“I don’t know if that will work.”
He slammed the box onto my kitchen counter and rounded on me. “Do you enjoy getting gifts from random strangers? Is that it?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said, waving him off and crossing to my bedroom so I could slip into my dress.
“Then why did you put the rose in a glass?”
I froze with my hand on the door. “Habit, I guess.”
“Habit? So you get lots of flowers?”
Twisting so my back was against my bedroom door, I shrugged. “I guess. I mean, not romantically, but whenever I had a win at home, I always got a bunch from my workmates. And Mum got at least twelve bouquets when she had Nikki. And then when Nikki had her surgery, they kept coming.”
“That sounds insane.”
I laughed. “The hospital room looked like a florist.”
“Why so many?”
“Mum’s got a lot of wealthy clients.” I pushed open my bedroom door before stalling as I thought of a more accurate way to phrase the statement. “Actually, no. She’s got a lot of clients she made wealthy. They’ve never forgotten that. Mum is the best at what she does.” I smiled at the fond thoughts that warmed me and chased away the twisting serpents that had taken up space in my stomach. “I’ll be back out in a minute. Make yourself comfortable. There’s soft drink in the fridge and the TV remote is on the coffee table.”
I didn’t wait for a reply. It didn’t really matter if he wanted to protest; we were already running late and I needed to get ready. It was the first time Xavier would be accompanying me to an event, but it wasn’t my first rodeo. There was such a thing as fashionably late, but there was also a thing as looking like a dick because you didn’t bother to show until after dinner was served.
Moving as fast as I dared without ruining my updo and make-up, I unbuttoned the blouse I had on before removing it and my bra. The dress I’d bought allowed no room for straps. Then I kicked off my jeans and grabbed the dress from the closet.
So that I didn’t mess up my hair, I stepped into the dress from the top. When I lifted the tight coffee-coloured satin mermaid dress up onto my body, I realised it was going to be a bitch to do up. Super-tight across the bust, waist, and arse, it would have been a lot easier to squeeze into with a helper. Nana had performed that task in the store when I’d tried it on.
For half a second, I debated asking Xavier to help, but I couldn’t. It was too intimate a request. Instead, I twisted my arm behind my back and inched the zipper up bit by bit.
When I’d finally managed to wrestle it into submission, with only the hook and eye at the top left undone, I grabbed my jewellery and headed back out to find Xavier.
What was a quick glance, an appreciative bugging of his eyes, and an indrawn breath, soon became a frown and a “You can’t wear that!”
I glanced down at the dress. Compared to some of the stuff I’d worn in the past, it was relatively tame. It didn’t need miles of Hollywood tape to keep everything in place and everything was covered from the top of my boobs to the floor. Xavier’s reaction wasn’t the one I’d expected—nor one I wanted. “Why not?”
“It’s indecent. Every curve is on display.”
“So?”
“You ain’t even wearing a bra! Do you want people thinking you’re easy?”
His words struck hard, but not enough to stick. “They think that anyway, so what does it matter how I dress? Trust me, I’ve worn way sexier outfits for official photos.”
“You’re not gonna get changed for me?”
“My only other gown is the one I wore for the first meet-and-greet and I’m not wearing the same outfit twice.”
He opened his mouth to say something.
“Besides,” I cut him off. “It’s far more revealing than this one.”
“You don’t have anything to put over the top?”
“I have my jacket and my wrap, but neither are going to stay on all night.”
“And we can’t just stay here instead?”
I shook my head, barely able to believe it was such an issue for him. “Relax. It’s really not that big of a deal. You’ll see. There’ll be loads of women wearing far less than this. The way I see it, you’ve got two choices: take me to the party or head on home. Either way, I’m going wearing this. It’s your choice. Do you want to go or not?”
“Of course I wanna go.”
“That’s what I want too. Can you do me a favour first?” I spun around. “Do me up?”
