Mad, Bad and Blonde (27 page)

“Yeah, I hope so too. Getting back to the charity ball. Megan doesn’t have a date?”

“She’s got her dad. I thought you and Alan would round out the numbers.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Obviously. I reserved these tickets nearly a year ago. I couldn’t anticipate what would happen with Alan the Ass. So just bring someone else instead.”

She was quiet. She could imagine what her father would say if she suggested Caine as her escort.

Her father frowned. “Unless that’s a problem? You’re over Alan, right?”

She nodded.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“No problem.” She’d find someone. And she had to get a dress. No worries. She had forty-eight hours.

The once-passive Faith who let her family clean up her wedding mess had been replaced with the new, active Faith who took care of herself . . . with a little help from her doorman.

“Yuri, I need a big favor.” Faith had cornered him as soon as she entered her condo building after work. “I need a date for this Saturday night for a charity ball.”

“You don’t want to ask Caine?”

“I’m attending with my father. He books a table every year. So, no, I can’t ask Caine.”

“Understood.”

“I thought maybe one of your actor friends might be willing to attend with me. Everything is paid for. They’d have to have a tuxedo because it’s black tie, but I’d pay for the rental.”

“I think I know just the man for the job.” Yuri pulled out his iPhone and got online to Facebook before turning the screen to her. “His name is Dylan Donovan.”

“Does he really look like that?”

“Yep.”

“I’m sorry, that was shallow of me.”

“Of course he wouldn’t be oiled and shirtless. And he wouldn’t have his jeans undone the way he does in this photo. Do you want me to give him a call? He owes me a favor.”

“Sure,” she croaked before clearing her throat. “I’d appreciate that.” She certainly appreciated the picture of Dylan Donovan. Her mouth was dry and her palms damp. This charity ball might turn out to be better than she’d expected, providing Dylan was available.

“He’s agreed to the gig,” Yuri said. “What time do you want him to pick you up?”

“Um, seven thirty. Does he need a tux?”

“No, he has one.”

“Tell him thanks.”

“No problem. Dylan could use the exposure.”

Exposure got her thinking naughty thoughts. Maybe she was getting over Caine if she could drool over another guy. That was a good thing, right? Who knew at this point? She couldn’t figure out her complicated relationship with Caine right now.

“Do you need anything else?” Yuri asked. “Do you have your dress?”

“No.”

“Several young actress friends of mine rave about this new Oak Street boutique.” He showed her the store’s web-site with examples of their clothing.

“Thank you so much, Yuri!” She hugged him. “I’ll head right over there now.”

The boutique had the perfect dress for her: a classy black strapless full-length sheath with a sweetheart neckline. She felt so proud of herself for getting both a dress and a date in a matter of two hours that she splurged and got a beautiful jewelry set with a layered amethyst necklace and matching large teardrop dangle earrings.

Friday flew by with new cases and work piling up. She wanted to treat herself to blueberry pancakes at the nearby Comfort Café Saturday morning but worried she wouldn’t fit into her dress that night if she did. So she nibbled on a granola bar instead. Later that afternoon, her manicurist suggested black cherry chutney nail polish for her mani/ pedi. Faith agreed and also splurged on a facial.

But nothing she did erased the fact that she hadn’t talked to Caine since they’d made out in his car Monday night. Which was fine with her. She didn’t care.

Okay that was lie, and she was trying not to lie to herself anymore. So she did care, but she’d get over it. Naturally she’d be concerned that Caine might be off on some rogue mission with his father’s case without consulting her. Of course, if he had consulted her, it wouldn’t be a rogue mission.

She was still trying to recover from her father telling her that Aunt Lorraine was swimming with the fishes. She hoped Caine hadn’t done anything drastic or illegal. Maybe she should call him to find out.

Right. Like he’d tell her if he’d done something wrong. She removed her hand from her BlackBerry.

Forget Caine and concentrate on getting through this event tonight
.

Faith had considered getting her hair trimmed but was afraid of messing up the haircut she loved so much and looking like a wreck, so she left it as it was. She spent a lot of time preparing for the charity ball. Her hair was styled, her underarms and legs were shaved, her body moisturized with Stella McCartney’s sexy and stylish lotion. Studying her reflection in the mirror, she decided that she’d never looked better in her life.

