She concentrated on her footsteps in the deepening shadows, not wanting to trip and top off her humiliation for the night. A few more yards, and she’d be back out in the well-lit front drive. Intent on her steps, she missed the figure emerging from the shadows ahead.
A hand grabbed her arm. She yelped in surprise and lost her balance as her feet tangled up in the heeled sandals. An arm clamped around her waist and hauled her up against a rock-hard chest.
“Going somewhere, princess?”
Though too dark to clearly see his face, Lily knew the voice belonged to Rhett, and he didn’t sound happy. Her heart trip-hammered like the fledgling mockingbird she’d picked up in the nursery a few days earlier. Like the fledgling, all she had wanted was an escape flight.
She took a long, shuddering breath to slow her heart rate. Suddenly conscious of her body crushed against Rhett’s muscular form, she couldn’t manage a second breath and hung onto the first breath as long as possible. This, of course, rendered speech impossible.
Rhett slowly eased her down along the front of his chest, letting her feel every square inch of him as she slid down his torso. Her sandals eventually touched earth, and still he held her until her full weight was settled and her balance uncompromised.
“I have to tell you, this is a new one for me. I’ve never had a date try to run out on me before.”
Her own anger flared. “Maybe you never took one to your girlfriend’s house before.”
The full moon escaped a passing group of clouds, and she could see his eyes glitter dangerously. “Touché.”
He waited for her to speak.
“I-I was—” She gulped a very obvious and very loud lungful of air. It was that or pass out from lack of oxygen. “—g-going for a walk.”
Her cheeks flamed with heat, and she hoped he couldn’t see.
“A walk to your car?” he said flatly.
Hank always said, “If you don’t like your answer, ask a question.”
“How did you find me?”
He still had one hand cupped on her elbow as though to ensure she didn’t bolt. If she did, she’d surely lose her slipper, and then where would Prince Charming be? She choked back a half-sob half-laugh.
“Am I missing some humor here?” he asked gruffly.
“No.” The meager light around them dissipated when more clouds drifted in to cloak the moon. She could no longer see the expression in his eyes, but oddly enough she could feel his expression—the anger and the hurt. “I just thought it odd where you found me and wondered—”
“How I found you? I saw you slip out to the patio, and after you met Delia, I figured you intended to run, so I went out the front. If I figured wrong, I could always find you in the garden later. Evidently, I guessed right.”
The moon broke free, and Lily could suddenly see the anger and hurt in his eyes. But he had hurt her, too.
“Why did you bring me to your girlfriend’s house, to her party?”
“Garrett asked me that same question this afternoon,” he said reluctantly.
She raised her brows.
“Like I told him, I couldn’t get out of going to this party. Delia set this up as a favor to Garrett. There’s clients here Garrett needs to see—we need to see—and I wanted to be with you tonight. I couldn’t wait.” He sighed resignedly. “Not one of the smarter things I’ve ever done, but I’m here, and with you. So, I’m not completely sorry.”
“A favor to Garrett?” she asked, disbelieving.
“Yes to Garrett, and Delia is not my girlfriend.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“All right, she used to be my girlfriend, sort of.”
“Sort of?” Lily wanted to believe him, but he was swiftly digging a hole for himself.
“I do a lot of social events, comes with my job. When I needed a date on short notice, I usually called Delia. She was always willing to go.”
“I’ll bet.”
“The Palm Beach Post reports me in a serious relationship with every model or socialite I’m seen with. That too comes with the job.”
“Are there a lot of models?”
He grinned. “Well, I don’t like going out with ugly women.”
She frowned.
“That was a joke, Lily.”
“And Delia? What does the social page say about her?”
He sighed. “Some idiot wrote there were wedding bells in the picture, and she believed her own press.”
“Somehow I think she’s too intelligent to get that idea strictly from the newspaper.”
“However she got that idea, I didn’t give it to her. In fact, that’s why we don’t go out anymore. Delia just hasn’t given up.”
Lily raised her brows at that.
“It’s over,” he reiterated in a tone that brooked no disagreement.
She sighed. “All right, now what?”
“Let’s take a walk.” He took her hand and started for the garden.
She balked, and he tugged on her hand. “I’m not letting you go, Lily,” he said softly.
The carefully constructed wall around her heart shifted, and a flood of warmth escaped to seep down to her fingers and toes. She nodded and gripped his hand and could have sworn she heard an exhale of relief.
Rhett’s grip held firm as he guided her through the still-empty garden and down a path ending at a dock that stretched out over the Intracoastal canal. The dock widened to a landing at the end with a bench on each side. He guided her to a bench, and they sat down. Never once did he relinquish her hand, which perpetuated the comfortable warmth enveloping her. He said nothing and seemed content with her presence and the silence. The groupings of clouds had all blown past, and glittering stars peppered the darkened sky like tiny accent diamonds around the solitaire moon.
Lily almost said, “It’s beautiful here,” but here was Delia Armstead’s house, so she held her tongue.
