by Teri Wilson
“Good evening, Miss Drake, Mr. Andrade.” The doorman nodded and swept the door open for them. “Welcome to the Waldorf Astoria.”
“Gracias,” Franco said. Thank you. He gave her waist a gentle squeeze. “Shall we, love?”
His voice rumbled through her, deliciously deep.
She swallowed. It’s all pretend. Don’t fall for it.
Don’t fall.
She’d told herself the same thing three years ago. A fat lot of good that had done her.
Everything was moving too fast. Even after they finally made it inside the grand black-and-white marble lobby, Diana felt as if she’d been caught up in a whirlwind. A glittering blur where everything was too big and too bright, from the mosaic floor to the grand chandelier to the beautiful man standing beside her.
“Miss Drake and Mr. Andrade, I’m Beth Ross, director of Manhattan Pet Rescue. We’re so pleased you could make it to our little gathering this evening.”
“Ah, Beth, we wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Franco said smoothly, following up his greeting with a kiss on the cheek.
Beth practically swooned.
He was so good at this it was almost frightening. If Artem had really known what he was doing, he would have made Franco the new vice president of public relations.
Say something. You’re not the arm candy. He is.
“Thank you for having us. We’re so pleased to be here.” Diana smiled.
From the corner of her eye, she spotted someone holding up a cell phone and pointing toward her and Franco. He must have seen it too, because he deftly wrapped his arm around her waist and rested his palm languidly on her hip. Without even realizing it, she burrowed into him.
Beth sighed. “You two are every bit as beautiful as your advertising campaign. It’s all anyone can talk about.”
“So we’ve heard.” Diana forced a smile.
“Our party is located upstairs in the Starlight Ballroom. I’ve come to escort you up there, and if you don’t mind, we’d love to snap a few pictures of you with some of the animals we have up for adoption later this evening.”
Diana stiffened. “Um...”
Franco gave her hipbone a subtle squeeze. “We’d be happy to. We’re big animal lovers, obviously.”
We’re big animal lovers.
We.
Diana blinked. Franco seemed to be staring at her, waiting for her to say something. “Oh, yes. Huge animal lovers.”
They moved from the glitzy, gold lobby into a darkly intimate corridor walled in burgundy velvet. Beth pushed a button to summon an elevator.
“That doesn’t surprise me a bit,” she said. “I just knew you must be animal lovers. Drake Diamonds has always been one of our biggest supporters. And, of course, both of you are legendary in the horse world.”
The elevator doors swished open, and the three of them stepped inside.
“Diana has a beautiful black Hanoverian. Tell Beth about Diamond, love.” Franco looked at her expectantly.
Diana felt as though she’d been slapped.
She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but she couldn’t seem capable of making a sound.
“Are you all right, dear? You’ve gone awfully pale.” Beth eyed her with concern.
“I just... I...” It was no use. She couldn’t talk about Diamond. Not now.
For six months, she’d managed to avoid discussing her beloved horse’s death with anyone. Not even her brothers. She knew she probably should, but she couldn’t. It just hurt too much. And after so much silence, the words wouldn’t come.
“She’s a bit claustrophobic,” Franco said.
Another lie. Diana was beginning to lose track of them all.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Beth’s hand fluttered to her throat. “I didn’t realize. We should have taken the stairs.”
“It’s fine.” Franco’s voice was like syrup. Soothing. “We’re almost there, darling.”
The elevator doors slid open.
Diana burrowed into Franco as he half carried her to the entrance to the ballroom. She couldn’t remember leaning against him in the first place.
Breathe in, breathe out. You’re fine.
She took a deep inhale and straightened her spine, smiled. “So sorry. I’m okay. Really.”
Her heart pounded against her rib cage. She desperately wished she were back at Dalton’s apartment, watching bad reality television and curled up under a blanket on the sofa.
Don’t think about Diamond. Don’t blow this. Say something.
She glanced up at the stained-glass ceiling strung with twinkling lights. “Look how beautiful everything is.”
Beth nodded her agreement and launched into a description of all the work that had gone into putting together the gala, a large part of which had been funded by Drake Diamonds. Diana smiled and nodded, as did Franco, although at times she could see him watching her with what felt like too much interest.
She was dying to tell him he was laying it on a little thick. They were supposed to be dating, not engaged, for crying out loud. Besides, she’d shaken off the worst of her panic.
She was fine. She just hadn’t expected him to mention Diamond. That’s all. She’d assumed that Franco had known about her accident. Apparently, he hadn’t. Otherwise, he never would have brought up Diamond.
She’d been shocked, and probably a little upset. But it had passed.
He didn’t need to be worried about her, and he definitely didn’t need to be watching her like that. But an hour into the gala they were still shaking hands and chatting with the other animal shelter donors. She and Franco hadn’t had a moment alone together.
Not that Diana was complaining.
The limousine ride had provided plenty of one-on-one time, thank you very much.
“If we could just ask you to do one last thing...” Beth guided them toward the far corner of the ballroom where guests had been taking turns posing for pictures. “Could we get those photos I mentioned before you leave?”
