Cinderella Busted (The Cinderella Romances #1)

by Petie McCarty

  If he wanted, he could destroy her business just because he could. She had to know that. She was bound to get caught in her lie eventually—they both obviously knew too many people in Jupiter—so why perpetuate the risk and continue the betrayal as long as she had?

  Lost in thought, he didn’t see Lily stop to pick a bug off a palm frond, and he walked right into the back of her and almost bowled her over. Bent almost in half with his torso folded over her back, he wrapped his arms around her middle to keep them from tumbling over and felt an electrified sizzle from his chest to the Cole Haans on his feet. Another unfortunate stab of lust tightened his groin to a painful pitch.

  He straightened to pull them both upright and mumbled, “I’m sorry,” into her silken tresses where he could finally bury his nose. He felt a smile start to form.

  Honeysuckle and soap all right.

  She twisted in his arms and stared up at him, eyes wide and unblinking, offering no hint at her thoughts. He had no time for concern with her thoughts. He struggled with his own single-minded pressure.

  She feels so good in my arms, so right in my arms.

  “Did you do that on purpose?” she asked softly.

  Was that a flicker of hope he detected in her eyes?

  Better to stick with the truth. “No.”

  Her delicate body sagged almost imperceptibly, and he would never have noticed if his arms weren’t still around her.

  Good Lord! Had he not let go of her yet?

  He sent the mental message to his arms to pull back, yet they continued to gently hold her in place of their own volition. Her eyes were blue again, all previous traces of fury subsided. If he lowered his lips four inches and she raised hers four inches, he could kiss her. Still another part of his anatomy pressured him to take over from his logical left brain that still screamed, Run! She’ll betray you again.

  “You never gave me a chance to explain,” she said, so softly that for a moment he couldn’t be sure he’d heard her.

  His mind assured him he had heard and swiftly reminded him of the price required to play the game Fool Me Twice. His mind finally triumphed over the desperate part of him, and he managed to pull his arms back.

  “There was no need to explain.”

  “How can you say that?” Her eyes were going black again. “You don’t know what I was thinking or feeling when we met, and you don’t want to give me a chance to tell you?”

  Don’t look at those gorgeous baby blues. Remember . . . Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

  “I know all I needed to know.” He clenched his jaw to keep his tone even.

  “So just like that, we’re over,” she said, more of a statement than a question.

  “Just like that.”

  He saw the pain filter through her expression this time. If this was all an act, she wouldn’t feel hurt, right? No, dammit, not right. She’d already proved she was a consummate actress with that innocent routine she played out in New York.

  “And now you’re back with Delia,” she said, her words again sounding like a statement though he knew she asked a question all the same.

  “That’s right.” Delia or whoever, it wouldn’t matter.

  He waited for the fallout, but Lily suddenly seemed distracted. She backed up and tugged on her ear. He heard someone approach from behind.

  “Lily,” a deep voice said, “you’ve got a call at the shadehouse.”

  Rhett spun around to face the tall grower who had been Lily’s date on Saturday night, and he worked to keep the scowl off his face.

  “It’s Dylan James,” the grower said and gave Lily a knowing smile, “so I knew you’d want to take it, no matter what. I’ll finish this inspection for you.”

  Who the hell was Dylan James? And why would Lily want to take his call no matter what?

  Rhett watched Lily take off for the shadehouse at a good clip without a single glance back. Who was she kidding with that act in his arms just now, like she still wanted to explain? She had wasted no time finding a date for Saturday night and now ran off during an inspection for a call she’ll take no matter what? His gut twisted back into a knot, and he didn’t feel like finishing the inspection with Lily’s charity-gala date.

  Rhett spun back around with a glare and was greeted by a matching glare on the grower.

  “I’m Rob Shaw, head grower for Bloom & Grow,” the grower said flatly. “We met on your previous inspection.”

  “I know who you are, and I’d prefer to wait for Lily.”

  The grower almost smiled. “She won’t be coming back anytime soon. She’ll be on that call for a long time. Shall we?” He motioned to the final row of stock a few feet away.

