He gazed deep into her eyes. She was still the same woman he’d fallen in love with, the same woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. His heart twisted. But their happiness looked more and more unlikely. Still, for her sake, he nodded.
She waited for him, patient as he walked around his SUV and opened the door for her before they made their way up the brick walk leading to the red door. She squeezed his hand, and he forced his steps to keep time with hers although the urge to turn and run was growing stronger the closer they got to the ornate entrance.
He half-expected a man like Alfred Pennyworth, Batman’s fictitious butler to answer the door. Instead, it was Tory.
“This is my sister, Victoria.” Elizabeth handed him the chocolates to pass along to her sister while she clutched the roses.
“Truffles. So sweet of you.” Tory batted her lashes at him, giggling at her older sister’s glare. “How did you ever know?” She held out her free hand. “Call me Tory. I’m Lizzie’s younger sister, by the way.”
“Lizzie?”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “No one calls me that but Gram, and she only gets away with it because I have to respect my elders.”
Tory shrugged without apology. “Elizabeth looks a bit frazzled tonight. We had a busy morning at the salt mine. Guess I should have stayed past lunch.”
Elizabeth pinned her sister with a look and held out the bouquet. “I’m just upset because I hate to make people wait for me. Would you put these in a vase for me?” She glanced past Tory. “Where is everyone?”
Tory accepted the roses, inhaling their scent before she responded. “In the dining room. We waited as long as we could, but you know how Gram and Grampa prefer to eat before the sun goes down so we had our salads already.” She turned to Jeremy. “Thanks for putting the color back in my sister’s cheeks.” She giggled and turned tail, disappearing into the house.
“Tory.” Elizabeth grabbed his hand and pulled him inside with her. He wasn’t sure if she was clinging to him for his benefit or hers. He followed, taking in the one-of-a-kind paintings and antique furnishing in the grand foyer, a huge spiral staircase the focal point.
She closed the front door then looked up at him. “I’m sorry.”
“About what?”
“For everything. For holding back when I accused you of the same, and for my sister’s remark. She didn’t mean anything by it, but I see how it could be insulting to—”
He laughed and pulled on her arm, twirling her back into his arms. “Stop. You’re making yourself nuts over nothing. I’m not ashamed of my heritage. My father, brother, and sister-in-law all make their living at a mining refinery and both sets of my grandfathers and great-grandfathers and great-uncles before them. I can’t change my family tree any more than you can yours. I wouldn’t be upset by that comment, even if my family did work in an actual salt mine. Everyone has to make their way in the world.” He hugged her close. “Now, take me to dinner, woman. I’m starving.”
Elizabeth pulled back with a huge smile. “It’s been a crazy ride these past few weeks.”
He chuckled in agreement.
They wound their way through several sophisticated, high-ceilinged rooms before they rounded a turn into a wide hall. Light spilled onto the gleaming hardwood floor from a room on their right, the murmur of voices louder as they made their way toward it. They stopped at the lit archway.
This was it.
“Sorry we’re late, Gram and Gramps. All my fault. I want you all to meet Jeremy.” Elizabeth squeezed his hand and gazed up at him, eyes shining.
“Nice to meet everyone.” He thought he heard a small gasp as Elizabeth and he took their seats at the end of the table, but he must have imagined it because when he scanned the group, everyone was smiling at him in welcome.
Or, at least all the guests he could see from his vantage point seemed friendly, except for the broad-shouldered young man near the opposite end. Must be Michael. The guy was leaning forward, elbows on the table and chin resting on intertwined fingers, eyes intent as if assessing Jeremy’s intentions toward his oldest sister. Then there was the blonde sitting on the far side of Elizabeth’s brother, wearing royal blue, her face half-hidden by his bulk, a hand covering her mouth. Must be the fiancé.
Had Elizabeth and he upstaged the young woman’s special night? He opened his mouth to congratulate the couple, putting the dinner party’s focus back to where it belonged.
