Page 18 of Texas-Sized Scandal

The bar was opulent like the rest of the room and Henri looked like he was a throwback to another age, standing there ready to serve the guests. At last year’s Boots and Bangles charity gala, Philomena had asked Henri to volunteer to be one of the silent auction prizes and he’d agreed. She’d paid the fee for him to be someone’s butler for the day, so he wasn’t out his salary.

“Hello, Miss Melinda. We have your favorite tonight,” he said, reaching for the pitcher as she walked over to him.

“Thanks so much, Henri, that means the world to me. But my stomach is acting up today—probably a few too many last night. Would you mind keeping mine just tonic but discreetly?” she asked.

“No problem, ma’am,” he said with a wink as he reached to the second shelf of the bar cart and poured just tonic into her highball glass and added a twist of lime as a garnish.

“Thank you,” she said, taking her drink from him and giving him a warm smile.

She moved away from the bar cart as Philomena and Slade entered the room. Henri poured them each a drink and then they joined her in one of the seating areas in the massive room. Slade took the spot next to her on one of the love seats and Philomena sat in what Melinda privately referred to as her throne chair. It was a high-backed padded chair upholstered in a deep purple brocade, which complemented the opulent marble, cream and gold room. It was higher than the other seats in the room and gave Philomena the air of holding court once she was perched there.

“Slade tells me the opera was excellent. I saw from theChroniclethat you two are getting on well,” Philomena said.

Melinda felt herself blushing at that comment, but she wasn’t embarrassed. They might be doing the temporary engagement thing but her feelings for Slade were real. “You knew we were seeing each other.”

“I’d hoped you were. Now the world knows. Even though it did make things a bit awkward for the two of you,” she admitted.

It had only been after Philomena had encouraged her to give her grandson a chance to prove he was more than the media made him out to be that Melinda had accepted her first date with him.

“Actually, Nonna, we are getting along so well that I asked Melinda to marry me and she said yes.”

“You did what?”

“Nonna, I asked Melinda to marry me and she said yes.”

“Philomena, is that okay?” Melinda asked. Given the mess that her family continued to be embroiled in lately, she wouldn’t be surprised if the society matron wanted someone more respectable for her grandson.

“Oh, I adore you, Melinda, but my grandson had always said he was never getting married,” Philomena said, looking over at Slade.

“Nonna, I might have felt that way before meeting Melinda. She’s the kind of woman that makes a man realize what’s important, so I asked her to marry me and she said yes. We’d like your blessing.”

“You have it. Congratulations! Henri, champagne, please,” Philomena said, but Henri had already started moving toward the butler’s pantry and fully stocked bar. “Did he do something super romantic?”

Crappola.She hadn’t thought about this and she should have. She was off her game and she blamed the pregnancy and the scandals that kept dogging her family. It seemed as if each time they got one thing sorted, something else popped up. She should have known people were going to ask about his proposal and they hadn’t worked out anything. And let’s face it, she couldn’t say he saw all those pregnancy tests in the bathroom and said “Let’s get temporarily engaged.”

She glanced at Slade, who must have read the panic on her face because he reached over and took her hand in his. “Well, Nonna, if you must know, I took her to the place where we had our first kiss and then went down on one knee.”

She felt her heart catch in her throat. That would have been a very romantic gesture. The kind of thing that she’d always dreamed of. But men who were “doing the right thing” for their girlfriend’s reputation didn’t make gestures like that.

“Well-done,Tesoro. I knew you had it in you,” she said. “You just were waiting for the right woman to come along.”

“I definitely was,” he said, keeping hold of her hand.

“And the ring?” Philomena asked.

Melinda would have pulled her hand back if Slade hadn’t been holding it but he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles, which sent a sensual shiver up her arm.

He might be Philomena’sTesoro—treasure—but right now she wasn’t so sure.

“I was hoping to speak to you privately about that matter tonight,” he said.

“After we have a toast and some more guests arrive,” Philomena said with a twinkle in her eyes. “You’ve made me very happy tonight,Tesoro. You know, I may have pushed him to take my seat on the art council because I wanted him to meet you. I’m glad to see he picked up my hints. I knew you two would be perfect for each other.”

What?

Now the temporary engagement made more sense, she thought, as she tugged her hand from his. Had he only asked her out to please his demanding grandmother? Was he protecting her from the bad press and helping to repair her reputation after the scandals that kept consuming the Perry family only to please his grandmother?

She was disappointed and mad at herself for letting him deceive her. But she knew the real blame lay with herself. She’d been the one making him into a better man than he was. He’d told her he didn’t want a wife or child and she’d believed him, but secretly she hoped he’d change his mind. Now she had changed hers.

---