Cinderella Busted (The Cinderella Romances #1)

by Petie McCarty

  “Well?” Delia hissed.

  “I don’t know. Never saw her before in my life.”

  “How dare he bring another woman into my home?” she snapped.

  Garrett wondered about that himself. The move was definitely gutsy even for Rhett. He slanted a sideways glance at Delia and grimaced. Men usually considered Delia a beauty with her sleek dark hair and violet eyes, but at the moment, her rage had melded her features into a mask resembling The Wicked Witch from Oz. Man, what a transformation.

  She yanked his arm and spun him sideways. “You have to know something,” she snapped. “You’re his best friend. Cough it up.”

  “I don’t know anything other than he met a woman at the nursery today when he went to inspect our tree shipment, and he invited her to the party.”

  “My party,” she said, glaring. “What nursery? Since when does Rhett inspect tree shipments? That’s your job.”

  “Bloom & Grow is a nursery in Jupiter, and it’s a long story, but the nursery requires the actual owner to approve final stock selections.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” she fumed.

  “Yes, that’s what Rhett said, too.”

  Until he got lucky.

  “What’s so funny?” Her hands were on her hips now, not a good sign.

  “Not a damn thing,” he said, trying to look grim and unsure whether he succeeded.

  “Well, you’re going to introduce me to her,” Delia said and slipped her hand through his arm.

  Garrett pulled away. “Like hell I will. I’m not getting in the middle of this.”

  She snatched him back, lightning fast. “Yes, you are. Or did you forget I set up this whole party just so the two of you could schmooze Horning.”

  “No, Delia,” he replied calmly, “you volunteered to give the party, so you could sink your hooks back into Rhett. Now that you’ve dumped your polo player.”

  “You’re horrible,” she hissed, refusing to let go of him.

  “No, just truthful and your father wanted to schmooze Horning as much as we did. But I’ll introduce you if you’ll leave me alone and leave me out of this. After the introduction, I’m walking away, and you’re on your own.”

  “Fine,” she said curtly and urged him forward.

  Lily spotted a face she recognized and felt a spate of panic. The man who worked with Tammy picking out Rhett’s trees was walking straight toward her, and the gorgeous woman on his arm had her gaze locked on Rhett. Lily’s jig was up.

  Rhett turned as the couple approached, and he reached for her hand. Was he staking his claim again? If so, Lily sure didn’t mind.

  “Good evening, Rhett.” Tammy’s client was almost as handsome as Rhett, similar in height and build, blond where Rhett was dark. His smile looked positively devious.

  “Garrett,” Rhett said, then nodded at the beauty. “Delia.” He turned to Lily with a tender, almost apologetic smile. “Lily Foster, this is Garrett Tucker and our hostess, Delia Armstead.”

  Tucker shook Lily’s hand. “Very pleased to meet you, Ms. Foster.”

  The woman’s hand shot out, and a look in her eyes made Lily hesitate before clasping the hand in her own. Delia Armstead was either an old girlfriend of Rhett’s or would like to be his new girlfriend. Her handshake was strong and intended to make Lily wince before she tugged free.

  “Pleased to meet you,” Lily murmured.

  The woman said nothing.

  “I’m going to go freshen my drink,” Tucker announced suddenly and scooted off through the crowd, muttering something that sounded like, "ten bucks."

  Unfortunately, the beauty didn’t follow him. Instead, she sidled around to Rhett’s other side and slipped an arm through his.

  “How’ve you been, Rhett?” she asked silkily. “I’ve missed you.”

  One question answered. Delia was a girlfriend. The next question was old girlfriend or still a girlfriend?

  “What do you think of my redecorating in here?” Delia purred, easing into Rhett’s side. “I hired Lawson from Palm Beach to do it since I was so pleased with the work he did on the solarium.”

  “It looks very nice,” he said matter-of-factly.

