Nate’s eyes locked with hers from the other side of the window. She held his gaze as long as she dared and then turned away. Great way to show you’re not interested. If she had any hope of convincing Nate, she’d better start convincing herself first.
Chapter 5
Lauren double-checked her reflection in the full-length mirror. The gown Callie gave her as a birthday present fit her as if it had been custom made for her. Taking a step back, she smoothed out any visible wrinkles, the fabric sleek and rich between her fingers. Never in a million years had she pictured herself owning a Dolce & Gabbana gown. And if not for Callie, she wouldn’t. Part of her felt a little guilty. While Callie and her husband could afford such extravagant gifts without even batting an eyelash, Lauren knew there was no way she could ever give Callie anything even remotely as expensive. The gown, as beautiful as it was, was just another reminder of how much her life and Callie’s were different now.
“Well, JoJo, tonight’s the night. Finally, I get to meet the elusive parents.” Lauren stepped away from the mirror as she talked to the dog lounging on the bed. Her stomach did a somersault at the thought. Kevin had invited her to a dinner party at his parents’ estate in Weston. Since he rarely spoke about them when together, she knew very little about his parents. She knew his dad had been the CEO of the family’s company, Walsh and Miles Construction, the largest construction company on the East Coast, until Kevin took his place. Thanks to the Internet, she knew Kevin’s grandfather had started Walsh Construction right around the end of World War II. She also knew Kevin’s father had expanded the business when he married Kevin’s mother, Sherry Miles, and acquired Miles Construction. Hopefully, tonight she’d learn more than what she could find on the web.
On the bed, JoJo remained still, only coming to life when the doorbell rang. Then she took off for the front door like a Kentucky Derby racehorse with Lauren trailing behind.
“Wow! You look gorgeous,” Kevin said before dropping a kiss on her cheek.
Lauren smiled as she closed the front door and did a quick once over of Kevin. As always he was dressed impeccably. Tonight he wore a dark navy blue tailor-made suit and looked just as handsome as ever. Despite all that, Lauren felt only a minor pull of attraction when he smiled at her. Not even a tiny thread of excitement ran through her body. We’re still getting to know each other. Once again, Lauren reminded herself it was still early in their relationship. Give it time.
“If you’re ready, we should go.” He moved closer to Lauren but stopped when JoJo inserted her body between them, all the while barking. Immediately, Kevin backed away. “Your dog really doesn’t like people, does she?” he asked, brushing a few dog hairs from his pants.
Lauren grabbed onto JoJo’s collar and tugged her toward the kitchen. “I’ve never seen her act like this before.” Since the day she’d brought the dog home, JoJo had been friendly, the type of animal who loved attention and who liked cuddling up next to you on the couch. Sure, she barked when a stranger came to the door, but once Lauren made it clear the stranger was welcome, she backed off. Yet so far, the dog hadn’t warmed up to Kevin at all. Lauren assumed it was because he all but ignored her whenever he came to the house. Still, she had never carried on like she did tonight. “I’ll put her in the kitchen and we can go.”
During the hour-long ride from Lauren’s house to the Walsh’s estate in Weston they discussed everything from Lauren’s new niece to Kevin’s week at work. While the conversation covered a lot of territory, the topics remained superficial. Lauren never once got into the details about the day her niece was born or even if she’d come home from the hospital yet. Kevin didn’t seem to mind. While others might ask about the baby’s size or other such details, he’d been satisfied with the news that Kelly had had the baby, and Lauren didn’t offer any additional information. Especially the part when Nate came across her broken-down car and ended up spending the night, thanks to the snowstorm. An iota of guilt nagged at her for not telling Kevin about Nate, but another part insisted she not worry about it. After all, nothing had happened. Well, almost nothing. He had kissed her, but it only happened that once. And afterward she’d made it clear she wasn’t interested—or at least she tried. Nate’s tone that night made it sound as if he didn’t care if she was dating someone or not.
I’m not letting him back in. Once she had put all her love and trust in him and he’d up and walked out on her. Never again would she set herself up for that. Not even for Nate. So, since she planned on keeping Nathaniel Callahan at a distance, Kevin never needed to know he’d spent the night in her spare bedroom.
“You said you had a surprise.” Kevin’s voice invaded her thoughts.
Looking away from the window, she studied Kevin’s profile. What was wrong with her, anyway? She was out with a handsome, very successful executive, and she was thinking about an old high school love. So many women she knew would give anything to be right where she was now. Get your head back on straight.
“Callie gave me tickets for the ballet and hotel reservations for a weekend in New York City as a birthday present. It’s in two weeks. I thought we could go together.” She’d gone back and forth about inviting Kevin. They hadn’t known each other long. Maybe it was too soon for a whole weekend together in New York. But she wanted to share the experience with someone, and Kevin seemed like the logical choice.
Thanks to the streetlights, Lauren saw the curt nod he gave her before turning into a driveway. Kevin stopped in front of the iron gate, punched in a security code, and the gate swung open. “Remind me later, and I’ll save it on my calendar.”
