That Dating Thing (16 page)

I thought we liked him.

That was before.

“We have plenty to talk about,” Coop insisted. “Brian, would you mind keeping the dogs while Rylee and I go somewhere a little more private?”

“The dogs and I are fine right here, but if crowds bother you, we’ll understand why you have to leave.”

“I’m not the one with reason to avoid nosy ears.” He lowered his voice. “Ms. Morris.”

She jerked her head up to look up at him for the first time. Casually dressed in khaki slacks and a dark blue polo that matched his eyes, the masculine beauty he wore so easily caused a constriction in her chest. The heat of her glare should have had him bursting into flames.

“He has a point, Rylee.”

She turned on Brian, ready to blast him. He pointed at the crowd behind her and she glanced around to find he was right. With the fireworks about to start, people were seating themselves at the water’s edge. More than one of the event’s elite guests eyed them with undisguised interest.

“Maybe the two of you should take off,” Brian suggested.

She spun on him. “Whose side are you on?”

“Always yours,” he replied quietly.

The understanding in his eyes doused her anger, but not her bitterness. “Then tell
him
to go. I have nothing to say.”

“Then I’ll do the talking,” Coop interjected. “Starting with an apology.”

“Apology accepted. Now, go away.”

“After I apologize,” he went on as though she hadn’t spoken. “I think I deserve some answers. Do you really want to have this conversation here?”

“Cooper!”

All three of them turned at the feminine greeting.

“Wow,” Brian drawled and sat up. “Friend of yours?” he asked Coop.

Rylee looked over her shoulder and swallowed. A slinky blonde in a painted-on dress of red, white, and blue sequins maneuvered through the maze of blankets in three-inch heels.

“Shit,” Coop muttered on a low burst of breath.

If he was after privacy, he failed. The six-foot blonde, decked out in sparkling patriotism, worked the lawn of Roosevelt Park like a Manhattan runway during fashion week. Sophisticated style and rolling hips, she captured the interest of the gathering crowd as she zeroed in on Coop.

Rylee stared at the bedazzled Gucci dreams on the woman’s feet and clamped down on the green-eyed monster before it could erupt.

“Ashley. I didn’t realize you were here.” When the blonde reached his side and lifted her face in expectation of a greeting kiss, Coop brushed his lips over her cheek.

“I’m here with Giovanni.” She preened for the crowd, waving an elegant hand in the general direction of the main tent. “He contributed a
gorgeous
off-the-shoulder gown to the silent auction.” She skimmed her dramatically slanted blue eyes over Rylee before they landed on Brian. Her predatory smile reminded Rylee of the big cats in the panther habitat at the zoo. “Who are your friends?”

“Rylee Pierce, Brian Hurley,” Coop introduced curtly, “this is Ashley Connor.”

Brian grinned, all charm and appreciation. “The swim suit edition, right? I knew I’d seen your, ah,” he cleared his throat, “face before.”

Rylee snorted. Brian ignored her. Ashley didn’t. She sent Rylee a questioning gaze. Rylee bared her teeth in an imitation of a smile. “Hi.”

“A pleasure,” Ashley crooned, but clearly, the introductions held no interest for her. She turned to Coop, her smile bright. “Giovanni was just asking where you were, darling. Why don’t we get a glass of wine and go find him before the fireworks begin?” She puckered her lips in a pretty pout and glanced over her shoulder. “You don’t mind if I steal Cooper away for a few minutes, do you?”

“I’m in the middle of something, Ash,” Coop answered.

Ash?
The green-eyed-monster lunged at the bars of its cage. Rylee ground her teeth. Coop’s pet names for tall, slinky blondes were not her concern.
The bastard
.

A low growl rumbled in Pippin’s throat and he shifted his head to glare up at Rylee.

We
don’t
like her
.

Rylee tightened her grip on his leash.
No, we don’t.

Ashley pressed against Coop’s side, casting a nervous eye toward Pippin. She kept her voice low, but Rylee heard every word.

“Please, darling. It’s time we put this misunderstanding between us to rest.”

“We broke up, Ash. What’s to misunderstand?”

The monster clawed furiously at the lock. Before it managed escape, Rylee rose to her feet. Both dogs scrambled up beside her. “It sounds like the two of you have things to discuss. Coming, Brian?”

Brian hopped up from the blanket.