His fingers traced the skin between my shoulder blades as he hooked up the fastener. I tried to disregard the fact that the slightly intimate touch didn’t set my libido on fire, even though more innocent touches from Beau had.
Xavier reached for the gold necklace in my hand. “Shall I?”
I relinquished the choker-style necklace to him. “Thank you.”
His hands circled my neck as he laid the chain over my collarbone. I pressed my fingers to the pendant to ensure it was centred against my throat.
Once he’d fastened the necklace, Xavier spun me around, leaving his hands resting over my shoulders. “You do look beautiful.”
His lips touched mine, but I pulled away. “Lipstick,” I said, brushing my thumb along his lips to wipe the stray colour off. I returned to my room to grab my bag, wrap, and coat.
We made it as far as the door before I remembered the one thing I’d almost forgotten in my haste.
“Shit!” I shoved the door open and raced into the kitchen where my pill box was on the bench.
“What is it?”
After hunting down a glass of water, I tipped my medication onto my palm before tossing them into my mouth.
“Phoebe?” Xavier asked as I washed down the tablets with a mouthful of water.
“It’s nothing. Just my daily dose of drugs.”
He frowned, confusion clear in his eyes.
“I, uh . . . had an operation when I was little. These keep me alive.” It was an oversimplification, but I didn’t feel inclined to go into more detail. “It’s not really safe for me to miss a dose, not even to wine and dine the sponsors.”
“Well, if they keep you alive, it’s probably good you remembered to take them.”
“If that stupid cab hadn’t taken so long to pick me up from the salon, it would have been fine.”
“Ready now?”
I did another mental check of everything I needed to have and do before I left. “Yep.”
SECONDS BEFORE WE left the car, I turned to Xavier. “Can I ask you to do me a favour tonight?”
A flicker of confusion rushed behind his eyes. “What is it?”
“Can you please ignore Beau? No matter what he says or does? I just want a night free of drama. If he wants to try to cause it, I’d rather just try to ignore it than bite back.”
“I can do that for you, Phoebe. Unless he pushes things too far. I won’t put up with him hanging around you and ruining our night. He needs to learn when to stay away.”
“Just try to avoid him if you can, please?”
He nodded.
I sucked in a deep breath. Even though we hadn’t exactly kept our relationship a secret, Xavier and I hadn’t announced it officially either. Walking in with him on my arm was a clear signal to everyone that we were serious.
“Before we go in, I think I should warn you of something,” Xavier said, staring at his hands.
“What’s that?”
“Mom and Bee are here tonight.”
Great. Just what I needed. Then again, I’d probably already avoided them for longer than I could have hoped to. I wondered whether the room would be set up in a similar fashion to the previous event. That had been at a different hotel, but that didn’t mean we wouldn’t be distributed the same. “We’ll have to say hi.”
“We’re at their table.”
“Great,” I said, trying to sound sincere but worrying I was failing, considering the dread that filled me.
My first New Year’s Eve away from
my family was shaping up to be an interesting one. I would be announcing to the sponsors and press that I was involved with Xavier, and spending a significant amount of time with his crazy-arse parents. Knowing that no amount of mental preparation would get me ready for the monumental night ahead of me, I climbed from the car and smoothed over my dress.
When I looked up again, Xavier was standing in front of me, offering me the crook of his elbow. I wrapped my arm around his and let my apprehension slip away.
As we walked into the venue, my gaze travelled across the faces. Jackson saw me and nodded in greeting. It looked like he was sitting at my table with Bee and Cora. While Xavier led me in that direction, I continued to look around the room. I knew exactly what I was looking for, even if I couldn’t admit it to myself.
I saw Cassidee first. It was hard to miss her blonde hair, pale skin, and purple silk dress stretched over what looked like half of a small watermelon. When she caught me staring, I offered her a small wry smile and wave. She returned it with a glare.
