The Billionaire's Best Friend (The Sherbrookes of Newport) (3 page)

“
What?” Callie asked, her voice louder than necessary.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kevin and Dylan headed back to the table.
“Nate just walked in,” Lauren hissed.

“
Lauren that . . .” Callie’s voice trailed off and she sat up straighter. Her head moved to keep him in sight as he walked toward his parents. “What’s he doing here?” she asked, her voice lower now.

Leaning closer, Lauren whispered,
“I don’t know. We don’t exactly speak.”

“
They didn’t have what you asked for, so I got this instead.” Dylan sat down on the other side of Callie and placed a glass on the table.

“
That’s fine. Thanks.” Callie wrenched her arm free from Lauren’s vice-like grip. The movement pulled Lauren’s attention away from Nate and back to her companions.

“
Didn’t you say the party started at five o’clock?” Kevin asked from her other side. “I’m surprised your mom isn’t here yet.”

Was that annoyance in his voice or had she imagined it? She couldn
’t tell for sure; her system was still in shock. Perhaps her emotions were making her hear things. “Guests were supposed to be here between five and six. My father planned to have my mom here around six.” Determined not to focus on the party’s unexpected guest, she turned her full attention toward Kevin. “They should be here any minute.”

No sooner had she said the words than the lights flickered on and off in an attempt to get everyone
’s attention.

“
They are on their way down the hall now,” Kelly called out, standing near the front of the banquet room.

Practically as one, everyone not already standing came to their feet and turned toward the main doors. For the moment, Lauren pushed aside all of the swarming thoughts in her head. Tonight was a big night for her mom, and she wanted to enjoy it.

Again the door opened, this time Virginia and Thomas McDonald walked in. Immediately, the room erupted with a chorus of “Surprise!” followed by applause. Much to her credit, Virginia McDonald gave the best performance of her life. For a minute, even Lauren believed that her mom was surprised.

Wiping tears from her face, Virginia accepted the microphone the DJ held out to her.
“I . . . I don’t know what to say. Thank you all so much.” Virginia handed the microphone back to the DJ, and then both she and her husband followed Kelly to the table of honor that had been set up near the front of the room.

Throughout dinner, Lauren tried to stay focused on the various conversations at the table, but nothing captured her attention. She remained fixated on the party
’s unexpected guest across the room while next to her, Callie and Kelly discussed Kelly’s baby preparations, and across the table her older brother Matthew and Kelly’s husband, Jared, discussed basketball. On her other side Kevin remained relatively quiet now.

“
Lauren, it looks as if your mom will be missed. How long did she work at the school?” Dylan’s mildly accented voice pulled her thoughts back to the table.

“
If you count the five years she worked as a teacher before Matt was born, twenty-five years.” Once again, Lauren glanced around the room. The last time she’d seen him, Nate had been walking toward the bar. Immediately she had looked down, afraid he’d spot her and guess she had been looking for him. But that had been at the beginning of dinner. Now only her aunt stood at the bar, most likely ordering her favorite drink, a nonalcoholic piña colada.

“
I think she’s going to miss it.” She scanned the right side of the banquet room and spotted him. As if guided by radar her eyes locked on his profile. He was seated with his parents, and judging from the smiles on their faces, she guessed he was telling them some humorous story. He’d always been an excellent storyteller, even in elementary school. And when the two families would have campfires in the backyard during the summer or go camping together, he came up with the most imaginative tales.

A hand settled over hers and the sudden contact made her jump.
“He wants to know if you’re done eating,” Kevin said, nodding toward the waiter standing at the table.

Had he asked her the same question already and she missed it?

“Yes. Thank you.” Lauren handed the nearly full plate to the young waiter and reached for her drink

“
You’ve been distracted tonight. Are you okay? Something you want to talk about?” Kevin released her hand.

No not really.
How could she tell her date (Or should she call him her boyfriend? She still wasn’t sure what to call him.) that the man she’d once spent days dreaming about marrying was sitting on the other side of the room? And just the sight of him was making her heart rattle around in her chest. “Sorry, one of my students had some behavioral problems this week. I keep thinking about it.” Her statement was not a complete lie. One of her students had received in-house suspension that week for starting a fight at recess.

“
There is nothing you can do about it now, right? So relax and enjoy yourself. Everyone else is.”

How many times now had he said things like that when she told him about problems at school? She tried to explain to him that as a teacher she couldn
’t leave work behind the same way people in other professions did. Each and every one of her students was important to her. She cared what happened to all of them.

“
You never mentioned that Callie and her husband were coming tonight. Are they visiting you long?”

With a sigh Lauren shook her head.
“They’re going back to New York in the morning.” She wished Callie were staying longer.

“
Too bad. Next time they’re in town we should all go out.” Kevin wrapped his hand around hers, his signet ring digging into her skin. “Let’s dance.”

As soon as the wait staff began to collect the dinner plates, the DJ cranked up the music. Now, instead of classic instrumentals, Top 40 dance hits poured from the speakers and guests of all ages moved to the beat on the dance floor. Any other time she would
’ve joined them out there immediately. Dancing was her first love. In fact, two nights a week she taught ballet at a nearby dance school. But now she held back. So far she’d managed to avoid Nate Callahan. They hadn’t even made eye contact. For all she knew, he may not have even seen her. If she moved onto the dance floor, though, there’d be no hiding from him; she’d be too exposed.

He may not even care if he sees me
. After all, he could have contacted her at any time during the past fifteen years, but he hadn’t. Why would he bother with her now?

“
I know you love to dance.” Kevin stood. His slight tug on her hand forced her to concentrate on the here and now rather than what if.

“
I do.” She straightened her shoulders and stood.

