by Jane Porter
Perhaps Taylor Harris was not the most reliable woman. Perhaps she was so wrapped up in her brother that there wasn’t time for anyone, or anything else. Or perhaps her brother was in crisis as she’d said… which meant that of course she needed to be with him.
Troy had a twin brother that was always in some sort of trouble. He knew better than any that there were some situations beyond one’s control. And this was one.
His disappointment over not attending with Taylor shifted to concern for her. She probably wasn’t happy at all right now. And God knows what trouble Doug had gotten himself into.
Troy frowned at his phone, wondering if he should call her. Did she need help? Was there something he could do?
Troy dragged a hand through his still damp hair before shooting her a brief response.
Family comes first. Do what you have to do and don’t worry about me. But are you okay? Do you need anything?
He hit send on the text and slipped his phone into the pocket of his black tuxedo trousers and went to work styling his hair and giving his tie one last little tweak.
He still needed to slip on his jacket, but he looked alright. Shouldn’t embarrass himself or anyone else tonight.
He was perfectly fine going to the ball solo. And it’s not as if Taylor was the only one to cancel on the Valentine Ball at the last minute. Dillon had decided to stay home with Dad. And out in California Daisy had a violent stomach bug so Cormac chose to stay with her instead of getting on a plane for Marietta.
He respected both Dillon and Cormac for making good choices. And if Taylor’s brother, Doug, was in trouble, then she was doing the right thing, staying home with him.
Fortunately, Brock and Harley were still joining him at the Sheenan table, and Jane and Mitch would be there, too. So what if it was now a table of five instead of ten? Sheenans liked having some elbow room.
Taylor read the text from Troy and it was a very nice text from him. He’d said exactly the right thing, behaved as a gentleman should, but it didn’t make her feel better.
She didn’t want to miss the ball.
She didn’t want to sit and watch TV with Doug, or order a pizza as Kara had suggested. But that’s what she was going to do, because it was the right thing to do.
Kara disagreed. She thought Taylor should still go, and she reminded Taylor that she was at the house tonight, wrapping up some work stuff so she could take off next week to go skiing with friends from law school without worrying about anything. “I’m here,” Kara said. “I’ll keep him company. We’ll have pizza—”
“I’ve already told Troy I’m not going.”
Until that moment, Doug hadn’t any idea that Taylor had been invited to the big ball and he was upset that Taylor was missing the event because of him.
“Why don’t you go?” he asked Taylor, joining his sister and Kara in the kitchen where they’d been trying to decide on what pizza to order. “It’s still early. You can make it.”
“It’s fine—”
“It’s not,” he interrupted. “It’s bad enough I screwed up my probation but I don’t need to screw up your life, too.”
“You’re not screwing it up.”
“All I’ve ever done is screw it up.” He leaned against the counter and dug his hands into his jeans pockets. “Taylor, I’m not going to go anywhere tonight. I’m not going to do anything bad. I’m going to eat pizza and watch TV and crash early. I’m tired. But I’m not dangerous. I’m not psycho. Not a flight risk. I’m not going to do anything stupid tonight. I’ve done enough, walking out of Hogue. I know I’m in trouble.”
“I don’t think you’re in as much trouble as you think,” Kara said. “We’ll take some pictures tonight of your black eye and bruises, and tomorrow if need be, Taylor can take you to a doctor and get a medical exam. The photos and exam will serve as evidence that Hogue isn’t protecting you, and that you’re in danger there. I’m not able to represent you, but Doug, in my opinion, if you’re getting beat up at Hogue, you need to leave, and you have grounds to leave. We just need the right attorney and we’re going to work this out.”
Doug glanced at Taylor and back to Kara. “You really think so?”
“Hogue was never the right place for you,” Kara said. “And it’s time we sorted this out, once and for all.” She gave Taylor a look. “And you… you really should go to the ball. If you stay home tonight, Doug’s just going to worry and feel guilty, and responsible, and there’s no reason for that. There’s no reason for you not to go. Get dressed, do your hair and drive over. Surprise Troy.”