But Tory had other ideas. “The flowers that Elizabeth and Jeremy brought are gorgeous, aren’t they?” She nodded at the flowers she placed center-stage in a crystal vase on the long table laden with fancy china, flutes of champagne, water glasses, and enough food for three dinners.
“They’re my favorite color, too.” The eldest woman turned toward him, her brown eyes a shade darker than her eldest granddaughter’s. “Thank you. We’ve all heard so much about you.” Her eyes crinkled with pleasure when she turned to Elizabeth. “Since you were the last to arrive, Lizzie, you may start the meal.”
All the family members bowed their heads.
Jeremy followed suit.
Elizabeth, her voice soft and sure, said grace.
Claire clapped once. “Now, let’s dig in. I call counter-clockwise.” She picked up the platter of asparagus, took a few spears, and passed the veggies to her mother on her right.
Everyone laughed.
Everyone, that is, it seemed except for the blonde at the corner of the table, head still bowed as if in prayer.
Elizabeth must have noticed too. “Michael. I hear congratulations are in order?”
“Yes, he and Ashleigh are engaged,” Claire gushed. “Can you believe it?”
Ashleigh.
It was a common name. But somehow, deep in his heart, he knew the woman sitting at the other end of the table was the same one that fooled him into thinking she loved him then left when she’d had enough of her own game.
It all came together in an instant. Elizabeth’s mother and father, her brother all reminded him of that night. They were in the elevator. The blonde hiding behind Michael. The laughter in the elevator was Ashleigh. He hadn’t been imagining it.
Elizabeth stood and moved to congratulate her brother and future sister-in-law on their engagement, giving them both hugs.
His stomach roiled. Elizabeth knew his ex, maybe was friends with her even. The room began to spin dangerously. His ex was going to be Elizabeth’s sister-in-law. He gripped the edge of the table. He lifted his eyes again, taking in the tall, dark-haired man at the opposite end of the table. Was Elizabeth’s brother the man she’d dumped him for?
Elizabeth had returned to her seat. “You okay?” She whispered.
“Fine.”
She pointed to his left.
Her mother was holding a platter of asparagus for him to pass along.
He took the platter, stabbed a few spears, dumped them on his plate, and handed the platter to Elizabeth before staring at the food he wasn’t going to eat. He wasn’t okay. He looked up and got his first good look at the woman he loathed and had never intended to set eyes on again.
She stared at him with a plastic smile.
He wasn’t going to sit here and break bread with people who would eat with the likes of Ashleigh Warrington. He clenched the linen napkin in his lap as he started connecting more of the dots from Elizabeth’s chatter on the car ride here. The house Elizabeth was renting, that was the Warringtons’ house.
He stood, chair scraping on the hardwood.
Elizabeth looked up at him, a question in her eyes. “You okay? I thought you were hungry.”
“If you’ll excuse me…” He tossed the linen napkin on the oak chair and marched through the house, opening doors until he found a bathroom. He entered, locking himself in and them out.
Ashleigh was here.
He began to pace the small room.
She was here. Laughing. Smiling. Happy.
Damn.
He closed the toilet and sat on it, hea
d in hands.
Why now? Why here?
The universe was funny that way, kicking a guy back twenty paces just when he thought he was making headway, moving forward. And here he was slouched on a toilet in a powder room. What was he going to do?
Well, he’d done nothing wrong. He’d been the loyal one. He’d done the right thing. Ashleigh was the one that had cut out, who used him for her own crazy, selfish purposes. Not that he could figure out what they were. More important, Elizabeth knew all his dirty secrets. He had nothing to hide.
He stood, splashed cold water on his face, and dried off with a hand towel placed nearby.
A rap sounded at the door.
“Hey.” He opened the door, expecting Elizabeth. “Oh.” He took an involuntary step back before standing his ground.
