Inside the elite and affluent were gathering around small tables set up in the side galleries, spilling into the main lobby as well. The talk was of politics, budgets, and business mergers as Chicago’s power brokers found another opportunity to wheel and deal. A large sculpture by Clarice Washington stood sentinel to a show of the world’s finest modern art side by side with designs by Gucci, Chanel, and Prada, Tiffany’s, Harry Winston, and the hot newcomer this year, Keeli Larsen.
“I cannot believe how many women are wearing your designs, Keeli,” Missy whispered in Keeli’s ear as she came up behind her and joined the small group rehashing last weekend’s events. Keeli had learned first hand that this crowd spent eight months of their year moving from fundraiser to fundraiser.
She and Missy turned away from the conversation to pose for the roving photographer from the Tribune. Missy tried to stand at the angle that would least show her burgeoning belly. She was only a few months away from adding to the Howe clan. Her parents were over the moon at the prospect. Her husband Stephen, hovered nervously, and told everyone he would relax after the birth. He joined them as soon as the flash subsided, gliding his hand to Missy’s lower back, rubbing it subtly.
“Missy, let’s get you off your feet for a bit,” he suggested not waiting for her answer before moving her to some strategically placed chairs. A small group followed to keep them company, opening a space in the crowd. Keeli looked across the divide to lock eyes with her handsome fiancé holding court with a group of CEOs on the far side of the large gallery. They shared a smile in the seconds before the growing crowd filled the gap.
“Keeli,” Wyatt’s mother approached with two women in tow. Both looked some elusive age above forty and both were dressed in the latest designers. “I am not sure you have met the Mayor’s wife and sister yet, but they are big fans. This is Suzanne and Maryann.” She rested her thin arm around Keeli’s waist possessively and Keeli thought back to only a few months ago when she had to break into the family.
Oh, how far you have come, Keeli. How wonderfully far you have come.
“Actually, Suzanne was at one of my trunk shows a few months ago. How lovely to see you again.” She and the Mayor’s sister exchanged a firm handshake but the Mayor’s wife gave her a warm hug.
“Yes, Linda has introduced Keeli to the world. And what a lucky world we are. Look how great these earrings are,” the Mayor’s wife boasted, fingering a gorgeous pair of diamond cluster earrings reflecting the overhead lights. “We are all so much more elegant wearing Keeli Larsen designs.”
Keeli laughed comfortably. She had gotten used to the attention and the accolades that embarrassed her originally. She learned to give press interviews, host trunk shows, be photographed with and without Wyatt for home magazines, Chicago magazines and newspapers. She had even had an article published about her business in Crain’s Business Magazine. Her poise and confidence had increased with each session.
Suzanne took her hand now to admire the enormous diamond on her left hand ring finger. “Not a Keeli Larsen design, I see?”
‘She couldn’t exactly make her own engagement ring now could she?” her future mother-in-law stated indignantly.
“Wyatt and I discussed it,” Keeli explained calmly. “Then we met with my friend, Barbara Parker, and had her design us something special.”
“Oh yes, she does lovely work,“ Maryann agreed. “Was it hard to go to a competitor?”
“Oh I don’t think of her as a competitor. Our work is so different. And she is a friend too.”
“And with a diamond like that one,“ Suzanne chimed in, “who can complain about anything?” Keeli had to admit that the nine-carat diamond was gorgeous. Extravagant, but gorgeous. She and Wyatt had argued about the expense, but he had insisted. Now she had to admit she loved it.
It just helped add to her confidence tonight and Keeli needed all she could get. She could not forget that just one year ago she was a waitress at this event. Tonight every eye was watching her, waiting for her to either shine or shrivel. She was the grand dame; hostess of the event that Wyatt had been working on for months. Expectations were high for both of them. She desperately wanted to make him proud.
Keeli was wearing a stunning Peter Pilotto gown, draped to skim her curves perfectly to the waist, then flare in a mass of fabric. Her favorite sales woman at Estime had put it aside for her last month noting that it would set off her jewelry perfectly as well as her fading tan from their recent getaway to Spain. It was the most expensive item of clothing Keeli had ever owned but worth every penny. She felt like the princess in her own fairy tale.
Wyatt effortlessly moved the crowds toward the dining tables and now slipped his arm around Keeli’s waist, just as his mother had done not twenty minutes earlier.
“Ready, hon?” He placed a whisper of a kiss along her hairline, careful not to ruffle Aaron’s earlier work.
Placing her arm on Wyatt’s, she glided forward with him on her high heels, missing her Keds increasingly as the night unfolded. They made a gorgeous couple with his height and her coloring. All eyes were on them as they moved slowly across the large room.
“Well, my love. It has been quite a year since the night you spilled salad on Sloane,” he was chuckling under his breath.
“Do you think everyone is remembering that?” Keeli fidgeted self-consciously.
“Are you kidding? I have successfully launched a new tech company, you have a brilliant new design business, our engagement and home have been front-page news for every magazine in the city and you think they are thinking about a salad?
