Rumor Has It (13 page)

He guided Raina to the table they’d been instructed to sit at. The wounded, worried look on her face made him sorry they’d met up with Elaine at such a beautiful event when they were having so much fun.

* * * *

The reception was beautiful; the calla lilies had been flown in from various places around the country. They had been so expensive that Raina had tried to talk the bride out of them, but she had to have them, and Raina would admit they looked great. With the dinner done, the cake cut, and the three flutes of Moscato D’Asti she’d imbibed making her feel relaxed, she found herself out on the floor to catch the bouquet. She didn’t want to do it, especially with Liam in the house. It was hard enough to remember this wasn’t a date without all the touching and fondling he was doing. The only down note was Elaine. The woman had been staring a hole through her the whole night. There were other attractive men in the house—none like Liam, but he wasn’t on offer. She wished Elaine would just move on.

Elaine was on her left, and she and the crowd had edged Raina almost off the ballroom floor. That was okay with her. She knew there was no way she was going to be getting married anytime soon, and it would probably be better if someone else caught it anyway.

The bouquet was tossed from off the balcony, and there must have been too many drinks consumed, because the women all fell down like three-legged chairs and it found its way to her. The sad moans and congratulations mixed in her ears, but she could only see the beautiful man with the beaming smile.

“It came straight to you. That’s good luck, right?” he whispered in her ear.

“I guess. Now it’s your turn.”

“I’m not going out there.”

“You have to. Whoever catches the garter has to put it on the thigh of the woman who caught the bouquet.” He looked at her, clueless, so she continued. “I don’t want anyone seeing my pretty lace panties.”

“Why did you wear them here anyway? Hoping to get lucky?”

“Maybe I did get lucky. You showed up.”

“Good save,” he said with a brilliant smile. “What do I get if I catch the garter?”

“What do you want?”

“Let me think on that and get back to you.”

“Come on. When in Rome… Besides, what are the chances you’ll catch the garter? There are men who would line up to be the next married. Don’t give me that look. I’m being serious. At the very least, they’ll get to put their hand under my dress and put on the garter.”

“Why would you allow that?”

“That’s the tradition. The woman catches the bouquet and the man catches the garter, and then the man puts the garter on the woman who caught the bouquet.”

“Hmmm…sounds pretty complicated.”

“It’s not. You’re just stalling. Get out there.” She gave him a playful push.

He made it out to the floor and watched the groom go through all the grand gestures of taking the garter off his bride and dancing around with it. He took his place on the balcony to throw his item for the few men who’d gotten up to try to catch it.

Raina watched Elaine’s mouth fall open when she saw Liam was out on the floor to catch the garter. That was almost worth hearing what Elaine had said earlier. Let her think what she must. Raina was the one going home with Liam, and she was going to be his friend forever.

The garter was thrown, and Liam was right. There wasn’t a big fight for it, so when it came near Liam, he just stuck his hand out and caught it.

The seat was set up, and Raina was asked to come out to the chair as the band played old-time stripper music with a lot of trumpet and drum. Liam was quite the ham. She’d never seen such a silly, playful side to him, and in public too. He went down on bended knee, extended her left leg, put the garter on over her shoe, and worked it up. He looked into her eyes until she didn’t know if he was doing it for the audience or for her. He looked playful but serious, and her heart was pitter-pattering like he was going to pop the question. When the music stopped, he pulled Raina up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The room was filled with laughter and fun; too bad her heart didn’t get the memo.

“Let’s get out of here,” he whispered.

The last thing she saw was a very angry Elaine watching them head for the door.

She felt so dreamy on the way home; she didn’t know if it was the beauty and splendor of the day, just being with Liam, or her alcohol consumption.

“If I remember correctly, you wanted to be married by the time you were twenty-six. What happened to that?”

She could almost feel the good feeling dissipating. This was not where she wanted the conversation to go.

“Things just didn’t work out.” Short and sweet; maybe he would let it go.

