By Private Invitation (30 page)

And had absolutely no desire to fill his bed with anyone but her.

The thought should have rocked him to his bachelor’s soul. But then he’d never met
anyone like Belle before.

And she had found the pin…

He smiled at the thought, though he didn’t believe Nana’s story about the pin pairing
off soul mates. How could he? It was a legend created by an artist to sell his jewelry.

As he steered her toward the front of the room, where he knew his mom would be holding
court, he barely noticed the glittering crowd moving around them. Most of the usual
Main Line suspects were here, in addition to anyone who was anyone in the city.

Many of them stared back at him. He saw contemplation on the women’s faces, some of
them women he’d been involved with. But he knew they weren’t looking at him. They
were sizing up Annabelle. So were the men, but for different reasons. His hand
tightened on her shoulder until she shot him a concerned look, which he soothed with
a smile.

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. He sent a quick glance around the room
and found Tyler sitting at a table with his grandmother. Better the devil he knew.

“Come meet my grandmother, Belle.”

Tension pounded in Annabelle’s temples, threatening to burst into a full-blown headache.

Tonight had been more stressful than she’d expected.

Not that anyone had been mean to her. On the contrary, everyone had been wonderful
and Jared had stuck to her side like glue for the past two hours.

Until a second ago when he’d gotten up to dance with his mother.

“Time to do my duty,” he sighed. “I’ll be right back, Belle.”

Then he’d slid a glance at Tyler.

“Would you like a drink, Annabelle?” Tyler asked, leaning forward slightly to speak
over the din of the large crowd. “I need something a little more fortifying than champagne.”

Annabelle liked Tyler, who was so different from Jared. Quiet and intense, Tyler looked
into you with his dark brown eyes, almost as if he could see what you were thinking.
He’d been polite and kind all evening, saying just enough to keep up with the conversation.

But that intensity had flared when he’d asked about Kate. She’d been ready to bring
up the subject herself when he’d asked how she was doing. But other than his question,
she couldn’t tell how he felt.

“How about a glass of orange juice, with a lot of ice, please. I think I’ve already
had a few too many glasses of champagne.”

And she didn’t want to fall asleep too early tonight.

Tyler nodded and moved away, leaving her alone with Beatrice Golden. Somehow she’d
dodged that particular bullet all night. But when Beatrice turned to her with a knowing
smile, Annabelle knew her time was up.

“So, dear. Alone at last.” The tiny-featured, frail-looking woman patted one thin
hand on the seat next to hers. A royal summons, if Annabelle had ever seen one.

She couldn’t very well say no, so she smiled and shifted over two seats to sit next
to Beatrice.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jared on the dance floor with his mother, Helena,
who’d been overcome with emotion when she’d been honored earlier by the charity’s
board of directors. From what little Annabelle had seen of her tonight, she seemed
like a nice woman.

Glen Golden also seemed pleasant. She hadn’t been able to figure out why Jared didn’t
want her anywhere near his dad.

“How are you enjoying the party?” Beatrice asked.

“Jared’s mother has done a wonderful job,” she answered truthfully.

Everything had gone off without a hitch. Though personally, she’d rather be at one
of Jared’s parties at Haven. Here, she felt like she needed to watch her posture and
smile all the time, as if she were on display.

“Yes, Helena loves this kind of thing.” Beatrice sighed. “Me, I’d rather be over at
Haven, sitting at the bar, having a gin and tonic.”

Annabelle’s tension headache lightened a little at Beatrice’s forlorn tone.

“Now, tell me, young lady, how did you come to find my pin?”

Ah, the pin. She’d been wondering when Beatrice would get around to asking about it.
Annabelle curved her lips in what she hoped was a convincing smile even as her temples
throbbed as if someone had tightened a vise on them. “Actually, my grandfather did,
about thirty years ago at a flea market. I don’t really know that much about how he
found it. All I know is that he found it in a box of costume jewelry. He didn’t know
it was there until he emptied the box and realized the stones were authentic. I’m
so sorry I can’t tell you anything more. I understand it was stolen?”

Beatrice placed one hand over Annabelle’s. “Yes, yes, many years ago. I want you to
know I don’t suspect your grandfather of having anything to do with its disappearance.
We long suspected that it was a maid who took it. She disappeared at the same time
as the jewelry and we never were able to find her or the pieces.”

“I really wish you’d let me give the piece back to you.”

Beatrice wrinkled her nose. “Absolutely not. I want you to have it, dear. It’s yours
now, has been for years. It is a beautiful piece, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is. I’ve always loved it. But, Beatrice, I’m a firm believer in reuniting
families with their treasures. The pin is yours.”

With a quick look to see that Jared still danced with his mother, Annabelle opened
the small velvet satchel tied to her wrist, another of Kate’s creations, and drew
out the pin.

“I just don’t feel right keeping it.”

Beatrice dropped her gaze to the pin, the smile on her face spreading. She reached
for the pin and Annabelle thought she was going to take it. But Beatrice closed Annabelle’s
fingers over it. “The pin’s in the right hands. It was originally part of a set of
seven that had been in my family for years until a few were sold off in the Great
Depression. My grandfather managed to keep the
pin and a blue sapphire ring in the family. The set was given to my parents on their
wedding, and I inherited the pin on my eighteenth birthday, when I met Jared’s grandfather.”
Beatrice sighed. “When my mother passed, I inherited the ring as well. Both were stolen
before I could pass them to Jared’s father.”