“What are you doing here?” Ashleigh stood toe-to-toe with him, wearing a look of disdain and holding a flute of half-drunk champagne. “You don’t belong here,” she scoffed. “I can’t believe you’re the local boy Elizabeth has gone overboard with this summer. But it doesn’t matter. The Desmonds will never accept you. You’re not good enough for their sweet daughter. Why, you’re little better than Starling’s former town drunk.” She pushed a finger to his chest. “You should leave because, if you don’t, I’ll tell them how you never could handle your liquor, and that you’ve got a weak mind.” She took a sip of her champagne, manicured pinky sticking out like she had class. She looked him up and down as if she found him sorely lacking.
“Elizabeth knows everything.”
She inspected him as if he were a pinned bug. “You love her, don’t you?” She shook her head. “Do you really think she would ever be serious about a guy like you? And even if she does love you, could you really put her through all that? You’re the hot guy she fantasized could be her knight in shining armor. It’s no secret what a silly romantic she is, especially when it comes to this town. That’s why her family is so protective. And rightly so. They should’ve gotten involved and put a stop to this long before now. Girls like us need to watch out for guys like you, ones that seduce with their sensitive artist souls.”
“I’m not the stupid kid you knew, Ashleigh. I’m a man, and I know what I want.” He brushed past her, intent on joining the others.
“Tell me.” She taunted from behind him. “Are you’re still working at that horrid mine with the rest of your family?”
He turned and looked at the woman he once thought was his everything. They’d had hot sex, but Ashleigh and he had never really loved each other. He knew that now, now that he felt what he did for Elizabeth. “There’s nothing horrid about making an honest living, but no, I left there the night you left me.”
She looked down her eternally pert nose. “So, what, are you a mechanic or waiting tables now?”
“I’m done talking with you.” He threw up his hands and continued walking. “Elizabeth needs to know the whole truth.”
“Oh, but she only knows your version. My truth and your truth may be completely different, and mark my words, people will believe me over you.”
Her words stopped him in his tracks for a moment before he spun around.
“The Warrington family may not have the kind of wealth or pedigree as the Desmonds, but my father worked hard to foster that friendship. I owe it to Daddy to link the two. Michael took longer than I would’ve preferred, and I had to work harder at making him fall in love with me than I did with you.” She polished off the rest of her drink in one quick swallow, then laughed. “Good thing I practiced with you first, got my experience. And now we’re engaged, nothing you can do about that.”
He turned and headed back to the dinner party. Ashleigh always had talked a little too much when she was drinking. Luckily for him, she must be on her third flute of bubbly this evening. The girl wasn’t just spoiled and selfish like he’d always assumed, she had some serious problems.
Chapter Sixteen
‡
Elizabeth tried to focus on the dinner conversation and ignore the empty chair next to hers. He’d barely been introduced to her family. Why couldn’t he just give them a chance? She swirled her spoon in the creamed spinach on her plate.
“Where did Ashleigh go?” Gram looked around the table.
At that moment, footsteps sounded in the hallway, heavier ones along with the click-clack of heels.
“How was PT today, Gramps?” Tory gave Elizabeth a sidelong glance.
Elizabeth shrugged. She didn’t have any better idea than her sister about what could be going on.
“Physical torture,” he grunted.
“Dad, it’s good for you. Remember what you always told me, no pain, no gain,” said Elizabeth’s father.
Michael stared at the archway behind her.
“The doctor said his wrist is healing well and the range of motion has improved a little in his left shoulder,” added Gram, oblivious to the tension at the table.
“That’s all good news.” Tory reached for the Dom Perignon in the silver ice bucket next to the table. “Anyone need a refill?”
Elizabeth shook her head, thinking she’d much rather have more of that pinot grigio Bree had served last weekend when Jeremy’s and Ashleigh’s angry voiced filtered in from the hall. She turned to stare along with the rest of her family as the two as they entered.
A chair scraped on the floor and she turned to see Michael standing at the table, clenching and unclenching his fists.
