Specially positioned spotlights speared through the bottles on offer. All twenty-two hundred of them—according to the owner who bragged when he’d first opened the place. Alcohol glittered like fireflies, tempting a drinker to keep testing until they found their soul-mate in liquor.
I expected to find Dad nursing another glass of whiskey, staring broodingly into the amber liquid as he sometimes did when I acted out or he couldn’t shed the memory of Mom.
That wasn’t the case tonight.
I slammed to a stop.
He’s laughing with a complete stranger.
Dad sat on a bar stool with his feet tucked on the chrome foot-rest, a glass of whiskey (like I predicted) resting in his hands but forgotten. His face was alive, eyes unguarded and crinkled in mirth. I hadn’t seen him so animated in years.
It warmed me and worried me in equal measure.
I looked at the man he was with. The guy had his back to me, but the cut of his suit was impeccable; his body toned and slim, his hair dark and thick with lighter highlights that could’ve been graced by a hairdresser or natural.
From where I stood, a couple shielded me like a living wall, but I was close enough to hear my father say, “Well, that sounds fantastic. You really should meet her.”
Fantastic? What was fantastic?
I sucked in a breath as the stranger laughed. “It would be an honor to meet her. I’m sure she’s as wonderful as you describe.”
Are they talking about me?
The couple hiding me moved, leaving me exposed. I should walk forward and introduce myself. I should stop eavesdropping and act professionally. But something about the way my father and this stranger spoke sent my hackles bristling.
Staying behind milling people with an array of alcohol gripped in tight fingers, I slowly inched closer to the two men, straining with every step to hear.
“My daughter is very accomplished.” Dad’s tone billowed with pride. “But you sound rather successful yourself, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Problem?” The man took a sip of his drink. “I assure you, I’ve never had a problem with women before.”
Oh, the arrogance dripping from him.
Dad chuckled. “I wasn’t saying she’d be a problem. More like you shouldn’t find her power off-putting if you have success of your own.”
Oh, my God, what is he talking about?
Where had my father gone? When had he turned into this hearts-and-flowers romantic, trying to match me off to any man who passed his screwed-up interview?
He’s always been like that.
I hated that that was true.
The stranger nodded. “I can understand how a woman with a high corporate job and wealth can be terrifying to most.” He leaned forward. “However, I can assure you, that won’t be the case with me.”
He spoke as if my father had handed me over to be bedded and wedded.
My teeth ground together as Dad said, “I must admit, I haven’t heard of you before. Are you new to New York?”
The man swirled the liquid in his glass. “Yes. Arrived a few months ago. Unfortunately, my benefactor was not well, and we needed treatment that was only available here as a trial.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
My hands balled as my father gave this total stranger such sympathy. “And you’re single then? You’re planning on staying in town?”
Holy crap, the embarrassment level just erupted into volcanic proportions.
“I am. Customarily, I don’t date. But now my benefactor is on the mend, I can indulge in playing the field.”
Indulge? Play the field? My hands curled with indignation. Who was this man?
“My daughter isn’t a conquest, Mr. Everett. If I do introduce you, you must give me your word you won’t use her.”
This had gone on long enough. I had to do something. Namely, throw my drink into Mr. Everett’s face.
“Believe me. I have no doubt one look at your daughter, and I’ll be quite happy to be monogamous until she gets to know me.” The man raised his glass again, giving me a side profile glimpse of elegant cheekbones and handsome jaw.
I stiffened. He spoke as if I was a sure thing. That he could make me fall for him just by being alive.
I wanted to kill him.
But then I wanted to kill my father more as he smiled. “I’m sure you’ll like Elle. She’s beautiful and insanely intelligent.”
Mr. Everett chuckled. “I’m fairly sure I can make your daughter like me in return. I have a knack, you see.”
“A knack?” My father’s face tightened, noting the cocky confidence of this man he was trying to marry his daughter to. “What sort of knack?”
