Cinderella Busted (The Cinderella Romances #1) (5 page)

She took the proffered hand intending to give it a swift shake and be on her way. “Lily Foster.”

Cross appeared to have other plans however. He kept her hand in a tight grip and tugged it up to his mouth where he brushed a light kiss across her knuckles.

“
Very
pleased to meet you, Lily Foster.”

She gently pulled at her hand, wanting to get free and not wanting to attract attention, and his dark eyes twinkled devilishly.

“Does that bit of gallantry normally work well with the ladies?” she asked lightly and tugged again.

“Normally.”

He grinned and her breath caught for a second. That grin should be registered as a concealed weapon. Too bad she’d lost her heart once already that day. No way would she be fooled twice. These Island people were definitely out of her league.

“But evidently not with you,” Cross said and released her hand.

“Well, it was very nice to meet you, Mr. Cross,” she said and turned for the terrace doors.

“Please, call me Aidan,” he said and stepped alongside. “Headed out to the patio?”

She slammed to a halt. “Yes, I just wanted a quick turn through the gardens, alone. I’m into . . .”
Careful, Lily
. “. . . flowers and such.”

She didn’t look directly at him. If he turned that smile loose again, someone may think the two of them were flirting.

“Well, that’s blunt enough.”

She did glance at his handsome face then. Had she hurt his feelings? She hoped not. What she did find was genuine concern in those dark eyes.

“Are you sure you want to leave Rhett alone in here with Delia while you traipse about the gardens? Might not be wise.”

“You’re a good friend of Rhett’s?”

“I’m not so sure I’d go that far,” he said, the devilish twinkle reappearing in his eyes.

“How far would you go?” she asked, suddenly very curious about this guest.

“Now that’s a question you should be careful asking a single man.” He grinned. “Or any man for that matter.”

She huffed. “You know what I meant. You were talking about Rhett.”

“And I’m just teasing you. In answer to your question, I’m Rhett’s chief competition in most things.” His eyes sparked, and Lily suspected he meant more than business ventures.

“If you’re not friends, then how did—”

“I never said we weren’t friends. I’d like to think we are, but we’ve butted heads quite a lot over the years. As for you, I saw you two walk in together, and I also saw Delia make a beeline for Rhett the minute she spotted you.” Aidan laughed. “She must have had a heart attack seeing Rhett walk in with a beautiful woman on his arm.”

Lily opened her mouth, couldn’t think of a thing to say, and promptly closed it. Could this be more embarrassing? Bad enough Rhett had brought her to his girlfriend’s cocktail party, but everyone here knew it. The sooner she made her escape the better.

Aidan’s smile faded. “Aw, hell. You didn’t know about Delia, did you?”

Lily shook her head, refusing to look at him so he couldn’t see her flushed cheeks. She thought she heard him mutter, “Damn Rhett,” and wished a hole would open up underneath her, so she could just disappear.

“You know, if you’re determined to visit the gardens, me escorting you should bring Rhett along sooner rather than later,” Cross was saying.

He acted concerned, but could she trust any of these people? She doubted it.

“No, thank you. I just need a breath of fresh air.”

He stepped back. “If you’re sure.”

She slanted a quick glance at him. Did he know she planned to bolt? He stared at her as though he did. She moved toward the terrace doors without another word.

Cross called after her, “I’m glad I got to meet you, Lily Foster.”

What could she say? Good-bye? Good night? He’d surely know her plan then, and he obviously knew Rhett, so best if she kept silent.

“You really like it?” Delia cooed and tugged Rhett’s arm tight against her breast.

He didn’t even glance down. His eyes stayed possessively on the blonde as she maneuvered between guests near the bar.

Rhett used to watch me like that
. Delia suffered a wave of fury for the woman who had temporarily usurped Delia’s place. Summoning her seductive wiles, she shifted slightly and eased his arm over her ample breast, then leaned in with the perfect amount of pressure.