“Surprise Troy,” Taylor repeated.
Kara nodded. “Live a little.”
“Or live a lot,” Doug added with a lopsided smile.
Taylor looked at her brother, saw his hopeful expression and felt the warmth steal back into her heart. Maybe they were right. Maybe it was time she lived.
A lot.
A half hour later Taylor stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.
Her breath caught in her throat as she gently touched the skirt of her pale pink tulle gown, the tulle dotted with glossy red spangles. She watched herself in the mirror as she lightly ran her hand up the gown’s fitted, boned bodice to the plunging neckline.
The ball gown pushed her breasts up, squeezed her waist smaller, and shaped her hips, revealing far more of her slender frame than Taylor was normally comfortable with, because good librarians didn’t show off their breasts, or flaunt their hips, or draw attention to any other part of their bodies.
But tonight Taylor didn’t want to be a good librarian.
Tonight she didn’t want to be a librarian at all. She didn’t want to be the smart one, or the good one, or the responsible one who was always rescuing, protecting and defending her brother.
No, tonight, for one night, she’d be someone else. She’d be someone different, someone beautiful and glamorous and fun, and she’d go to the Valentine Ball at the Graff Hotel and have fun.
She wasn’t even sure what fun felt like, but she knew that whenever she was with Troy she felt good.
She felt happy.
That’s the feeling she wanted tonight. Good and happy.
A knock sounded on the bathroom door. Taylor opened the door and faced Kara. “What do you think?” she asked shyly.
Kara’s eyes opened wide. “You’re wearing the Lily Jewel gown.”
“You said I should live a little.” Taylor lightly stroked her fingers across the full skirt with the circle spangles. “I feel like a walking carnival or circus.”
“You look gorgeous.”
“It’s the dress.”
“It’s you, in the dress.” Kara walked around Taylor to inspect her properly. “I love that you’re also wearing your hair up. Very chic.”
“There was no time to get a blow out.”
“Looks good.” Kara tilted her head to the side. “What about earrings?”
“I have my diamond studs.”
“Those will work. And your make up looks good. I love the eyeliner and mascara, too.”
“Thought I’d better wear more make up since I’ve got my contacts in.”
“You’re a knock out.”
“No—”
“Yes,” Kara insisted. “Poor Troy. He isn’t going to know what hit him.”
It was almost seven by the time Taylor reached the hotel, and snowing. Taylor parked her car as close to the hotel entrance as she could manage, and held her full skirts up to keep them from dragging in the snow and ice.
Entering the hotel’s grand lobby with the marble floor and tall columns and rich dark paneling, Taylor felt her heart skip a beat.
She felt like a princess attending her first ball. It was exciting. Thrilling. And she did feel pretty tonight, truly pretty, and that never happened. Normally she felt smart, practical, helpful, useful. Not lovely or delicate, and certainly not ridiculously feminine.
But her gown was ridiculously feminine with the dotting of red spangles that reflect
ed light, making her feel like a valentine that had come to life.
She couldn’t wait to check her coat and enter the ballroom. She wanted everyone to see her gorgeous dress and most of all, she wanted Troy to see her in this dress.
He said Lily Jewel had ‘given’ her the dress, but Taylor knew that gifts like that didn’t just happen. Troy orchestrated the gift. Taylor wasn’t sure what he said or did and right now it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she would soon be attending her first ball with the most handsome man she’d ever met.
Even though it was almost seven, lots of people were still arriving and the entry hall outside the hotel’s grand ballroom echoed with laughter and chatter as couples arrived for the Valentine Ball, and checked their coats and greeted each other.
Taylor handed over her winter coat and then shivered as she stepped away from the coat room, feeling almost naked in the strapless gown.
