“Wow!” Kane encircled Rosalind from behind and spoke against her ear, following his exclamation with a peck on her cheek.
“Told you so.” She reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. The beat had infected them both. They bounced in time, Kane occasionally taking opportunity to press his lips to her neck.
The routine ended with the men picking up the women and throwing them over their shoulders, dragging them off into the crowd. Except for one couple. The woman dressed in a voluminous purple sari feigned frustration as her milk toast male partner tried unsuccessfully to heave her up. Finally, she ended the bit by leaning over and taking him up into her arms, whisking him away into the hooting onlookers.
When Kamakshi and Prashant finally entered, Rosalind understood her friend had not lied. Prashant came first, a golden cord in his hand. Parading into the hall, he pulled the rope along until eventually, it ended tied around the railing of an open air litter. Four men walked in perfectly matched cadence, each with an end of the litter’s two poles on their shoulders. Kamakshi’s red clothing made her look like a sacred fire burning on high as they passed. She threw flowers from a basket clutched to her chest. It wasn’t until they’d cleared the crowd and lowered the litter to the floor that Rosalind realized she recognized one of the bearers.
“Xav?” she asked when their eyes met.
He saluted with two fingers flicked off his right eyebrow while his left hand stayed wrapped around the pole on which the litter rested, which in turn sat on his shoulder. With the fabric of his shirt pulled tight by his labor, Rosalind remembered the sight of his well-defined chest, normally obscured by layers of business attire. Xavier wasn’t particularly a muscular behemoth, but he certainly couldn’t be shelved under scrawny. She felt butterflies awaken within her, a fluttering sensation in the least businesslike areas of her body.
Unbidden, her mind ran away with the contemplation of what those muscles would look like as they strained to hold up his body, of how she’d like to see those biceps tense as his hands planted in to the mattress on either side of her head, of how it would feel to bear the weight of his frame on her own…
Kane pointed a finger and an accusation the headhunter’s way, breaking into her thoughts. “You’re one of the bride’s best friends, and you weren’t in the wedding party. How did he manage to sneak in?”
Luckily, his eyes were trained on Xavier, letting Rosalind recover herself from her breath-stealing daydream. “I have no idea how he sneaks into a lot of things.”
Like her fantasies...
Rosalind used her hand-sized hang bag as a stand-in fan and cursed Xavier for putting her face-to-face with the truth now, of all times. And it was true. Look at her, standing here drooling over him while she was almost literally waving her plan to pop the question to Kane in his face. As the team of carriers lowered the litter and the crowd fell in to shake Prashant’s hand or rub Kamakshi’s head, Xavier turned against the flow and walked to a nearby table. He rescued his jacket—someone must have brought it in for him—and a folio from the table.
So, he was armed and prepared to work. The realization that Xavier was able to remain all business while she was dizzy and flustered just from watching him kicked her in the proverbial ass. God, why did he have to tell her how he’d diagnosed her so perfectly? Hadn’t he ever heard that ignorance was bliss? Now she’d become hypersensitive to every possible traitorous thought.
“Rose? Rosalind, are you okay, sweetheart? Your cheeks are red as cherries.”
“Just… Um, overheated.”
Kane wrapped an arm around her, leading her away from the hubbub. “Come on, let’s go outside for a few minutes.”
“I’m not really sure cooling off by going out into the hot, humid, and crowded street is really a good solution.” Rosalind tried not to sound like an ass, but somehow her efforts didn’t achieve much.
To her astonishment, he chuckled and continued to lead her toward the door. “All the same, the fresh air will do you some good.”
They had just about achieved an exit when Nila caught Rosalind by the arm. “Ah, here she is, the girl I was talking about. Rosalind, this is my brother Kunal and his wife Mina.”
Kane ceded to the matron’s insistent tug only after Rosalind told him to go outside, that she would be along in a moment.
He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “I spotted a little tea garden just up the street when we were walking in. Turn right when you come out. I’ll grab us a table and something refreshing.”
Inwardly, Rosalind sighed, but was resolved to stay gracious. After all, Nila had more than been hospitable to her on her visits.
The old woman grabbed Rosalind’s arm and turned them over to the expectant eyes of her relatives. “You see this? Such pale skin, but how bold the pattern is because of it.”
Nila’s sister-in-law looked down her nose. “And you did this?”
Nila nodded.
“And this?” The accusing woman’s finger traced the outline of the blotch on Rosalind’s arm.
As though someone had just pointed to a fly in her curry, Nila snapped up Rosalind’s arm and drew it to eye level.
“It wasn’t there last night.” Nila’s expression begged Rosalind for an explanation. “Did it smudge when you washed off the mehndi? Wasn’t it dry enough? Still, it would take a few minutes to set, then why …”
“Rosalind.”
They turned in unison when Xavier spoke from behind them. Taking two steps toward the party, Rosalind about passed out when her French-Canadian headhunter began to spout Hindi. He pressed his hands together and saluted Nila and the other two elders while he prattled on saying God only knows what.
Rosalind wanted to pick her chin up off the floor, but she found herself entranced.
Perhaps for Rosalind’s benefit, Nila moved the conversation to English. “Well, it is very delightful to meet you, Mr. Hommes. Thank you for coming all the way from San Francisco to assist in this matter.”
