I Heard A Rumor (7 page)

“So how did your mom end up as a Scarlett O'Hara wannabe when your grandmother seems like such a force of nature?”

Chante shrugged. It was the same question she'd asked herself for years. “Did you ever meet your grandfather's other family?” Zach asked.

“Not officially,” she said. “My mother likes to pretend they don't exist, but Grammy introduced me to a couple of the young men who were close to my age so we'd never end up dating.”

Zach burst out laughing, and Chante kicked water at him. “What's so funny?” she snapped.

“Your grandmother seems really gangster. And she knew that you were an irresistible woman, so she did the right thing.”

Chante rolled her eyes. “She wanted me to be rooted in reality. And there is nothing wrong with that. I'm blessed to have her in my life.”

“I'd like to meet her.”

“Now you're confusing a farce with reality,” she said, wiggling out of his embrace.

Zach shook his head. “No, I'm not. Although meeting you has been one of the perks of my trip to Charleston, I'm also here for business.”

Chante raised her right eyebrow. “What kind of business?”

“I'm looking for some property to develop.”

“Oh,” she said with a smile, “so this little farce idea is a way for you to get your foot in the door with old Charleston, huh?”

“When you say it like that, it sounds so dirty and deceitful.”

“Listen,” she said, “I'm glad we're both getting something out of this.”

“A fair exchange is no robbery.” He kissed her on the forehead. “What time are we supposed to head to your mom's?”

She shrugged. “Not until you take those shoes off and get those feet wet, son!” Chante splashed him with water, and Zach bent over to take his shoes off. He crossed over to her and scooped her into his arms as a wave crashed against them.

“The water does feel good,” he said. “But holding you feels even better.”

Chante smiled and kissed his lips. “I think I like you holding me.”

Nic walked into Robert's office and shook his head when he saw the young girl getting up off her knees.

“You still haven't learned a damned thing,” Nic railed. “Miss, get out of here.”

The woman adjusted her skirt and then walked out of the office. “What's your problem?” Robert asked.

“Your wayward penis is the problem. Do you want to be the mayor and use this position as a stepping-stone to something bigger?”

“What's the point of all of this?” Robert zipped his pants. “That interview with Channel Nine didn't help, I can't find Chante, and none of the support I had when I was running for state senate is there.”

“One thing about Charlotte is this city will forgive mostly anything. But you have to show them you've changed. Getting your dick sucked in your office after the last scandal isn't going to do that. We have to find Chante and get her onboard with this. She owes you.”

Robert nodded. “I tried to tell her that.”

“Is she still suspended from the law firm?”

Robert shrugged. “After they pulled their funding, I stopped caring about those bastards.”

Nic drummed his fingers against his chin. “Maybe I need to call Taiwon Myrick. He has a few skeletons I can put my hands on, and he might be able to help with the Chante issue. You need to become the dutiful fiancé again, and that means no more sex with campaign workers or random women! And for God's sake, no more hookers.”

Robert rolled his eyes and pulled out his cell phone to call Chante.
Voice mail. Damn it! Bitch, you owe me this!
he thought as he slammed his phone onto the desk.

 

 

Chante and Zach walked into the lobby of the Charleston Harbor Bed and Breakfast feeling refreshed, having cleaned up after an afternoon of frolicking in the ocean. And though she was wearing a strapless maxi dress, Zach thought Chante looked even sexier than she had in her barely there bikini.

They walked out to the Mustang, and if Chante had plans to drive, Zach squashed them when he led her over to the passenger-side door.

“Ugh, this feels like prom,” she said as he opened the door for her. “And why don't I get to drive? It's not as if you know where you're going.”

“I know enough about the South to realize that there is no way a man pulls up to a father's house with his daughter driving,” he said as he eased behind the wheel.

Chante laughed, thinking that her father would indeed give Zach a hell of a side eye if she rolled up to the Britt home driving while he sat on the passenger seat. “I guess you're not completely Yankee after all.”

Zach laughed as he started the car. While they drove, Chante directed him to her childhood home. It wasn't lost on her that she hadn't taken Robert to her parents' house. She hadn't even told them about the engagement, but her mother found out about the breakup.

That was one of the main reasons Chante had planned to avoid coming to her childhood home while she was in Charleston. But as the old saying goes, God laughs when we plan.

Chante directed Zach toward Chateau Britt, a sprawling plantation house on the edge of Summerville, South Carolina. When he drove up the winding driveway, Zach was impressed. The wide porch was filled with people, and Chante groaned.

