“Where I come from nobody thinks big. Everyone is just trying to survive one more day.”
Ethan moved a bit closer to Holly. They stood side by side while the yacht circled Liberty, allowing them to observe her from every angle.
“Fate has such irony. I know so many people who have everything,” he said, “and yet it means nothing to them.”
“Gratitude is its own gift.”
He smiled wryly and nodded.
“As I mentioned, after Aunt Louise retires I plan to move Benton Worldwide’s new construction solely into housing ventures for disadvantaged people. I like giving houses rather than just money. Because I can supply the knowledge and the labor to build them properly.”
Colored lights began to flash on the deck and a band started playing in the dining room. Guests progressed to make their way inside the boat.
Ethan didn’t move, and Holly stayed beside him as the boat turned and the tall buildings of Manhattan returned to their view.
“I have seen so much poverty in the world,” Ethan continued musingly. “People living in shacks. In tents. In cardboard boxes. If I can help some of them have a safe and permanent home I will have accomplished something.”
“You can only imagine what a house might mean to someone who doesn’t have one.” Holly knew about that first-hand, having moved from place to place so many times as a child.
“In any case...” Ethan shrugged “...for all my supposed wealth and success, giving is the only thing that is truly satisfying.”
Once all the other guests had filed inside, Ethan gestured for Holly to follow him in. At the dining tables they sat with some older couples who were discussing a landscaping project for the grounds around the statue.
When the band began a tamer version of a funky song that Holly loved, she stood and reached her hand down for Ethan’s. “May I have this dance, sir?”
Ethan’s signature smile made its slow journey from the left to the right side of his mouth. He stood and followed her onto the dance floor, where they joined some other couples.
She faced him and began to swing her hips back and forth to the music. When her hips jutted left, her head tipped right. Then she flung her head left and he hips responded to the right. Like ocean waves, her body became one undulating flow. Back and forth. Back and forth.
The dress was slinky against her skin. She loved how it swung a little with every move she made. From what she could surmise in Ethan’s watchful eyes, he liked the movement of the dress, too.
At first he just rotated one shoulder forward and then the other, in a tentative sashay. But after a bit any self-consciousness dissolved and he let his body gyrate freely to the beat of the music.
He had a natural rhythm—just as Holly had known he would. It was part of that primitive side of him—the part he kept hidden away. The part she wished she could access.
Their eyes locked and their movements synchronized until they were undeniably dancing together.
There was no doubt of their attraction to each other. But they were doing a very good job of keeping the evening friendly and nothing more, just as planned.
As a matter of fact, when he had been talking on the deck earlier, about the good feeling of giving, it had been as if Holly was an old pal he could confide in. Pals were good.
Which was why when the band switched to a slow song Holly turned to leave the dance floor. Slow dances weren’t for buddies.
But a strong arm circled her waist.
“This doesn’t fit in with our no touching policy this evening.” Holly shook her head in resistance.
Ethan pulled her toward him and into a firm clinch. He secured her against him with a wide palm on her back.
Her breath hiccupped. Tonight was supposed to be time off from physical contact with him. After their intimacy at the Empire State Building last night had gone far outside the realm of their contract. Tonight, the last thing Holly needed was to have her face pressed against his neck, with the smell of his skin and his laundered shirt intoxicating her into a dangerous swoon.
“We may as well have a run-through, future Mrs. Benton,” he murmured into her ear. “We will be expected to dance together at the gala.”
He lifted one of her arms and placed her hand on his broad shoulder. He clasped her other hand in his.
“I don’t know if I can do it,” Holly protested.
“Surely I am not that irresistible.”
She laughed, although that was only half funny. “What I meant was, I don’t know how to partner-dance.”
“Well, young lady, you are in luck. I happen to be three-time champion of the Oxford Ballroom Dance Society.”
“Really?”
“No. Of course not.”
He began moving and she followed in line.
“But it is not that difficult. Can you feel my thigh leading yours...?”
* * *
When they got home, before they retreated to their separate sleeping quarters, Ethan retrieved the engagement ring from his jacket pocket.
As he replaced it on her finger, he asked, “Holly, would you marry me...again?”
CHAPTER NINE
“WHO ON EARTH would notice the difference between a napkin color called Eggshell and another called Champagne?” Ethan bellowed to Holly as she made her way across the vast hotel ballroom. “And good morning.”
“There’s actually a big distinction.” Holly jumped right in and snatched the two samples from him. She held one up in each hand to catch some of the room’s light. “See—the Champagne is iridescent. The Eggshell is matte. It’s a very different effect.”
“Thank you for being here.”
About an hour ago Ethan had called Holly and asked her to meet him here to finalize the details for tomorrow’s gala. Aunt Louise was not feeling well.
“I would call in my assistant, Nathan, but I have him on a dozen other tasks right now.”
Ethan’s brow furrowed as he remembered yet more specifications he needed to take care of.
“What’s wrong with Louise?” Holly inquired.
