that man you have such strong feelings for to not even stick up for you…”
“I know. I was as angry as you are.”
“Was? What happened to make you less angry, because I think I’ll need a couple more bottles of wine before I can even consider that prospect.”
“I’m still a little angry with him. But think about it, Grant. Think about what it must have been like for him to grow up with that tyrant. He was programmed to do things the way James wanted him to do and only that way… or I am sure there would have been consequences. Seth has a good heart. His father has a black heart. They had to clash… a lot.”
“Or maybe they didn’t. Maybe Seth just lets his father be the bad guy and he sits back and gets the girls because they feel sorry for him. Maybe he’s got a good racket going. Or maybe you’re just making excuses for him.”
With a sigh I said, “Okay, for now we’ll let that part of the evening lie. Let me tell you about the man that I met.” I told him about Phillip and our conversation.
“Are you sure you can trust him?”
“No, but he’s really the best shot I have so far. He gives me a good feeling and he had some really nice things to say about my family.”
“Well that’s good. I hope he can help. Maybe you won’t need to hang around with that Seth guy any longer then.”
I laughed, “I thought we were going to leave the Seth issue alone for now.”
“I’m just really mad at that guy,” he said.
“Well, I am too, a little. But, while I was hiding out in the study I found some papers that I think might be important. I found out that my father was suing James for a breach of confidentiality, and James was suing him back for slander. I need to get more details, but I won’t ever get back into that study if I break up with Seth.”
“You plan on going back to that place?”
“First chance I get,” I told him. He made a face at me and poured himself another glass of wine.
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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
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SETH