  “Whatever.”

  Shaw took a handful of steps to the first container and waved a hand dismissively toward the rest of the row. “Here’s the rest of your plants,” he said sullenly. “They look all right to you?”

  Rhett glanced down the row and back. “Just fine,” he snapped.

  “Then we’ll deliver them to Delray tomorrow like Garrett wants.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Inspection’s over.”

  Like hell it is.

  Rhett briefly considered forcing the arrogant jerk to give him a detailed rundown on every stinking plant in the last row, but he didn’t want to spend one more minute in the man’s company than he had to.

  “Lily’s all yours,” Rhett said sarcastically and turned toward the nursery office.

  “You’re such an asshole,” Shaw muttered under his breath, but Rhett heard every word.

  He halted mid-step.

  Inclination said, go back and settle up. Common sense said, You’re a celebrity—walk away without a public scene. Instinct had him wondering why Lily’s date would be angry when Rhett had just passed her off to him. He reached the front parking lot and climbed into his Navigator.

  Trouble was, Lily’s date had been right.

  The next morning Garrett found Lily in the back of a delivery truck shoving sleeved plants in place as a nursery worker passed them up from the carts on the ground.

  “Nobody packs a truck tighter than you guys,” he said in greeting.

  Lily’s head snapped up to peer at him over the tailgate. “Morning, Garrett.”

  “Hey, Garrett,” Rob called, approaching from the shadehouse and dragging another cage cart laden with stock.

  “I hear yesterday’s inspection went real well.”

  “Who said that?” Rob and Lily complained in unison.

  Garrett’s brows rose. “Why? Don’t you think it went well?”

  “It was horrible,” Lily grumbled and climbed down from the truck. “Who said it went well? Him?”

  Garrett knew she meant Rhett. “Actually no, I assumed.”

  Lily and Rob frowned. Both waited.

  “Well, Rhett came back to the office and growled at anyone who got within ten feet of him. I hear from his secretary he even threw a few things, which is a first for him. She was so worried she called my cell phone since she’s never seen him like that. Quite out of character.”

  “I may have substantially shortened the inspection, Lily,” Rob said, with no small amount of chagrin, “but he wanted to get out of here as bad as I wanted him gone. I don’t think that was what did it. His mood, I mean.”

  She patted his shoulder. “It’s all right, Rob. Don’t worry about it.”

  She glanced over at Garrett. “Rhett told me he didn’t need any explanations from me, and he was back with Delia.”

  Garrett grinned. “Well, what did you expect him to say? I only wanted to get him close enough to see you for a while and realize exactly what he’d given up. My plan worked perfectly.”

  “Your and Tammy’s plan,” Lily corrected. “She’s in trouble, to
o. That was a dirty trick, no matter how good your intentions were.”

  “Don’t blame Tammy. This was my idea. I owe Rhett. I’m going to fix this mess if it takes all year.”

  “Give it up, Garrett. We don’t suit,” Lily said, and pulled flats of Salvia off the cart to hand to Rob who’d crawled back up in the truck. “It can’t be fixed.”

  “Yes, it can,” he insisted, “and who the hell is Dylan James?”

  “Who?” Lily asked.

  “Dylan James,” Garrett repeated. “Rhett’s secretary said he came in complaining profusely about a Dylan James, and when I showed up later, he ordered me to get a background check on the guy and gave it a priority one. Said he had a connection to Bloom & Grow. Except we can’t find anything on any Dylan James who would have had contact with this nursery.”

  “I never mentioned a Dylan James,” Lily said, frowning.

  Rob laughed so hard he bent in half. “You didn’t, Lil, but I did. Don’t you remember? When I came and got you out of the inspection, I told you there was a call from Dylan James that I knew you wouldn’t want to miss.”

  “Who is he?” Garrett asked impatiently.

  Rob stopped laughing long enough to shrug. “I made him up.”