“Rylee, wait.” Coop reached out to grasp her arm, and Pippin, bless his heart, lunged for his favorite lawyer. Rylee yanked on his leash too late. Like a shot, Pippin jumped up. His front paws hit Coop square in the chest with enough force to make him stagger back several steps.

Pressed to Coop’s side, Ashley jumped away to avoid one hundred-sixty pounds of enthusiastic dog. Along with dozens of party-goers, Rylee stared, transfixed, as those fabulous Gucci dreams did Giovanni’s million-dollar girl in.

Her heels sunk into the mushy ground and her arms pin-wheeled comically. She hit the shallow water at the river’s edge with a spectacular splash. Behind her, reflected in the rushing current, red, white and blue rockets raced into the sky to explode in a glittering, patriotic shower. A thunderous boom drowned out her furious shrieks.

****

Wet, frustrated and furious, Coop yanked open the car door. Tim’s report, brought along to discuss with Rylee, lay on the passenger seat. With ill-grace he tossed the file onto the driver’s seat and bundled Ashley into the BMW with as much gentleness as he could muster. He wanted to strangle her—after he shut her up. She’d been whining, threatening to have Pippin put down and generally bitching since her unexpected dip in the East River.

Thanks to Ashley, with Pippin’s help, he’d lost his chance to speak with Rylee. Once assured Ashley was wet, but otherwise fine, Rylee took off with Brian and the dogs. And instead of chasing her down and settling their future, he was dealing with a river-soaked diva he thought he’d left behind weeks ago.

“I’ve got a blanket in the trunk.” He slammed the door before she could lodge any more complaints.

Stomping to the back of the car, he grumbled beneath his breath. When he caught up with that stubborn, dark-haired, dark-eyed witch with the smart mouth and sexy walk, he was going to...

Flipping open the trunk, he retrieved the blanket and stalked to the driver’s door. He slid behind the wheel. “Here.”

He held out the blanket, but his gaze landed on the file in Ashley’s hands. Unease slithered down his spine. Rylee had already been hurt enough because of his stupidity. If the information in the file became public knowledge…

“What are you doing with that, Ashley?”

“Nothing. I didn’t think you’d want to sit on it.” She shoved it at him in exchange for the blanket. The typical peevishness of her reply helped to allay his concern, but not his frustration.

“Can we go now? I’m freezing!”

Chapter Seventeen

Rylee gasped when the cab pulled to the curb a good twenty yards short of River View’s front entrance. After the Pippin-induced fiasco at the fundraiser, she had taken a day to regroup. Flying to Jackson, Mississippi and spending the night in her childhood home hadn’t helped. Her life was a mess, and from the look of things it was about to get worse.

“Looks like every network in the city is here.” The young cab driver leaned on the steering wheel to gawk at the crowd crammed onto the sidewalk. Mobile TV vans, topped with large satellite dishes tilted like huge, drunken dinner plates, were double-parked on both sides of the street. “Someone famous live in the building?”

More like someone infamous
.

“Not that I know of.” Rylee fought the cold fingers of dread threatening to cut off her air supply. The memory of another press gauntlet flashed in her mind and she fought back a whimper.

“Th—There’s a back entrance.” She attempted to steady her shaking voice. “Down the alley. Would you mind dropping me off in back?”

The eyes reflected in the rear view mirror said “get real”. “Lady, no way I’m getting my cab through that mob.”

“Then take me to…” Her mind drew a blank.

He spun in his seat. “Hey! You ain’t gonna puke, are ya?”

She shook her head, opening her mouth to tell him to drive, but she’d waited too long. The first flash blinded her through the window, followed closely by another and then another, until the multiple bursts of light melded into one continuous strobe.

“Damn. Talk about a flash mob!” The cabbie bent over in the seat for a better view.

His comment barely registered over the shouted questions from the jostling crowd rushing the car. Or maybe the buzzing in her ears was responsible for her faulty hearing. But the buzzing didn’t drown out the cries of Morris, fraud and Ponzi Pete. Her childhood nightmare had come back to life.

“Please, just drive.”

Fascinated fear flashed in the cabbie’s rounded eyes. Clearly nervous his cab was about to be crushed, he didn’t hesitate. Straightening, he yanked the shifter into gear. “Where to?”

“Anywhere,” she said, covering her face with her hands.