Steeling myself, I glanced beside her and caught Beau’s eager gaze drinking in the details of my dress. I ducked my head and grinned as I saw the effect my outfit had on him. Cassidee had to nudge him in the ribs to get him to stop gaping.
Score one for me.
Finally.
When Xavier and I reached our table, all the men sitting with us stood while Xavier pulled my chair out for me. I sat and smoothed the satin of my dress down again as I greeted everyone. Cora gave me an outright glare—her eyes holding a clear warning and a barely concealed hostility.
“Lovely to see you again, Cora,” I said with all the charm I could muster.
“That dress is hardly appropriate for a work function,” she said in reply. “I would expect my son’s date to dress more conservatively.”
I resisted an eye roll. Just.
Thankfully because we’d arrived there late, the flurry of dinner service was already underway and gave me an excuse to ignore everyone. When I glanced around the room, I caught Cassidee’s gaze again. She indicated that she wanted me to head to the back of the room. Unsure what she could possibly have to say to me, I nodded.
Leaving my food untouched, I made an excuse and headed to meet her.
She waited to the left of the bar, in a quiet corner that was still in full view of the room. I wondered whether she was trying to avoid being completely alone or whether she just didn’t feel like braving the cold.
As I approached her, my tongue was tangled. I didn’t know what to say or how to say it. Making friendly with Beau’s baby mama was hardly high on my to-do list.
“Are ya enjoyin’ what you’re doin’?” she asked before I could even say hello.
I frowned as my fingers found the pendant on my necklace. “What do you mean?”
“Comin’ here, paradin’ around with a guy on your arm. Does it make ya feel good?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, it doesn’t make me feel bad.”
“Do ya think that perhaps it should?”
“Why?” Her words didn’t make any sense. Why should I feel bad about bringing Xavier?
“Beau would hate me for sayin’ anythin’, but he’s under a lot of pressure at the moment and it ain’t exactly easy on him to see you gettin’ ’round with someone else.”
“Why would Beau give a flying fuck about me? It’s not like I meant anything to him.”
She physically recoiled at my words. Her nose twisted upward and her brow furrowed. “Are ya kiddin’?”
“I feel like I’m missing something here.”
“I know the feelin’.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I still couldn’t figure out what was happening, but I refused to feel guilty for being with Xavier. “All I’m hearing is that you and Beau can parade around and play happy couples all you like, but God forbid I should try to find anything meaningful.”
“But ya—”
“Cass, what are ya doin’?”
I jumped at the sound of Beau’s voice and turned toward him. His nostrils flared as he stared at Cassidee with what was clearly a warning.
Why did he have to choose that moment to interrupt?
I turned to Cassidee expectantly, waiting for her to finish whatever it was she was going to say. Only she didn’t. She glanced between Beau and me, shook her head and walked off.
Beau shoved his hands into the pockets of his tuxedo pants and fixed me with a death stare. “Why’re ya botherin’ Cass?”
“Excuse me? She’s the one who called me over here and basically told me I should be sad and alone because you can’t stand seeing me happy.”
“She had no right.” He clenched his fists.
“You’re telling me.”
He stared into my eyes. “She means well.”
“For you, maybe.” Unwilling to meet Beau’s gaze, I glanced around the room. Xavier was sitting bolt upright in his chair staring at me and Beau together. It looked as if he was ready to come charging over with fists flying. “I should be getting back before Xavier thinks I’m ignoring him.”
Without waiting for a response, I started back to Xavier’s side.
“Phoebe, wait,” Beau called after me.
I turned back around to acknowledge him. “What?”
“You look dang beautiful tonight.” A soft smile lit his face.
Brushing my hands over my dress to take attention away from the heat that rose in my cheeks, I said, “Thank you.” A beat later, I added, “You’re looking pretty dapper yourself.”
And he was. The black tuxedo looked as good on him as anything else I’d seen him in.
“Dapper?” He laughed. “I thought you were eighteen, not one hundred and eighteen.”