“You were going pretty hot and heavy with Theo for a while there. I thought he was the one who was going to be the Mr. to your Mrs.”

“I kinda thought that too.”

“I see him every once in a while. We were never best buddies, but since you’ve broken up, I feel a definite vibe coming from him.”

“What kind of vibe?”

“The ‘I want to hurt you badly’ vibe. Maybe he’s not over you. Maybe there is a chance you two could get back together.”

She couldn’t believe she’d been sitting there thinking of all the hot and sinful things she wanted to do to his body and he was thinking of how to get her back with her ex-boyfriend.

“What?”

“He was pretty intense when we talked about asking you to do the auction. He said you broke up with him, and he wasn’t happy I didn’t know the details of the whole situation. Why didn’t you tell me what happened with him?”

“Why didn’t you ask?”

“You didn’t seem that broken up about it. Truthfully, when you told me you broke up and I came over, I was expecting waterworks. When there weren’t any and you acted like it was our normal time together, I just went with it. You didn’t speak about it, so I didn’t either.”

“Is that all Theo said about the reason we broke up?”

“He told me he wanted me to ask you because you’d do anything for me and then marched off in a huff. I called him the next day and told him you agreed to do it. I thought he’d be happy, but he sounded even more pissed off and said ‘I told you she’d do it for you.’ He did thank me for asking, but it sounded like those words were difficult for him to let go of. Maybe you could still get together with him. I don’t think it would be that difficult.”

“Are you serious?”

“I’m just saying, watching you back there at that wedding and taking in the longing on your face… I know you were thinking about your plans. You are going to be a beautiful bride and make some guy extremely happy.” He was studying her like she should be taking notes, and she just wanted to punch him in the nose.

“Thanks, Liam. I’m glad you think so.” He had the nerve to look like he’d said something wonderful.

“All I ask is that you invite me to the wedding and maybe name a kid after me or something. How about the dog?” He was all caught up in getting his name in the family somehow, and she felt like the bottom had just fallen out of her boat.

She watched the landscape go by. This day had had so many ups and downs, it was a wonder she didn’t have motion sickness—or emotion sickness. All she had to do was just get home, and then she could cry all by herself.

Thank goodness they were close to her house, because there was no way she was going to be able to take breathing the same air much longer. They were going to have to stop the physical part of this relationship because she could almost feel her heart breaking every time he said something to her that was probably nothing to him but devastated her. Talking while in the car didn’t seem to be something that went well for long.

The car pulled up in front of her house, and she asked if he would get the favor out of the trunk. While he did that, she took off the garter and left it for him in her seat.

She got out and walked quickly to her door.

“Hey. Don’t you want this favor?”

“No, you keep it.”

“Well…I was going to come in and visit with you for a little while.”

She held out her hand as he walked closer. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Not tonight.”

He looked slightly baffled. “I said something to upset you? I’m sorry. It seems like I’m always saying the wrong thing.”

“Don’t worry about it. I just need to be by myself.”

“What did I say?”

She had to get away from him; he couldn’t stand there trying to be sweet and figure her out. She was not strong enough to withstand that, and she would eventually give in. She couldn’t. This was becoming about self-preservation. At least for tonight, she had to get her thoughts and libido together.

“Have a good night, Liam. I’ll see you at the meeting tomorrow.”

She would never tell anyone that she watched him watch the house for a few minutes before he gave up and got into his car.

She stood there long after the taillights weren’t visible and willed him to come back and fight for her. Stupid. She had to make a decision and stick with it. Someone was going to have to take control of this situation, and since she was going to be the one black and blue from the emotional beat down, it should really be her.

Chapter Eight

The Fire Hydrant was filled with patrons, and the meeting room had more than enough volunteers to keep Raina busy. She was happy everyone had so many questions, because it was easy to duck Liam. She could feel him and his attention on her even though he wasn’t looking in her direction.

