Love is Lovelier

by Donna Simonetta

  “Heir to one of the biggest fortunes in the U.S.; with a pit viper for a mother?” Bethanne suggested.

  Magda threw her napkin at her oldest friend. “Yeah. That. I was always trying to fit into one of those worlds, but I didn’t belong anywhere, at least not until I came to Rivers Bend. And Mick ran with the big dogs of industry when he worked for the Pintos, but comes from much humbler beginnings. Maybe I’m just projecting my own emotions onto him, but I imagine he feels the same way I did. It’s no fun, and it’s lonely. You know him better than I do, Heather, do you think that’s how Mick feels?”

  Heather hesitated and Maggie held up her hands. “I don’t want you to betray his confidence, so don’t answer me if you can’t.”

  Bethanne grinned. “Let’s get off all this serious stuff and get back to last night. Amazing—that was your word for it, right? Spill.”

  Magda held up her hand as if she were stopping traffic. “Hold on, I want to get to the bottom of what went wrong, and fix it. I think Mick and Heather would be good together.”

  Bethanne leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “I can tell you what went wrong. I’ve known Heather since the first day of kindergarten, and this is her typical pattern.”

  Heather choked on her sip of soda and sputtered, “My typical pattern? What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Puh-leeze! You know what I mean.”

  Heather raised her eyebrows and tossed up her hands in frustration. “No, I don’t have the least little clue what you mean.”

  “When things start to get too close for comfort with a man, you find some fault and get out before you think the guy can.”

  “I don’t do that.”

  Magda sat between them, and looked back and forth like she was at a tennis match.

  Bethanne shook her head. “Sorry, but you do. Or you pick guys who won’t commit, so you can keep things from getting too deep.”

  “Okay, that is so not true.”

  “Really? Who were you going with to the benefit this weekend? Before things happened with Mick.”

  “Chase Harper, and by the way, I’m still going with him. Mick is going with Gloria Peterson.”

  “Yuck.” Magda screwed up her face in distaste.

  Heather nodded and slapped her hand on the table. “I know, right? She’s the worst!”

  “Who’s Chase Harper, and how does he prove Bethanne’s point?” Magda asked.

  “He’s just an old friend of mine. We go out sometimes.”

  “When he’s around, which isn’t often,” Bethanne interjected. “He’s a musician, and he’s on the road ten months out of the year. And the other two months he lives in Richmond, which is still a little far to be reasonable dating distance. He’s Heather’s perfect man.”

  “I’m starting to take offense at this conversation,” Heather bristled.

  Bethanne leaned forward to reach across the table to grasp Heather’s hand. “I’m sorry, sweetie, I don’t mean to hurt you, but it’s true. Not to be an armchair psychologist or anything, but I think it’s because of your dad dying when you were so young. You don’t let men get close, so you won’t be hurt when they leave. But what you don’t realize, is they don’t all leave, so you’re missing out on the happiness you could have if you let someone in to share your life.”

  Heather blinked against the sudden, hot rush of tears stinging her eyes. “The last time I did that was eleven years ago, and look how well it turned out.”

  Magda scooted her chair closer to rub Heather’s back in support. “Let me guess, it was Mick?”

  Heather swiped at a tear that escaped and rolled down her cheek. “Yeah, it was Mick. So forgive me for not wanting to run blindly down that road again.”

  Bethanne nodded in understanding. “He was a jerk to you back then, believe me, I remember. I was the one you called, crying, every day for weeks after it happened, but it was a long time ago; I’m sure he’s grown up since then; maybe you should give him another chance.”

  “There’s stuff going on with him you don’t know about, and I think it will end with me getting hurt again, and guess what? You’d still be the one listening to me cry on the phone, Bethanne, is that really what you want?”

  “Of course not. I love you, and I want you to be happy. I think you have a shot at happiness with Mick, if you don’t blow it.”

