Megan made a beeline to her mother and motioned to Holly. Nicole’s mouth pinched and she shook her head no. Megan grabbed her mother’s arm, looking like she was pleading.
What in the world was Megan doing?
Then she saw him.
Kevin stalked across the deck with a dark expression, heading straight toward the bar area set up at the end of the pool.
The blood rushed from her head to the bottom of her feet and she swayed, feeling light-headed.
Oh, God. No.
Kevin was Kevin Vandemeer? She’d slept with her boss’s son.
“Miss, are you all right?” the cellist asked in an anxious voice.
She placed her hand on her chest, sucking in a deep breath. “Yes. I’m fine.” But she felt anything but fine. She felt like she was going to throw up.
Megan was hurrying toward her, pure panic on her face. “Holly, let’s go inside.”
Holly looked into Megan’s eyes, putting things together. “Kevin’s your brother.”
She nodded, biting her bottom lip.
Then new horror washed through her. “Oh, my God. You know.” But she said it louder than she’d intended and the sound of crashing glass startled her. She and Megan turned their attention to the sound. Kevin was staring at her, his face pale, while champagne shot out of a bottle spinning around on the concrete patio.
“Oh!” Megan’s grandmother shouted from the deck. “You’ve added a fountain to the party.”
“Not now, Mother,” Nicole chided, stomping toward her son. “Kevin! What on earth is going on here?”
Megan grabbed Holly’s arm and tugged. “Let’s go inside.”
Libby joined them, looking confused, then she looked back and forth between the two. “Oh.”
“Libby,” Megan begged.
Libby gave her a push. “Yeah, I’ve got her—you deal with the fallout.”
Megan shot off toward her mother and brother, while Libby looped her arm through Holly’s. “I’m feeling a little light-headed from the heat. Will you help me inside?” Libby asked, fanning herself.
“Oh…sure…”
Kevin was walking around the table toward her, but Megan grabbed his arm and held him in place while Nicole went on a rant.
“This party could make or break my career, Kevin. Why are you just standing there? We have to clean this up before anyone sees the mess!”
Libby ushered Holly into the kitchen, then dropped her hold and went to the cabinet, pulling out a glass.
“I take it that you’re Kevin’s neighbor?”
Holly cringed, closing her eyes in hopes she could shut the world out. “You know, too?”
“That Kevin acted like an ass? Yeah.”
Her eyes shot open. “Oh, my God! He’s going around telling everyone? Does Nicole know?” A new anxiety steamrolled through her head and she fought to catch her breath. “Oh, God. I’m going to lose my job.”
Libby handed her a glass of ice water as she guided Holly to a bar stool at the kitchen island. “Whoa. Slow down. First of all, as far as I know, he’s not telling anyone. Megan and I found him outside and he was feeling like a first-class asshole. We pried it out of him. And, second, why on earth would Nicole fire you? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I slept with her son!”
“Obviously you didn’t know he was her son when you slept with him.”
“She won’t care.”
“Kevin’s a grown man who is in charge of his own life, who he sleeps with is his own business. Just like who you sleep with is yours.”
“She won’t see it that way.”
Libby frowned. “No, I suppose you’re right.”
Panic flooded through Holly’s veins. “She can’t find out. I can still fix this.” She got off the stool and headed to the door.
Libby pushed her back. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To convince Kevin to keep this to himself.”
Libby shook her head. “Megan’s on damage control. Trust me, she can handle it. Just take a deep breath, then we’ll go back out when you feel ready.”
“Thanks.”
The doorbell rang and Holly started to get up. “Nicole said she was going to put up signs to go through the gate and straight to the backyard instead of through the house. I better make sure they’re up.”
“I’ll check. You just sit here for a moment.” The doorbell continued to ring repeatedly, and Libby groaned. “Oh, goody. It sounds like one of Nicole’s asshole friends is at the door.”
Holly couldn’t help grinning.
“If that grin means you agree that her friends are assholes, then I can see why Megan likes you so much.” Then she walked into the living room, leaving Holly alone.
Holly stood and moved to the bay window in the breakfast room, checking on what was going on in the backyard. Kevin was squatting next to the bartending table, Megan next to him. Nicole was waving her arms around, while Nicole’s mother stood next to them.
She only had to make it through the next two hours, and then she could run home to her boxed wine and her cousin’s dog. The damage was done. It wasn’t like it could get any worse.
“Of course I saw the sign,” a woman said behind her. “But I’m practically family.” Holly recognized that voice. She spun around to see Bethany, Nicole’s coffee date from the other day—the one wanting to discuss her wedding—standing next to an infuriated Libby. “I’m sure I have free rein of the house.”
“Anyone familiar with Nicole knows better than to disobey her signs.” Libby scowled with her hands on her hips, obviously not a fan of the pushy woman. “I’ve been best friends with Megan her entire life, and I’m pretty sure you and I haven’t met. How are you practically family?”
Bethany jutted her head back, obviously offended. “Why, I’m Kevin’s soon-to-be wife, of course.”
Sure enough, there on her left hand was a shiny diamond ring to prove it.
