AFTER CHECKING IN with Michael, who gave him strict instructions from JJ to mingle, Caleb decided to head for the biddies. He figured they were the safest group to hang around while waiting for Nathan to arrive with his fake girlfriend, hopefully made over into a brand-new Didi on the outside. Knowing his cousin’s considerable talents, he was confident she would fit right in with the DoCo elite once Nathan was done with her.
Unfortunately, on his way to the gaggle of the richest matriarchs, he was intercepted by one of the mothers. She pushed a plate into his hands that contained the customary array of hors d’oeuvres with a side order of a not-so-subtle mention that her daughter was single.
Jesus. Sharks. It was like they scented him and every unattached male within the party’s perimeter.
As soon as he had politely declined the mother’s offering of a bride and entered the garden, he had been invited to no less than ten events outside the ones he already had to attend for the firm—several birthday parties, dinners, and a slew of Fourth of July brunches, barbecues, and soirees—some of which were scheduled on the same day.
It took him a good thirty minutes to make it to the relative safety of Mrs. Hassleback’s group. She was the widow of an oil tycoon responsible for several pipelines running through Alaska, and her ever-present choker of pearls bobbed as she regaled everyone with how her prized stallion had acquired his latest blue ribbon. Mind-numbing, but the mothers didn’t dare interrupt the biddies when they gathered, so he endured. His brain imploded the moment the conversation segued into stud services because, of course, this came back around to him being available for their granddaughters, who were somewhere, and if he could wait just a moment they would be summoned. It sickened him that they—the eligibles—were all seen as broodmares and stud stallions until they were paired off in the name of “love.” Blah.
Checking his watch for what seemed like the hundredth time, he cursed his cousin for being late and leaving him to fend for himself. Normally he would have been by Preston’s side, but the swimmer from the Grant clan was just as much of a shark magnet as he was. Without Natasha to act as their buffer—there was always safety in numbers—sticking together wasn’t in their best interest at these parties.
Where the hell were they?
“Who is that pretty flower with Nathan? Don’t tell me he’s off the market. My Marcy has eyes for him.” Mrs. Hassleback craned her neck toward the carousel ice sculpture by the entrance to the garden. Her cronies followed her line of sight. Murmurs of speculation hummed between all of them.
With his height, Caleb looked over their heads toward his cousin and . . . his throat tightened. There, in a yellow dress that emphasized the elegant line of her shoulders and a new haircut that accentuated the shape of her face, stood the most exquisite girl to have ever graced the Dodge Cove elite with her presence. His expectations had been met and more. Nathan was a miracle worker.
Then ugly jealousy made his jaw tick when Nathan took Didi’s hand so she could wrap her arm around his. His cousin was just doing the gentlemanly thing by showing those who noticed that Didi was off limits. But damn if it wasn’t his role to do that.
Clearing his throat to catch the attention of Mrs. Hassleback and company, he said with pride and something else he dared not investigate right then, “That’s Diana Alexander. My girlfriend.”
“Well,” Mrs. Hassleback exhaled, hand to her rather large rack.
“If you will excuse me.” He treated them all to a cordial smile and handed his plate to a passing waiter before easing away from the Chanel-and-mothball-soaked assemblage to head toward Nathan and . . . Didi. Just thinking her name propelled his feet to move faster.
“I should punch you for taking so long,” he said when he reached them, but the urge to maim his cousin quickly disappeared the moment Didi looked up at him. Barely-there makeup suited her. Just a soft blush and a light lip. Simplicity at its finest.
“You can’t rush perfection,” Nathan replied, addressing Caleb’s previous hostility. “And from the looks of everyone here and the way your eyes are devouring her, my job is done. Play your role, honey,” he said to Didi. “Play it well.”
Caleb growled low in his throat, then just to get his cousin back said, “I saw Preston surrounded by debutantes when I arrived.”
The air around Nathan sparked. His smile quickly turned into a frown. “If you two will excuse me.” He bent down and gave Didi a kiss on the cheek. It took all of Caleb’s control not to yank his cousin away when the guy whispered how beautiful she looked into her ear. Didi thanked him with a sweet smile, then focused her gaze on Caleb after Nathan had left. The mischief glinting in those brown orbs drew him in like the moon drew the tide.
“Just so we’re clear, you’re being hostile toward a guy who will never see me that way.” A corner of her lips pulled up. “You get that, right?”