“A knack for women who can’t stand the opposite sex. A way of convincing them to give up control and relax for once.”
Holy shit.
I rarely swore but holy shit, shit, shit.
This guy…there were no words for his arrogance.
Dad glanced at his untouched whiskey. “I admit Elle doesn’t seem to like the prospects I put in front of her.” His face fell. “I only want her to be happy. To have someone to shoulder the burden of her company with. To laugh occasionally with.” His voice softened with sadness. “She hasn’t laughed in so long. I’m worried about her.”
If I weren’t so angry, I would’ve suffocated under a fresh wave of guilt. I moved forward a step, breaking my cover, swirling with mixed emotions.
However, Mr. Everett ensured I’d never feel guilt again as he said, “Introduce me to your daughter, Mr. Charlston, and I promise you I’ll make her—”
“Make me do what?” I stomped in my heels, crossing my arms. My heart whirled wild while my breathing threatened to show how annoyed and hurt I was.
I glowered at both men.
My father shrunk, knowing he’d screwed up. But the stranger merely pinned me with piercing eyes and sent a chill down my spine.
He looked arctic and unreadable.
He smelled expensive and impenetrable.
He sounded powerful and untouchable.
My worst nightmare wrapped in perfection.
Tearing my gaze away, I hugged my anger and spat, “You sit here planning my future like you have control over me. What? You think you can make me fall in love with you? Get on my knees for you? Do whatever you tell me to, oh master?” I snorted. “The flat-out disgusting nerve of you!”
Mr. Everett rubbed his bottom lip where a droplet of liquor glistened. “If you give me time, I’ll prove to you I can make you do all those things…and more.”
I spluttered in outright shock. “Excuse me?”
My father stood up, putting himself between me and damn Mr. Everett. “I don’t think that’s quite appropriate conversation for the first introduction, sir.”
“Seriously?” I eyed my father as if he was a stranger, too. “When is that sort of talk ever appropriate? When he’s got me cuffed to a damn bed and making me cook him dinner? God, Dad.” I threw up my hands, my skin flushing with indignation beneath my black dress. “Wow. Just wow. Both of you.”
Backing away, I held up my finger when Dad tried to reason with me. “Nope, not going to hear it.” I spun on my heel then looked over my shoulder, doing my best to ignore Mr. Everett and the way his gaze slipped over me, lingering on my breasts before latching onto my mouth. “Oh, and, Dad, once you’ve finished trying to be the world’s worst matchmaker, your dinner is on the table.”
I stormed off, unable to make the blazing exit I wanted as a crowd of people interrupted my flow, teetering slowly with their arms full of drinks, chatting about things I couldn’t care less about.
I wanted out of there.
Something warm and firm tapped me on the shoulder, somehow finding bare flesh beneath the scarf wrapped around me. “Before you leave…”
My heart relocated into my mouth as I whirled around, coming face to face with Mr. Everett.
Up close he was even more stunning.
Damn him.
&n
bsp; Curse him.
His dark eyes were calculating and intelligent, his lips perfectly formed with the barest hint of five o’clock shadow over his jaw and down his throat. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed while the columns of muscle flowing from his neck to his chest, just visible beneath an open-necked silk gray shirt, upset me in ways I didn’t understand.
He was pure, one-hundred percent male, and he watched me as if I was a woman who’d already sacrificed herself on his ego temple, and he was about to dine on her soul.
I crossed my arms to hold my insides together, trying to prevent the leaping gazelle my heart had morphed into from splattering at his feet. “What? What do you want?”
His eyes darkened to molasses. “I want—”
Dad sidled over, caution and worry etching his wrinkled kind face. “Now, Elle. Let me introduce you two properly.”
“I think Mr. Everett has done all the introducing I need to hear.” I tilted my head. “Isn’t that right?”
Mr. Everett smiled ever so slightly, looking more sinner than gentleman. “I’ve only just started, Ms. Charlston.”