My smile fell when I realised his words were a direct echo of ones I’d said to him when we’d been at his resort in Georgia. Back when I’d thought his “I love you” had meaning. I doubted it was unintentional.
It would have been so easy to hurl the accusation at him and go back to our familiar dance. Instead, I just sighed. “Why does it have to be like this between us?”
He didn’t ask “like what” or deny there was an issue. “Maybe you were right. Maybe some people just can’t be friends.”
“What are we going to do then? I mean, we work together. We have to do events like this. How can we do that if we want to kill each other whenever we’re within a mile of each other?”
His mouth twisted up with amusement. “I don’t think it’s the fact we want to kill each other that’s the issue, darlin’.”
“Then what’s the issue?” I asked, even though I could guess from the blazing need in his gaze.
The corners of his mouth twitched higher. “I think ya know.”
He moved closer to me and rested one hand on my hip.
My breath hitched at the touch, a reminder of other, less innocent ones.
His lips brushed the shell of my ear. “I can’t get ya out of my head, and ya already admitted the same.”
Stay strong. Stay strong. Stay strong.
I had to run the words over and over in my head because it would have been far too easy to escape into the night and screw him against the side of the hotel. My lips parted and my eyes closed. Thoughts of Beau wrapping me in his arms filled me. The rough of his hands trailing the softness of my skin.
“Get your hands off her!”
My eyes shot open and my heart leapt back into place when I heard Xavier’s voice. Fuck, what was I doing? Nothing had changed. Even though Cassidee had seemed strangely accepting of whatever it was that buzzed between Beau and me, I wasn’t. Especially considering she had a history of apparently letting him get away with it all.
Xavier had Beau’s jacket fisted in one hand and his face was twisted into a mask of pure rage. His skin was red and his eyes wild. “You keep your hands away from my girl or I’ll do it for you.”
Beau stepped backward with his hands in the air. Everyone could see it was taking everything in him
to back down. His jaw ticked as his gaze fell on me, as if expecting me to step in and tell Xavier to stop. How could I, though?
I did the next best thing, touching Xavier’s shoulder lightly. He swung around and, with a growl on his lips, his fist flew at my face. I swiped my elbow up to block it, sending his hand into my shoulder instead.
“Fuck!” I cried, lifting my hand to cover the ache and try to ease the throb.
Beau grabbed Xavier’s shoulders and yanked him away from me.
A stream of apologies were on Xavier’s lips already, but Beau interjected himself between our bodies.
Xavier ducked around Beau’s side to try to get to me. “Phoebe, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I said to both of them.
“It ain’t okay,” Beau said, shoving Xavier to the side. “I think you should go outside and let off some steam, kid.”
Xavier smashed his chest against Beau. “How about we both go outside and I show you how I want to let off some steam?”
“Stop it. Both of you,” I said. My shoulder was throbbing and needed ice. “You’re drawing attention.”
The few press people invited into the function were all watching us with pricked ears. Each of them was practically bouncing in the seat, ready to leap forward and get the exclusive on what was happening. I was just glad most of the photographers were outside, only the official photography crew were inside, and I hoped they would want to keep incriminating photos away from the gossip rags.
“Can one of you please get me some ice?”
Both of them stood there staring at me.
“I’m not leaving you alone with him,” Xavier said.
“Me? I ain’t the one that hit a lady.”
“Fucking hell,” I muttered. “I’ll get it myself.”
I walked as fast as I could to the bar, but because I was teetering in heels, both Xavier and Beau beat me to it. Both of them shouted at the bartender to get them some ice. It was like watching a pair of hyenas fighting over a carcass. When the poor girl behind the bar bundled up the small bag of ice and a tea towel, I held out my hand.
“It’s for me,” I explained, ignoring the two guys that had descended into a grade school mentality.
Phobic (Phoebe Reede: The Untold Story #2) Page 18
