“Just want to make sure my princess will be ready by eight. I’ll be there with the limo.” I stood and ground my teeth as I moved away from the desk.
“Drew. Listen carefully.” I tapped my new fake nails on the console table, but their tap-tapping only increased my blood pressure. “You are my escort for tonight’s event. You are not my date. Madyline and I will no doubt arrive at the hotel long before you, or any of the other VIPs, if only to make sure everything is going according to plan. Please do not think you need to swing by and pick me up. I am perfectly able to drive myself halfway across town.”
“But, Dix—”
“And, Drew . . .”
“Yeah, baby.”
“I am not your Dix, or your baby. And I am damn sure not your princess.” I clicked off the call, leaving Drew blustering in my ear. I crossed a line there, but my time with Deke was too fresh. Princess. Nobody called me that but him.
“Hey, Dixie, what was that about?” Oh, hell. Madyline must be pissed if she yelled clear down the hallway. I got up and walked to her office, where she was glaring over a mountain of paperwork piled on her desk. “Did you forget there are about five other guys on his team that we’re recruiting?”
I studied her angry expression across the width of her office. “I didn’t forget. But I get so tired of him coming on to me.”
“Guys do that. You have to learn to ignore it.”
I scoffed. “It’s the business; I get that. It’s not as easy as it used to be.” And then I was brutally honest. “Hey, Mads?” When she looked up, I took a dose of my own advice and told her something I should have shared weeks ago. “It just doesn’t mean as much as it used to. Not nearly as much as it means to you.”
Her features softened, but only slightly. We both knew the thoughts traveling through my mind. “I know it doesn’t. Why don’t you take the afternoon off and go home? I’ll see you tonight.”
I laughed. “Are you kidding? I can’t leave yet. I still have all this paperwork to get through, and then about eighteen thousand emails to answer because somebody let Carrie go play Cinderella.” I strode into her office and gave her a hug. “I’ll finish up here, then see you tonight, all right? We’ve been working so hard, tonight’s event is sure to be a rocking success. Global conservation is vital, but it ranks pretty low on the sexy scale. I only hope the keynote speaker isn’t a snooze fest.”
Drew Hensley preened as I allowed him to escort me up the wide staircase and into the hotel ballroom. It was the final concession I’d make to him tonight. He needed to know there was always a crowd around him, a woman on his arm, and photographers; dear God, let’s not forget the paps. Since it didn’t seem to matter that he was still recovering from his pasta flinging incident, we needed to hope LA had a short memory when it came to their golden boy.
Glitz and glamour dripped from the ceiling and spread across the marble floor. I let my gaze sweep the wide expanse of the room, and then stumbled a half-step with my heart thudding when I noticed Deke—my Deke—standing beside the podium. What was he doing here? I had to admit, though, he fit in better than many of those who had laid down cash for tonight’s five hundred dollar tickets with his tailored suit and his hair scraped into a bun at the back of his head. Drew tightened his grip. I looked up with a quick smile, but I didn’t have his attention. Of course not. He only needed to ensure I didn’t hinder his forward progress.
I immediately honed in on the tall, broad-chested gentleman standing beside one of the elegantly laid tables at the head of the room. He seemed deep in conversation with a middle-aged woman I recognized as one of the organizers of the affair. One of those in the category of bitches who brunch, their body and lifestyle bought and paid for by their overaged, oversexed, overworked husband. But what was he doing here? And why didn’t he mention it yesterday when we . . . we . . .?
Granted, there hadn’t been a lot of time for idle chitchat, but surely there was a conversational opening the size of Hoover Dam when we discussed the possibility of him coming to LA. How hard was it to mention, Oh, by the way, I’ll be on the coast tomorrow, let’s hook up? Maybe it had something to do with the well-manicured hand she rested so casually on his jacketed forearm.
As I stood rooted in place pretending not to stare, Madyline walked up to stand at my side, her eyes glued to her phone. “Did you come with him?”
I nodded. “Twice. Once again after we hung up. Don’t judge.” Heat rose from my chest to my hairline.