Lauren smiled as Kevin drove down the winding driveway. On some level she’d feared he would say something like we’ll see or I’ll try. During the time they’d been dating, Kevin’s calendar appeared to fill up months in advance. The ballet was right around the corner, so that didn’t give him much notice.
“Is this a big party tonight?”
Kevin brought the car around one final turn and a huge Tudor-style mansion aglow with light came into view. With ease, Kevin pulled up behind another car. “For my parents, tonight’s dinner is small.”
While an answer, it didn’t provide Lauren with much information.
The overhead light in the car came on when Kevin opened his door.”My parents are looking forward to meeting you tonight.”
Before she could offer any response, he got out and started around to her side of the car. Lauren focused on the large water fountain in front of the mansion, her stomach up somewhere in her throat much like it had been the first and only time she’d tried skydiving. She wanted this. For weeks now, she had stewed about not meeting any of Kevin’s family while he’d met much of hers.
Lauren shivered when the car door opened. The gown Callie gave her might be gorgeous, but it definitely wasn’t warm enough for this cold night.
“Let’s get you inside where it is warm.” Kevin offered his hand.
Kevin’s parents were more or less just what she had expected: impeccably dressed, well groomed, and aloof. They said all the right words, asked all the right questions, but she could tell they were not hearing any of her responses. Although, she could never explain how she knew that. Of course, behavior similar to theirs was not uncommon. She had met many socialites at Callie’s parties who shared the same tendency—and not just with outsiders like her but within their own circles. Thankfully, she’d also met some who did not exhibit this habit. Or at least if they did, they were much better at pretending to be interested.
Tonight Lauren tried not to let Kevin’s parents’ behavior bother her as she watched them interact with the other guests. His dad acted that way to everyone present, including his wife. So far she hadn’t seen the two of them converse with each other. Kevin’s mom spent most of her time with the governor’s wife. Despite Lauren’s effort to ignore it, their behavior did bother her. This was the first time she had met them. She’d thought his parents would want get to know the woman their son was dating.
At least, that was how things worked in her family. From the looks of it, Mr. and Mrs. Walsh had other priorities.
“Kevin said you teach elementary school.” Olivia, Kevin’s sister, sat next to her at the dinner table. Olivia was an attractive young woman, but Lauren never would have guessed she and Kevin were sister and brother. While Kevin had dark chestnut hair and brown eyes, his sister was the complete opposite with the blondest hair she had ever seen and a porcelain complexion that probably burned rather than tanned in the summer. The only family characteristic the siblings shared was their height. Olivia stood almost as tall as her six foot brother and father .
Lauren nodded. “Fifth grade. I taught second for a few years, but found I liked working with the older students more.” She’d always thought she wanted to do early childhood education. She even did her student teaching in a first grade classroom. Then after two years as a second grade teacher, the principal moved her up to the fifth grade when they needed to shuffle teachers around due to class size. Initially, she had dreaded the change. Now after nine years, she could not imagine teaching any other age group.
“And you actually like it?”
To someone who had probably never stepped foot in a public school classroom, she guessed it might seem odd that she loved her job so much. “I do. Sometimes it drives me a little crazy, but overall I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Olivia gave her a you-poor-thing smile and then reached for her fork.
Lauren eyed her own plate and what she suspected were snails. In some parts of the world they may be considered a delicacy, but she could not bring herself to try them. So rather than reach for her fork, she kept on talking and hoped no one noticed she wasn’t eating.
“I also teach ballet at a dance school in town.”
“Really? I adore the ballet. My absolute favorite is Swan Lake. I’ve lost count of how many times I have seen it performed.”
“It is wonderful. I saw it performed in Boston last year. But I think my favorite is Coppelia. It was the first ballet I saw performed on stage.”
“My first ballet was Cinderella. My mom took me, and I kept waiting for the Fairy Godmother to turn a pumpkin into a carriage. At the time the Disney movie was my favorite, and I watched it all the time. When no actual pumpkin magically changed, I cried.”
His parents had said tonight’s dinner would be an intimate affair, and for his parents this meant four other couples, not counting themselves. He’d hoped for a few less guests. Lauren always came across as outgoing and confident, but still, he wanted her first encounter with his family to be smooth and comfortable. While Lauren may socialize with the Sherbrookes and Talbots, she really wasn’t a part of that society. For the most part, she existed within the middle class. While there was nothing wrong with that, what was considered acceptable there may or may not be proper with the likes of his parents.
Under the table Kevin rested his hand on Lauren’s thigh and gave a little squeeze. Next to him, she continued her debate with his sister as to which ballet was better, Giselle or Swan Lake, but her hand slipped under the table and rested on his. Her action spoke volumes. Sometimes he found it difficult to gauge Lauren’s feelings and just how invested she was in their relationship. Tonight though, her words and actions told him a lot. Inwardly he smiled, interlaced his fingers with hers, and turned his complete attention to the conversation he’d started with his father and Barry Clarkson. Any remaining reservations he’d entertained since her mother’s retirement party disappeared.
***
“So what else do you know about her?” Clinton Walsh asked.