Chapter Nineteen
Kevin watched Holly walk into the house, feeling like he’d just been run over by a steamroller. What was she doing here? Was she one of Megan’s friends? Was that why his sister was so ticked earlier?
He started after her, but Megan grabbed his arm and pushed him back. “We have to clean this up, Kevin.”
“But Holly—”
“You know Holly?” his mother asked in surprise. “Did you come to the office this week while I was out with a client?”
“Your office?” he asked, his synapses still misfiring in his brain.
“Holly is an event planner,” Megan said slowly, enunciating each word so it sank in. “She works with Mom at her office.”
“Why are you talking like that?” his mother demanded.
“Because the bottle obviously landed on his head and addled his brain,” his sister said, fury in her eyes.
His mother’s assistant…the wedding photos…
How could he have been so stupid? “I have to talk to her.”
Megan pushed him into a squat. “No, you have to clean up.”
“Why would you want to talk to Holly?” his mother asked, shaking her head. “Oh.” Understanding filled the word. “She set up the bar. What did she get wrong?”
Her demanding boss…biding her time…It all made sense now. Oh, shit.
“I have to talk to her.”
Megan gave him a look of understanding as she squatted next to him, picking up the shards of glass, then whispered, “Not now. She needs some space.”
“Will someone tell me what is going on here?” his mother demanded, her hands on her hips. “Why would you hold a champagne bottle over your head? Is this your childish way of getting back at me because of your dinner with Bethany last night?”
He took a breath, pulling himself together. His mother had it out for her employee, and, just as he’d presumed earlier, most likely out of jealousy and not the ineptitude she continually insinuated. If his mother caught wind that he’d slept with Holly, she might fire her. He cou
ldn’t let that happen.
He forced a grin. “Megan dared me.”
His mother turned her disapproval to her daughter. “Megan Nicole, I thought pregnancy would make you more mature.”
His sister tried to hold back a grin as she stood. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, Mother.”
“This is your way of getting back at me for not including Libby in a dual shower, isn’t it?”
“For God’s sake, Mother.” Megan groaned. “It’s not always about you. Sometimes Kevin and I do things without giving one thought to what you will think.”
Their mother gasped and took a step backward.
“How long has it been since you’ve been with a woman?” his grandmother asked. She’d been uncharacteristically quiet during the exchange. Of all his grandparents she had always been his favorite, never giving a shit what other people thought of her. Her outfit today was proof enough of that. The septuagenarian was wearing a glittery pink track suit that looked like it was made out of shiny polyester, and she sported a pink stripe of hair that stood out in the snow-white mop on top of her head. She’d become even more bold after the death of his grandfather several years back, much to the aggravation of his mother. Last November, she’d married a yoga instructor twenty years her junior. “Going too long without sex can make a man clumsy. You should have seen Geraldo before we hooked up.”
“Gram!” Kevin grinned, his irritation with his mother fading. “I’m not discussing my sex life with you.”
“Why not? Later I can tell you all about the orgasmic meditation yoga class Geraldo and I teach.” She winked. “We demonstrate it, too.”
Kevin could live without the visual, and Megan shuddered.
“Mother!” Nicole shouted. “There are children present!”
Gram looked around. “Where?”
“My children.”
For once, Kevin was happy for his mother’s interference.
Megan jumped in. “Gram, I didn’t think you were coming. After the incident with Mom and Geraldo at Christmas, you said you wouldn’t be home for a while.”
She shot Nicole a glare. “I decided I needed to be here for my granddaughter’s baby shower. Even if I had to leave a seminar in Milwaukee to do it.”
“How’s Geraldo? I was hoping to see him.” Kevin felt a little guilty asking, since he knew his mother did not approve of her mother’s quickie wedding in Little Heaven Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. But he was pissed at his mother and it was an extra dig. Granted, he was acting like an eight-year-old, but the fact that his sister was, too, gave him all the encouragement he needed.
Nicole groaned. “I cannot believe you are bringing that…man into the conversation.”
Megan turned back to look at her. “You mean her husband?”
His mother shuddered, then lifted her chin. “Your grandmother has yet to produce a marriage license, so I still choose to believe this is simply an act of rebellion.”
Gram looked her daughter up and down. “Just as uptight as ever. Geraldo would be willing to give you and Bart a private session.” She curled her upper lip. “I couldn’t teach you, of course. That would be too weird.”
“And it’s okay for your new husband—a man younger than me—to teach me how to have an orgasm?”
“Oh, my God!” Megan screeched, stuffing her fingers in her ears. “Stop!’
Kevin was shocked that his mother actually said the word. He’d never even heard her say the word sex in reference to the act.
Gram shrugged. “Since Bart can’t seem to get the job done, then…sure.”
The back gate opened and the voices caught his mother’s attention. A panicked look washed over her face, and she pointed her finger at her mother. “No talk about orgasms during Megan’s baby shower!”
Gram looked offended. “But it’s been proven that pregnant women who have regular orgasms have safer deliveries.” Gram turned to Megan. “Now, this is important. Are your orgasms mostly clitoral or G-spot?”
“Gram!” Megan gasped.