She was ready to go when Yuri called to inform her that Dylan was downstairs waiting for her.

“Showtime,” she whispered as she entered the elevator, momentarily flashing back to when Caine had said the same word before heading into the convenience store during their surveillance. No, tonight wasn’t about Caine. Tonight was about the first major public appearance of the “new” her. Many of the people there tonight were guests at her wedding over a month ago. But they’d never seen the mad, bad and blonde version of Faith. Which left her with only one thing to say, courtesy of Buddy: “Hold on to your hats, honeypies.”

Chapter Sixteen

Faith
stepped out of the elevator in the foyer downstairs and found Dylan Donovan waiting for her. He looked stunning in a tux and was driving a black Porsche.

“Thank you so much for stepping in and agreeing to help,” she told him.

“No problem.” He caught her glancing at the car. “It’s used. I borrowed it from a friend of mine for the night. My Jeep doesn’t go with my tux.”

“Right.” Then she worried that she sounded snobbish. “Not that there’s anything wrong with a Jeep.”

“Wouldn’t go with your dress either. You look beautiful.”

“Thank you. So do you. I mean you look nice.”
Shut up, Faith. Next you’ll be telling him some story about Bertha Palmer and one of her numerous charity balls.
Thank heavens the ball wasn’t at the Palmer House this time but was instead taking place at McCormick Place. Otherwise who knew what trivia Faith might have come up with about the hotel’s original owners.

Dylan’s manners were impeccable. He held her hand as she got into the Porsche and closed the door for her. Once they arrived at their location, he again helped her out of the low-slung sports car.

The organizers outdid themselves with the large ballroom’s decorations, transforming it into a magical place decked out in shades of silver, black, teal and white. Teal linens and rose-filled mirrored boxes decorated the tables.

Faith’s parents were already seated at the table. Only then did she realize that this was the first time she’d seen them together since her canceled wedding. Her mother looked lovely in a conservative navy blue full-length gown. Her father looked at ease in his tuxedo. But he wasn’t paying attention to his wife. Instead, he was talking to someone else. Thankfully it wasn’t the beautiful mystery client but an older man with silver hair.

Faith’s mom smiled with relief when she saw Faith. “Megan and her dad are at the silent auction table making some bids.”

Faith introduced Dylan as a friend of hers. He charmed her mother and impressed her dad. Faith’s grandmother arrived shortly thereafter with her date, Buddy.

But Faith was most surprised and dismayed by the fact that Vince King sat two tables over, looking very much like a king holding court. And his right-hand man Caine was right there beside him.

“Can you believe it?” Faith’s dad said. “I’m sure Vince arranged things so he’d be near my table to taunt me. Do you know what his latest dirty trick is? He’s spreading rumors that I’m having an affair. Can you believe that?”

“Yes.” Faith prevented herself from nervously glancing at her mother.

“The man has no shame,” her dad continued. “No sense of honor or dignity. He’ll pull whatever dirty trick he can to get what he wants.”

“What does he want?”

“Me gone.”

“Would he hurt you?”

“He’s too cowardly. He’d much rather ruin me.”

Faith couldn’t read her father’s expression.

“Maybe you two should dial back your rivalry,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it.” He patted her bare shoulder before frowning at her cleavage. “That dress is a little low-cut, don’t you think?”

She rolled her eyes. “The days of you telling me what to wear are long past.”

“At least Faith doesn’t have tattoos,” Gram said. “And that dress is gorgeous. Angelina Jolie wore something like it to the Oscars one time. Angelina has tattoos. Faith has excellent cleavage, don’t you think so, Dylan?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Dylan was speaking, but Faith felt Caine’s eyes on her. Sure enough, he was looking at her, but she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He was too damn good at keeping secrets. And he looked too damn good in a tux.

He had a beautiful woman on his right. Who was she? His date? It didn’t matter. Despite making out with him in the front seat of his Mustang, Faith was supposed to be trying to get over him. Yet her reaction to Caine in a tux was ten times that of the incredibly handsome guy sitting next to her.