The conversation between his parents faded into the background as Major Nathaniel Callahan once again scanned the crowd in search of the only person in the sea of familiar faces he needed to see. Leaving this room tonight without at least talking to Lauren wasn’t an option for him. Unfortunately, so far she’d proved elusive, and with the evening half over it was time to be a bit more proactive in his search, which meant getting off his ass and mingling. Standing, he surveyed the crowded dance floor. Couples of every age moved to the slow ballad that poured from the speakers. Walking the perimeter, he avoided the dance floor. He had not stepped on one since his senior prom. He probably wouldn’t have ventured onto it that night either if Lauren hadn’t insisted. Dancing was one of things she’d always loved to do and one of the few things they’d disagreed on.

As he rounded the edge of the dance floor, his eyes zeroed in on a man and woman. Instantly, his feet slowed and his eyes studied every inch of the couple. He didn
’t recognize the man and dismissed him from his thoughts. The overhead lights reflected off the woman’s ash-blonde hair, and excitement surged through him. While he couldn’t see her face, every fiber of his body knew Lauren stood just feet away.

With his target in sight, Nate crossed the dance floor and reached the couple just as the song ended and a fast Top 40 dance hit came on. Something between anger and nausea rolled through him as the couple broke apart and the man whispered something in Lauren
’s ear. Then she turned and her eyes locked with his. Unable to look away, Nate held her gaze as a whole gamut of emotions swept through him. For the past year, everything he had done was in preparation for this moment. He’d tried to envision how their first meeting would go. Many scenarios had played through his head. Everything from passionate embraces to doors being slammed in his face. None, though, had included the utter fear on her face or the expensively dressed man with his arm around Lauren’s shoulders. When she didn’t make a move, Nate stepped toward her. In response, her date pulled her closer to his side.

“
Lauren, I’ve been looking for you all night.”

Lauren swallowed, her owl-sized eyes staring back at him as if he were a ghost.

“Nate . . . I didn’t . . . what are you doing here?” she asked in that low, sultry voice he laid awake nights thinking about.

“
Your mom invited me.” No way in hell was he revealing anything in front of her date. “Evidently she knew about the party tonight.” Not that he was surprised by that. Virginia McDonald always seemed to know everything that was going on in town.

Lauren nodded, her eyes never leaving his face.
“I know. Kelly let it slip. You know her. But I think she convinced everyone else that she didn’t know about the party when she walked in.”

“
I think you’re right.”

“
Aren’t you going to introduce us, Lauren?” Her date spoke to Lauren, but his eyes never left Nate’s face.

Nate met his glare and waited for the other man to look away first.
Something that didn’t take him long to do.

Color spread across Lauren
’s face, turning her cheeks pink, and she looked over at her companion as if just remembering he stood there. “Sorry. Kevin, this is Nathaniel Callahan. We lived next door to each other until he joined the Marines.” She paused and pressed her lips together. “Nate this is Kevin Walsh.”

Her introduction told him little. She hadn
’t said her boyfriend, and there was no ring indicating this was a fiancé. He’d checked that already. Yet the way the man stood with his arm around her shoulders told him something existed between them.

“
Nice to meet you.” Nate stuck his hand out. When the other man didn’t immediately respond, Nate’s dislike of him increased.

“
You, too.” Kevin finally extended his free hand, but all the while he kept his arm around Lauren’s shoulders.

You could tell a lot by someone
’s hands. For instance, Kevin’s hands were soft. There were no calluses or old scars. Evidently he didn’t work with his hands. His nails were even and he wore a large signet ring on his finger.

Clenching his jaw, Nate fought the urge to remove the arm from Lauren
’s shoulders. Right now all he could do was keep her talking. “Is Callie here tonight?” He hadn’t seen her yet either, but it only made sense that she would be here. The two girls had been very close in high school. Thanks to the media, he’d seen pictures from Callie’s wedding on the Internet and knew Lauren had been Callie’s maid of honor, so he assumed they were still like sisters.

Lauren frowned but nodded.
“She’s here with her husband. If you want to say hello, she’s still at our table on the other side of the room.”

Everything from her body language to her voice told him she was uncomfortable. Yet his pleasure at finally seeing her kept him from letting her walk away. After fifteen long years he wanted to stand there and soak up the sight of her.

“I’ll catch her before I leave tonight.”

“
She’d like that.” Lauren pressed her lips together and met his gaze. “How long are you on leave?”

“
I’m not on leave, I’m back permanently.” A room full of people prevented him from telling her everything, but he needed her to know he wasn’t going anywhere. “Until I find a place, I’m staying in my parents’ apartment.”

An emotion he couldn
’t label flickered in her eyes and then disappeared. “Then I guess I’ll see you around.”

“
Plan on it.”

Lauren
’s lips started to form a word, but then she stopped herself.

“
Didn’t you want to check on your sister?” Kevin asked.

She nodded and looked over at her date.
“I do,” she said before her eyes met his again. “She wasn’t feeling well earlier. It was nice seeing you tonight, Nate. I’m glad you came.”

How could he argue with that? He
’d seen Kelly earlier, and she looked as if she could have her baby any day now. “Tell her I said hello. And I’ll see you soon.”

Lauren graced him with a tentative smile.
“I will.” With her date’s arm still around her, she walked away.

Another jolt of jealousy shot through Nate as she crossed the dance floor. Logically he realized he should
’ve expected her to be involved with someone. Not once during their time apart had he contacted her or given her any indication he wanted a relationship with her. Still, he hadn’t been prepared to see her with another man. Instead, he’d hoped that by some miracle she was waiting for him. The presence of a man in her life tonight changed nothing. While it might complicate his current mission, it didn’t change it. Even with a guy in her life, he intended to fight for her.