“I should've known.”

“What?” Zach asked.

Chante pointed to the people milling about. “That the whole damned county would be here. I don't think this is a good idea, Zach.”

When he saw her mother wave at them and then motion for the duo to get out of the car, he shrugged. “Too late now. We've been spotted.”

“This is a hot mess,” she said as she opened the door.

“Think about it this way, now you know what to expect when you bring your real man here to meet your family.”

“Yeah, I know to skip this part,” she said. Zach got out of the car and linked arms with her.

“Chante, smile. They just want to inspect the Yankee.”

She laughed. “You are right about that.” Chante leaned her head on his shoulder, and it felt so comfortable, almost like he was her fiancé. She blinked and dropped her hand from his.

“There you two are,” Allison said with a wide smile. “I'm not even going to ask what delayed you.”

“We were playing in the ocean,” Zach said. “Chante is quite the water lily.”

Allison shook her head. “I thought you would've outgrown that by now.”

Chante rolled her eyes and held her tongue.

“Baby girl,” a voice boomed as they approached the porch. Zach looked up and saw a tall caramel-skinned man with a bald head holding a glass and walking their way. When Chante smiled and rushed into his arms, he figured this was her father. Looking at him and Chante embrace, he saw more of a resemblance between the two of them than he did between her and Allison.

“Daddy,” she said, “you look great. I see you've lost some weight.”

“I love lawyers: y'all make lies sound so good,” he said, draping his arm around her shoulders. Then he turned to face Zach. “All right, young man, how did you stop this speed demon from driving that Mustang up here?”

Zach laughed, realizing that this man would be a great father-in-law, unlike the one he'd had during his marriage to She-Who-Would-Not-Be-Named.

“It was hard, sir,” Zach replied, then winked at Chante.

“Please, I'm Eli, and you are?”

“Zach.”

“One name, like Prince, huh?” Eli said, then broke out into laughter. “Not your fault, son.” He looked at Chante. “I should've met you a long time ago.”

“Daddy,” Chante said, “this is Zach Harrington. Zach, this is my Daddy, Eli Britt. And it's not as if we've been together that long.”

“I see,” Eli said as he took a sip of his drink. “Nothing either of you need to whisper about to me and Allison?”

“Eli, please,” Allison said, “you're drunk, and that is not funny.”

“We're waiting until our wedding night, sir,” Zach said.

Eli laughed, and Allison looked as she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her. “You must be a lawyer too,” Eli quipped.

“No, sir. I'm in real estate.”

“Come on, let's get some of this low boil. Now I can tell you're not from around here. New York? You got that accent.”

“Yes, sir,” Zach said. “Born and raised in the Bronx. But I came south to expand my empire and lost my heart.” He looked at Chante, and she thought that Zach belonged on Broadway. Smiling at her “fiancé,” Chante kept quiet. She hated weaving this yarn of a love story, but for the moment, it did feel better to introduce her family to a fake fiancé than to the one who'd cheated on her with a hooker.

“Let's get some food,” Chante said. “I'm starving.” She headed up the steps and spoke to a number of her parents' old friends.

“Congratulations, Chante,” Anita Moore said as she stopped her. “Though I've always held out hope that you and my Marvin would end up together.”

Chante simply smiled and quietly wished Anita would accept the fact that her son was gay. “How is Marvin?” she asked. “Is he still loving life in San Francisco?”

Anita took a huge gulp of her wine. “I guess. He, like most of you children, doesn't come back to visit.”

Anita, if you're still trotting out random women for him to date when he comes home, I wouldn't come back either
, she thought while smiling at her mother's closest friend. “The next time you talk to him, tell him I said hello,” Chante said before walking away.

Allison and two of her sorority sisters had cornered Zach, and he stood there while they peppered him with questions.

“So,” Deloris DeWitt, one of Allison's oldest friends, began, “how did you and Chante meet? Are you also a lawyer? She's the only attorney worth knowing, you know.”

Zach smiled. “I've come to learn that.”

“And what part of New York are you from?” Hannah Morgan asked. “I love to visit that city but living there, I'd just die.”

“New York isn't as bad as you may think, ma'am,” he said.

“You never answered the question,” Deloris said.

“Yes,” Allison said, “how did you and my daughter meet?”

“At a bar,” he said. It wasn't a lie. They met at the hotel bar last night.