Diana nodded. “Absolutely.”
Franco’s hand made its way to the small of her back again. She was getting somewhat used to it and couldn’t quite figure out if that was a bad thing or a good one.
It’s nearly over. Just a few more minutes.
One night down, twenty to go. Almost.
She allowed herself a subtle, premature sigh of relief. Then she noticed a playpen filled with adorable, squirming puppies beside the photographer’s tripod, and any sense of triumph she felt about her performance thus far disintegrated. She couldn’t handle being around animals again. Not yet.
“Well, well. What do we have here?” Franco reached into the playpen and gathered a tiny black puppy with a tightly curled tail into his arms.
The puppy craned its neck, stuck out its miniscule pink tongue and licked the side of Franco’s face. He threw his head back and laughed, which only seemed to encourage the sweet little dog. It scrambled up Franco’s chest and showered his ear with puppy kisses.
Beth motioned for the photographer to capture the adoration on film. “Doesn’t she just love you, Mr. Andrade?”
The puppy was a girl. Because of course.
Franco’s charm appealed to females of all species, apparently.
Why am I not surprised?
“Come here, love.” Franco reached for Diana’s hand and pulled her toward him. “You’ve got to meet this little girl. She’s a sweetheart.”
“No, it’s okay. You keep her.” She tried to wave him off, but it was impossible. Before she knew what was happening, she had a puppy in her arms and flashbulbs were going off again.
“That’s Lulu. She’s a little pug mix.”
“Franco’s right. She’s definitely a sweetheart.” Diana gazed down at th
e squirming dog.
Before her brother Dalton got married and moved to Delamotte, he’d tried talking her into getting a dog on multiple occasions. At first she’d thought he was joking. Dalton didn’t even like dogs. Or so she’d thought. Apparently that had changed when he met the princess. Then he’d practically become some sort of animal matchmaker and kept encouraging Diana to adopt a pet.
What had gotten into her brothers? Both of them had turned into different people over the course of the past year. Sometimes it felt like the entire world was moving forward, full speed ahead, while Diana stood completely still.
Everything was changing. Everything and everyone.
It didn’t use to be this way. From the first day she’d climbed onto the back of horse, Diana had been riding as fast as she could. She’d always thought if she rode hard enough, she’d escape the legacy Gaston Drake had built. Escape everything that it meant to be part of her family. The lies, the deceit. She’d thought she could outrun it.
Now she was back in the family fold, and she realized she hadn’t outrun a thing.
She swallowed hard. How could she even consider saving a dog when she wasn’t even convinced she could save herself?
“Here. You take her.” She tried to hand the puppy back to Franco, but he wrapped his arms around her and kept posing for the camera.
“You three make a lovely family,” Beth gushed.
That was Diana’s breaking point.
The touching...the endearments...the puppy. Those things she could handle. Mostly. But the idea of being a family? She’d rather die.
“It’s getting late. We should probably go.”
But no one seemed to have a heard a word she said, because at the exact time that she tried to make her getaway, Franco made an announcement. “We’ll take her.”
Beth squealed. A few people applauded. Diana just stood there, trying to absorb what he’d said.
She searched his features, but he was still wearing that boyfriend-of-the-year expression that gave her butterflies, even though she knew without a doubt it wasn’t real. “What are you talking about?”
“The puppy.” He gave the tiny pup a rub behind her ears with the tip of his pointer finger.
“Franco, we can’t adopt a dog together,” she muttered through her smile, which was definitely beginning to fade.
“Of course we can, darling.” His eyes narrowed the slightest bit.
No one else noticed because they were too busy fawning all over him.
“Franco, sweetheart.” She shot daggers at him with her eyes.
This wasn’t part of the deal. She’d agreed to pretend to date him, not coparent an animal.
Besides, she didn’t want to adopt a dog. Correction: she couldn’t adopt a dog.
A dog’s lifespan was even shorter than a horse’s. Much shorter. She wouldn’t survive that kind of heartache. Not again. Never again.
Franco bowed his head to nuzzle the puppy and paused to whisper in her ear. “They’re eating it up. What is your problem?”
It was the worst possible time for something to snap inside Diana, but something did. All the feelings she’d been working so hard to suppress for the past few months—the anger, the fear, the grief—came spilling out at once. She gazed up at Franco through a veil of tears as the whole world watched.
“Diamond is dead. That’s my problem.”
Chapter Six
A Page Six Exclusive Report
The rumors are true! Diamond heiress Diana Drake and polo’s prince charming, Franco Andrade, are indeed a couple. Tongues have been wagging all over New York since their sultry billboard went up in Times Square. The heat between these two is too hot to be anything but genuine!
Drake and Andrade stepped out last night at Manhattan’s Annual Fur Ball, where witnesses say they arrived on the heels of what was obviously a romantic tryst in the Drake Diamonds limousine. During the party, Andrade was heard calling Drake by the pet name Wildfire and couldn’t keep his hands off the stunning equestrian beauty.
At the end of the evening, Drake was moved to tears when Andrade gifted her with a nine-week-old pug puppy.