  “And Rhett got jealous.” Garrett grinned. “See? My plan is working perfectly.”

  “So you just came over this morning to gloat?” Lily asked, trying not to smile.

  “Nope, I came to see Tammy.” He winked. “I’ve got more plants to buy.”

  Hours later, Tammy strode down the aisle between tables in the greenhouse. Lily spotted her and tapped Rob’s shoulder. The two were consolidating cuttings to make more propagation space. The tables had been Rob’s idea when he first envisioned the interiors line.

  The steel track system was laid out in rows with a separate track around the perimeter of the greenhouse. Lightweight eight-by-four-foot aluminum tables lined up edge to edge down each row of tracks with an aisle between tracks for access. Simple pneumatic lifts at either end could shift any single table or row of tables out onto the perimeter track to relocate within the greenhouse or to slide toward the shipping doors where plants could be off-loaded onto cage carts and rolled up into the delivery truck. No one ever had to lift a flat of containers until it was time to pack them for shipping.

  Lily could hear the telltale beep of their large delivery truck approaching the shipping doors as Tammy reached their side.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, and Rob pushed the last flat of Aralia cuttings to the end of the table.

  “Garrett was here earlier and placed a huge interiors order for one of their office buildings,” Tammy said, beaming. “I swear that man and his orders could support Bloom & Grow all by himself. He wants the plants tomorrow.

  “Do we have the stock Garrett wants?” Rob asked.

  “Every last plant.”

  “You’re kidding. How did we get so lucky?”

  “They’re the plants I brought back from Buchanan’s mansion. I told Garrett I wouldn’t credit him for the plants that ended up in the pool, and he said he would take care of it.”

  “Plants ended up in the pool?” Lily gaped at her. “Rhett was even madder than I thought.”

  Tammy grimaced. “Not all of them, just a half-dozen Chamedoria palms. I wasn’t going to tell you and upset you all over again. Buchanan evidently continued his tirade after you and Jason left.”

  “I’m not upset,” Lily said indignantly. “I’m mad. That’s a horrible thing to do to those poor plants. And childish, too. All because he was angry with me.”

  “Good girl,” Tammy said, “get mad and stay mad. Mad’s good. Garrett wants me to send the bill for the whole shipment to his attention at BDC since Delia wouldn’t pay us after Rhett refused the plants. Garrett promised he’d find a home for the plants, and he did.”

  “Garrett may have redeemed himself, but Buchanan’s still a jerk,” Rob muttered and pulled another table down the track. “Lily and I will be through in a few minutes, and we can start sleeving and loading the truck.”

  Lily nodded her assent and chewed on her bottom lip.

  “What’s wrong?” Tammy asked.

  “Garrett’s buying the same plants back and putting them in one of Rhett’s office buildings. Won’t that just set Rhett off again?”

  Tammy’s brows went up. “So he’s back to being Rhett again and not Buchanan?”

  Lily responded with a glare.

  Tammy crossed her arms. “Garrett says Rhett was a jackass for sending the plants back in the first place since the stock was perfectly good. Garrett saw all the plants when he did the cleanup at the mansion and says it will serve Rhett right if the plants end up with a BDC home. He makes all the plant decisions, so Rhett will just have to butt out.”

  “Tough talk from a guy who works for Buchanan,” Rob interjected sullenly.

  “Garrett’s also his best friend,” Lily added.

  “He says Rhett won’t even know where the plants came from,” Tammy said, “and he won’t recognize them.”

  “Tomorrow’s a huge shipping day. Tammy has to stay here, and she’ll need Jason,” Rob said to Lily. “That means you’ll have to make the delivery to BDC with me. You up for that or do we delay the delivery?”

  “No, we need to get the stock delivered when Garrett wants them,” Tammy said. “I want to stay on his good side, so he keeps ordering plants. Lily can make the delivery.”

  Lily glanced at her warily. “Exactly which office building gets the new plants?”

  Tammy stared at her like a deer in truck headlights.

  “Tammy?”

  “Um, BDC headquarters in Palm Beach.”