“I’ve missed you,” she said in her most sultry voice.

He glanced down at her, an odd expression on his face. “Have you?” he said, his manner casual. “As I recall, you tossed me for that well-hung Argentinean polo player.”

“I didn’t toss you,” she protested, thrilled he’d mentioned Raoul as if the man mattered. “You just don’t like sharing your toys.”

She tugged his arm hard against her soft breast and narrowed her eyes. “Neither do I.” She shot a pointed glance at Lily taking her drink from the bartender.

Rhett removed his arm from her tight grasp. “Which is why we have never had a real relationship.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we have used each other on occasion as the need arose,” he said evenly, “which suited our
lifestyles
perfectly.”

“I’ve never used you,” she insisted, feeling her hold on him slipping.

“Come on, Delia. We’re good friends who have slept together on occasion.”

“And we need to do that more often, like tonight.” She squeezed her breasts against his chest and reverted to her sultry voice. “Everything can get back to normal again.”

She peered up to check her seductive effect and found Rhett glaring toward the bar.

“What’s Cross doing here?” he growled.

“Trying to meet your date by the looks of it,” Delia said smugly.

“Why’d you invite him?”

Unfazed by Rhett’s glower, she snaked an arm around his waist. “Aidan’s a good friend, too.”

“Playing both ends against the middle, Delia?”

She pressed in tighter to hold him in place since he looked ready to bolt. “Aidan and Daddy have invested in a couple developments together is all.”

“I’ll just bet. Maybe I need to curtail my investments with Chester if that’s the case.” He shifted, but she managed to stay with him.

“Now, darling,” she cooed, but he wasn’t looking at her anymore.

She felt his hand ball into a fist at her side and followed his gaze back to the bar. Aidan Cross had just brushed a kiss across the hand of Rhett’s little slut, and Delia wanted to squeal with glee. Rhett’s chief competition after Rhett’s new girl.

He freed himself from Delia’s grasp, but the guest of honor, Grant Horning, chose that particular moment to step over to them.

“Good to see you, Rhett,” Horning said and extended a hand.

Unable to escape just yet, Rhett forced a smile Delia knew he didn’t feel, and she hid her own smug smile. She glanced toward the bar. Rhett’s blonde had escaped Aidan Cross, and Delia watched her slip out to the patio. A glance back at Rhett told her he hadn’t missed the blonde’s departure either.

Garrett rejoined them as soon as Horning approached, and after the usual pleasantries of weather, accommodations, and travel schedule, Rhett asked Garrett to give Horning a quick rundown on their new Boca Raton development and explain how Boca could be a model for their new San Antonio development scheduled for a construction start the following year.

Delia clung tenaciously to Rhett’s side. With any luck, the blonde would be with someone else by the time Horning was finished with Rhett.

Before she could finish the thought, Rhett nodded to Garrett and said, “Be sure to tell Grant about your eclectic tree collection.”

“I love specialty trees,” Horning gushed, suddenly all ears.

“I know,” Rhett said. “I make it my business to know the preferences of all my prospective business partners.”

Horning beamed. “You’re an astute executive, Buchanan. I think I’d like doing a project with you.”

“Glad to hear it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go round up my date. She appears to have slipped away.”

“Wait!” Delia objected and rather loudly. The three men turned to her.

“Let him go, Delia,” Horning drawled with a grin. “I saw Rhett’s date when they walked in, and so did every other man in the room. If he doesn’t corral that filly, someone else will steal her.”

Delia ground her teeth in frustration as Rhett slipped through the crowded great room. She would get Rhett back if it was the last thing she ever did. Her daddy was a city councilman and an important man in Jupiter. He could find out who the blonde was and get some dirt on her. Every woman had
some
dirt to hide. Delia intended to find the blonde’s dirt and spread it out for Rhett to see. He’d come running back, and Delia would be waiting.

And this time, she would play for keeps.