  Heather took a sip of her soda and thought about her friend’s words. Bethanne didn’t know about Mick’s issues with his family and background, and Heather hadn’t shared his brother Danny’s thoughts on Mick and her relationship. So Bethanne and Magda didn’t know it was inevitable Mick would leave her to have someone more polished and elegant on his arm. In time, he’d want the type of woman who would reinforce the image he’d worked so hard to build…a woman like Gloria. Until he came to terms with who he was, and where he came from, she wouldn’t—couldn’t—let him into her heart, or her bed, again. It had nothing to do with any lingering abandonment issues she might have after her father’s sudden death. Did it?

  Chapter 15

  Mick entered the ballroom of the Inner Harbor hotel, with Gloria firmly attached to his arm. She was beautiful, and had made it perfectly clear on the drive to Baltimore she was willing, but Mick felt no attraction to her. Instead, his attention was drawn to Heather across the crowded room, as if he was a laser-guided missile, and she was his target.

  He strode through the crowd, dragging Gloria along for the ride. He would not be deterred from his mission, even when several members of the Ravens organization he knew from his NFL days, and who were active in Jeff’s community centers, called out greetings. He lifted a hand in response, and continued to plow through the mass of elegantly dressed people to get to the only one whom he cared about tonight.

  “Hello Heather.”

  He felt Gloria’s nails dig into the fine wool of his tuxedo, as she clutched him possessively when they reached his destination.

  “Mick, Gloria.”

  He could be wrong, but he thought Heather’s greeting actually caused icicles to form on the crystal chandelier hanging over their heads.

  “Where’s Chase?” Mick asked with what he hoped was a smile on his face, although he suspected it looked more like a scowling death mask.

  “Here I am. Who’s asking?”

  A man appeared at Heather’s side, carrying two glasses of champagne, one of which he pressed into Heather’s hand. Mick would describe him as being one of those terminally hip poseurs, if not for one small thing, this guy was the real deal. Chase was the man who every middle-aged guy with a piercing and a soul patch wished he could be. He was thin and lithe, in that way musicians always seemed to be; he wore one of those ultra-trendy new tuxedos with the skinny pants and close-fitting jacket.

  Standing next to him, Mick suddenly felt like Bruce Banner after someone pissed him off—like a huge, hulking beast. Seeing this guy with Heather even made him want to smash like the Hulk too. He snuck a glance down at his hand to make sure it hadn’t grown green and ham-sized.

  “Chase Harper, this is Gloria Peterson and Mick Evans.”

  “So pleased to meet you,” Gloria trilled.

  “Mick’s my new boss at the Retreat,” Heather added to musician boy.

  “Cool. Nice to meet you both.”

  Chase bobbed his head, with its longish, messy brown hair, and his smile reached his crystal blue eyes. Clearly, this was the first time Chase had heard about him. Heather hadn’t thought enough of him to mention him. And her new boss? Is that all he was to her? It seemed like a helluva lot more when they were rolling around on her squeaky, old bed a few days ago, and she was screaming his name.

  He started when a hand clapped him on the back, he was so lost in his thoughts of Heather he’d totally lost track of his surroundings, and that wouldn’t do at a work function. He knew Jeff and Cisco were counting on him to network, and hopefully drum up some new business with the high rollers here tonight. He needed to get his head out of his ass and focu
s.

  “Mick, Gloria, thanks so much for coming tonight. I appreciate the support.”

  Jeff’s lazy grin caused a lot of people to take him at face value, and think he was a laid-back, dumb jock, good ole boy, but Mick knew better; he knew Jeff was as sharp as a tack, with excellent business instincts. Jeff’s good opinion meant a lot to Mick, and he certainly wasn’t going to earn it by mooning over the man’s baby sister while she was on a date with someone else.

  “Mind if I steal Mick for a little while? There are some folks here I want him to meet.”

  ****

  As her brother led Mick away, Heather heard a young woman’s excited voice. “Oh my God! It’s Chase Harper! We saw you play last night at Ram’s Head.”

  Chase was pulled into a conversation with his fans, while they snapped photos with their phones. Heather was left alone with Gloria Peterson.

  Oh joy.

  “Don’t you look sweet,” Gloria’s voice was syrupy and insincere.