“Why did you agree to go out with me?” Rhett asked suddenly.
Caught off guard, she said, “I didn’t know who you were.”
“And now you do.”
She nodded.
He let out a resigned exhale. “I wondered. Did you search on the Internet?”
“No, the nursery people told me,” she replied, without thinking.
He stared. “When? You left.”
She thought fast. “I went back for the brochure.”
“Would you have accepted the date if you knew who I was before?”
She peered up at him and wanted to be truthful, but was afraid to take the risk. Back on the dark walkway overwhelmed with hurt and anger, she had almost blurted out the whole deceptive scheme, not caring if she lost him or not.
Now all she said was, “I don’t know.”
“I’m the same man, Lily.” He lifted her chin with a finger and brushed a feather-light kiss across her lips.
Her lips sizzled, and she wondered if he felt the jolt, too.
He got to his feet and tugged her up. “Let’s get out of here. You’re uncomfortable here, and I’m not ready to give you up yet.”
“But what about your clients?”
“Garrett’s here. Come on, we’ll take your escape route to the front.”
She winced, and he kissed her cheek. “You were really going to leave, weren’t you?”
She stared into his eyes and promised herself to be truthful about everything she could. “Yes.”
Oddly, he smiled. “Then I’m glad I caught you.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, when they reached the front of the house and he retrieved both sets of keys from the valet.
“The beach.” He winked. “I’ll bring you back to your car later.”
Twenty minutes later, they peeled off shoes, socks, and st
ockings, and Rhett doffed his jacket and tie and rolled up his sleeves and trousers. Grinning like kids, they waded into the low tide on the beach at Sea Turtle Park. The county park at the south end of Jupiter Island had closed at sundown, but Rhett had claimed he knew a back way inside. He had parked at the edge of a private residence and slipped them through a landscape barrier bordering the park property.
“The owner’s not at home right now, and this is the easiest way to the beach,” he whispered, as they slid along the inside of a tall Ligustrum hedgerow. “Sea Turtle Beach is deserted at night. We can be alone there.”
She chuckled softly. “We’ll be alone because we’re trespassing after hours.”
He grinned over his shoulder, and his teeth flashed bright in the shadows. “Don’t worry. I have team of lawyers who can bail us out.”
Sea Turtle Park was not where Lily had planned to end up on her date, but she couldn’t have been happier. Romantic moonlight brightened the deserted beach and glinted off the waves. The crashing surf created a melodious backdrop for their late-night stroll.
They walked for what seemed like hours, and Lily coaxed tidbits of Rhett’s past from him until he finally opened up. She found they had a lot in common: good grades, a dedication to their studies, and lots of student loans. When they graduated college, they worked hard to build their dream and never stopped.
Other tidbits had been hard to hear. The only child of parents killed in a late-night auto crash, Rhett had been sent at the age of ten to his only living relative, an alcoholic uncle living hand to mouth in Indiantown, Florida.
“I had to work hard,” he told her. “I owed it to my parents. They had wanted the best for me. I’m not so different than any other small business owner. I work all the time and try to make informed decisions.” He shrugged. “What about you? I’ve been doing all the talking. Tell me about Lily Foster.”
“My mother died shortly after I was born, and my father passed away three years ago.”
“I’m sorry,” he said and gently brushed his fingers across her cheek.
“I miss him so much.” She pressed her cheek into his palm. “I especially miss our trips.”
“You traveled a lot together?”
“If you call going to Walt Disney World traveling. Dad took me there for vacation every couple of years growing up. For me, going to Disney was like going back to Grandma’s house was for other kids.” She shrugged. “I’m a bit of a Disney freak, but we had so much fun there.”
“A mighty pretty freak,” he said and rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip.
She smiled and swallowed the lump in her throat. Hank would have liked this man. “Not much else to tell really. My story’s a lot like yours. Dedicated to my studies, lots of student loans, working to build my dream.”
“Which is?”
She glanced up sharply, but he was smiling. “Design consulting. Mostly female clients.” It wasn’t a lie, just a stretch.
He seemed satisfied with her two-word explanation, which he no doubt assumed meant fashion designs, and she let him.
“Ah, sounds interesting.”
She smiled. “Liar.”
He gave a bark of laughter, then grabbed her and swung her in a circle.
She had guessed right about his assumption, and she had no intention of correcting him. She hadn’t really lied. She did landscape design consulting and ninety percent of her clients were women. If husbands showed up, they were usually dragged along. The landscape architects did their own designs and only bought plants at the nursery. She sighed.
Just one night. Just one night.
“Are you happy?” he asked suddenly.
“I like what I do, but I work too much.”
She laughed, suddenly feeling lighthearted. She’d had her perfect evening. Even while wading with no stockings or shoes in the Atlantic Ocean, she still felt like Cinderella.
She glanced up to find Rhett staring intently at her. “I don’t want to say good night to you, Lily.”
She stiffened and tugged out of his arms.
