“Do they gossip about you often?” he asked as he fired up the powerful engine of the car and drove out of the neighborhood.
“Not usually. But I have heard them gossiping about everything from the other parents in the neighborhood to whatever Mandee Meriweather brings up on Royal Tonight!”
“Royal Tonight!?”
“It’s a local television program, sort of entertainment-news. Mostly gossip about everyone in town. I have been trying to book some time on there to talk about the Soiree on the Bay but she’s shut me down so far.”
“We’ll see what I can do about that,” he said, putting his hand on her leg as he drove out of her neighborhood to Sheen.
Sheen had a diverse staff of women who ran everything from the front of house at the restaurant to the kitchen where Charlotte was the head chef. Charlotte worked hand in hand with the staff to ensure it wasn’t a gimmicky place. The food was innovative and mouthwatering and its reputation for excellent service was making it “the place” to dine in Royal. Lila was pretty sure the fact that she’d asked Charlotte to book them a table was the only reason they’d gotten one on such short notice.
“I’m not sure where we are going—”
“Lila Jones?”
She turned to see Jack Bowden walking toward her. He was a tall and muscly man who had made his fortune working with his hands. He had an easy smile and normally sort of nodded at her instead of talking to her.
“I thought that was you. You’ve done something different...with your hair?”
“And a few other things,” Zach said, holding out his hand. “I’m Zach Benning, and you are?”
She almost smiled at the way Zach had done that. Was he jealous? She could have told him that Jack wasn’t interested in her but was madly in love with Lexi Alderidge. However, the novelty of having anyone jealous over her was interesting.
“Jack Bowden,” he said.
“Lila showed me the event grounds that you built. Very impressive,” Zach said.
“Is Valencia here yet?” Lila asked.
“I don’t think so. But Rusty, Gina and Asher are,” Jack said. “Follow me... I’ll show you where everyone is.”
He turned to lead the way and Zach grabbed her wrist to stop her from going.
“What?” she asked.
“How many men are on this committee?”
“Just Jack and Asher. Ross was but he and his father are having some issues. Then Rusty and Billy are overseeing the event. Why?”
“I just realized I don’t know who’s on the committee. And the Edmonds?”
“They are royalty right here in Royal. Kind of the money and the brains behind the event. You’ll like them, they’re your kind of people—movers and shakers.”
“Great. Lead on,” he said.
She turned to do so and realized, as she walked through the restaurant to the table that had been set aside for them, that for the second time tonight people were watching her.
Lila Jones, nerdy girl next door, was suddenly catching everyone’s attention.
She didn’t hate it.
* * *
The room they were led to was large with a huge chandelier over the long table set for ten. There was a large mirror at the end of the table, and drapes that could be drawn to give them privacy, but Zach noticed they’d left them open while the group was mingling. Which was a great way to get people wondering what they were talking about.
“Let’s get a selfie before the meeting starts,” he said, putting his arm around her.
“Where should I look?”
“At the camera. Smile and look like you are about to have some fun,” he directed.
She made a face, which made him laugh, and he couldn’t help it. He hit the shutter button to take a photo. She grimaced. “I looked horrible.”
“You looked cute as always. Let’s do it for real now,” he said, taking a photo.
“Lila, could we see you for a minute?” Jack asked.
She turned to him. “Go ahead,” he told her. “I’m going to post this and go see if I have any followers in the restaurant who will help, as well. I’ll be back in five?”
“That sounds good,” she said, moving away from him toward Jack and the others.
Zach liked the vibe of the restaurant. It was upscale but also somehow welcoming. He heard the entire staff was women and he supported that, but this felt like more than just some gimmicky one-off. The dishes both smelled and looked delicious and as he went to the bar to grab a drink, he was stopped by a few followers. He took selfies with them and mentioned Soiree on the Bay.
That’s for your conscience, he thought.
He wasn’t just using Lila; he was helping her. And falling for her. It was the combination of heart and hustle that she brought to everything. The way that the clothes just made her more Lila instead of changing her. He hadn’t created a safe bridge to cross when he’d helped her with her makeover; he’d created a woman who was too close to what he hadn’t realized he actually wanted until she’d opened her door to him and he’d seen her standing there. And he wanted her more than ever, he thought as he took a sip of the dry martini he’d ordered. Just what he needed to get through this meeting. It had been a long time since he had to socialize like this. Normally everyone was there to see him.
He saw someone walk into the restaurant who looked familiar. He knew him from somewhere. Maybe LA?
The other man saw him and smiled but didn’t seem to recognize him. He continued back to the private room where Zach had left Lila. Zach tipped the bartender and then went back to the group. They were starting to settle into their seats and he noticed that Lila had saved him a seat next to her as the waitstaff drew the curtains around them to afford them privacy.
Once the appetizers had been served and drink orders taken, Rusty Edmond, who was the patriarch of his family, stood up. Everyone immediately stopped talking.
“Thanks to everyone for your hard work. I think we should start with a toast to Jack for all the hard work he put in. The event site is great.”