Lily paused at the edge of the brick patio and stared out over a moonlit replica of an English courtyard garden that stretched to the Intracoastal canal at the back of the property. Walkways lined with immaculately trimmed hedges were flanked by gazebos on either side and crossed by a series of arbors at critical design points. Subdued landscape lighting provided a romantic atmosphere for the guests though no one had bothered to venture out into the night. Lily would have complimented Ms. Armstead if she didn’t already detest the woman for finding and catching Rhett first.

She briefly studied the garden layout to determine the shortest escape route, then relinquished her drink to the wicker end table flanking a settee. She had to hurry. Rhett would eventually search out his date, right? But then she had insisted on meeting him at the party, so maybe he felt comfortable staying inside with the beautiful socialite instead of hunting for Lily out here. He certainly hadn’t minded the woman smushing her breasts up against him.

The thought made Lily’s throat ache as she swallowed the ridiculous hopes she had allowed herself today. Slipping down the brick steps and into the maze of hedges, she forced herself to focus on a soundless escape. A left, a right and a left, and she should reach the side walkway she hoped would lead between the separate multi-car garage and the east side of the house. She listened for sounds from the patio, but only silence reigned in the garden. Rhett hadn’t yet thought to search for his date.

She reached the side walkway, which did indeed wind between the garage and the house. The brick path fell in line with an eight-foot
Podocarpus
hedge on her left and a variety of shrubs and evergreens woven together along her right, creating a darkened corridor with the house floodlights turned off to promote the landscape mood lighting in the garden.

She concentrated on her footsteps in the deepening shadows, not wanting to trip and top off her humiliation for the night. A few more yards, and she’d be back out in the well-lit front drive. Intent on her steps, she missed the figure emerging from the shadows ahead.

A hand grabbed her arm. She yelped in surprise and lost her balance as her feet tangled up in the heeled sandals. An arm clamped around her waist and hauled her up against a rock-hard chest.

“Going somewhere, princess?”

Though too dark to clearly see his face, Lily knew the voice belonged to Rhett, and he didn’t sound happy. Her heart trip-hammered like the fledgling mockingbird she’d picked up in the nursery a few days earlier. Like the fledgling, all she had wanted was an escape flight.

She took a long, shuddering breath to slow her heart rate. Suddenly conscious of her body crushed against Rhett’s muscular form, she couldn’t manage a second breath and hung onto the first breath as long as possible. This, of course, rendered speech impossible.

Rhett slowly eased her down along the front of his chest, letting her feel every square inch of him as she slid down his torso. Her sandals eventually touched earth, and still he held her until her full weight was settled and her balance uncompromised.

“I have to tell you, this is a new one for me. I’ve never had a date try to run out on me before.”

Her own anger flared. “Maybe you never took one to your
girlfriend’s
house before.”

The full moon escaped a passing group of clouds, and she could see his eyes glitter dangerously. “
Touché
.”

He waited for her to speak.

“I-I was—” She gulped a very obvious and very loud lungful of air. It was that or pass out from lack of oxygen. “—g-going for a walk.”

Her cheeks flamed with heat, and she hoped he couldn’t see.

“A walk to your car?” he said flatly.

Hank always said, “If you don’t like your answer, ask a question.”

“How did you find me?”

He still had one hand cupped on her elbow as though to ensure she didn’t bolt. If she did, she’d surely lose her slipper, and then where would Prince Charming be? She choked back a half-sob half-laugh.

“Am I missing some humor here?” he asked gruffly.

“No.” The meager light around them dissipated when more clouds drifted in to cloak the moon. She could no longer see the expression in his eyes, but oddly enough she could
feel
his expression—the anger and the hurt. “I just thought it odd where you found me and wondered—”

“How I found you? I saw you slip out to the patio, and after you met Delia, I figured you intended to run, so I went out the front. If I figured wrong, I could always find you in the garden later. Evidently, I guessed right.”