“It won’t be that pretty if he gets within a thousand feet of me.”
Lainey managed a smile, and continued with her story. “I burst through the door I’d been hiding behind, and he screamed like a girl, I swear to God, and dropped his cell phone on the floor and it broke in a million pieces. I told him the wedding was off, and I never wanted to see him again, I threw his keys at him, and when I ran out, he ran after me, screaming that he and my parents had a deal and I couldn’t back out of it. He followed me into the street before he remembered that he was wearing nothing but his tighty-whities, and there were people pointing and laughing at him, so he turned around and ran back to his apartment building, but the door had locked when it shut behind him. He had no cell phone, and gosh, I wish I could have helped him but I’d already given him back his keys. He shifted right there on the spot, and ran straight up a tree.”
Lainey started to laugh, and Tate joined her, and she laughed harder, and then they were both laughing so hard that tears were rolling down their cheeks.
Ever since that night, she’d felt an ugly poison bubbling inside her, staining her with its filth of humiliation and grief. Now that she’d told Tate the truth, it was the most amazing thing: she felt the stain fading away as if she’d bleached it from her soul. She’d said it out loud, and she realized that she wasn’t the one who sounded ugly and desperate and pitiful. Miles did.
“But wait,” Tate said, “why do your parents still think you’ll marry him, after you told him it was over?”
“Oh, my parents.” Lainey’s laughter faded, but she was still smiling as she wiped mingled tears of laughter and sorrow from her cheeks with the back of her hand. “I told them and they acted annoyed that Miles had been so careless as to let me overhear that. That was it. They were shocked when they realized I wouldn’t marry him. They said they’d signed a deal with Miles, and they expected me to honor the contract, not to make public fools of them after the wedding had been announced in the paper and all the invites had been sent out. My mother said they’d done it for me, because they didn’t want me to die an old maid, and asked how could I be so ungrateful?”
“I can see why you wanted to get away from them. I’m just wondering, though, why the subterfuge? Why come here and hide out under a fake name?”
Lainey sighed. “My parents are very manipulative, and very determined. Here’s an example. I decided to quit working for them as their bookkeeper, and go into teaching art. They didn’t approve. They liked having control over me. They used their influence to make sure that no school in the area would hire me, until I finally ended up working in the one place that would take me because they were totally desperate, a treatment facility for hardcore juvenile offenders. The teacher before me was stabbed, and the one before that had his jaw broken, so every day that I’m not mugged is a good day.”
She frowned, looking worried. “Honestly, I’m still afraid of what they might pull. The wedding is supposed to be in a week and a half. Until it’s over, they’re going to do anything they can to force me to go home.”
“Ha,” Tate said scornfully. “They’ll have to get through the Calloway family first.”
“But—”
“No buts,” Tate said. “I’m taking you out to dinner tonight, on a real date. I’m going to woo you like a real man should, and then I’m going to show you how desirable you really are.” His eyes gleamed, and Lainey felt a shiver of desire lifting the hairs on the back of her neck.
“Maybe,” she said, managing a smile.
“I’ll pick you up tonight at Imogen’s around six. Now, let’s go make sure my family hasn’t burned anything down or climbed onto the roof of the mansion.”
He held Lainey’s hand as they walked, and ran his thumb over her palm. The sensual touch sent little jolts of arousal sizzling through her body, and she felt her panties go damp.
“I need a change of underwear whenever I’m around you,” she muttered, and then blushed bright red. Had she really just said that? In her out loud voice?
But Tate just chuckled, a warm, rich sound. “I like that I do that to you,” he said. “I’m going to do a lot more to you tonight.”
As they got closer to the house, Tate slung his arm around Lainey’s shoulders in a clear claim of ownership. Miles had never done that, Lainey thought. Charming as he’d been, he’d never been big on public displays of affection. Now she knew why.
Back by the house, Loch was walking around with Ginger and her family, inspecting the freshly planted flower beds. Purple and yellow pansies winked up at them from fragrant beds of fresh mulch.
“How’s the sketching going?” Ginger asked.