Before she could protest or shoot Katie so much as aplease help melook, his hand was on the small of her back and escorting her to the door. Meredith’s face was white with fury and Rose couldn’t help but feel a little bad for her. Sure, Meredith reeked of knock-offChaneland she had been noticeably bothered by Rose’s presence, but her behavior hadn’t been entirely undeserved due to Blake’s unwanted attention. Cal raised his brows with a taunting quirk to his mouth as she caught his eye on her way out. Damn it. She just knew her mother was going to get wind of this. Annabel DuLoe was absolutelydesperatefor grandbabies (“Butdarling! Think of the tiny outfits and accessories!”) and she wasn’t above playing matchmaker to fulfill her wish. Her mother would have bona fide kittensandprobably arrange their marriage before Rose could say so much ashell noif she saw them voluntarily together right now.
Rose listened intently for the slightestclick clackof the tell-tale sound of her mother’s approaching heels as they neared the doors. The coast was clear. She all but dragged Blake out the front door, his blue eyes watching her with a wry humor as if he knew exactly what she was hoping to avoid. Well, she supposed he probably would, being one of the city’s most elite families came with familiar territory. He probably had to sneak his female companions around all the time to avoid scrutiny. With the ugly thought of Blake’s conquests in mind, she quickly stepped out ofThe Hummingbird’s alcove entrance into the warm night air and consequently away from the hand that seemed to burn against the small of her back.
“Thank you for walking me out. I’m not sure why you felt the need, but I’m fine from here.” She raised her hand for her driver, giving Blake her most disinterested stare as she did so.
He smirked. “Oh, you’re welcome. I mostly figured I should try and be nice to you, seeing as we’re going to be working so closely together for the next few weeks.”
Her raised arm seemed to turn to lead. “I–what?”
That infernal smirk stayed in place as he slowly wet his lips and blinked innocently at her. “Your parents didn’t tell you? They’ve offered your services for a fundraiser I’m hosting, what with our families being so closeand all.”
Her mother certainly hadn’t mentionedthat.“I–that is, they didn’t–”
“Well, I’ll happily catch you up,” he said disdainfully, like it was the biggest inconvenience of his life. “I’m throwing a gala on behalf ofHorizons,most eligible bachelors auction, the proceeds go to charity, of course.”
“Of course,” she muttered, only slightly sneering.
He raised a cool eyebrow. “If you don’t want the job, that’s not my problem. It’s out of my hands – you know how it is. I don’t want this any more than you do.”
Drawing her pale pink shawl around her tightly, Rose stuck her chin into the air and glared. She didn’t want to work with him at all, but hearing him say he didn’t want this either? It rankled her, annoyingly so. He’d caught her off-guard at first, but if he thought she was just going tositandstaylike a good little girl he had another thing coming. “I got back into Cincy less than twenty-four hours ago, so I’m not all caught up yet. If you’re that desperate to work with another planner, then go for it. I’ve got plenty of people who’d kill to be in your position.”
He rolled his eyes and she ground her teeth. “Easy, princess,” he said and she breathed slowly, trying to bite her tongue even though heknewhow much she hated that nickname. He’d first said it to her when she cried about getting the wrong ice cream flavor – she’d been seven and, yes, maybe a bit spoiled, but once Blake saw how much she hated the name, it was all he’d call her.“When you stop being a brat I’ll stop calling you princess, but you’re a brat all the time.”
“I see some things don’t change. It’s all for a good cause and everything has been arranged. Even if I wanted to, I don’t have time to find anyone else now. I can tell the next few weeks are going to be… interesting.” He paused and there was a look in his eyes she hadn’t seen before. Sure, he was a flirt, but he only did it because he knew she hated it. Yet tonight felt different somehow. “I’ll have my people send over the details.”
Shocked at how quickly this had escalated and not trusting herself to not cuss him out if she opened her mouth, she just glared. The truth was, as much as her mom’s meddling irritated her – because it could have been nobody else, Rose was certain her dad had no idea about any of this –Horizons’charity galas were legendary. Rose had been out of town for pretty much all of them, and generally she was happy to avoid Blake so she didn’t mind. But if doing this would get her mom off her back about this botched dateandshe’d get to not only attend butrunaHorizonsbenefit…
Blake nodded at her like he could see her thoughts all over her face. “Good. I’m glad we could sort this out. I’ll see you tomorrow for our first meeting. Don’t be late.” He spun around to go back inside, but instead completed the turn and swept her hand into a light kiss that she felt all the way to her toes despite the cheesy move. He gave her a lazy grin before heading back inside and Rose felt queasy, like being at the height of a rollercoaster and waiting for the drop. Working for David Blake?I’m going to kill my mother.