****

Rylee sat on the edge of the pink, canopied bed, doing her best to ignore the posters decorating every square inch of the walls. Tony Camponelli’s daughter, Suzie, was an avid Disney fan, and Rylee had been right. Cooper Reed’s toothy grin beamed at her from the faces of several of Suzie’s cartoon princes.

She flopped back on the bed with a groan. Even knowing he wasn’t worth the energy, her heart wept at the loss. Before things went horribly wrong at the fundraiser, he made it clear he planned to have it out with her, but she didn’t see the point. From the moment she agreed to his tempting proposal, she knew her actions would lead to disaster. Now that they had, she wished he would leave her be.

As with Marcus, the fantasy world she allowed herself to visit for the past month had vanished, exposing the ugly reality beneath. Despite having expected it, her heart bled at the memory of Coop’s derision, accusing her of being just like her father across Elliott’s kitchen counter.

She had no right wallowing in misery. After all, she’d been there, done that once before, but the razor-sharp fury in Coop’s blue eyes had slashed at her until she felt like one of those potatoes she’d been dicing.

She’d been fooling herself, believing her experience with Marcus had taught her the depth of betrayal. But as horrible as that lesson had been, at least Marcus kept his contempt private, sharing it with only Rylee and his mama, of course. In contrast, Coop shared the details of his investigation with the world. The press mob outside her condo couldn’t have made his disdain any clearer.

Therein lay the difference between boys and men. Boys were content to run home to mama when their favorite toy lost its appeal, while men were satisfied with nothing less than utter destruction.

The trouble was, although she believed she’d loved her mama’s-boy fiancé at the time, she’d since learned the truth. There was no comparing the wispy hold-my-hand-while-we-walk-through-the-park pleasure she’d known with Marcus, to the gripping, touch-me-or-I’m-going-to-die need that had driven her into Coop’s arms, despite the expected danger.

With a sigh, she sat up and dialed Sil’s number. It would take a lot more than twenty-four hours to purge Cooper Reed from her yearning heart, but his setting the entire New York press corps on her tail should help.

Sil answered on the first ring.

“Rylee!” she gasped. “Baby, don’t come home. The press is parked out front.”

“I know.”

“Then you’ve heard?”

“I’ve seen.” She breathed deep. “My flight got in about an hour ago. I headed straight home. They pounced on me before I could gather my wits enough to tell the cabbie to leave. They got pictures.”

And for the second time in her life, her image would be plastered across the front pages of major news organizations. The first time, she was too young and too traumatized to understand the implications. But things were different now. No longer Ponzi Pete’s frightened little girl, she had no choice but to stand her ground. The foundation and its mission were at stake.

“I’m so sorry, Sil. You and Elliott and the rest of the residents don’t deserve this.”

“Neither do you, so hush. We’ll deal with the sharks. Now, what happened? How did they find out?”

Rylee snorted, ignoring the squeezing in her chest. “I think we both know the answer to that.”

“Coop swears he didn’t tell a soul.”

“You spoke to him?”

“Elliott did. He called two hours ago to warn us of what was coming. Apparently, he’s gotten a few calls requesting a statement.”

Rylee wasn’t sure what to make of that. Why would he lie about leaking her identity to the press? The last time she’d seen him, dragging Ashley out of the murky water of the East River, he’d been angry enough to choke someone. Compared to strangulation, blabbing was nothing.

“Do you believe him?”

“I don’t know.” Sil sighed. “Elliott does, but I just don’t know. I know I’m mad enough to wring his neck.”

Rylee was surprised to find she could still laugh.

“There’s a lot of that going around,” she said, echoing one of Brian’s favorite phrases.

“Where are you now?”

“I’m at the Camponelli’s apartment in Brooklyn. Brian called Tony and Tony’s wife, Maddie, insisted I stay with them, at least until I figure out what to do next.”

“I just can’t believe this is happening,” Sil lamented. “I thought we were finally on our way. The fundraiser was such a wonderful success, well, expect for that little incident with Ashley Connor.”

Rylee grimaced. “I’m sorry about that, Sil. It wasn’t Pippin’s fault. I was angry and he took his cue from me.”

“Are you kidding? We earned several thousand extra with people hanging around, buying drinks while they chuckled over Ashley’s unexpected swim. The extra funds were enough to reimburse her for her ruined outfit, anyway.”