With dinner over, Kevin and his father had retreated to his father’s office for a private conversation while the rest of the guests socialized over after-dinner drinks. Kevin rested his ankle on his knee and made himself comfortable in the armchair. On the other side of the wide desk, his father sat with a brandy in his hand.
“Her mother just retired, and her father teaches at Adams Hall. Lauren graduated from there.”
“What about the rest of her family? Brothers, sisters? What do you know about them?”
Kevin lifted his own brandy toward his mouth. “Don’t you think I would’ve checked into all this beforehand? There are no black sheep in her family.”
Clinton’s fingers drummed on the desk. “I’m still not convinced. She is only a schoolteacher.”
Don’t let him get to you. Kevin took a minute before answering. “Lauren is a well-educated woman, and I enjoy spending time with her. We share enough of the same interests and values to make a relationship work. I’m confident she’ll agree.” The one thing he knew better than business was women, and he could read Lauren like an open book. She missed her best friend, Callie Talbot. She went to visit Callie and her new world, but she didn’t really belong. He could help with that. While he may not be quite as wealthy as Callie’s husband, his wealth allowed him to travel in many of the same social circles. His wealth would also allow Lauren to pursue her dreams in earnest. She had told him how much she wanted to travel and how she wanted to open her own dance studio rather than simply teach part-time at a school owned by someone else. He could give her all those things and much more.
“When will you ask her?”
Kevin swallowed the last of his brandy. “I haven’t decided, but soon.” Since the retirement party and Lauren’s run-in with her former neighbor, he’d felt an urgency to keep their relationship moving forward. Even though she’d tried to play it cool, something about her mannerisms that night gave her away. She might want everyone to think she had no feelings for the guy, but Kevin suspected the two of them had a deep history. A history that remained unresolved, and it wasn’t only that night. Since the party, their phone conversations had changed, too.
“Good luck, then.” Clinton came to his feet. “Let me know how it goes.”
Once again, Lauren glanced over Olivia’s shoulder toward the doorway. Since Kevin’s sister continued speaking without so much as a pause, Lauren assumed she had not noticed. Although she found Olivia’s description of the fashions she’d seen at a recent Hollywood party interesting, Lauren wanted Kevin to walk through the doorway now. Being in a room full of strangers had never bothered her, yet tonight she wished she owned an invisibility cloak.
“And to say the designs by Marcella Horton were beautiful is an understatement. Photos just don’t do them justice,” Olivia said, referring to the newest designer to hit it big with the A-list celebrities in Hollywood.
Lauren nodded because it seemed like the thing to do. “I saw a picture of the gown she designed for Mia Troy. It was amazing.”
At the mention of the popular film actress, Olivia launched into details of the conversation she’d had with the woman during her last trip to California. Lauren once again fell silent, allowing Olivia to dominate the conversation, which in this instance she was okay with. Shifting in her chair, Lauren readjusted the hem of her dress once again, thankful Callie had given her such a present. While a layer of guilt remained because she could never give Callie a gift even half as expensive, she loved the way it looked on her, and it was perfect for this evening’s dinner party. Both Kevin’s mom and sister had complimented her on it. It also helped her fit in much better tonight. All the women at the dinner party wore gowns by some of the top designers. Granted, when she saw Callie or any of Callie’s family she never thought about the labels on her clothes, yet around Kevin’s family they stayed in the forefront of her mind, even though the Walshes didn’t possess the power and wealth the Sherbrookes and Talbots did.
“Kevin mentioned that you and Callie Talbot are close friends.” Olivia’s new topic grabbed Lauren’s full attention.
“We’ve known each other a long time. We even taught together before she married.” How she missed those days. Michelle, the teacher in Callie’s old classroom, was nice, but this was her first year with her own classroom. Often, rather than working as a team like they were supposed to, Lauren acted as more of a ment
or, which she didn’t mind except that wasn’t her job. Tonya, the teacher across the hall who planned to teach for only another year, was supposed to be Michelle’s mentor.
“Have you met her brother Jake?” Olivia looked over toward her husband and then leaned a little closer. “Is he as hot in person as he is in pictures? I don’t care if I am married, if he ever asked me to sleep with him, I would in a heartbeat.”
Lauren cleared her throat in an attempt to cover her surprise. “I’ve met him several times.” Okay, so several was putting it mildly. She’d seen him at many Sherbrooke events Callie had invited her to, as well as at Callie and Dylan’s place in New York countless times when she’d gone to visit.
“I keep waiting to read he’s getting a divorce. It’s got to be just a matter of time. A man like him can’t be faithful forever. At some point he’ll be on the prowl for someone else, if he isn’t already.” Olivia spoke as if she was an authority on the matter.
Even though Jake Sherbrooke, Callie’s half-brother, was happily married, it appeared his reputation still followed him. Too bad Olivia, like most people, had it all wrong about him. “I don’t see that happening.”
“Don’t see what happening?” Kevin asked from behind her.
At the sound of his voice, Lauren turned around. Warmth crept up her cheeks. She didn’t want Kevin to know they had been discussing another man. “I didn’t see you come in,” Lauren said, ignoring his question.
The Billionaire's Best Friend (The Sherbrookes of Newport) Page 8