Allison shook her head. “I hope not at some tawdry speed-dating mess.”

“No,” Zach said as he looked across the room and saw Chante standing with her father. “I was having a late dinner, and this goddess walked into the bar. Bronzed skin and bright eyes. She seemed to look right through me. I was intrigued, because—not to brag—women don't usually ignore me.”

Chante locked eyes with him and smiled. Deloris caught the look between the two of them and clutched her pearl necklace.

“Aww, look at that,” she said as she glanced from Chante to Zach.

He winked at Chante, who held her glass up to him.

“And then what happened?” Hannah asked.

“She threw a drink in my face.”

The women gasped and Zach laughed. “I was totally intrigued. And then I took her a quiche and everything seemed to work out just fine.”

“You cooked?” Allison asked.

Zach shook his head and placed his hand on Allison's elbow. “No, ma'am. I wanted to impress your daughter, not run her away or to the hospital.”

The group laughed, and Chante crossed over to them. “Sounds like someone is having fun over here,” she said as she stood on the other side of Zach.

“Just having a great conversation with these lovely ladies,” he said, then kissed Chante on the cheek. “I told them you threw a drink in my face when we met.”

Chante's mouth dropped for a second; then she shook her head. “I hope you explained how you were being a super jerk when I did that.” Her voice dripped sarcasm like honey. Zach could feel his dick thump. He wanted this woman more than he wanted to breathe. Her smile when she slipped her hand in his back pocket and squeezed his ass almost pushed him to full mast.

“Eh, I was getting to that,” he said as he wrapped his arm around Chante's waist. Did he just feel her tremble? Glancing at her, there was an unmistakable look of desire in her eyes. Yep. He was officially harder than Chinese math.

“I'm going to get a drink,” Zach said. “Will you show me to the bar?”

“With pleasure,” Chante said. Zach walked behind her, keeping his hand around her waist.

“You are so sexy,” he whispered. “I don't know if I'm going to be able to contain myself.”

“You better try,” she replied. “Thanks to your charming conversation, all eyes are on us right now.”

When they approached the bar, she turned to him and asked, “What did you tell them?”

“A version of the truth. Like how you threw a drink in my face and that I took you a quiche, then won your heart.”

Chante rolled her eyes and waved for the bartender. She couldn't help but wonder if this party had been planned long before her mother saw her and Zach at the gift shop.

“What can I get y'all?” the older man asked.

“Two double bourbons,” Chante said.

“Okay.”

“You like your drinks strong, huh?” Zach asked.

“I'm going need it. You were talking to the coven.”

“That's mean.”

Chante giggled as the bartender returned with their drinks. “Blame my grammy. She came up with that nickname. Those three went to college together with the same mission: find husbands.”

“And how did it work out for the other two?” Zach took a sip of his drink while Chante took a huge gulp.

“Miss Deloris has three ex-husbands, each one richer than the other. She gets enough alimony that she doesn't have to work anymore. I bet her divorce lawyers are hoping that she gets married again.”

Zach snickered and wiped his mouth. “You're a trip,” he said.

“Then there's Miss Hannah. She wants to be married so badly that she ignores the fact that her husband has another family in North Charleston.”

This time, Zach nearly choked on his drink. “Seriously.”

Chante took a sip of her bourbon. “Southern women are notorious for keeping secrets about their marriages, but small-town gossips find out the truth every time. We're lucky we don't live here.” Chante stroked his cheek. Before Zach could respond, Eli and another man walked over to them.

“Zach,” Eli said, “I wanted to introduce you to Mayor Jenkins.”

The taller, caramel-skinned man extended his hand to Zach. “Mr. Harrington, I heard that you were in town on business. I had no idea you were here with one of my favorite lawyers. Hello, Taye,” he said to Chante as he shook hands with Zach.

“Uncle Mike,” she said with a smile.

He looked at Chante's hand. “Now, where is the ring?”

“We're waiting for the right one,” Zach said. “A woman this special needs a wonderfully beautiful ring.”

“That's true,” Mike said as he gave Chante a hug. “So, my dear, how's the legal community in Charlotte?”

She sighed and thought about telling the truth. She had no idea. But she simply smiled. “Lots of lawsuits and contract negotiations.”

“Guess that's why my baby girl doesn't come home enough,” Eli said. “You don't know how proud of you I am.”

Tears sprang into her eyes. He was proud of a lie, and she was telling him another one as she pretended to be Zach's fiancée. “Daddy,” she whispered.