Chapter Seven
Franco shifted his Jaguar into Park and swiveled his gaze to the passenger seat. “I don’t suppose I can trust you to stay here and let me do the talking.”
Lulu let out a piercing yip, then resumed chewing on the trim of the Jag’s leather seats.
“Okay, then. Since you’ve made no attempt at all to hide your deviousness, you’re coming with me.” He scooped the tiny dog into the crook of his elbow and climbed out of the car.
“Try to refrain from gnawing on my suit if you can help it.”
Lulu peered up at him with her shiny, oversize eyes as she clamped her little teeth around one of the buttons on his sleeve.
Marvelous.
Franco didn’t bother reprimanding her. If the past week had taught him anything, it was that Lulu had a mind of her own. Not unlike the other headstrong female in his life...
Diana hadn’t been kidding when she said she didn’t want anything to do with the puppy. As far as pet parenting went, Franco was a single dad. Which would have been fine, had he not known how badly she needed the dog.
She was reeling from the loss of her horse. That much was obvious. If anyone could understand that kind of grief, Franco could.
He’d had no idea that Diamond had died. But now that he knew, things were beginning to make more sense. Diana hadn’t given up riding because she had a burning desire to peddle diamonds. She was merely hiding out at the family store. She was heartbroken and afraid.
But she couldn’t give up riding forever.
Could she?
“Franco.” Ben Santos, the coach of the Kingsmen, strolled out of the barn and positioned himself between Franco and the practice field. “What are you doing here?”
Not exactly the greeting he was hoping for.
Franco squared his shoulders and kept on walking. Enough was enough. He needed to stop worrying so much about his fake girlfriend and focus on resurrecting his career.
“Nice to see you too, coach.” He paused by the barn and waited for an invitation onto the field.
None was forthcoming.
Ben squinted into the sun and sighed. “You know you’re not supposed to be here, son.”
Franco’s jaw clenched. He’d never liked Ben’s habit of calling his players son. Probably because the last man who’d called Franco that had been a worthless son of a bitch.
But he’d put up with it from Ben out of respect. He wasn’t in the mood to do so now, though.
Seven nights of wining and dining Diana Drake at every charity ball in Manhattan had gotten him absolutely nowhere. He had nothing to show for his efforts, other than a naughty puppy and a nagging sense that Diana was on the verge of coming apart at the seams.
Not your problem.
“I was hoping we could talk. Man to man,” Franco said. Or more accurately, man to man holding tiny dog.
Lulu squirmed in his grasp, and the furrow between Ben’s brows faded.
“Nice pup,” he said. “This must be the one I’ve been reading about in all the papers.”
Thus far, Lulu’s puppyhood had been meticulously chronicled by every gossip rag and website Franco had ever heard of, along with a few he hadn’t. Just this morning, Franco had been photographed poop-scooping outside his Tribeca apartment. He supposed he had that lovely image to look forward to in tomorrow’s newspapers. Oh, joy.
He cleared his throat. “So you’ve been keeping up with me.”
Excellent. Maybe the love charade was actually working.
“It’s been kind of hard not to.” Ben reached a hand toward Lulu, who promptly began nibbling on his fingers.
&nb
sp; “The publicity should come in handy when the season starts, don’t you think?” Franco’s gaze drifted over the coach’s shoulder to where he could see a groom going over one of the Kingsmen polo ponies with a curry comb. The horse’s coat glistened like a shiny copper penny in the shadows of the barn.
Diamond is dead. That’s my problem.
“Except you’re not on the team, so, no.” Ben shook his head.
“This has gone on long enough, don’t you think? You need me. The team needs me. How long is Ellis planning on making me sweat this out?”
“You were fired. And I don’t think Ellis is going to change his mind. He’s furious. Frankly, I can’t blame him.” Ben removed his Kingsmen baseball cap and raked a hand through his hair. He sighed. “You went too far this time, son. You slept with the man’s wife.”
Franco pretended he hadn’t heard the last sentence. If he thought about it too much, he might be tempted to tell the truth and he couldn’t do that. Luc had his faults—bedding the boss’s wife chief among them—but he was Franco’s friend. Luc had been there for him when he needed someone most.
Franco owed Luc, and it was time to pay up.
“That’s over.” Franco swallowed. “I’m in love.”
He waited for a lightning bolt to appear out of the sky and strike him dead.
Nothing happened. Franco just kept standing there, holding the squirming puppy and watching the horses being led toward the practice field.
He missed this. He missed spending so much time with his horses. He’d been exercising them as often as possible, but it couldn’t compare with team practice, day in and day out.
Diana had to miss it, too. He knew she did.
Diamond is dead. That’s my problem.
Franco felt sick every time he remembered the lost look in Diana’s eyes when she’d said those words.
Her vulnerability had caught him off guard. It affected him far more than her disdain ever could. He didn’t mind being hated. He deserved it, frankly. But he did mind seeing Diana in pain. He minded it very much.
Again, not his problem. He was here to get himself, not Diana, back in the saddle.