“Mother! That’s quite enough.” His mother did not look pleased.
Kevin popped off the top of another champagne bottle, poured it into a glass, then chugged it down like a shot.
“That is so not fair,” Megan grumbled. “I can’t rely on alcohol to get through this shower.”
He lifted the glass in salute and grinned before taking another drink.
“Megan, you didn’t answer my question,” Gram said. “Do you know where your G-spot is?”
Megan gave her grandmother a solemn look. “Josh has his own personal map to my G-spot. I’m sure he’ll be happy to show me.” She glanced toward the guests. “But let’s pick this up later, okay?”
“And make sure you’re about five miles out of my hearing range first,” Kevin said, pouring another glass. He did not want to hear about his sister’s G-spot.
“Kevin!” his mother chastised. “Save some of that for the guests!” Then she looked around. “Where’s Holly?”
The snotty way she said her name made his jaw set. He started to defend her, but Megan jabbed an elbow into his side. “Libby wasn’t feeling well, so Holly offered to help her inside.”
Nicole placed a hand on her chest. “Oh, dear. I hope she’s not going to leave early. I need her for a game later.”
“Un-fucking-believable,” Kevin muttered under his breath before he finished off the rest of his drink. “Not is she okay, but she needs her for a game.”
Megan gave their mother a tight smile. “Libby’s fine. I think she was just overwhelmed by how amazing everything looks.”
Nicole beamed. “Of course it does.” She smoothed her skirt. “Now I need to go greet our guests.”
She strutted away and Gram moved closer. “Give me a scotch on the rocks.”
“All I have is mimosas, Gram.”
“What kind of bar is that?”
“A lame-ass one, obviously.” He turned his attention to his sister as he poured his grandmother a drink. “I have to talk to her, Megan.”
“Not now—just trust me on this.” Her eyes narrowed. “When I figured out what happened, I asked Mom to let Holly go, but she won’t let her leave.”
Gram looked between the two of them. “What secret are we keeping from your mother?”
“Uh…” Megan gave Kevin a questioning look.
He shook his head in irritation. “Might as well tell her. Half the fucking world knows.”
“And Holly is horrified beyond belief at that.”
He slammed the bottle down on the table. “Goddammit.”
His sister put her hands on her hips, then pushed out a breath. “I’m still pissed as hell at you right now for jumping to conclusions, but we’ll fix this. One way or the other. You go walk around the block or something, take a few minutes to calm down, then come back. After everyone’s left, you can talk to her.”
He wasn’t sure he should wait, but he decided to trust his sister on this one. “Okay.”
She gave him a little push toward the house. “Use the side gate.”
He nodded, bolting for the exit just as his worst nightmare came true.
“Kevin!”
He turned, horror washing through him when he saw Bethany coming out the kitchen door—headed straight for him.
“There you are, cupcake!” She gave him a pageant wave as she hurried toward him.
“What in God’s name is she doing here?” he grumbled.
His mother moved to his side. “I invited her, of course. I know you think you’re not interested in her, but you really should give her another chance. She might grow on you.”
Like a fungus. But he wisely kept that to himself.
Bethany draped herself around him in a lingering hug, then kissed his cheek as she pulled back and looped her arm through his. “Nicole, I know you complain about your assistant, but I found her to be very sweet.”
Kevin’s heart seized. “You talked to Holly?”
Bethany winked. “I suggested
she might be helping plan a special celebration for the two of us…if you know what I mean.”
He was so screwed.
Chapter Twenty
Holly stood back by the musicians, but the soothing lullabies they played had yet to calm her. She had moved past stunned to pissed. It was one thing for Kevin to have left without saying good-bye, but the bastard had lied to her about being single.
The guests were mingling, and her job was to make sure things were going smoothly while Nicole played belle of the ball. Never mind that it was Megan’s shower, not that she seemed to mind. Megan used the opportunity to come check on her—often with her friends Libby and Blair in tow—but she’d sent them way, insisting she was fine. And she was. Mostly. She’d slept with Kevin with no intention of anything more. That was exactly what she got.
But for a guy who was engaged, he sure didn’t seem interested in his fiancée. After Bethany had greeted him, he’d bolted back to his bartending station. Not that Holly was specifically watching him. Her job was to watch everything, which included making sure the bartending station was stocked and functioning. At least that was what she told herself, because no self-respecting woman would still be interested. Mostly she just wanted to see if he’d squirm. And, from the looks he kept sending her, he was squirming plenty.
Soon Nicole announced that it was time for games. “The first game is to match baby names with celebrities. Holly’s going to pass out the papers and pens, but don’t look at your paper until I say go. The first one done wins this mystery surprise.” Then she held up a white gift bag stuffed with white, fluffy tissue paper, smiling like she was a game-show hostess.
Nicole had an assortment of items waiting for Holly’s attention in the back corner of the deck. She looped a wicker basket with a big white satin bow over her arm, but as Holly made her way to the guests, ready to pass out the slips of paper and the pens inside, Kevin intercepted her and reached out a hand.
She shot him a deadly glare. “I’ve got this.”
“Let me help, Holly.” His voice was low but firm.
Only You Page 15