  Lily tried to tug her hand free, but Rhett’s grip was like steel. That helped to soothe the inexplicable hurt she felt, but not much. He had escorted her to a party at his girlfriend’s house, and on their first date no less! She inwardly seethed.

  “I want to go freshen my drink, too,” she said, angrier still that her voice held an edge. “You two catch up. I’ll be right back.”

  Rhett had no choice but to let her go now or be rude to his hostess. Lily scooted free this time and headed straight for the bar without a backward glance. She couldn’t bear to see the woman’s hands on Rhett.

  And already, too. Boy, had that infatuation hit fast.

  She closed in on the bar and noticed a double set of open French doors leading out to the patio. An exit. She immediately formed her plan. Quick stop at the bar for looks, then out to the patio, around the side of the house, and grab a valet to find Rob’s Porsche.

  She felt like an absolute loon. She’d known Rhett all of seven hours, and she felt crushed by the fact he had another girlfriend.

  “A chardonnay, please,” she said, after the hired bartender handed off a requested scotch rocks to the gentleman in front of her.

  “We have a choice—”

  “Any is fine,” she said, cutting the bartender off.

  “Delia’s famous for her wine collection,” a deep baritone voice said from her left. “You shouldn’t’ve been so quick.”

  Lily slanted a furtive glance from beneath her lashes. Had Scotch Rocks said that? The man hadn’t moved far, and he was turned slightly toward her, so just in case, she said aloud to no one in particular, “I didn’t feel like making choices tonight.”

  Scotch Rocks ignored her and shifted away, so Lily refocused on the bartender. “Thank you,” she said and accepted the glass of chardonnay he handed over.

  She took her first step toward the terrace doors when the baritone stopped her again. “We didn’t get introduced yet.”

  Etiquette held her in place. She half-turned, looking for Scotch Rocks, when she saw a large tanned hand extended her direction.

  “Aidan Cross,” the baritone offered.

  She stared down at the hand for the span of two heartbeats, then followed the hand up a well-muscled arm to broad shoulders and finally to a brilliant, devil-may-care smile—mentally noting the man must be dangerous in the ladies’ competition with a smile like that, to say nothing of the blond-streaked curls and dark eyes.

  She took the proffered hand intending to give it a swift shake and be on her way. “Lily Foster.”

  Cross appeared to have other plans however. He kept her hand in a tight grip and tugged it up to his mouth where he brushed a light kiss across her knuckles.

  “Very pleased to meet you, Lily Foster.”

  She gently pulled at her hand, wanting to get free and not wanting to attract attention, and his dark eyes twinkled devilishly.

  “Does that bit of gallantry normally work well with the ladies?” she asked lightly and tugged again.

  “Normally.”

  He grinned and her breath caught for a second. That grin should be registered as a concealed weapon. Too bad she’d lost her heart once already that day. No way would she be fooled twice. These Island people were definitely out of her league.

  “But evidently not with you,” Cross said and released her hand.

  “Well, it was very nice to meet you, Mr. Cross,” she said and turned for the terrace doors.

  “Please, call me Aidan,” he said and stepped alongside. “Headed out to the patio?”

  She slammed to a halt. “Yes, I just wanted
a quick turn through the gardens, alone. I’m into . . .” Careful, Lily. “. . . flowers and such.”

  She didn’t look directly at him. If he turned that smile loose again, someone may think the two of them were flirting.

  “Well, that’s blunt enough.”

  She did glance at his handsome face then. Had she hurt his feelings? She hoped not. What she did find was genuine concern in those dark eyes.

  “Are you sure you want to leave Rhett alone in here with Delia while you traipse about the gardens? Might not be wise.”

  “You’re a good friend of Rhett’s?”

  “I’m not so sure I’d go that far,” he said, the devilish twinkle reappearing in his eyes.

  “How far would you go?” she asked, suddenly very curious about this guest.

  “Now that’s a question you should be careful asking a single man.” He grinned. “Or any man for that matter.”