She looked up and rolled her eyes. “I meant did you ride over with Drew.” She lowered her phone to closely inspect the skin of my face, which by now was certainly several shades brighter than my makeup. “What, or should I say whom, did you think I was asking about?” Her gaze followed mine to the front of the room and she grinned. “Oh, never mind.”
I shrugged. “I didn’t know he would be here.”
“You would have if you’d made it through all of those eighteen thousand emails. One of them was his contract. It’s been finalized for weeks.” Her phone dinged with a message. She read it, then kissed the air at both my cheeks. “Gotta run, doll. Why don’t you . . . mingle, have some fun? This guy can take care of himself.” She nodded to Drew, who only had two barnacles clinging to him at the moment.
I cast a glance to the front of the room, but Deke was no longer there. A quick look around confirmed he must have taken off with the cougar. I swallowed my hurt and continued to scan the crowd. If Deke was scheduled to speak, he couldn’t have gone far. And if I wasn’t enough for him, it was better I learned now, before I put any more plans in play. I spotted several current clients among the glamourous guests, along with a hockey player I’d been interested in for a while. I released Drew’s arm and gave him a slight nod to let him know I was off to work the crowd.
After thirty minutes of wandering between members of the Green Earth Coalition and the LA elite, my ears throbbed with buzzwords and I was beginning to regret the five-inch heels, no matter how good they made my legs look. I paused to get my bearings in the crowd and then threaded my way to my assigned table halfway across the room.
I wasn’t familiar with the two couples already seated among the lavishly set places, and they did a good job of ignoring me as I claimed a seat opposite them and laid my clutch at the setting beside mine to save the spot for Drew. As far as I knew, he would be sitting beside me throughout the dinner and program, even though he wasn’t my date. I’d lost track of him a while ago, though; he could be anywhere.
The night progressed and tuxedo-clad waiters served a five-star dinner to hundreds of A-list guests. One of the city’s prominent celebrity athletes made a profound speech advocating global conservation, and then he introduced Dr. D. Harrison McAllister as a premier authority on solar powered automotive systems.
Jesus, who wouldn’t be impressed? The south had a tradition of saddling their children with the mother’s family name, and Harrison sat well on Deke’s broad shoulders. Now that the shock of seeing him was past, I leaned forward and ogled the country boy who seemed so at home on my turf.
His tux fit him as though it was custom ordered, and so did his professional attitude. He spoke without a teleprompter, his gaze catching each person in the room and trapping them in the warm caramel of his eyes. His gaze paused when it landed on me, and his lips turned up on one side. My heart knocked against my ribcage as he continued to speak, his sincere drawl garnering support. There would be a stack of donation checks tonight. There was no sign of the sweet and sometimes socially awkward Deke. No, Dr. D. Harrison wasn’t even the planned speaker, yet every person here sat captivated as he detailed his research and ideas for the future. He prowled the small stage with energetic enthusiasm and spoke off-the-cuff for nearly an hour. And when he finished, he merely answered the resounding applause with a slow smile and a nod before he quietly regained his seat. I wanted to rush to jump to my feet and shout that he was my man. But maybe he wasn’t.
The overhead lights came back up, and rather
than waiting for the throng of well-wishers around him to thin, I left my seat to join them. Drew hadn’t ever showed—a better offer, or two, no doubt—and the rest of my tablemates were apparently allergic to strangers. They hadn’t said a word to me all night. I could sit there and continue to be bored and feel sorry for myself, or I could find out what the fuck Deke was doing in Los Angeles.
Our duties were finished for the night and had gone flawlessly; the organizers had the con from here. I made it about halfway across the room, dodging couples as they made their way toward the bars now that the five-piece orchestra had taken the stage and was warming up. Deke met me, grabbed my upper arm and turned me around.
“Go. Fast. Get the hell out of here.” I fell in step behind him and followed him like a shadow. He dragged me out of the ballroom and clear to the elevators. He ran a hand down the front of his shirt. “Look at my suit.”
