Page 19 of Texas-Sized Scandal

Seven

The dinner party was comprised of polite society members who, though they seemed curious about her and Slade, didn’t ask them anything directly. The dining room was comprised of a long table that seated sixteen and a smaller round table that seated only eight. Philomena reserved the round table for herself and her specially invited guests. Slade and Philomena had disappeared for a few moments when the first guests arrived and when he came back, he tried to get a few minutes alone with Melinda, but she refused.

Instead, she pushed away all of the doubt and troubles of the day and socialized the way she’d been raised to. In fact, as the evening drew to a close with after-dinner drinks and a three-piece ensemble playing classical music, she thought she’d done a good job of camouflaging the fact that she was mad and hurt.

Finally, as the other guests started to leave, she faked a yawn and gave a tight smile to Slade. “It’s getting kind of late. I think I’ll get a taxi home.”

“I’ll take you,” he said.

“You don’t have to.”

“Oh, I definitely do. I can tell you have something to say to me,” he said, putting his hand on the small of her back to direct her toward his grandmother. While the gesture was one she normally liked, tonight she didn’t. She was mad. Hurt that she’d never even had a thought that Philomena was setting them up. She was angry that she’d played an unwitting part in her scheme by getting pregnant.

She took quick steps to increase the distance between them, but he just kept up with her, curling his hand around her waist to stop her. She turned quickly to glare at him, but he just smiled at her and said quietly, “We have to keep up appearances.”

She realized he was right. The last thing she wanted was to fuel more speculation about the two of them. It didn’t matter if she was angry. Her number one goal now was to drop off the radar of the society bloggers. After that happened, she could deal with everything else.

“Sorry, darling,” she said loud enough that others in the room could hear her. “I’ve got a wicked headache.”

Then she leaned in, heard his quick intake of breath as she ran her fingers along the column of his neck in a caress she knew turned him on and then kissed him, quickly but deeply, before turning back toward Philomena.

She saw speculation in the other woman’s eyes, but Melinda was done with the Conti-Bartelli clan tonight.

“Thank you for a wonderful dinner, Philomena. I loved it,” she said, kissing the older woman on the cheek before she started to turn away.

“You’re welcome, Melinda,” Philomena said, catching her wrist before she could leave. “I’d love it if you could join me for lunch on Friday.”

She started to say no, but Philomena lifted one eyebrow and Melinda realized this was a summons. “I’ll have to check my schedule. If not Friday, perhaps Monday.”

“That would be nice. I’ll have Henri follow up with your assistant,” she said. Then she pulled Melinda close and gave her a warm hug. “Congratulations again. I’m so glad you are going to be a part of the family.”

She hugged Philomena back, a part of her dying inside that none of this was real. Had she made the decision to agree to this engagement too quickly? It was beginning to feel like she had.

“Me too,” she said, turning away quickly so that Slade could say his goodbyes. She walked through the room saying goodbye to a few other friends.

Slade followed her through the house to the front door, his footsteps loud behind her as she walked. She took her purse from the antique sideboard where it was waiting for her. Henri was very good about anticipating any guests’ needs.

As soon as they were outside, she glanced up at the September evening sky. God, the sky was big tonight. A half-moon shone down on them and stars and satellites twinkled in the night sky. She took a deep breath and felt some of her anger seep away.

“I’m sorry you had to hear about Nonna trying to set us up the way you did,” he said once they were in the car and heading back toward downtown and her condo.

“It was a surprise,” she admitted. “Are you planning to actually marry me?”

“No.”

His answer was so quick and almost forceful. Well, there it was, she thought. Was he lying to everyone? Was that why a temporary engagement had come to his mind so quickly?

“Listen, let’s talk about this at your place. There is a lot more to it than it probably seems to you and I can’t explain while I’m driving,” he said.

“Sure,” she said, turning to stare out the window at the passing scenery. All her life she’d lost herself in books. Ignored some things in her family that were less than ideal because she created a world for herself that involved the stories she read. She admitted it had been very nice. And at the age of thirty-nine, she’d finally created a reality around her where she didn’t have to escape into those fictional worlds as often as she’d used to. But this baby and this engagement—they were rocking her real world. Shaking her reality and making her realize that perhaps she hadn’t come as far as she’d thought.

When Slade pulled into the guest parking lot, she was relieved because he didn’t plan to stay overnight. But when they approached her building, there was a small gathering of paparazzi waiting. She almost wanted to groan, but Slade just pulled her close, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as he led her past them.

Which just confused her more.

He did care for her. He was probably the last man who wanted to be close to the scandal that was surrounding her and her family at the moment, but he was still here. Of course, he was very good at ignoring the rumors and rising above them.

Though she had known that from the first time they’d slept together, this kind of gesture wasn’t what anyone in the media would expect from him.

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