  Heather smoothed the skirt of her flirty lavender cocktail dress. She had felt like she looked fun and chic, until Gloria had appeared on Mick’s arm, in a slinky black number Heather was sure was fresh off a Paris runway.

  “Thank you, Gloria. You look lovely.”

  In Virginia, good manners were deeply ingrained, and Heather was a Virginia girl through and through. Even if she wanted to toss her drink in Gloria’s face and rip the woman’s extensions out of her head, like a Real Housewife of Rivers Bend, she couldn’t help herself from observing the social niceties drummed into her for as long as she could remember.

  “It’s very nice of you to come all the way to Baltimore to support Jeff’s cause.”

  Gloria waved one hand in a graceful gesture, the kind Heather was never able to pull off. “Oh, it’s nothing. I pop into Baltimore now and again. My sister lives here.”

  “Really? I had no idea.” If pressed, Heather would never guess Gloria had a sister or parents. She always assumed Gloria had been cloned in a trophy wife laboratory.

  “Lily’s the baby of the family, from my father’s third marriage. She’s a teacher here in Baltimore.”

  Gloria spoke with such disdain, you’d think she was confessing her sister was a stripper on Baltimore’s infamous Block, instead of a teacher.

  “An admirable profession,” Heather observed.

  “Hmm,” Gloria’s reply was skeptical. Her unusual purple eyes narrowed, reminding Heather of Scarlett O’Hara. “I’m hoping she can join Mick and me for breakfast tomorrow morning.”

  Heather felt like Gloria had punched her in the stomach, and she was seriously reconsidering the whole toss-her-champagne-into-Glo’s-smug-face-pull-out-her-fake-hair option.

  Mick was going to sleep with this horrid little woman—less than a week after he’d made love to her. The champagne tossed around in her stomach like a tiny sailboat in a hurricane.

  “What about you and that darling man you’re here with, are you two staying in town tonight?”

  “Yes, we are.” Heather’s smile was tight. She was not an easy liar, given her honest nature, but this was more of a half-truth than an out-and-out lie. Chase and she were both staying in Baltimore tonight, just not together. Heather was sharing a room in this hotel with her mother, and Chase was staying somewhere else with his bandmates.

  She felt Chase’s hand on her lower back as he rejoined them, and it left her cold. When Mick had put his hand in the same spot last weekend, she’d felt like a family of excited chipmunks were dancing her tummy. Now…nothing. Huh.

  “Sorry about the interruption, ladies.”

  “Please don’t worry, it’s the price of celebrity.” Gloria flapped her false eyelashes at Chase. Good golly! Didn’t the woman have any original parts on her body?

  “It looks like they’re starting to serve dinner, Heath, what do you say we find our seats and slap on the food bag?”

  She responded to Chase’s slow grin with what she hoped was a bright smile of her own, but the night was wearing her down. At least Chase was getting her away from Gloria. “Sounds good, Chase. Gloria, enjoy your evening.”

  Gloria’s smug smile at her words, as she looked in Mick’s direction made Heather’s blood boil. “Oh, I intend to, Heather, with a charming escort like Michael, how could I not?”

  As Gloria walked toward Mick, Chase looked down at where Heather’s nails dug into his arm with a wry smile. “Why do I get the feeling there’s more going on here tonight than I know about? Like one of those foreign films from the seventies, where everyone’s swapped partners, and no one is saying what they really mean?”

  ****

  Mick didn’t know if it was a blessing or a curse Heather and her date were seated at another table. This way he didn’t have to listen to them flirt with each other but they were only one table away, so he could still hear Heather’s warm laughter, and he couldn’t stop himself from looking at her, any more than he could stop himself from breathing.

  He still didn’t really understand why she’d broken things off with him, some bullshit about him learning to love himself, but she’d been dodging him at work all week, so he knew she was deadly serious about it. She wasn’t playing some coy game the way Gloria would. There might be a kernel of truth to her excuses, but he honestly didn’t believe they were the only reason Heather was on the run. However, he was damned if he knew what was going on in her head. All he knew was he didn’t want things to be over between them, and it was killing him to watch her with another man. And not just with any other man, but one who appeared to be the polar opposite of him. Chase seemed genial and carefree, where Mick was intense, lean where he was muscled, and Chase managed to hold on to Heather when he couldn’t.