  “Oh no! No way!” Lily marched for the door. “No way am I delivering plants to Buchanan’s private office building.”

  Rob grabbed her before she got away. “Come on, Lily, you can do it.”

  “You can’t expect me to deliver those plants to Buchanan’s office!” Lily exclaimed, aghast.

  Rob frowned at Tammy. “Maybe she’s right. This is a bad idea.”

  “Buchanan won’t even be there, I bet,” Tammy argued.

  “But what if he is?” Rob asked. “That will upset Lily, and I don’t want him scaring her.”

  “It won’t upset me,” Lily cried indignantly. “And I’m not scared of him.”

  Not much anyway.

  She gnawed on her bottom lip as she raced through all the possible outcomes of a delivery trip to BDC. Wearing her wide-brimmed hat, she would be almost unrecognizable, she hoped. Garrett could run interference, and she wouldn’t be alone. She would have Rob with her.

  So what if Buchanan saw her? He’d already said what he had to say back at his mansion. Besides, he would just ignore her. Except he hadn’t ignored her on Saturday night. Her heart had raced every time she’d caught him stealing a furtive glance, right up until she’d watched him stalk out early with that witch Delia who had the gall to send Lily a nasty smug smile on her way out.

  Watching Buchanan leave with his old girlfriend had hurt. A lot. Enough that Lily had put it out of her mind until she got home where she could cry in peace. She had wondered if the jerk brought Delia on purpose—to hurt Lily—until she remembered Garrett saying he didn’t know if Rhett would be attending. And Buchanan certainly hadn’t known Lily would be there. That fact alone was what had changed her mind about going to the gala in the first place.

  Time to face the truth. Buchanan had wasted no time casting Lily aside and running back to Delia, and the thought of Delia winning, with her arrogant better-than-everyone attitude, made Lily mad. Real mad.

  “I’m fine making the delivery,” she blurted. “If Buchanan doesn’t like it, tough. He can take it up with Garrett. I don’t intend to speak to Rhett anyway.�
�

  She winced, realizing she had used his first name again, and stuck her tongue out when Tammy laughed.

  “Garrett bought the plants,” Lily added, “and it’s him I’ll deal with. I’ll go get the stacks of sleeves and be right back, Rob.”

  She turned on her heel and strode for the greenhouse door.

  Watching Lily’s retreating figure, Tammy pulled out her cell phone and dialed. When the person on the other end answered, she said, “We’re all set, worked like a charm. I’ll have her there at ten. Meet her out front.” She hung up and pocketed the phone.

  Rob stuck an arm out when she turned to leave. “Wait just a minute. What are you up to, Tammy?”

  “Nothing to worry your pretty little head over,” she said and gave him a smile. “I’m watching out for Lily.”

  His brows pulled together. “You’d better. I don’t want Lily hurt.”

  “Neither do I, Rob. Neither do I.”

  Chapter 9

  Lily glanced over at Rob and wondered what he thought about delivering the resold plants gathered up from Buchanan’s estate. He hadn’t mentioned anything on the ride over, other than she looked nice today and then mumbled something about her wearing makeup, which naturally caused her cheeks to flush with embarrassment. As warm as they felt, she knew they had to be good and pink.

  So now Rob knew she had put on makeup to deliver plants to the office of the ex-boyfriend who’d thrown her out of his house last week. How pitiful was that? But she wasn’t about to risk going to BDC and looking disheveled in case she did run into Rhett. So, how pitiful was that?

  They had parked the nursery truck in a loading zone out front of Buchanan’s luxurious four-story office building on Peruvian Way in Palm Beach. She could see the street corner on Worth Avenue from the front steps and didn’t want to think about what this building had cost.

  Rob had made good time in morning traffic, and they arrived almost ten minutes early. Garrett had said he would meet them downstairs at ten. She forgot to bring the paper with Garrett’s phone numbers, so she had no choice but to run inside and call upstairs to Garrett’s office while Rob kept the truck idling at the curb.