“The only thing that will top tonight will be our wedding and it cannot come soon enough for me.“
“Well, we did start the hottest, sexiest honeymoon a month early.” Keeli’s color heightened at the memory of their brief romantic interlude in Barcelona.
“Yeah,” Wyatt grinned broadly, wiggling an eyebrow in a perfect Groucho imitation. “Not to mention that.”
“I love you, Wyatt. I could not have dreamed last year that just one year later I would have my every heart’s desire. You make me so happy, and so proud. You have become your own man, you’re incredibly successful already and you seem so much happier.”
“I owe my happiness to you, Keeli, and the new business. I waited my whole life to find a woman who would love me for who I am, not my last name. I believed in you from the start, but your belief in me gave me the impetus to finally approach my father and cut loose.”
“And it didn’t matter that I had nothing?”
“Well, you always had a certain something,” he grinned lasciviously, "but I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t admit that it helps having you be so successful before our wedding. I would have taken care of you, though, willingly and happily. You are worth it.”
“Oh Wyatt. I would have taken care of you – willingly and happily. Maybe not in this style,” she looked about the sumptuous party, “but the best I could. We might have had to trade the Panamera for a clunker, but we would have been happy.”
Wyatt looked about the room with her, spotting his father resting his hand on the back of a chair that he was saving for Keeli, assuring she sat next to him. He had been doting on her from the day her met her and was now an investor in Keeli’s worldwide expansion.
“Well, my love, I look forward to us taking care of each other, clunker or not, come what may. That is,” he hesitated with a comedic pause, “if I can wrest you away from my father. How did you manage to worm your way so thoroughly into my family?”
Regan and Tyler join them as they approached the table, saving Keeli from having to answer. Tyler had finally worked up the nerve to ask Regan to be his date for this event and she surprised him by accepting. He was now so jittery that he was afraid to be alone with her for a moment. Wyatt recognized his friend’s angst. He was not completely comfortable with the two of them dating. After all, he knew Tyler’s wicked past. However, their bond was unbreakable and so he came to his rescue now.
&
nbsp; “Sit near us?” He indicated two chairs at their table and the couple joined Wyatt, Keeli, Missy and Stephen and Wyatt’s parents at the table for ten. Wyatt’s younger brother and his date filled the last two seats.
“To family,” Wyatt’s father proposed the toast as soon as they were all seated. “I could not be more proud.”
“To family,” the group echoed.
“To my lovely fiancé.” Wyatt breathed into Keeli’s ear. “You are my family, you are my love, and you are my life.”
###
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I could not have written this book, or taken it to publication, without the outstanding courses I took online. “Romance Writing”, “Editing,” and “Publish and Sell Your E-books” were all spot on. They taught what I needed to know and inspired me to follow through on that knowledge.
Thanks to Monica, Linda, Stephanie and Michael for editing my book gently and with love first, then rigorously when needed. Your constant support - and lack of phone calls - was a vital contribution to my success. Thanks especially to Phyllis, my resident romance reader and first line of defense.
To Margie and Jack who were the first to believe I could actually complete a novel. I found myself unable to let them down.
To Barb for her unfailing support and her impressive knowledge of jewelry design. The timing of the formation of Barbara Parker Fine Jewelry and the writing of this novel was no coincidence.
To Julie, for her vision and technical skill in building my website.
To all my friends and family who gave me time to write, believed in me, reviewed for me, encouraged me, and read for me.
Thanks to Brenda for my “intention-bead necklace”. I believed in it all the way, and look, now I am a storyteller.
It takes a village….
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Madison Michael wanted to be a writer from the age of eight. She started acting out the stories from books she read then, living the pages of books with neighbors and friends. She always believed that stories were vital, breathing things and she looked forward to creating them. After receiving a BS in Communications from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Loyola University, Madison was sidetracked from her dream. She spent more than 30 years working for Fortune 500 companies in Finance, Marketing, and eventually Software Management. When she retired in 2014, she dusted off her dreams and began writing romance novels.
Madison lives in Evanston, IL with two feline companions and a great view of the Chicago skyline.
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.madisonmichael.net
Facebook: Madison Michael Romance
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Madisonmichael_
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/madisonmich0339
MORE FROM MADISON MICHAEL
Bedazzled – May, 2016
Beholden - July, 2016 available now
Bedeviled – coming Spring, 2017
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading “Bedazzled,” the first in the Beguiling Bachelor series.
I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Perhaps you really liked the characters, the art world or a mini-tour of Chicago. I would truly appreciate it if you would take a few moments to leave a review here or on the book site of your choice.
I welcome your feedback. Let me if you want to see a special Chicago location in one of my future novels or more of your favorite characters.
I welcome your comments and questions and value your support. If you want more from Madison Michael you can follow my blog or signup for my newsletter (and get a couple of free stories, including “Bewilidered: A Beguiling Bachelor Prequel”).
Happy reading,
Maddy
***FOR FREE BONUS CONTENT CLICK HERE ***
Now an excerpt from “Beholden” The Beguiling Bachelors Book 2
PROLOGUE – 18 Months Earlier
Sloane was floating on air. The evening had been a perfect success. She had been a perfect success.