Ethan and Brody were helping too. There were both such pretty playboys; it was fun to chat and joke with them. Ethan was flirting outrageously with her, but it was hard for her to take his interest seriously. The fact that these three men were usually out together was funny because they all drew big crowds and were loved by women of all ages. It was a wonder the Fire Hydrant didn’t pay them to be there, as many female customers came in to see what they were about. So Ethan playing handmaiden for her was a bit humorous.

“Would you like anything from the bar?”

“No thanks.”

“What about food? Are you hungry for anything in particular?” The staged wiggled eyebrows that signaled that was supposed to be a come-on was so ridiculous she thought back to what Liam had said, but she still couldn’t believe Ethan was interested in her. It seemed to ebb and flow depending on who was around.

“Not really.” She decided to just put it out there. One thing she’d learned from Liam was that it was better to tell people what you want or what you expect instead of assuming or putting your own spin on it. “Ethan, what is this all about? I’m flattered, but you’ve never paid this much attention to me, and I’m just trying to understand where it’s coming from.”

He looked around the room and then moved closer. “I’m working up the nerve to ask you out on a date.”

“A date?”

“Yes. A real one, not here at the bar, but maybe some dinner at a restaurant and then, I don’t know, a movie or dancing. Let’s do what people do on dates.”

He was always kind to her but not like this. She’d seen him in action, and this just wasn’t his style.

“Let me think about that, all right?” She didn’t want to shoot him down, especially with everything going on with Liam. She didn’t need any more animosity around her. Maybe after the auction, she could tell him she didn’t think that was a great idea.

“Sure.” He moved closer in what looked like an attempt to kiss her, and she was stunned. This wasn’t normal behavior for Ethan. He was flirty but not usually this public about it. She was just thinking of how she was going to get away from him when she was pulled back from him right before he kissed her.

She turned and saw a fiercely angry Liam looking down at her.

“What’s going on over here?”

Ethan shrugged. “That’s between me and Raina. What brings you over here?”

“I need a ride home, and I’m ready to go. Raina, are you ready?”

“I didn’t know I was driving you home.”

He wasn’t looking at her—he was having a stare-down with Ethan. “I didn’t get a chance to let you know I needed a ride.” He did look at her then. “You’ve been so bogged down with questions and admirers, I hadn’t had a moment to ask you.” He sounded accusing and angry, a fact that must not have bothered Ethan in the least since he just smiled up at his friend and leader.

“Well then, I’m done here, so I guess we can leave.”

A tug on her arm made her turn back to Ethan. “Let me know when you finally decide to take me up on my offer. I think it would work out for both of us.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Later, Liam,” he said as he walked away from them both.

The car ride was quiet; she let Liam drive because he liked to and she liked being chauffeured around.

“What was that all about?” It took seven minutes for him to get around to what she’d known was coming.

“What?” He looked over at her, and she decided she must not have it in her to be coy. “You mean Ethan?”

“Yes, that’s what I mean.”

She cleared her throat, trying to decide what to say. On the one hand, she wanted to let him know someone else was interested, but on the other hand, she
didn’t
want him to know anyone else was interested. He might decide he’d done his duty and now they could both move on.

“Ethan asked me out on a date.”

“A date at the Fire Hydrant?”

“No, he wanted to take me to dinner and maybe a movie or dancing. What do you think about that?” Damn it, that last part wasn’t supposed to be there.

“Do you want to go out with him?”

“Ethan’s a nice guy. I admit I never really thought about dating him.”

“Well, he’s quite the player, and I don’t know if I like the thought of you going out with him. You need someone nice and kind. Someone more like you.”

“You mean someone quiet, boring, unbusty, and safe?”

“I don’t know the Raina of whom you speak. You can be flirty and outgoing, and…you are absolutely beautiful. Your breasts are perfect for you, and they are so responsive and sweet. You have quality over quantity.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“I was telling you the truth. If that makes you feel better, that’s great.”