Chapter Seven
The charity dinner had me feeling out of place.
It was more of an internal feeling though. Nobody made me feel unwelcome and it was clear that everyone loved Bradley. My dress was just as lovely as other women’s and the men all wore tuxedos. I had no reason to feel the way I did, yet I was still very uneasy.
Bradley, however, stuck to his word. He kept his hand on my lower back the whole evening as we mingled, the contact making me wish we could just go back to his place and get naked. I think he got the biggest thrill out of introducing me as his fiancee and watching people’s face fill with confusion at the same time they congratulated us. I had no doubt that this was the first they’d ever heard of him having a personal life, let alone a relationship.
When it came time to sit down and eat, that’s when I met Roger and his secretary. Roger was an inch or two shorter than Bradley’s six-three and skinnier, with medium-red hair and what could only be described as laughing blue eyes; his secretary around my height and cheerful with short black hair in a bob and big, brown eyes. Together they made quite a pair.
Bradley and Roger hugged — shocking the shit out of me, personally — and pat each other on the back before stepping apart.
It was then Bradley introduced me, a sly grin on his face. “Roger, I’d like you to meet Lucy. My fiancee as of roughly two hours ago.”
Roger’s eyes widened, but only for a second before he grinned. “Hey, congratulations man. And nice to meet you Lucy. You’ve got a good man here.” He held out a hand, and after I slid mine into his, he brought my hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. “I trust you’ll take care of him, yeah?”
I laughed, giving him my first genuine smile of the evening, removing my hand from his. “As well as your wife takes care of you, I imagine.”
“Indeed.” Roger looks from me to the woman at his side. “This is my secretary, Hazel. I don’t know what I’d do without her, seeing I can’t get my wife to join me at these events. I’d marry Hazel if I didn’t adore my wife to death.”
Hazel rolled her eyes at him, chuckling as she shook my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Lucy. Do yourself a favor — don’t believe anything Roger says, I don’t.” She winked at me as Roger feigned shock and we all laughed before sitting down at the table.
Dinner was tasty and soon after, we were doing the rounds once more, meeting even more people.
The amount of smiling I did left my mouth sore as the end of the evening approached.
Excusing myself to visit the restroom, I was just about to leave the stall when I heard a group of women laughing. I paused when I heard Bradley’s name.
“Did you see Doctor Blackwell? He is so f*cking good looking. Who was the woman on his arm?”
“A nobody, obviously.”
I raised my eyebrow at that, but wanted to see where they were going with this.
They all laughed at her reply and the original woman spoke again. “Well, she was being introduced as his fiancee. I didn’t even know he had a girlfriend!”
“Why did you ask who she was if you knew? I thought she was pretty.” This was a new voice and she spoke softly. “He seems very taken with her.”
By now I gathered there were only three of them. The one who called me a nobody answered with a titter. “Please. He kept his hand on her back but otherwise, they didn’t touch. Nobody touches Dr. Blackwell, we all know that. And apparently, neither does his fiancee. I think it’s a big lie. Maybe he’s hiding the fact he’s gay.”
They all burst into laughter and at that point, I began to get angry. I had no idea who these women were, but they had no right to speak of Bradley that way.
“What makes you think he’s gay, Priscilla?” The first one asked before laughing again.
“I’ve been working with him for ten years. He works all the time and barely takes any days off. And he certainly never talks about a girlfriend. When would the man find the time?”
“Maybe he’s just private,” the soft-spoken one pointed out. “He has never seemed the type to really talk much about his personal life at work.”
Yes, thank you! I yelled to the girl in my head. She didn’t fit in with this group, so she would escape my wrath. I did wish she’d tell them to shut up, however.
“Oh, whatever Jill,” Priscilla said. I pictured her rolling her eyes similar to how my daughter did when she was exasperated or being dismissive. “You’re just the receptionist. What would you know about anything? I work closely with him.”
Keep talking, Priscilla, I encouraged silently. You’re just digging yourself a hole here.
I really wasn’t one to get involved with other people’s business, but Bradley was a good man. He wouldn’t like knowing someone who worked with him was talking shit behind his back.
I also knew when I opened the door, I only had a few seconds to gather details on what the three women looked like to give Bradley later when he would ask me for the information.
I opened the door and knew at once who the nicest girl was. Jill’s eyes widened, her face going scarlet as her eyes dropped to stare at the floor. Swinging to the two blondes, the one I pegged as Priscilla without even seeing her first spoke and proved me correct.
“Oh look, it’s the nobody. Eavesdropping, were you?” She sneered at me, her whole demeanor dismissive as her gaze flicked down my body and back up to meet my eyes. “Lucy, right?”