“What’s going on?” her brother asked.
No one had an answer.
Ashleigh entered the dining room, click-clacking her way back to her seat.
“Is everything alright, sweetheart?” her mother asked Ashleigh, sounding as confused as Elizabeth felt. “Were you and Jeremy arguing?”
“I can’t imagine what they’d disagree about, Mother,” Tory responded dryly. “They’ve only just met.”
Ashleigh’s cheeks flushed bright pink over her normally pale skin. “That’s not completely accurate.” She put her hand on Michael’s chest. “Don’t worry. I put him in his place when he tried something.”
“You haven’t changed one bit, I see. Always lying to fit your needs.” Jeremy’s deep voice was soft yet determined.
Elizabeth fixed her gaze on the man she loved. “What happened?” Her eyes flew to Ashleigh. “Jeremy isn’t that kind of guy.”
“How well can you really know him? You only met him, what, a month ago. I wish you’d come to me first before dating him. I’d have warned you away. He’s a lowlife, makes a habit of seducing the out-of-town girls. He likes them rich. That’s his MO. He chased me years ago when I was still naïve then dumped me when he realized my parents weren’t as loaded as he’d hoped. He must have done his research this time. You’re his meal ticket.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “This doesn’t make any sense.” Nausea engulfed her and she gripped the table for dear life.
“Don’t believe a word she says,” Jeremy retorted, moving to her side and helping her sit. He leaned close, his words only for her. “She’s the woman you asked me about.”
Elizabeth clapped both hands over her mouth. This couldn’t be happening.
“So, you admit to knowing our Ashleigh,” her mother observed. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“Say for myself?” Jeremy was the epitome of control. “I don’t believe I owe you any explanation, other than to apologize for upsetting your beautiful dinner party. I won’t apologize for anything I’ve said to that woman. She deserves that and far more.” He put his hands up. “But I’m not going to waste my breath. She’s not worth it.” He turned to Elizabeth.
She reached out a hand. “Don’t go. Sit down. Eat. We’ll figure this out.”
He whispered, “I wouldn’t eat at the same restaurant as that woman, much less the same table. I’ll let myself out.” He squeezed her shoulder briefly before turning to disappear from the dining room.
Michael rose from the table and strode out of the room behind him, hi
s hands clenched.
“Uh-oh,” Claire said, eyes wide with excitement at the unfolding drama.
Elizabeth moved to go after them, but her father stood and grasped her by an elbow. “No, honey. Let them work it out. They’re grown men.”
She nodded.
Her father let go. “Let’s eat. We can’t let this delicious meal that your mother and grandmother made go to waste.” She sat and he returned to his seat, too.
The room was silent except for the occasional clink of silver against china. Elizabeth took two bites of her chicken before giving up. She set her napkin on the table next to her plate.
“Take my word for it. You’re better off without him.” Ashleigh waved a hand in dismissal.
Elizabeth opened her mouth to defend the man she knew and loved, but his last words—so difficult to believe—still rang in her ears. How could she prove he was the one who’d been done wrong and not their long-time family friend?
“My, it’s chilly in here this evening. Did you turn up that AC again, Tory?” Ashleigh removed a black satin jacket from the back of her chair and slipped her arms into it.
Elizabeth watched, in slow motion, as a pretty pin winked at her in the light of the chandelier from the lapel of her future sister-in-law’s jacket.
*
Jeremy had reached the front hall of the mansion when Michael came up from behind.
“Let’s take this outside.” The big man practically growled, brushing past him without another word.
Jeremy wiped his face. Like tonight hadn’t sucked enough, Elizabeth’s not-so-little brother wanted to kick the shit out of him.
He opened the door and blinked in the glare of the security lighting that illuminated the mansion’s front entrance. Peering into the shadows, he called out over the rising wind. “Go ahead and hit me if it makes you feel better, but I’ve got no beef with you.”
His Kiss (Summer in New York Book 2) Page 16