Everyone toasted Jack, who looked humble as he swallowed his drink.
“Lila, darling, do you want to introduce Zach?” Rusty asked.
“Yes, sir. This is Zach Benning. I’m sure y’all have heard of him. He’s been tagging the Soiree on his social media accounts and it is working to get the word out. He’s also helped me to figure out how to add some pizzazz to our posts.”
“Welcome, Zach,” everyone said.
Zach nodded. “It’s nothing, I’m happy to help out. I do have a few questions about the event, however.”
“We will be happy to answer them after the dinner,” Rusty said. “Do you know everyone here?”
“Um. Well, I met Jack on the way in,” he answered.
“That’s my daughter, Gina, stepson Asher. This here is Billy Holmes. Family friend. Valencia is on the end and next to her is Charlotte.”
“Billy, have we met before?” Zach asked. The other man looked very familiar.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “Unless you went to college in Texas?”
“Uh, no. UCLA for me,” Zach murmured. “You sure do look familiar.”
Billy laughed and nodded at him. “I have one of those faces. Everyone thinks they know me.”
“Everyone thinks they know Zach, too,” Lila said. “I mean his followers are always swarming around him.”
“Are they?” Charlotte asked. “Do you think you could get them to swarm here?”
Charlotte Jarrett was smart, sassy and a great dinner companion. She was the head chef here at Sheen and told him she had a son named Ben who was two. She was engaged to Ross Edmond, who wasn’t at the dinner because his father had disinherited him. Sounded like there was more to that story, but Zach didn’t ask.
“You don’t need my help. This pla
ce is packed,” he said.
“Yeah, but having a line out the door never hurt a restaurant,” she countered.
“I have a few ideas. I already tagged the restaurant and took some selfies with your customers. That should help get the word going,” he said.
“Thanks. Now about Lila...”
“What about her?” Zach asked.
“I saw you blaze into town with that blonde and now, what, less than a week later you’re here with her? Lila’s a friend and I don’t want to see her get hurt,” Charlotte said.
“I don’t, either,” Zach promised. “I’m just helping her learn how to promote the Soiree without me. She needs to be able to do this on her own.”
“It looks like it’s more than that.”
“She’s a grown woman,” Zach reminded her.
Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him. “All right. Just don’t come back around here if you hurt her.”
Valencia asked her a question and she turned to answer it. Zach was left in the middle of one of those dinner party silences where the people on either side of him were engaged in other conversation. He heard Billy laugh and shook his head. He was sure he’d met the other man somewhere. It would come to him eventually.
He looked over at Lila, who was in her element, talking about the town and the upcoming event, and he knew that Charlotte was right. He couldn’t hurt her. She wasn’t used to his life, and he might have changed the outer packaging, but he didn’t want to change anything else.
* * *
“I love those shoes,” Gina raved as they were all standing in the bathroom fixing their lipstick after dinner.
“Thanks. I thought they’d be uncomfortable, but they aren’t,” Lila said. For the first time in her life, she’d gone to the ladies’ room with the other women at her table. She never had a reason to freshen up after dinner as she usually didn’t care if her lipstick had worn off.
Charlotte had dashed to the kitchen to check on her sous-chef and make sure that everything was running smoothly. Valencia finished touching up her lipstick and they ran into Charlotte as they walked out. Lila knew this would be a perfect photo for her to post.
“Ladies, do you mind taking a selfie? Maybe with the Sheen logo behind us?” Lila asked.
They seemed surprised that she was suggesting a selfie, but all were game. Lila realized her arms were too short to get a good photo but Valencia offered to hold the camera and they got one of them all. She followed the women back toward their private table, remembering the tips that Dawn had given her for posting. She was toying with some different hashtags when Mandee Meriweather stopped her.
“Lila Jones, you are all that everyone is talking about tonight...well, you and Zach Benning. His Benningnites have been bombarding me, demanding I interview him. I’d love to have you both on the show. What do you say?” she asked.
“Oh, Mandee, thanks. I have been wanting to come on and talk about the Soiree,” Lila said. “Let me talk to ZB and I’ll let you know when we can do it.”
“Oh, ZB...so are you part of his inner circle?” Mandee asked.
Lila knew that Mandee was absolutely the biggest gossip in town—Lila’s dad referred to her as the Mouth of the South. No doubt, she’d love to get the inside scoop on what Zach was doing here.
“We’re friends,” she said. “I’ll message you a time that works.”
She smiled her goodbye before she turned and walked away from the woman who’d been ignoring her requests for months. It felt good to be the one in this position. Lila had never experienced this before. But she knew she had something that Mandee wanted. For once, the other woman had to come to her.
She finished writing her post but didn’t post it; she wanted to get Zach’s feedback first. He came over to her when she entered the private dining area.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes. Royal Tonight! wants to interview us. Probably just you but she wasn’t about to say that to my face. I told her we’d get back to her on a time. Can you look at this? I want to post it.”