  She huffed. “You know what I meant. You were talking about Rhett.”

  “And I’m just teasing you. In answer to your question, I’m Rhett’s chief competition in most things.” His eyes sparked, and Lily suspected he meant more than business ventures.

  “If you’re not friends, then how did—”

  “I never said we weren’t friends. I’d like to think we are, but we’ve butted heads quite a lot over the years. As for you, I saw you two walk in together, and I also saw Delia make a beeline for Rhett the minute she spotted you.” Aidan laughed. “She must have had a heart attack seeing Rhett walk in with a beautiful woman on his arm.”

  Lily opened her mouth, couldn’t think of a thing to say, and promptly closed it. Could this be more embarrassing? Bad enough Rhett had brought her to his girlfriend’s cocktail party, but everyone here knew it. The sooner she made her escape the better.

  Aidan’s smile faded. “Aw, hell. You didn’t know about Delia, did you?”

  Lily shook her head, refusing to look at him so he couldn’t see her flushed cheeks. She thought she heard him mutter, “Damn Rhett,” and wished a hole would open up underneath her, so she could just disappear.

  “You know, if you’re determined to visit the gardens, me escorting you should bring Rhett along sooner rather than later,” Cross was saying.

  He acted concerned, but could she trust any of these people? She doubted it.

  “No, thank you. I just need a breath of fresh air.”

  He stepped back. “If you’re sure.”

  She slanted a quick glance at him. Did he know she planned to bolt? He stared at her as though he did. She moved toward the terrace doors without another word.

  Cross called after her, “I’m glad I got to meet you, Lily Foster.”

  What could she say? Good-bye? Good night? He’d surely know her plan then, and he obviously knew Rhett, so best if she kept silent.

  “You really like it?” Delia cooed and tugged Rhett’s arm tight against her breast.

  He didn’t even glance down. His eyes stayed possessively on the blonde as she maneuvered between guests near the bar.

  Rhett used to watch me like that. Delia suffered a wave of fury for the woman who had temporarily usurped Delia’s place. Summoning her seductive wiles, she shifted slightly and eased his arm over her ample breast, then leaned in with the perfect amount of pressure.

  “I’ve missed you,” she said in her most sultry voice.

  He glanced down at her, an odd expression on his face. “Have you?” he said, his manner casual. “As I recall, you tossed me for that well-hung Argentinean polo player.”

  “I didn’t toss you,” she protested, thrilled he’d mentioned Raoul as if the man mattered. “You just don’t like sharing your toys.”

  She tugged his arm hard against her soft breast and narrowed her eyes. “Neither do I.” She shot a pointed glance at Lily taking her drink from the bartender.

  Rhett removed his arm from her tight grasp. “Which is why we have never had a real relationship.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, we have used each other on occasion as the need arose,” he said evenly, “which suited our lifestyles perfectly.”

  “I’ve never used you,” she insisted, feeling her hold on him slipping.

  “Come on, Delia. We’re good friends who have slept together on occasion.”

  “And we need to do that more often, like tonight.” She squeezed her breasts against his chest and reverted to her sultry voice. “Everything can get back to normal again.”

  She peered up to check her seductive effect and found Rhett glaring toward the bar.

  “What’s Cross doing here?” he growled.

  “Trying to meet your date by the looks of it,” Delia said smugly.

  “Why’d you invite him?”

  Unfazed by Rhett’s glower, she snaked an arm around his waist. “Aidan’s a good friend, too.”

  “Playing both ends against the middle, Delia?”

  She pressed in tighter to hold him in place since he looked ready to bolt. “Aidan and Daddy have invested in a couple developments together is all.”

  “I’ll just bet. Maybe I need to curtail my investments with Chester if that’s the case.” He shifted, but she managed to stay with him.

  “Now, darling,” she cooed, but he wasn’t looking at her anymore.

