The engagement party was held at one of Dominic’s immense country estates about thirty minutes from New York City. Lil and Abby had gone over the details with the staff in the morning to ensure that everything went smoothly. Security was evident in every corner of the compound.
Mrs. Duhamel had offered to watch Colby for the day so Lil could support Abby as she fluctuated from being excited about the big day to being a nervous wreck. It still amazed Lil that beneath her strong façade, Abby worried and succumbed to the occasional panic just like she did.
To alleviate their stress, Abby and Lil spent two hours having their hair and nails done by the stylists Dominic had hired for them. Eventually Lil had returned to her own suite to dress alone. Well, alone was really an exaggeration of the situation. Lil was feeling a bit crowded by the entourage whose sole job was to anticipate her every need. Abby said she wouldn’t notice the staff or the security after a while, but Lil was longing for the privacy of her penthouse. Did Jake live like this? Lil couldn’t imagine him tolerating the constant intrusion.
That evening, Lil stood at the top of the stairs in a sleeveless, floor length orange dress, wondering if she had chosen her attire wisely. Many of the women she could see were much more demurely dressed in either a sophisticated black or subdued red.
Nicole waved to Lil from across the room, looking every bit as comfortable in her floor length, off-one-shoulder, claret Erdem dress. She and Stephan move seamlessly through the crowd, stopping to engage in what appeared to be just the right amount of small talk with each group of guests before moving on to the next cluster of people.
Dominic and Abby were located at the far end of the hall, greeting people who were casually making their way to meet them. The party looked like a scene out of movie. Everyone looked so poised, so perfect.
I don’t even know how to address them.
I should have asked.
No, I should have pretended to be sick tonight, that’s what I really should have done.
How am I going to be Abby’s maid of honor if I’m not even brave enough to leave the top of the stairway?
As if on cue, Jake appeared at the bottom of the stairs in a simple, formal tuxedo. The warmth in his eyes as he looked up at her freed her feet. She forced herself to take the stairs gracefully instead of flying to his side as she wanted to.
When she reached him, he kissed her lightly on the cheek, linked her arm with his and whispered, “You look stunning tonight.”
Tucked against his side, lost in the magic of the evening, she lowered her sarcastic shield and replied, “So, do you.”
He stopped and looked down at her, smiling. “Ms. Dartley, did you just give me a compliment?”
She couldn’t help but return his smile. “I can be nice.”
He bent and growled into her ear, “But I’ve begun to consider your taunts a form of foreplay.”
She playfully swatted his arm. “You would.”
His words tickled her ear. “If we were alone I would show you exactly what you do to me, but I can wait until tonight.”
“Tonight?” Her throat dried and her heart pounded in her chest.
“Oh, yes, after Dom and Abby make their announcement, I’m going to steal you away to my private suite in the north wing.”
“And just what makes you think I’ll go with you?”
He ducked behind a potted plant with her and claimed her lips hungrily. She hesitated for just a second before meeting his lips enthusiastically. His tongue teased then entered, coaxing and exciting. His hands molded her frame to his, firmly holding her against the evidence of his need for her. “You’ll come.”
He set her back from him and adjusted her clothing.
I’m sure I will, she thought and fanned her face. Maybe more than once.
“I love that expression on your face,” he said.
She cocked her head in question.
They stepped out from behind the plant and he said, “The one that says that you have a naughty thought that you’re not going to share. I’ll spend the entire evening wondering exactly what you were thinking just then.”
“I could tell you,” she said boldly.
He pulled her into his side as they walked and growled suggestively, “Why not simply show me later?”
She would have said something witty if she had been able to think coherently. Much more of this and she was going to suggest they cut the evening short and consequences be damned. Instead she gathered her resolve and regained some clarity by focusing on the people around them. Jake escorted her through the crowd and introduced her to everyone from a Prime Minister to a Sheikh. He didn’t introduce her with a label, but his arm never left her waist and the message that she was his could not have been more obvious if he had rented a billboard.
Not that Lil minded.
His possessiveness gave her another reason to hope.
Lil was allowing herself to relax and enjoy the evening when she saw someone across the room who immediately changed her mood.
Jake felt her tense and asked, “Is there something wrong?”
Oh, just potentially, everything.
“No,” Lil answered evasively. “I just saw a friend of mine.”
Jake scanned the room and asked coldly, “Who?”
His tone made her temporarily return her focus to him. “Are you jealous?”
“No,” he said in an angry tone. “No,” he said again, sounding like he was aiming for a more casual answer. Then he turned her more fully toward him. “Should I be?”
No, but if you knew everything you might wish this were about another man.
“Not unless you think my taste is tall, red haired women.”
He let out a slow breath. “Your friend Alethea?”
Her eyebrows furrowed, “How do you know about her?” Then she remembered. “Would you stop reading my background check, please? It’s not fair.”