But she wasn’t naked, she was a walking valentine… light, lovely, delicious.
She wasn’t going to allow herself to feel one negative emotion, either. She wasn’t going to let herself feel doubt or fear.
No, tonight was a celebration, of not just one thing, but many things—the restoration of the historic Graff Hotel, the launch of the 100 year anniversary of the Great Wedding Giveaway, and the intrepid individual who dared to take risks, and dream.
Troy saw her enter the ballroom, passing through the tall double doors alone, and then hesitate in the doorway, her ball gown gleaming in the pink lighting, a clutch pressed to her chest, her dark hair pulled up in an elegant chignon, reminding him of a young Audrey Hepburn.
Striking features, and wide bright eyes. No glasses tonight. She’d left them home.
She scanned the ballroom.
He pretended he didn’t know her and imagined the man she was looking for—her boyfriend or lover. Not her husband.
It wasn’t that she was too young to be married—many women in Montana married young, choosing their high school or college sweethearts—but she didn’t have a married look. She didn’t appear settled, although he wasn’t entirely sure what settled would look like, but married women carried themselves differently. They had a different confidence about them—perhaps it was complacency—that young, unmarried women didn’t have.
Either way, in the doorway, she was truly lovely, and in that moment he realized she wasn’t merely pretty, but beautiful, and delicate, in her romantic ball gown with the sweetheart bodice.
Troy walked towards her, wondering how she’d managed to sneak away from the house to be here, hoping she didn’t regret doing so, either. He was so happy to see her. So glad she’d come after all.
There was no other woman he’d rather be with tonight.
But then, from the heavy staccato within his chest, and the silver heat in his veins, he suspected that there was no other woman he’d rather be with, any night.
“Taylor,” he said, reaching her side.
Her head turned sharply and she looked at him, smiling. “Hello, Troy,” she said, her voice soft, light. Even her dark eyes were so full of light they sparkled. “You look very dashing tonight.”
“And you look stunning, my lady. You are the belle of the ball.”
“I hope you still need a date. Please tell me you haven’t replaced me.”
“I could never replace you.”
“So full of flattery.”
“I am speaking the absolute truth. There is only one Taylor Harris and I very much want her.”
She blushed. “Why?”
“I have a secret soft spot for book girls. I happen to think you book girls are very cool.”
Her eyes lit up and her lips curved. “I’ve always said the same thing.”
“As you should.” He offered her his arm. “Shall we find a glass of champagne and then locate our table? Dinner is about to be served.”
“Sounds wonderful.”
At seven thirty Jane went to the microphone and welcomed everyone to the Valentine Ball and the launch of the Great Wedding Giveaway. She pointed out the handsome wooden box in the back near the chocolate fountain. The box had been made by the French wood carver and furniture designer, Laurent, for the occasion. All nominations and submissions of couples for the wedding giveaway would go there. Jane added that she’d taken a peek inside the box just a few minutes ago, and there were at least a half dozen entries inside.
Jane thanked Troy and the staff at the Graff Hotel for hosting the Valentine’s Ball, and then asked all the committee members on the Great Wedding Giveaway to stand. Taylor shyly stood, noting that nearly every table had a committee member at it. The Great Wedding Giveaway had been a lot of work but Taylor was glad she’d volunteered. She’d gotten to know some wonderful people in Marietta, including McKenna Douglas who waved to Taylor from across the ballroom.
Taylor sat down again and Troy refilled her champagne flute. “Have I told you how beautiful you look?” he asked, leaning towards her, his blue gaze resting intently on her face.
“Yes.” Taylor settled her pink napkin across her lap and looked up at him. “It’s because I’m not wearing my glasses tonight.”
“I like your glasses.”
“I’m getting lots of advice from friends that I should ditch them again.”
“Again? You don’t always wear glasses?”
“I hadn’t since junior high, but since taking the job here in Marietta, I started wearing them exclusively, thinking that people would take me more seriously if I looked more academic.”