“She said she felt a bit weak and lightheaded.”
“Will she be okay by tomorrow?”
“I hope so. She will stay upstairs today, resting in one of the suites we booked for the week. Fernando is with her. Not that he is of any help.”
“What do you think triggered it?”
“Rainy weather is especially difficult for her. And, even though she likes to be involved in planning these galas, I think the strain is too much.”
He’d feel immense relief once his aunt had retired and no longer bore the weight of continuing as CEO of their billion-dollar company. With any luck she’d be flying in from Barbados for next year’s gala, with no cares other than what dress she should wear.
“I’m here to help, Ethan. What can I do?”
Holly’s concern softened his tension. He gestured to the table in front of him—the only one in the bare ballroom with a tablecloth on it. Several place settings were laid out for approval, each complete with different options for china, napkins, silver and stemware. There were modern styles, and those that were more ornate. Some in classic shapes, others unusual.
“Can you make these decorative decisions? You are the artist,” he said, and added with a whisper, “and the fiancée.”
There was no one directly in earshot, but hotel employees bustled about doing their work. With camera phones and social media these days, Ethan wanted to be sure details of his engagement weren’t released to the world any earlier than he wanted them to be.
“Oh. Good grief.”
“What?”
He pointed to her hand. “The ring again. I am so sorry.”
She gamely glided it off her finger, handed it to him and fi
lled her cheeks with air to make a funny face.
“It is ludicrous. I apologize again. Now, Aunt Louise had started to select a certain color palette. She picked out this tablecloth...”
Holly lifted a corner of the linen draping the table and found an identifying label underneath. “This color is called Stone. I like its earthiness. Instead of choosing a lighter napkin, how about a darker one? Can we see samples that might be called something like Pewter or Slate?”
“Sweetheart, you can see anything you want as long as you get this taken care of.”
He immediately regretted the endearment. It had fallen from his mouth spontaneously. He supposed that was what he’d need to be doing once they were announced as an engaged couple, so he might as well get used to it. Still, he wasn’t in the habit of referring to women by pet names. Holly’s widened eyes told him she was surprised by it as well.
Thankfully, one of the hotel’s event managers was passing by. Ethan flagged down Priya to come talk to Holly. And to get him out of the moment.
As the two women conferred he stepped away to return a couple of missed phone calls. Which was a bit difficult because the napkins weren’t the only things that reflected light from the ballroom’s massive chandeliers.
Holly’s lustrous hair, flowing freely long past her shoulders, framed her face with a glowing halo. Her sincere smile came easily during her conversation. Sidetracking him from his call to the point when he had to ask his site supervisor on the Bronx project to repeat what he had just said. Which was both embarrassing and unacceptable.
How many reminders did Ethan need that a woman had no place in his life?
She bounded over to him after her consultation with the event manager.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve had a vision. I did go with a pewter napkin. And a minimalist kind of china and flatware...” She rattled off details at a mile a minute. “With a silver napkin ring to give it a sort of elemental look. Earth and metal, kind of thing.”
He mashed his lips to suppress a smile, although he was charmed at her zeal.
“And, if it’s okay,” she persisted, “I thought we could do a sleek centerpiece with white flowers in clear glass vases, to bring in a water element as well. I think it’ll all tie together with the lighting.” She pointed up to the modern chandeliers with their narrow pieces of glass. “Do you think your aunt would like that?”
“She will appreciate your creativity,” he said after Holly’s debriefing. “Miss Motta, it sounds like you have a knack for this sort of thing.”
She shrugged. “I guess it’s just a painter’s eye. And at my own wed—”
Ethan’s phone rang. He lifted one finger to signal to Holly to hold that thought while he took the call. “Yes, Nathan?”
Holly’s cheeks turned pink. She bit her lip.
Something he wouldn’t mind doing.
Sweetheart. He’d accidentally called her sweetheart.
“Schedule me for a late lunch with him next Tuesday at that restaurant he likes on Jane Street. Thank you.” He turned his attention back to Holly, “Sorry—what were you saying?”
“Oh. Um... Just that Priya says the tech crew are here if you’re ready to go to the podium.”
“Come with me.”
He took her hand. After taking the few stairs from the ballroom floor up to the stage, Ethan and Holly turned to face the empty event space. Tomorrow night Benton Worldwide Properties would once again fête many of their shareholders with an evening of appreciation. Close to a thousand people—some from nearby, others who had traveled far—would fill this grand room for the annual event.
Holly whistled. “What a breathtaking location for a dinner.” She pointed to the large gold wall sculptures that circled the back of the room. “Those give the idea of waves in an ocean, don’t they?”
Ethan surveyed the familiar surroundings. “The burgundy carpeting is new this year. It used to be a lighter color. That is about the only change I have noticed.”
“You hold the dinner here every year?”
“We have been using this room for as long as I can remember. These galas are as ingrained into my family as birthdays and Christmas are to others.”
