Hardly anyone knew the truth.
“Katelyn,” he drawled out now, shaking her from the thoughts spiraling in her mind. Watching her with narrowed eyes, Randall pushed back in his chair, his intention to stand clearly evident in his mannerisms.
Before he could do so, however, Katie sent him a small smile that he took as some sort a gesture on her part. Hastily she realized her error, tried to correct herself with his warning.
With a smile for his children that seemed to make them all sit up at attention, Randall scanned the room as each and every one of his family waited for his next move.
With bated breath, she could feel the tension in the air.
“Smells wonderful, Katie. Let’s eat.”
And with those words, everyone at the table seemed to exhale a long-held breath. The oldest doled out food for the youngest as Katie served Randall.
Then he grabbed her wrist, making her eyes shoot up to meet his. With a cold stare, she knew what he was saying without verbalizing it. Just wait until we are alone. It was a warning of sorts, a reminder that she needed to keep herself in check throughout this meal. Uncertain what lay ahead for her now, the realization of what her life had become nearly caused her knees to buckle.
It wasn’t always like this, Katie told herself as she began to eat next to him. They had met just over four years ago, back when Katie was a waitress working her way through school to become an executive assistant. She’d had plans of working alongside Fortune 500 executives, not caught up in the stress of that world per se, but close enough to enjoy the activity of it. She’d wanted to help venture capitalists achieve greater things. She’d wanted to be the woman behind the scenes that helped make it all happen.
So what had happened? She had no idea, but just shy of her last year in college she had met Randall, and her world hadn’t been the same since.
Randall Kirkland emanated what she believed were the qualities of a stoic man. He was well-spoken, well-mannered, and authoritative. Not to mention handsome as sin. How could a girl not fall for him when he set his sights on her? She’d fallen head over heels in love with him within months of dating—rather quickly, by all accounts—but she’d decided that this was the person she was meant to be with. Courting her with expensive meals at the most sought-after restaurants, Randall had known how to charm just about anyone.
Except her mother. Katie’s mother seemed to be the only one that did not take to Randall’s charms. No matter how many times he would try to win her over, she would never budge. After just a few months together, Katie ended up married to Randall despite her mother’s uncertainty, and all the dreams she’d planned for herself flew right out the window.
She’d quit school shortly after she found out that he had children he expected her to raise. Expectations were another thing entirely in his world. It did not take long after the wedding to find out that Randall wasn’t the charmer he’d pretended to be, especially when she made an error, as he put it, in front of his coworkers and friends.
It had all started at a Christmas party held by his firm six months after the wedding. She’d been so excited to attend and play the doting wife that she’d gone out and bought a new dress. She’d also had her nails, hair, and makeup done. After all, she’d been well-prepared to work in that kind of atmosphere as an executive assistant, so this holiday party should have been a piece of cake for her.
Randall had had business to attend to, and he’d decided that they should meet up at the hotel, where the party was to be held. So Katie got a babysitter for the kids and made reservations at the hotel for them to stay over, so they had the freedom to drink if they desired. She’d been making an extra effort to make this a honeymoon of sorts, since they’d never got a chance to have one after the wedding.
Arriving before Randall, Katie had worked the room, charming her husband’s friends and coworkers the way she had learned as a waitress. She’d smiled her brightest smile, spoke eloquently with the higher-ups, and had seemed to hit it off with all the wives in attendance. Randall would be so proud of the efforts she had made to fit into his world.
But when Randall had arrived, all the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and nervous butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She’d met his gaze expecting approval for all the effort she’d put into assimilating herself into his world, but instead, all she found was fury.
He’d played coy as he too worked the room, but as soon as he was back by her side, the butterflies in her stomach that had fluttered when she’d first felt his presence fluttered for a completely different reason, especially once he roughly took hold of her elbow. Her face had dropped as he’d held her close enough to whisper in her ear. She remembered his hot breath tickling her neck as he spoke.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Each word had been accentuated with a sharp click of his tongue.
Unable to contain herself, her expression had told everyone around them how upset he was with her. This had only infuriated him more. Closing the distance between them once again, he had whisper in her ear again.
“I can’t wait until I get you alone. Now smile, before someone thinks something is wrong.”
Katie had never smiled so hard in her life, but it for all the wrong reasons. She had plastered her features into the semblance of a happy woman escorted by her wonderful husband, hoping that only she knew the ugly truth.
After several hours grasped tightly by his side, she had attempted to excuse herself and pull herself together, but his grip had become unbearable, making her cry out from the pain. Meeting her gaze with narrow eyes, Katie had meekly requested to be excused. With no one anywhere near the two of them, he had still refused her any space.
“No, you may not be excused.” His curt voice had drawn the attention of some of his coworkers, who were several feet away. “You can just wait until we get upstairs,” he continued in a more hushed tone.
How he’d found out about the room she’d booked for the evening she didn’t know, but the honeymoon she’d envisioned in her mind was most certainly over before it had ever began.
~ ~ ~
Thank you for taking a moment to read the the first book in the series. For more information about this book and others out or coming soon, stop by Sarah’s Book page on her website: http://sarahalabaster.com/books/ or on Sarah’s Amazon Author Page: http://geni.us/asabamzn
Heart's Desire (Game of Hearts Series Book 2) Page 19