Dad raised his arm, waving it a little in surrender as my heels ground into the marble, preparing to go to war. “Now, now.” Coming to my side, he patted my forearm. “I apologize for talking about you. But you’ve got the wrong idea. This is—”
“Mr. Everett. I know.” I glowered. “I just learned, thanks to you, how he thinks he can turn me into a simpering idiot all because he’s deemed me interesting enough to meet.” I leaned toward Mr. Everett, not caring I gave him a shot down my cleavage or the way he sniffed at my orchid perfume. “For your information, asshole, I don’t like men because of this exact reason. You’re either a mamma’s boy or think you rule the world.” I pointed a finger in his face. “You’ll never rule me, so you might as well stop whatever little game you’re playing with my father and fuck off.”
“Elle!” My father gasped. “What the hell, Bell Button?”
And he used Bell Button.
Of course, he did.
My life was officially over. Not only had he tried to set me up with this sexual deviant in the middle of a cigar-clouded gin bar, but now, he gave away childhood nicknames as if they meant nothing.
“Nice, Dad. Real nice,” I muttered under my breath.
Mr. Everett noticed, a smug smirk twisting his lips. One look into his eyes and I knew he’d stored away my embarrassing title for ammunition in the future.
But there will be no future.
Because in ten seconds, I wanted to be gone and never see him again.
“I’m suddenly not hungry.” I narrowed my eyes at my father. “Please give my apologies to Steve and Greg.”
“Steve and Greg?” Mr. Everett repeated.
I sneered. “Two more men I refuse to have anything to do with so don’t think yourself special.”
Dad clutched my elbow. “Now, Elle, don’t be hasty. You know how much you love the food here.”
“Loved. Past tense.” I gave a brittle smile. “This place doesn’t hold the allure it once did, thanks to recent events.” I looked Mr. Everett up and down icily, hoping he’d get frostbite.
Mr. Everett chuckled under his breath. “Are you always this dramatic or is it a product of being given everything you’ve ever wanted since you were born?”
The bar vanished.
The world quietened.
My heart stopped.
“What did you just say?” I leaned forward, swaying so close I had to take a step toward him, so I didn’t tumble against his chest.
My father knew how inconsiderate that sentence had been. He moved from ceasefire to full-on battle negotiations. “Elle, before you start.” He gulped. “I’m sure Mr. Everett didn’t mean it like that.”
“Oh, I did.” Mr. Everett crossed his arms, somehow holding his glass of clear liquor upright, showing just how close we stood to each other when the sleeve of his shirt brushed the silk of my black dress.
Any higher and he would’ve touched my breasts.
Cocky bastard.
“I meant it exactly the way it sounded.”
Red painted my vision. The endlessly long days. The pressure. The lost childhood and servitude. I couldn’t let him get away with such a remark. I couldn’t stand there and let him smirk as if I was a tantrumming adolescent who’d never worked and believed money came from fairy farts.
I inhaled hard to deliver my perfectly poised rebuttal.
Mr. Everett stood patiently, dripping with arrogance. “Well?”
I opened my mouth.
And then…I shut it again.
He’s not worth it.
No man is.
They’re all the same—believing I’m some bauble in my father’s empire.
Some jewel they could commandeer for themselves and take over the company just like they’d take over me.
No.
Never going to happen.
I would forever be a virgin-bound husk before I ever wasted more breath and temper on a man who would always remain below me.
I moved my arm as Dad tried to squeeze my elbow, asking for discretion and quietness. He knew me. He knew I was borderline Hurricane Noelle. He’d seen me blow up only twice and both were at cocky men who believed their top salaries entitled them to cheat on their wives and not give a shit about their work.
One had cried as he left Belle Elle headquarters. The other had retired with a tarnished reputation.
Dad glanced nervously around the bar, waiting for Armageddon. Instead of giving him a second heart attack, I twisted my elbow, grabbed his wrist, and jerked him sideways. “Come along, Dad. I think this man has poisoned your mind enough.”