Beatrice looked out over the dance floor, and Annabelle followed her gaze. Glen and
Helena danced together now. She didn’t see Jared.

Her stomach dipped as she looked for him.

There he was, dancing with another woman. A slim, gorgeous creature with jet-black
hair and a bearing only acquired through years of functions like this. Someone Jared
seemed to know very well.

The woman’s hand caressed his shoulder as they danced so closely she couldn’t see
a centimeter of space between them. They moved together as if they’d been doing it
for years.

Her stomach rolled at the look on Jared’s face—calm, in control, flirtatious. It was
that last one that made her stomach tighten.

She’d known all along that he was a flirt, a playboy.

And hadn’t she been the one who’d insisted on keeping their relationship strictly
about business and sex? Isn’t that what she’d told him last weekend?

Maybe he’d been seeing that woman this week while he’d been in Philadelphia.

Damn it, what was wrong with her? Why did she feel…What? Possessive? Jealous?

After the whole debacle with Gary, she’d sworn off men.

Then what does she go and do? She falls for the first millionaire playboy she meets.

She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it, but she was afraid Beatrice would think
she was crazy.

Slipping one hand to her temple, she rubbed at the expanding ache there and dragged
her gaze away from Jared and the other woman.

Maybe she’d send Tyler back to the bar for a bottle of vodka to add to her orange
juice.

Beatrice patted her on the hand, drawing her attention back to the older woman, smiling
at her in a way that made Annabelle’s brows lift.

“Annabelle, my dear, I would like to employ your services.”

Jared’s head ached.

It had started with a dull throb at the base of his neck and spread throughout his
skull to compress his sinuses into oblivion.

And Katherine Sinclair’s incessant sexual innuendo wasn’t helping.

He’d known he wouldn’t be able to ignore everyone all night. He’d known eventually
he’d have to make the rounds. There were too many people he knew here. He couldn’t
just sit by Annabelle’s side. He shot a quick glance her way and breathed a little
easier when he saw her engaged in conversation with his grandmother. Nana would take
care of her until he could return to the table.

“So, Jared.” Katherine ran one slim finger around the collar of his shirt, failing
to raise more than his ire. “David’s out of town until the end of the month and—”

Jared cut her off before she could finish the thought. “I’m afraid I’m leaving tonight.”

Katherine smiled, and Jared had learned that when a woman smiled like that, fur was
about to fly. “She’s pretty, but not your usual type. I don’t recognize her.”

He stifled a sigh. “You wouldn’t. So I understand your mother’s surgery went well.”

Katherine flashed him a look that spoke volumes. She knew what he was up to. “Mom’s
fine, the knee replacement went well and, of course, Daddy promised her a shopping
trip to Paris as soon as she’s up and about again. Why don’t you give me a call next
week? I’ll plan a day at the spa at Haven and then we could get some dinner?”

With his headache starting to take on gargantuan proportions, Jared fended off Katherine
for the rest of the song. But as the band swung into the next number, Darcy Adams
took Katherine’s place.

Why hadn’t he remembered that these events were basically meat markets?

He turned down another proposal. Discreetly, of course. None of them interested him.

He only wanted to return to his table where a certain green-eyed woman waited for
him. He looked that way to see what Belle was up to and discovered her gone.

His gut tightened with some emotion he couldn’t place. Without trying to be obvious,
he swung a quick glance around the dance floor and sighed with relief when he found
her dancing with Tyler. Her smile brightened his night from halfway across the room.
And, by God, his brother had a smile on his face, too.

Amazing.

Well, maybe not so amazing. Belle was starting to give him ideas he’d never thought
possible.

Somehow he got through the rest of the dance without stepping on Darcy’s feet or making
a complete idiot out of himself. The game of seduction he typically thrived on held
no thrill tonight.

Maybe he wasn’t as much like his father as he’d thought.

He missed a step and apologized to Darcy.

That topic was obviously not a good one to think about now. He’d only been out of
the loop for a few weeks and already he thought himself above it all. That might’ve
been the most dangerous thought he’d had all night.

Hell, look at his parents. His father claimed to love his mother, but he’d still cheated
on her.

He vividly remembered his father trying to explain his adultery to a sixteen-year-old.
How the relationship he had with his wife forced him to seek “comfort” outside the
home. That Helena’s condition made it difficult for them to have a true relationship.

It was the first time either of his parents had ever touched on the subject that there
was something wrong with Helena.

Shit, that really wasn’t what he wanted to be thinking about now.

Thankfully, the song ended, and he untangled himself from his dance partner. It took
longer than it should have. The woman had wanted to continue their discussion but
he managed to get away without drawing attention to himself. Goldens never made a
scene.

Finally, he made his last regret and, on his way to reclaim Annabelle from his brother,
he passed close enough to his parents that Helena stopped him.

He leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. “Great shindig, as always, Mom. Guess we
know where I got it from, hmm?”