“You shouldn’t have to dress to impress others.”
“I shouldn’t, no, but it seems as if I do.” She shrugged, smiled. “And let’s not talk about that tonight. I’m sick of me. I want to know all about you.”
“I think between Jane and McKenna, you’ve heard plenty.”
Taylor laughed. “Kara’s told me a few juicy tidbits as well.”
“See? You know everything already.”
“I don’t know anything about your life in San Francisco, or the girlfriend you just broke up with,” Taylor said, leaning back as the servers placed the salad course before them. The salad of woodland greens, dried cranberries, toasted walnuts and feta cheese made her mouth water, but she was far more interested in hearing Troy’s answer than eating.
“I like San Francisco. It’s a great city. I hope to always have a home there.”
“How long have you lived there?”
“I’ve been in California since I left for college at eighteen. I went to Stanford University in Palo Alto.”
“You studied?”
“Electrical engineering and computer science.”
“So computer science was your minor?”
“I was a double major, and then a graduate degree in the same.”
She eyed him with new respect. “You are smart.”
He grinned. “I am more than just a pretty face.”
She laughed. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
“It was a calculated move on my part. I wanted to make you laugh, and I succeeded.” He reached for a candied walnut and popped it in his mouth. “So what do you like better? My brains or my beauty?”
Taylor loved the glint in his eye and the hint of mischief in his smile. “Your sense of humor.” She sipped her champagne, enjoying the cold tart fizz in her mouth and the way the bubbles warmed her going down. “Tell me about the girlfriend.”
“Which one? There have been many.”
“The last. And why have there been so many?”
“So many questions.”
“I’m curious about you. And the women you love.” She took another quick sip of champagne. “And leave.”
One of his black brows lifted. “I’m not out to break hearts. I’m just not going to settle.”
“So what was wrong with the last one?”
“There’s not much to say. She was a lovely woman. We dated for a number of months, but it wasn’t a forever relationship. It couldn’t go the di
stance.”
“Why not?”
“We had different values and goals, as well as a different vision for the future.” He saw her expression and shrugged. “She couldn’t understand my love affair with the Graff. She came from money. Her family is old money in San Francisco, and big philanthropists, but she doesn’t believe in rescuing decrepit buildings in the middle of nowhere. She believed my money would have been better spent funding a museum or donating to the San Francisco arts.”
“That’s why you broke up?”
“There were other issues, fundamental issues about identity, integrity, and loyalty, and I appreciate that her family is a well-known family, and I appreciate that she is an heiress in her own right, but I’m not jumping through hoops for anybody. I am who I am, and that’s a Sheenan, from Marietta, Montana. I don’t come from big money, and I don’t care what others think of me. I don’t want a woman that cares more about society’s opinion than mine. I want a woman who is herself and has a strong sense of self, because our relationship has to be based on mutual respect, not status or public adulation.”
“Was she beautiful?”
Troy suddenly closed the distance between them, kissing her lightly on the lips. “You are more beautiful.” He kissed her again. “And smarter.” His fingers brushed her cheek, his thumb stroking over the sweep of her cheekbone before kissing her a third time. “And one hundred times more intriguing. Any more questions?”
She stared into his deep blue eyes, lost. In the back of her mind she was sure there were more questions, dozens of them, but her head was spinning and her heart was racing and she just wanted to go somewhere private and kiss some more. “No,” she murmured. “At least, no more right now.”
The night just got better from there.
Dinner was wonderful and Taylor talked to Harley and Brock, Jane and Mitch, aware of Troy’s arm resting lightly along the back of her chair. Now and then his hand would move to her back, and he’d touch her, a soft caress to the middle of her back, a light touch at her nape and she’d tingle and burn.
It didn’t feel like a first date or a Valentine Ball. Being with him was exciting and yet somehow familiar. She was strangely comfortable with him. Had they known each other perhaps in a different life?