  She felt his hand ball into a fist at her side and followed his gaze back to the bar. Aidan Cross had just brushed a kiss across the hand of Rhett’s little slut, and Delia wanted to squeal with glee. Rhett’s chief competition after Rhett’s new girl.

  He freed himself from Delia’s grasp, but the guest of honor, Grant Horning, chose that particular moment to step over to them.

  “Good to see you, Rhett,” Horning said and extended a hand.

  Unable to escape just yet, Rhett forced a smile Delia knew he didn’t feel, and she hid her own smug smile. She glanced toward the bar. Rhett’s blonde had escaped Aidan Cross, and Delia watched her slip out to the patio. A glance back at Rhett told her he hadn’t missed the blonde’s departure either.

  Garrett rejoined them as soon as Horning approached, and after the usual pleasantries of weather, accommodations, and travel schedule, Rhett asked Garrett to give Horning a quick rundown on their new Boca Raton development and explain how Boca could be a model for their new San Antonio development scheduled for a construction start the following year.

  Delia clung tenaciously to Rhett’s side. With any luck, the blonde would be with someone else by the time Horning was finished with Rhett.

  Before she could finish the thought, Rhett nodded to Garrett and said, “Be sure to tell Grant about your eclectic tree collection.”

  “I love specialty trees,” Horning gushed, suddenly all ears.

  “I know,” Rhett said. “I make it my business to know the preferences of all my prospective business partners.”

  Horning beamed. “You’re an astute executive, Buchanan. I think I’d like doing a project with you.”

  “Glad to hear it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go round up my date. She appears to have slipped away.”

  “Wait!” Delia objected and rather loudly. The three men turned to her.

  “Let him go, Delia,” Horning drawled with a grin. “I saw Rhett’s date when they walked in, and so did every other man in the room. If he doesn’t corral that filly, someone else will steal her.”

  Delia ground her teeth in frustration as Rhett slipped through the crowded great room. She would get Rhett back if it was the last thing she ever did. Her daddy was a city councilman and an important man in Jupiter. He could find out who the blonde was and get some dirt on her. Every woman had some dirt to hide. Delia intended to find the blonde’s dirt and spread it out for Rhett to see. He’d come running back, and Delia would be waiting
.

  And this time, she would play for keeps.

  Lily paused at the edge of the brick patio and stared out over a moonlit replica of an English courtyard garden that stretched to the Intracoastal canal at the back of the property. Walkways lined with immaculately trimmed hedges were flanked by gazebos on either side and crossed by a series of arbors at critical design points. Subdued landscape lighting provided a romantic atmosphere for the guests though no one had bothered to venture out into the night. Lily would have complimented Ms. Armstead if she didn’t already detest the woman for finding and catching Rhett first.

  She briefly studied the garden layout to determine the shortest escape route, then relinquished her drink to the wicker end table flanking a settee. She had to hurry. Rhett would eventually search out his date, right? But then she had insisted on meeting him at the party, so maybe he felt comfortable staying inside with the beautiful socialite instead of hunting for Lily out here. He certainly hadn’t minded the woman smushing her breasts up against him.

  The thought made Lily’s throat ache as she swallowed the ridiculous hopes she had allowed herself today. Slipping down the brick steps and into the maze of hedges, she forced herself to focus on a soundless escape. A left, a right and a left, and she should reach the side walkway she hoped would lead between the separate multi-car garage and the east side of the house. She listened for sounds from the patio, but only silence reigned in the garden. Rhett hadn’t yet thought to search for his date.

  She reached the side walkway, which did indeed wind between the garage and the house. The brick path fell in line with an eight-foot Podocarpus hedge on her left and a variety of shrubs and evergreens woven together along her right, creating a darkened corridor with the house floodlights turned off to promote the landscape mood lighting in the garden.

  She concentrated on her footsteps in the deepening shadows, not wanting to trip and top off her humiliation for the night. A few more yards, and she’d be back out in the well-lit front drive. Intent on her steps, she missed the figure emerging from the shadows ahead.