“Is it my fault they were so thorough?”
“It’s going to be your fault if I stomp this heel into your toes.”
He nodded. “Point made.”
Lil tried to pull away. “Excuse me, I have to go speak to her for a moment…”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No, you can’t because…” She stopped herself. No more lies. “Jake, do you trust me?”
His expression was unreadable. Then he said, “Yes.”
“Believe me when I tell you I have to talk to Alethea alone and I can’t tell you why. I want to tell you, but it doesn’t involve just me.” She took his hand in hers, trying to convey the importance without giving anything away.
“That sounds pretty ominous.”
“It might end up being something good, but I can’t say more than that right now. Can you do that for me? Can you give me a little time to figure this out?”
He looked like that was the last thing he wanted to do, but he said, “Trust goes both ways, Lil.”
“I know,” Lil said huskily. I hope I don’t lose yours over this.
“I’ll go get us a drink,” he said and withdrew his arm from around her.
No, she wanted to cry, but she let him walk away. Somehow, she was going to make this right.
She flew to Alethea’s side and grabbed her arm. “What the hell are you doing here?” Lil hissed at her friend.
“You’re not going to congratulate me for successfully gaining entry to one of the most heavily guarded events in recent history? I even snuck Jeremy in. He’s at the appetizer table.”
Lil looked over and saw a man eating everyone’s share of the shrimp. Oh, my God. “I thought we agreed you weren’t going to do this.”
Alethea flipped her thick crimson hair over one bare shoulder. In a simple, black, floor length Tom Ford gown, Alethea blended well with the crowd, looking more like a movie star that night than a security consultant. Her eyes flashed with annoyance. “You should have told me the Waltons were coming. They are like the holy grail of computer programmers. No one was even sure they were still alive until word came that they were coming to this event. I couldn’t miss it. Hell, Jeremy shaved and left his basement to meet them. They are that big.”
“You’re not worried about exposing everything by bringing him here?”
“No, because Jeremy has assured me that no one will ever know what we did unless we say something about it.” Alethea gave her friend a meaningful look. “And we’re not going to, are we, Lil?”
Lil’s composure cracked. Her feelings gushed out. “I have to tell them, Al. Jake and Dominic are in real jeopardy of losing their company if they don’t fix their server issue and Jeremy might be the only one who knows something that could help them.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that,” Alethea sighed. “You’ve never been a good liar.”
Lil brought a grateful and shaky hand to her mouth as she realized her friend’s true motive for being there that night. “You brought Jeremy in case I need him.”
Alethea nodded and said, “I also know of at least three ways out of here if this goes south.”
Lil looked across at the man who was stashing crab cakes in the pockets of his checkered dinner jacket. “And Jeremy is onboard with this? He’ll help us?”
Alethea grimaced and said, “He really does want to meet the Waltons, but I may have also promised to run away with him to Mexico if Dominic decides to press charges and we have to escape and create new identities for ourselves.”
Lil bit her lip to stop from finding amusement in a situation that was really too scary to warrant it. “He likes you that much, huh?”
Alethea shuddered. “Yeah, make sure it doesn’t come to that. He’s not my type.” She looked around the room and nodded in the direction of a well-built, intense looking man who was dressed in a tuxedo but was far too alert to be one of the guests. “Now that man could frisk me, any day.”
As always, Alethea’s choice was one of the most dangerous men in the room. “That’s Dominic’s head of security. He does not have a sense of humor.” She tried to regain her friend’s attention by elbowing her discreetly. “Stop making eyes at him. If he finds out you snuck in here we’re both dead.”
“Don’t worry about Mr. Sour Grapes; I can handle him.” Alethea winked at the man across the room and smiled when the act brought a rush of angry color to his face. “Oh, yeah. I might actually have some fun.”
“No, Al, no fun,” Lil pleaded. “Promise me you’ll play it cool tonight. We’ll be lucky enough if we don’t land ourselves in jail when this is all over.”
Alethea sighed dramatically. “Fine, killjoy. The sacrifices we make for friendship…”
Asking her to stay out of trouble was like asking your dog to stay off the couch. Sure both might look innocent enough while you were right there with them, but you had a pretty good idea about how things would go down as soon as you left.
“It would serve you right to spend the rest of your life as Mrs. Jeremy Kater or whatever new name you two lovebirds came up with.”
“Nice, Lil. I’ll remember that when the police cars pull up.”
Lil sobered for a moment as the real possibility of that thing happening settled on her and she realized the enormity of what her friend was willing to risk for her. “They won’t when Jeremy tells Jake what he found. Thank you, Al.”
Alethea shrugged off Lil’s gratitude, but Lil knew it had touched her friend to hear it. “Go-” Alethea said. “Go get Jeremy and save your man. I’ll be here if you need me.”
With one last grateful hug, Lil left her friend’s side to do just that.