This year’s event wouldn’t be a run-of-the-mill evening, though, when his and Holly’s engagement was to be announced.
Holly gestured with her head toward the podium on the stage. “Will you be giving a speech?”
“The baton will pass to me next year,” he said. Uncle Mel had always given the speech and, after he died Aunt Louise had taken over the duty. “Only a few of us know that this is the last time Aunt Louise will deliver the CEO’s report.”
Louise’s retirement wouldn’t be revealed at the gala. Ethan and his aunt had decided that the first step in her exit strategy would be to introduce his fiancée. That would cause enough pandemonium for one evening.
Shareholders could be tricky. They didn’t like too many changes all at once. Benton Worldwide had already made them a lot of money by sticking to the original principles Uncle Melvin and Ethan’s father had established when they’d started the company with one small apartment building in roughneck South Boston.
So only the engagement announcement would come at the gala. In a month, they’d inform the shareholders in writing that Louise Benton was retiring after a distinguished career. A month after that they’d throw a splashy retirement party.
Tomorrow night would belong to him and Holly Motta. In addition to their proclamation to the shareholders, a press release would notify the world that Ethan Benton had finally chosen a bride. Photos of them would appear in the business sections of newspapers and websites across the planet.
Ethan peered at Holly by his side on the stage. Sudden terror gripped him. What if this masquerade was too risky? This pretty young woman appeared to be genuine and of good will. But what if she wasn’t? What if she was like every other woman he’d ever met? Deceptive. Manipulative. Out for herself.
He’d only met her a few days ago, for heaven’s sake. It wasn’t long enough to put her intentions to the test. And he still didn’t know much about her other than what she’d chosen to disclose. Hopefully his head of security, Chip Foley, would get back to him soon with any information he had found. If there was something he didn’t want exposed he’d need to figure out how to bury it so that the press didn’t have a field-day.
Doubt coursed through him. What if Holly simply wasn’t as capable a performer as he’d hired her to be? Maybe she’d crack under the spotlight and the attention. Confess that this was all a set-up, causing Benton Worldwide embarrassment and loss of credibility.
His mind whirled. What had he been thinking? In his haste to plan Aunt Louise’s departure from public life before her medical condition diminished her position of respect, Ethan had made an uncharacteristically rash decision. If it was the wrong one his family would pay dearly for it for the rest of their lives.
However, there was no choice now but to take a leap of faith.
“Are you ready for this?” He took Holly’s hand, as he would tomorrow. Her fingers were supple and comforting, and immediately slowed his breath.
“I may faint afterward, but I promise to put on a show,” she answered amiably, lacing her fingers in his.
“Imagine every table filled with people in tuxedos and evening gowns. Staring at you.”
Her shoulders lifted in a chuckle. “Gee, no pressure there!”
Her humor reassured him that she could pull this off. She wouldn’t have agreed to it if she didn’t know in her heart that she could handle it. And she’d done fine on the yacht last night.
Aunt Louise wanted this one thing for Ethan before she stepped away and let him officially run the company. He was determined to give it to her.
An astute woman, his aunt knew that Ethan’s constant travel
was to avoid settling down. He didn’t have any sustained commitments outside of work. Hardly had a base other than his rarely visited corporate flat near their headquarters in Boston. He dated women—and then he didn’t. He spent months alone on a boat. Socialized, then disappeared into a foreign country. He was free. There was nothing to tie him down. He could do whatever he wanted, go wherever he pleased. And he did.
His aunt believed that a fulfilled life took place on terra firma. She wanted him to find a home. A home that would shelter him from the topsy-turvy world of highs and lows, change and disappointment.
Home wasn’t a place.
Home was love.
An all-encompassing love that he could count on. That could count on him. That made life worth living day after day. Year after year.
Because of Holly, Ethan had now had a glimpse into what it might be like to coexist with someone. Like he had last night on the Liberty cruise, easily sharing his thoughts and plans and hopes.
But he would stay firm in his resolve to go it alone.
And that was that.
That was his fate.
That was his destiny.
So he’d give Holly to his aunt as a retirement gift. Deliver her on a silver platter. Let the one woman who had ever been good to him hold the belief she most wanted.
But Ethan would not forget the truth.
“Mr. Benton?” A voice boomed from a dark corner of the ballroom. “We’d like to do a sound-check from the podium, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Of course,” Ethan said to the unseen technician.
Still clutching Holly’s hand, he led her to the side of the stage before they parted. His fingers were reluctant to let go. Yet he dutifully took his place at the lectern and adjusted the microphone. Substituting for Aunt Louise, who would be introduced tomorrow to deliver her speech.
“Thank you for joining us this evening at Benton Worldwide Properties’ annual shareholders’ gala. We are so delighted you are here... Test, test. Test. Testing...”
Ethan dummied through as the technician made adjustments to the sound system.
“Without our shareholders we would not have experienced the global development... Hello, hello. You give us the inspiration... Thank you, thank you. Testing one, two, three.”
Her New York Billionaire Page 12