I lifted my eyebrows. Deke fishing for compliments? “Yes, well, Deke McAllister in a tux. Not bad at all.” He scowled. The elevator door opened and he pushed me into the car with him. He jabbed a button for the sixth floor.
I peered at him closer. He hadn’t been eager to leave the event. He’d been frantic. “Wait. What’s wrong, Deke? You’re really upset.”
He pointed to his shirt again. A red stain marred the crisp white fabric of his onyx studded shirt. “Candace Murphy’s what’s wrong. Said she had a suite in the hotel; she’d be happy to help me get the stain out.”
“Candace? That woman you were talking to before dinner? The president of The Green Earth Coalition?”
He nodded once, and scowled even as he seemed to find the floor infinitely fascinating. I had a flashback to that same hurt glower on his face when I first noticed him earlier tonight. Only minutes after I was ushered in with my hand on Drew’s arm. Okay, Deke, I get it. He paced the elevator car until I stepped in front of him and blocked his path.
“Why did Candace think you might like her to help get your stain out, Deke?”
I put my hand on his sleeve, lightly at first, indifferently—much the way I’d seen her do. Then I let it roam up his arm all the way to his shoulder. My free hand was busy with his shirt studs; they pinged as they hit the floor.
The elevator dinged and the door opened at his floor. Deke’s hands held my waist, pulled me from the car and pressed my back against the wall of the corridor; our bodies were less than a whisper apart. My fingers speared into his pulled back hair and tugged it loose of its binding. It fell loose over my hand. The hand on his shirt separated the two halves and swept his warm, firm flesh. “Is this what you wanted her to do, Deke? Is this what you wanted to feel?”
He growled low in his throat, and I felt it between my thighs. I was already wet for him. His hands captured my jaw moments before his lips lowered to mine for a heated moment. “No, I didn’t want anything from that attention whore. I have everything I want right here. Jesus, princess, I survived ten years without you, but you rolled back into my life for less than a week and turned it upside down. How am I supposed to live without you now?”
I grabbed handfuls of his hair and dragged his face to mine. I murmured against his lips as I tasted his lips, his tongue, the inside of his mouth. “I don’t know, Deke. But I’m having the same damn problem letting you go again. There has to be an answer for us.”
“There is, princess. We’ll find it.”
“We’ll find it soon, Deke. I’ll prove it to you.”
He peered over his shoulder and down the hallway. “Come with me. Stay with me tonight. One more time before I go home.”
I put my hand in his. “Show me the way.”
I steered my car around the final curve before I reached the Moreover city limits sign. And barely had time to note that Gus had finally gotten it cleaned before I blew past. No more Cooter on the roll, but if everything went according to plan, he’d be out again soon to increase the tally. The butterflies flapping in my belly this afternoon were not the same apprehensive nerves I brought with me the last time I came to town. Earlier in the summer I believed I was finished with small-town life. I had moved on, had found a bigger world to conquer.
The wings fluttering today were mostly eager and excited. I had learned a lot about myself while I was here. And learned quite a bit more after I returned to LA. Then I learned how fast I could pack my belongings when I realized exactly where my heart belonged.
I reached the edge of town and hit the brakes, slowing to a crawl when I discovered Center Street swarming with pedestrians. I’d missed most of the festivities, but that couldn’t be helped. I had a couple of stops to make before I could come looking for Deke.
The parade floats all lined the perimeter of the town square—some in all their glory, some already being dismantled. Adults milled about while children darted from one side of the street to the opposite. Vendor booths seemed to be scattered as far as I could see. I detoured on the first street and lucked on an empty parking space in front of Colleen’s book store. She had made a few changes to the landscaping in the month I’d been gone, and everything was in bloom and colorful. A pair of brightly-colored, cushioned deck chairs resided under the front overhang. A nice addition.
I stood on the edge of the crowd, ignored. It would be impossible to find anyone in this throng. I climbed onto a slatted wooden bench along the sidewalk and peered into the crowd. Beth was surely working today. She would know if Deke was here.