She handed him her phone and he scanned it, added a hashtag and then nodded. “Looks great.”
She glanced down at the hashtag he’d added—#soireefoxyfour. “What if the other women don’t want—”
“It’s fun and it brands you four. I think it will work. If you want to get their approval first, then let’s ask them.”
He put his hand on the small of her back and took her over to the rest of the group. Everyone stopped talking when they joined them. “What do you think of the ladies being branded as the Soiree Foxy Four? Just a fun hashtag that the team can use when they post?” he asked.
“I think it might be a bit much for Royal, and the Soiree is a charity event,” Gina said.
“I agree,” Valencia said. “But thanks for thinking of us as the foxy four.”
Lila deleted the hashtag and then sent the post as Asher came over to talk to them.
“Zach, I like your thinking. You are just what this event needs,” he said.
“You were already in good hands with this advisory committee. I’m impressed with everything you have brought to the table.”
“Yeah? It’s fun to see something go from concept to reality,” Asher said.
“It is,” Lila agreed. “I can’t believe we are only two months away. Zach, you came at exactly the right time.”
“Well, if I’d known how charming Royal was, I would have been here sooner,” he admitted.
Zach glanced at his watch and she wondered if he was ready to leave. Normally she would have lit out after dessert but here she was staying for drinks with the group. As much as she enjoyed it she wouldn’t mind some quiet time with Zach. A lot had happened today, and she still wasn’t sure where they stood.
But she was going to be chill. She’d made up her mind sometime during the afternoon when Shantal was showing her how to do a cat-eye with eyeliner. She couldn’t be that small-town girl who clung to the bad boy. But the problem was she wanted more from Zach. More of what she didn’t know. But definitely more.
“Where is Billy from? He looks so familiar to me,” Zach said.
Lila shrugged. She didn’t know his history. “He doesn’t remember meeting you and I’m pretty sure if you had met that wouldn’t be the case.”
“Why is that?” he asked, pulling her closer to him.
“You’re unforgettable, ZB,” she said, forcing herself to be flirty, but inside she knew she meant those words. That they were a truth bomb that she should pay attention to. No matter what happened between them, she knew she’d never forget him. How could she?
He’d changed something in her, helped her see her life in a new light and sparked her desires for something that she’d never considered before. That this craving for a lifestyle that she’d never dreamed possible could be so tantalizing and fun with the right man by her side. She wanted to say he’d given her a glimpse of life beyond what she’d had but honestly, he’d made her realize how much she loved her city and her life here, and that maybe she wanted him to love it, too.
TEN
Zach dropped Lila off at her house after their dinner at Sheen. She was getting a bunch of likes from being featured on his social media account and he was getting DMs asking if she was his flavor of the week. He had to think about that, and not with Lila.
“Are you sure you won’t come in?” she asked.
She was breathtakingly gorgeous, and he wanted nothing more than to come in and hook up with her again. But that wasn’t going to help either of them. Either she was his pet project or she was his girlfriend. But she couldn’t be both, and a part of him was beginning to realize no matter how he spun it, there was no way to keep people from seeing her as his latest arm candy.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said.
“Why not?” she asked, quirking her head to the
side, but keeping her expression blank.
“Just for once don’t ask the questions I’m not sure I can answer,” he bit out.
“Why can’t you answer that?” she asked.
It was almost ten o’clock and her neighborhood was quiet. Everyone in their homes watching TV or sleeping. Just a quiet domestic scene that was as foreign to him as tagging a post had been to Lila. This was her world.
Zach wanted to repeat it to himself, but he knew he wasn’t stupid and he already got it. He didn’t fit in here. Part of him didn’t want to. The only thing he wanted was Lila... What if he took her to his place? Enough of this sleepy little suburban neighborhood.
“Want to come and stay with me?”
“No. You have your team there and they already think we are sleeping together,” she said. “Come inside so we can talk. I can see one of my neighbors pretending not to stare at us.”
“Fine. But we are already sleeping together,” he reminded her as he turned off the Ferrari and followed her into her house.
As soon as the door closed behind him she turned to him. “I know that. But I don’t want them to know.”
“You should know everyone who has liked our posts where I tagged you also thinks we are sleeping together.”
“Ugh! I need a drink.”
She tossed her purse on the antique table in the hall and walked toward her kitchen. He put his keys on the table and followed her. Lila had pushed a chair over to the fridge, kicking off her Louboutin pumps, before he realized what she was doing. She started to climb up on it, but he caught her by her waist and set her aside.
“I’ll get whatever it is you are trying to reach,” he said, pushing the chair aside and opening the cabinet. There was an unopened bottle of bourbon, a partially drunk bottle of Jack Daniel’s and two bottles of Casamigos tequila. One of them was almost empty and the other hadn’t been opened.
“Tequila?”
“Yes,” she said stiffly. She had moved to another cabinet and taken two lowball glasses from it. Then she used her hand to get ice from the ice maker and dropped two cubes in one of the glasses. “Do you want ice?”
Harlequin Desire June 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 Page 10