Of course.
Everyone declared she was the most beautiful woman in the room, and even if she was the modest type - which she wasn’t - she knew it was true. Oh, there were some pretty girls at the Howe Museum gala, some beautiful women, but none of them had her striking features – that alabaster skin, those lustrous sapphire eyes, the lush, kissable lips and that thick curtain of dark hair. She was just pulling the pins out of her hair now, shaking the heavy locks from a tight chignon that had been giving her a headache for the last two hours.
Wyatt Howe IV, her soon-to-be fiancé and chair of the evening’s event, had been devastatingly handsome in his custom tuxedo. They had been a cover-model couple – a power couple – stunning, smart, successful, sought-after. They were leaders in that intimate club of Chicago’s most elite, the movers and shakers who dictated everything that happened in Chicago society. Anyone who was anyone had stopped by to say hello, to be photographed or, at a minimum, to be seen with them.
Sloane slipped off her Jimmy Choos and reached her elegant arms behind her head to slide down the zipper of her Ellie Saab gown. The pale pink confection would have to go to the cleaners now. She kicked it off with frustration and left it piled on the floor like something she picked up last week at a garage sale, not the $8,000 designer showpiece she had ordered months ago. It would never be the same, she pouted. Not that she was planning to wear it again. Sloane Huyler wouldn’t be caught dead in the same dress twice – it just wasn’t done.
Still, that stupid waitress had dropped a salad right down the back of her dress. What an incompetent. Sloane had pretended to laugh it off in front of the guests, acted as if it was nothing. She knew better than to embarrass Wyatt by making a scene in public. Her public persona would never draw that kind of negative attention. There was not a chance in hell she had been laughing. Once they were alone, Sloane had shown Wyatt the nasty temper for which she was famous, telling Wyatt to demand the catering company fire the incompetent, redheaded clutz immediately. The stupid cow was probably already looking for another job.
Boo hoo.
Now, after a few hours to reconsider, Sloane conceded that the server was probably quite capable. In fact, the service had been excellent before the salad disaster. Sloane suspected that the server wasn’t paying attention. It was likely Wyatt distracted her. He had that effect on women. After all, he was considered Chicago’s most eligible bachelor and he was undeniably scrumptious eye candy. Who was she kidding? The man was a serious hottie.
Then again, maybe she was staring at me. I looked damn good tonight. Either way, now she was out on her ass where she belonged. Even if it was a singular slipup, getting fired would teach her not to covet that which she could never have.
Although she demanded that he do it, Sloane was a bit disappointed when Wyatt went to speak to the caterers at the end of the night, abandoning her. She graciously rode home alone in the limousine and let him conclude the evening, but she knew she had just been played. Wyatt was up to something, had his eye on someone. Sloane was sure of it, although she couldn’t put her finger on who the woman might be.
After years of on again, off again dating, she had learned to agree to Wyatt’s every request. She was there when he wanted her, didn’t whine when he wasn’t available, asked for little, offered much and turned a blind eye when he sowed some wild oats. She made sure she was the perfect girlfriend so he would realize that she would be the perfect wife. After the years she had invested in catching him, Sloane made sure he had nothing to complain about. She wouldn’t give him any excuse to walk away. Ever.
She had played hostess at his fundraising event perfectly, charming people into opening their wallets wider while helping him promote his real estate business and his philanthropic goals. If things had gone her way, she would have ended the night with him pumping with adrenaline, pumping hard into her to unleash the force of it or proposing marriage. She would have been happy either way.
Wyatt was a little unpre
dictable though, no matter how ready and willing she was. So here she was, alone again, when he should have been warming her bed. He did quite a good job of it, she had to admit, and so she was sincerely disappointed not to have him with her. She didn’t actually miss Wyatt, but she did miss the sex. She wanted to seal the deal already and get the big ring.
Other that that, life was just about perfect.
Sloane had a job she loved as an executive in her father’s consulting firm. She had parents she sincerely enjoyed spending time with who were still living in the gorgeous lakefront home in which she had grown up. Her weekends were filled with family visits, tennis games, and events at the country club hobnobbing with family friends.
Sloane had anything and everything that money could buy. In addition, she was well educated, well connected and well heeled. She had the right friends, lived in the right neighborhood, volunteered with the right organizations and committees, dined at the right restaurants, had the best seats at the right plays and concerts and any day now, she would be engaged to the right man.
Wyatt Lyons Howe IV was arguably Chicago’s most sought after bachelor. He was CTO of a huge real estate conglomerate. His father owned it currently, but it would all be his someday soon. He was gorgeous and hunky. She liked him, she liked most of his friends and all of his family. He was brilliant, if a bit geeky, talented with a hockey stick and with his other stick as well. Sloane considered their sex life adequate. Wyatt could be a lot of fun in bed, but the passion just wasn’t there. Both recognized that occasionally they were just going through the motions.
Bedazzled (The Beguiling Bachelors Book 1) Page 32