From my raised perch on the bench, I eventually caught sight of my friend escorting a sobbing little girl back to a concerned looking woman. When Beth noticed me, she raced to meet me and I scrambled to the grass to catch her in a hug. “Hey, short stuff.”
She snorted, then looked me up and down and beamed. “You’re back!”
I chuckled. “Of course. I told you I’d show up today.”
She released me and took a step back to raise her eyebrows at my scuffed-up boots. “No. I mean you’re back.”
She was a smart cookie, the deputy. I grinned, then spun a circle so the skirt of my sundress twirled. “I am. Tell me, please, did Stephanie win a ribbon in the bake-off? Did Elsie?”
Beth threw her head back and laughed. “That story will take a full pot of coffee to tell, but yes, Stephanie won her first blue ribbon, and get this.” She put her hand to her mouth, as if some busybody nearby could overhear a word. “Miss Elsie was disqualified!” The scandal in her tone had me laughing as well.
I looked around. “What else have I missed?”
“Later.” She looked as though she wanted to hop up and down with excitement, but she managed to limit herself to a face-splitting grin. “Deke’s over there on the other side of the park, where the football team has a dunk booth set up. Do you want to go right over? He’ll be so happy to see you. Everybody will.” She paused to take a breath, and her mouth pulled into a frown. “He’s been a bear since he came home from California two weeks ago. What happened?”
“Oh, Beth, you should have seen him give his speech. He commanded the room. Everyone was on the edge of their seat.”
“That wouldn’t have him snapping at people.”
“Deke doesn’t snap. I’m sure you’re imagining things.”
Beth gave me one of her patient stares. “He got up and walked out when Molly served him plain apple pie because they were out of ice cream. Does that sound like Deke?”
“Ruby must not have gotten her computer yet.”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. I’m just muttering. But no, it’s definitely not Deke.”
“So, what happened in California?”
“We spent the night together, but we didn’t make any commitments. What good would it do when we lived so far apart?”
“But you were already making plans to come home. Why didn’t you tell him?”
I grabbed both of her hands and led her back to sit on the bench I’d been standing on a few minutes ago. “Beth. I’m not back because of Deke. I’m back because of me.”
; Her brow furrowed and she hopped to her feet. “That’s just crazy. Crazy! He loves you! You love him! Of course, you’re back to be with him.” Oh, Beth. I reached in my purse for a tissue and handed it to her.
“You’re right; I do love him. But we’ve only been together days! That’s the crazy part. How do we know if our history is strong enough for us to start over? I’m back to give us that chance. If he wants it.”
Beth sniffled and nodded, and dove at me to tackle me in a hug. “This is a fine time for you to turn sensible. But I’m okay with it if you are. Will you stay with me again? I still have junk food stockpiled in my pantry.”
I gave her a squeeze, then released her and rose. “Maybe. I’ll be able to tell you after I see Deke. I need your help with something before that, though.”
I took off toward my car and she fell in step beside me. “Sure, no problem.” Suddenly she slowed, and I turned to see what held her up. She stood with her hands up, her eyes wide. “Oh, no, Dixie. I remember that look. Am I going to lose my job today?”
I laughed. “Nah, Beth, it’ll be fun. But first, I have to go cast my vote for mayor.”
The fun and energetic calliope music of the carnival rides and the tantalizing aroma of fresh popped corn combined to fill the still air and entice the citizens of Moreover. The crowd waiting in line at the dunk booth had pink cheeks and sweaty brows, and had been enticed for hours already. Founders’ Day fell near the end of summer, and rarely did the temperature soar as high as it had today.
The dunk tank had been my idea, something I remembered as fun from back in my college days. But with Buddy Williams winding up as if he were Nolan Ryan, I white-knuckled the platform seat and prepared to keep my head above water. It may have been my idea to include the game in the day’s festivities, but whoever thought to toss in the ice cubes was a masochistic son of a bitch.
Heart of Dixie (Moreover #1) Page 21