  He watched with a clenched jaw as the band started up some old-school Sinatra tune and Chase pulled out Heather’s chair and led her to the dance floor. Chase twirled her with a roguish grin on his face, and Heather’s pretty purply dress floated around her until she looked like the center of a pretty spring flower. His pretty spring flower, the voice in his head roared.

  Gloria followed his gaze. “They make a darling little couple, don’t they?”

  He made a noise low in his throat, and sincerely hoped he hadn’t just growled, but he was afraid he had. He’d never felt so jealous in his life.

  “They’re staying here in Baltimore tonight,” Gloria added.

  Correction, now was the most jealous he’d ever been. How could Heather sleep with this guy so soon after they’d been together? He made the same sound again, and darned if it wasn’t a growl after all.

  Gloria tiptoed her scarlet fingernails up his arm, and said in a wheedling tone, “I’m sure we can still get a room here. Isn’t there any way I can change your mind about staying with me tonight?”

  “No, Gloria, I told you I’m heading back to Rivers Bend tonight. If you want to stay here, I’d be happy to arrange transportation home for you tomorrow.”

  No way was he going to stay here and risk seeing Heather and Chase in the morning; he wasn’t altogether sure he would be able to hold back from punching the other man. And it didn’t even take into account his amazingly colossal lack of attraction to Gloria, in spite of her beauty and blatant availability.

  “It won’t be necessary, if you’re not staying there’s no point in me staying.” Gloria leaned back in her chair and sighed. “This night is not at all what I was hoping it would be, Michael.”

  “I’m sorry, Gloria.”

  And he was. Knowing how he felt about Heather, he should never have brought another woman to this event.

  She leaned forward and pressed her breasts against his arm. “Then make it up to me. Stay with me tonight.”

  He should want to. Gloria was everything he thought he wanted, but he was as cold as the Bering Sea in January at her touch. On the other hand, why the hell not? If Heather was going to spend the night with her musician friend with benefits, why shouldn’t he take advantage of what Gloria was so freely offering?


  He watched Chase gather Heather into his arms, as the band segued into a slow, romantic song, and he knew he could never be with another woman when his feelings for Heather were so strong.

  Damn it all to hell! Was Gloria’s tongue in his ear? What was it going to take to convince this woman ‘no’ means ‘no’?

  ****

  “Did she just shove her tongue in his ear?”

  Chase turned them on the dance floor, so he could see who she was watching, with what Heather feared were sparks shooting out of her eyes.

  “Yep. Looks like.”

  “How horribly tacky!”

  Chase’s brows drew together. “You seem mighty interested in your boss’s sex life.”

  She flushed and looked down at her feet. “Mick isn’t just my boss.”

  “I didn’t think so. During dinner he was looking at me like wanted to turn me upside down and mop the floor with my head. Look, Heather, you and I have never been exclusive, so if he makes you happy, it’s all right with me. I’m just wondering why you two aren’t here together tonight?”

  “Mick and I are not seeing each other.”

  “But you said he’s not just your boss,” Chase frowned in confusion.

  “No. Yes. I don’t know. It’s complicated.”

  “Sounds like,” Chase drawled.

  “I’m sorry, Chase, I never should have brought you here, when I’m so confused.”

  “No worries, darlin’, we’re friends before anything else, right?”

  “Right.” She smiled at him in gratitude for his understanding.

  He pulled her a little closer and ran his hand up her arm. “Doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop trying, though.”

  ****

  Heather rapped on the hotel room door with her knuckles to give her mother a little warning before she inserted her key card. The lock gave two little beeps and she pushed open the door.

  Her mother stood in front of the mirror on the dresser; she was still in her dove gray silk evening gown, which had a strap over one shoulder and draped her mother’s still trim figure beautifully. Heather sent a silent thank you out to the good gene pool gods, as her mother looked more like a Grecian goddess than a sixty-something grandmother.