“Elle, darling—”
“Don’t you ‘darling’ me. Next time you think of setting me up, Dad, stop. I don’t want another forced meeting with Greg just because you and Steve can see us playing house. I don’t want some pity introduction with men who pass your critique. And I definitely don’t want to see this one again. Ever.” I sneered at Mr. Everett, doing my best to ignore the frustratingly erotic smile on his face.
He raised his glass of clear liquor, taking a sip. His gaze drifted over me with eyes as dark as goodbyes and a jaw so sharp it would slice my finger if I were ever stupid enough to touch it.
“He said you were head-strong. I didn’t believe him.” Mr. Everett chuckled in a deep rasp. “I’ve seen evidence for myself, and I have to admit…” He leaned closer in a cloud of expensive, heady aftershave. “I like it.” Glancing at my cleavage quickly, his eyes flew back to mine. “Unhand your father, Ms. Charlston, and agree to a date with me.”
My jaw fell open.
Did he just ask me out?
After all that?
I kept my face cool and uninterested. “Never in a million years.”
“A million is a long time.”
“It’s also a lot of money if you want to be sued for sexual harassment.”
He grinned. “I happen to have excellent legal counsel. You’d never win.”
“I don’t need to win to tell you to leave me the hell alone.”
“Go on a date with me, and I might agree to your command.”
“What part of ‘leave me alone’ didn’t you hear? A date would defeat that wish to never see you again.”
He smoothed his silky gray shirt. “I decide what to hear and what not to.” His eyes narrowed with untold authority. “And I’ve decided your father is right. You are my type. And I’m yours. It’s normal for us to find out what nature intends.”
I couldn’t.
I just couldn’t deal with this insanity.
“We should find out what nature intends, huh?” I reached forward and plucked his still-filled glass from his stupidly perfect fingers. “This is what nature intends.” I dumped the contents onto his ridiculously sexy swept back hair then leaned in until our noses brushed. “Come near me again, and I’ll strike a match to see how well liquor and fire like each other.”
>
Not caring about my father or Steve or Greg or even damn Mr. Everett, I straightened my shoulders and stormed from the restaurant.
13
MY COMPUTER EARNED the brunt of my anger.
The poor keyboard was bruised in places no technology should be bruised.
Ever since the Weeping Willow, I’d been strung so tight, my insides had transformed into something snarling and wild with big teeth. I felt like something lived inside me, ready to leap free.
Probably been reading too many shapeshifter romances again.
But still, all night I couldn’t relax, and all day I revved with disbelief at Mr. Everett’s gall.
Then again, was there anything to be truly upset about? He was an opportunist, and my father had been his victim. No harm done. I’d seen past the ruse and kept my father safe and far away from a scam artist.
So why can’t I dampen the temper raging in my blood?
Because he’s the only man to get a rise out of me?
The only one to show me a little of the truth hidden beneath the prim dresses and eloquent politeness of a workaholic?
That I had passion.
Depth.
Needs?
No, that can’t be true.
Men were part of the population I didn’t need. Even Belle Elle could survive without the male counterparts. The sales figures for women’s fashion were two-hundred times that of the men’s department. In fact, I should propose at the next business meeting to cancel all male lines and just pretend the world had done itself a favor and deleted anyone with a penis.
You’re talking gibberish.
Thank God that can’t happen as you’d miss your father.
Thinking about my father and the word penis in the same context was disgusting.
But thinking of Mr. Everett in the same context…
Still disgusting.
My hands curled around my pen. This was Dad’s fault—the same father dead set on marrying me off before my next birthday.
The clock on my desk said it was almost 5 p.m. I’d lasted the day and used my anger to wipe my to-do list clean. I’d never finished so early before, and I wished I had more tasks to do as there was no way I wanted to go home yet.
Vote Then Read: Volume III Page 338