The other girl, the only one I hadn’t heard the name of, looked away as I glanced over at her. But since she backed away and seemed to be as embarrassed as Jill, I focused on Priscilla.
“Why do you care what my name is? I’m just a nobody, remember?” I smiled, my face friendly even as the words I spoke next were not. “A nobody who happens to be engaged to the man you apparently work for and just insulted, that is. It appears to me that you don’t really value your job, if you’d talk about your boss or co-worker like that.”
Her face paled at the implied threat as the other two girls looked about ready to cry.
I said nothing else, walking over to the sink farthest from them and washing my hands quickly.
As I walked out, I heard the nameless one start cussing out Priscilla and smiled.
~*~
We left the party soon after I returned to Bradley’s side, saying nothing of the restroom incident. I was quiet during the ride home but he seemed pretty lost in thought himself.
Amanda and her children left pretty quickly once we arrived, right after informing me how charming Anna was and remarked that she looked forward to getting to know us. Soon after, Anna headed to bed and I was alone with Bradley.
Pouring the usual drink, he then sat on the bed and patted the space next to him. I moved quickly to sit and he placed his hand on my leg as I did so, holding my gaze with his as he drank.
“Is there something on your mind?” He finally said, placing the glass on the nightstand before turning his body towards mine, keeping his hand in place. “You seemed a little agitated near the end of the evening. Did you not enjoy yourself?”
“Just overheard a rather nasty conversation in the ladies room, that’s all.” I licked my lips and his eyes dropped for just an instant until he brought his eyes back to mine once more. “I don’t really want to get anyone in trouble.”
I really didn’t. I figured my words to her were enough, but Bradley’s eyes narrowed. “What did they say, Lucy? It obviously upset you, so I want to know.”
“Well,” I began, hesitant to tell him what they’d said, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off his. “They were talking about the both of us. One woman called me a nobody.”
His mouth fell into a grim line. “And me?”
“Um…” I took a deep breath. “The same one said she thought you were gay. That she worked with you and you hardly took time off so how could you possibly find the time to date? And…that our engagement was probably just a big lie to cover up the fact you were probably gay.”
I expected a lot of things at that point. For him to demand the woman’s name, to demand to know what I said, or to tell me not to worry about it. Instead, Bradley threw his head back and laughed.
Confused at his reaction, I smiled when he finally looked back at me. And when he lifted a hand to cup my face, I sucked in a breath at the instant rush of desire at his touch. His lips were still curved upward as he leaned in, his mouth barely whispering against mine, his next words a murmur.
“They were jealous.”
I shook my head, but his hand slid back and gripped my hair gently, holding my head still.
“Don’t argue with me,” he commanded, his eyes darkening, my own desire reflected and shining back at me. “They were jealous of you; that you are mine and that you’re going to be my wife. And you are mine.”
His words sent a thrill through me. Before I thought about it, I brought a hand up to touch his cheek. He flinched, but didn’t correct me and I didn’t remove my hand.
“She noticed that I didn’t touch you,” I whispered. “I didn’t like her comments. But what’s sad is that she’s right. I’m your fiancee now and you will have to let me touch you. I want to, so badly.”
He didn’t say anything. His eyes were dark pools of grey, swirling with feelings and memories I had no insight to, but I wished I did more than he could possibly ever know. He’d never explained the rules, but I certainly had never questioned them.
However, he’d been the one to break the rules first, and now I wanted to see how far I could go. How far he’d let me go.
“I want to make you happy, Bradley. And I think I’ve earned the right to touch you. Don’t you?”
He lifted his free hand and covered mine, pulling it away gently. As a rush of disappointment filled me, he surprised the hell out of me by bringing my palm up to his mouth and kissing it, mere inches away from my lips. When I gasped, he dropped my hand and slid his free hand onto the other side of my face, holding my head still as he brushed his mouth against mine.
My eyes closed of their own accord, tears springing up behind them.
We had never kissed more than briefly outside of sex. But as his lips firmed against mine, he ran his tongue along my lips and I opened for him with no hesitation. I wanted him, his touch, and his kisses. Usually they were hot and heavy and in the heat of the moment, but this…? This was so much more.
The gentleness and near reverence of the kiss blew me away. Almost as if he were afraid of hurting me.
Of me hurting him.
And even though I knew it should’ve just been a kiss to me, I knew it was more to him.
It was him letting me in, even if only a tiny bit.
So I clung to it even as I didn’t touch him again, clasping my hands in my lap as he explored my mouth as if discovering it for the first time. And when he pulled back, his eyes said much more than I’m sure he intended.
But all he said was, “Give me time, all right?”
Aware that he referred to the touching, I smiled in response, saying nothing else.
And as he started to undress me, I wondered if he realized I would soon have all the time in the world to break down the walls he was so intent upon staying inside of.