Dylan was the perfect companion. He made pleasant conversation, even if a lot of it was about him. He didn’t deliberately say things designed to drive her nuts. He didn’t offer her sliders, didn’t slide his hand beneath the table to make her fly, didn’t brush his thumb over her lips.

But he was a great dancer. After their delicious three-course dinner, she accepted his invitation to hit the dance floor. An orchestra with a male singer provided the music.

Faith was doing just fine until the song changed to the Righteous Brothers classic “Unchained Melody,” and Caine cut in. They were on the opposite side of the dance floor, away from both the West and the King tables.

Dylan took one look at Caine and correctly decided he was a man who wouldn’t take no for an answer. Still, Dylan checked with her to make sure it was okay, and she admired him for that.

“Who’s the pretty boy eye candy?” Caine asked.

“He’s my date just like your girl eye candy is your date.”

“Wrong. She works for Vince. She’s not my date.”

“She looked like she’d like to be your date.”

“What about you? What would you like?” He lifted his hand higher up her back until his fingers rested on her bare skin. The brush of his caress sent shivers of delight up and down her spine. He gently pulled her closer, resting his chin on the top of her head, sliding his fingers between hers rather than simply clasping her hand.

What would she like? She liked the way Caine smelled, a clean citrus scent that took her back to Positano and the night she’d first met him. For once she didn’t focus on his betrayal but on the incredibly powerful chemistry between them. She hadn’t imagined it.

She knew Caine felt it too.

They swayed to the music. She was totally wrapped up in his embrace, in his presence, in his magical hold on her. The music was slow, but her heart was racing, and all her senses were on high alert.

Their forbidden dance was brought to a premature end by Faith’s father, who pulled her out of Caine’s arms. “Are you crazy? What are you doing?”

“I’m dancing. You’re making a scene.”

“Let them be,” Gram ordered as she and Buddy two-stepped beside them. “Do not make a scene, son.” She glared at Faith’s father. “Go back to the table and behave. And leave Faith alone.”

“You don’t know who he is,” Faith’s dad said, only to be interrupted by Gram.

“I know all I need to know. Now let’s dance.”

Faith’s father angrily returned to their table. Faith returned to Caine’s arms. Gram returned Caine’s smile of gratitude.

“You okay?” Caine asked Faith, his breath stirring strands of her hair.

She nodded, but her hands were trembling. “I’m feeling a little like Juliet. I just don’t want to end up like her.”

“She wasn’t a tough blonde like you.”

“Abs says I’m not tough.”

“Because she’s hard and tough.”

“And I’m not?”

“No. But I am.”

She smiled up at him. “So I’ve noticed.”

“How soon can we leave?” he said.

“I can’t just dump Dylan. But he has to leave early because of a previous engagement. I planned on taking a cab home.”

“Plan on sharing that cab with me.”

“You didn’t drive?”

Caine shook his head. “Not tonight.” He brushed his lips across her cheek before whispering in her ear, “Wait for me.”

Faith’s magical haze was blown out of town by the cold blast of her father’s anger once she returned to their table. “I can’t believe you were dancing with him after what he’s done.”

“Was that Caine?” Faith’s mom asked.

Faith nodded.

Her mom gave her a look of commiseration.

Gram returned to the table to give her son a look of reprimand.

Faith was amazed to see that her dad actually squirmed in his seat.

“You should have been dancing with your wife instead of trying to make trouble,” Gram said.

“I wasn’t trying to make trouble,” he protested. “You don’t know the whole story. He works for King Investigations.”

“Your archrival yada yada yada.” Gram shook her head. “I know. I also know that life is too short to have such hatred. Don’t let it erase the love in your life.”

The next hour was awkward as Dylan made his escape, stopping near the exit to pick up a bodacious babe who’d been eyeing him all night.

“Looks like your date just dumped you,” Aunt Lorraine appeared out of nowhere to tell Faith. “Seems to be a repeating pattern with you and men.”

“I thought you were swimming with the fishes—I mean the dolphins,” Faith said.

Aunt Lorraine sat in the seat Dylan had just vacated. She looked like Cruella De Vil, the villainess from the Disney classic
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
. “I was, but I flew back this afternoon. My flight was late, or I would have gotten here sooner. You don’t think I’d miss this event, do you?”