“What’s wrong?” He reached for her, but she evaded his hand.
“We just met. These things take time.”
“And?” He reached for her again and missed again when she shifted.
Lily took a deep breath. “And I won’t spend the night with you.”
He chuckled. “I didn’t ask. I just didn’t want to say good night.”
Good grief! Could I look more stupid, more naïve?
“I’m sorry. I thought—”
“I know what you thought.” Quick as a cat, he pulled her into his arms. “And on some level, you may have been partially accurate. Now don’t get all stiff on me.” He held her tight. “Wants aren’t necessarily deeds. I am a gentleman and not without honor. I would never press you.”
He grinned down at her. “I’m also a patient man.”
When she wriggled out of his arms, he let her go. She didn’t know whether she was relieved or disappointed.
“Rhett, when I said things take time, I meant . . . What I wanted to say . . .”
“What, Lily?” He wasn’t going to make this easy for her.
“Something that important has to mean something.”
“I agree and it would. It will.”
“No, I mean . . .”
“What? Am I confused again?”
His eyes twinkled in the bright moonlight, and she stared bleakly at him.
No hope for it, Lily. Out with it. Better now than later when you really, really like him. Or worse yet . . .
“I couldn’t sleep with a man I didn’t care about . . . a lot,” she blurted.
Now he stared. Long moments passed. Interminable moments for Lily.
“Fair enough,” he said finally. “I guess I’ll just have to make you care about me. A lot.”
“Please don’t joke,” she said and gulped. “If you don’t want to see me anymore, I’ll understand.” She turned toward the pile of clothes and shoes high up on the sand.
He stopped her. “Who’s joking?”
She shrugged. “Most guys—”
“Is that what you expect?” he said indignantly. “For me to bolt and take the high road if you won’t sleep with me right off the bat?”
She shrugged again. “Most guys do. Show their true colors, I mean,” she said, a bit angry and flustered to have him pin her down like that.
His eyes flashed in the moonlight. “I’m not most guys. Like I said, I’m a patient man.”
His irritation suddenly vanished, replaced by a slow, sensual smile that made her feel warm from the tip of her head to her toes.
“That smile works pretty well for you, doesn’t it?” she said.
“Maybe.” He tugged her back in his arms with little effort. “I’m not about to give up, Lily. I’ve wanted you bad, ever since I stepped in the Bloom & Grow office and saw you in that little yellow sundress.”
He pressed her tight against him and tucked her head on his shoulder. Her whole body tingled with his arms wrapped around her, but still she frowned. He hadn’t mentioned falling in love with her. Would she just be another seduction in a long line of seductions? Would she be like all the others? Or was she just a little bigger challenge?
“I hear the wheels turning, Lily.” The vibrations of his deep voice sent little sparks across her chest and arms.
He pulled back slightly, took her left hand in his, and wrapped his arm around her waist. For a moment, she didn’t understand and then she did.
They were dancing! In the moonlight. On the beach. And her heart ached with the romance of it as he hummed a little tune in her ear for accompaniment.
Their dance was over way too soon, and she realized Rhett had steered her toward the pile of clo
thes and shoes on the sand. Had he meant what he said or was this Cinderella’s only night?
“Can I see you again?” he asked suddenly.
Yes!
“I’d like that.”
“You said you work too much. Why don’t you take some time off and play? With me.”
“How much time?”
He grinned and pulled on his shoes and socks. “Take a week off. Come to New York with me. You’re a consultant, so you can rearrange your clients. I have business meetings up there for the next week, and I don’t want to wait seven days to see you again.”
“Really?” Her heart thudded against her ribs.
“Yes, really. With the Internet and your cell phone, your clients may never know you’re gone.”
His long arm snaked around her waist, and he pulled her tight against his chest. His mouth claimed hers, and this time his kiss turned hungry as he teased her lips apart.
Lily couldn’t resist and slipped her arms around his neck. He deepened the kiss until she whimpered with the flood of sensation overwhelming her. His kiss aroused soul-deep sensations she hadn’t anticipated including a sudden knee-jerking panic.
She couldn’t go away with Rhett!
He’d want . . .
He’d expect . . .
She couldn’t . . .
She jerked back. “It’s too soon,” she said breathlessly.
He pressed his lips to hers. “No worries. We’ve already discussed this,” he whispered against her lips.
Yes, we discussed it, but were you listening?
Her spine sizzled with the feel of his lips hovering against her own, but she forced herself to pull back again through sheer panicked willpower. “Yes, but—”
Unrepentant, he nibbled at her lower lip with a tender kiss that nearly melted her restraint. “I’ll get a suite,” he said softly. “You can have your own room, and you can decide when we’re ready.”
Her knees buckled, and he pressed her close.
“You mean it?”
“I mean it,” he said, his voice suddenly hoarse. “I feel different when I’m with you, Lily, like the real me. I just want to spend every minute I can with you. I know we just met, but—”
Cinderella Busted (The Cinderella Romances Book 1) Page 5