“Matter?” Rosalind’s eyebrow quirked. “I thought you were here to scout for candidates for placement?”
“Actually, I’m here to see through one placement in particular.” Xavier reached out a hand to Nila in offering. “Mrs. Pure, may I steal away Miss Betters for a moment? I need to speak to her urgently.”
Nila’s eyes fixed on Xavier’s hand before she finally blossomed into a cat-that-got-the-cream grin and reached out to take it. “Of course.”
Xavier’s hand went to the small of Rosalind’s back as he began to guide her toward the door, sending a bristle up her spine that she had to admit, was not entirely unpleasant. It was, however, completely in appropriate for a woman engaged to another. Or about to be engaged. Whatever, she believed in rounding up.
“I didn’t know you spoke Hindi,” she said as she fixed her pace to pull away from him.
She saw the corner of his mouth quirk. “And French, though you know where I’m from so that probably doesn’t surprise you. I also speak Italian, as you know, and some basic Mandarin. That’s important, but we’ll get back to that later.”
Good, she thought. That certainly opened the pool of candidates he’d have an edge with during any future searches she threw his way.
“And what’s so urgent? Is it about work? I was just stepping out to… do something”
“No, I’m afraid not. We have to talk now.”
To her surprise, he took a right and moved her into a staff staging area. All around, waiters set up trays of food, preparing to move to the floor as soon as Kamakshi and Prashant had taken their seats at the front of the hall. It was as though they were mist amongst minstrels; no one paid them any heed.
“Okay, but is there a reason we need to go into hiding, though? Is there some corporate takeover afoot you’re aware of and want to let me in on?”
He stopped and turned. She realized suddenly they w
ere masked from sight, standing behind a potted palm at the side of the room.
“Before all else,” he began, standing face to face with her. “I want to apologize.”
“For last night? It’s okay, you were right. And I understand what you were saying.”
“No, I don’t think you do. And no, for this.” He held up his left hand and wiggled his fingers. As her eyes adjusted to the dimness, she realized that something about those digits was very off. As though he were wearing a glove, which of course, he wasn’t. Colors took on meaning as it dawned on her.
“They’re red. Oh my God, the mehndi! You smudged it. And Nila, she … She saw that, didn’t she?” Rosalind pricked his chest with her finger. “Did you tell her something, Xav? In all that Hinid-Bindi you guys were just doing, did you tell her what almost happened last night?”
“No, I didn’t have to say a thing.”
“What do you mean, you didn’t have to say a thing. How else would she know unless you said something?”
“Something she said just now. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize the henna was on my fingers until this morning. I was so … distracted last night, I didn’t notice.”
“Well, we have to tell her there’s nothing going on. Nila’s got many fine qualities, but keeping secrets isn’t one. Now, tell me what this is all about so I can go cut her off before the news reaches Bombay and Bermuda.”
He swooped the folio out from under his arm and presented it to her. Rosalind eyed it suspiciously, as though expecting it to explode or transform into a bunny rabbit.
“A weird time to present me a bill,” she deadpanned. “I haven’t even popped the question yet.”
“Good.” Xavier pushed the folio more insistently toward her. “Because you should look at this before you do, so you can make a truly informed decision.”
Her hands began to rise, but something in the way the movement made his eyes light up gave her pause. Her hands began to rise, but something in the way the movement made his eyes light up gave her pause. “What is it?”
“You don’t love Kane,” Xavier declared. “You’re wrapped up in the fantasy that you’re falling for him. But I see now, you’re only falling for him because you’ve misconstrued what it is you deserve. As did I, and for that, I’m sorry. But there’s still time, We can fix it. Just, please, look at this file instead.”
“Are you crazy?” Rosalind coughed out a laugh. “Don’t presume to tell me what I feel and don’t feel. Now, please, I have to go talk with Nila before it’s too late. I swear, Xav, if the little maneuver of yours last night or anything you just said ends up costing me Kane, you can kiss your commission good-bye.”
“You are an obstinate woman sometimes, you know that?” Her breath whooshed out when he moved his hands to her hips, letting his unclaimed folio fall to the ground. He dug his fingers in and anchored his grip. “But if this is the only way to get it through to you, then fine.”
“What are you doing?”
His lips lowered to hers as he pushed her against the wall with his body. “Kissing my commission good-bye!”
And kissing her is exactly the way he did just that.
Uniquely Qualified
She must have slipped on her way out of the reception hall and knocked herself out cold, for reality and Rosalind were no longer on speaking terms. Xavier Hommes couldn’t possibly be kissing her. Xavier Hommes who, mind you, was not a bad kisser, but had just convinced her the night before that pursuing Kane Kennedy was in fact still a good idea despite the false example it was based upon. And she especially could not be kissing him while clutching a handbag that contained the engagement ring she’d bought to propose to Kane. No way. Impossible.
As she felt her head tilt and her lips caress his, however, reality went red rover and finally succeeded in breaking through.
“Stop!” Rosalind couldn’t back away; Xavier had her pinned. His eyes lingered on her lips. When she put her hands flat against his chest and gently pushed, however, he ceded and opened a small space between them.
“Rosalind, don’t.”
She glared. “Don’t what, exactly? Don’t keep my wits about me? Don’t let myself get tricked by your ‘test’ to prove to me how good you are at diagnosing people? Don’t let you pull me into a dark corner and kiss me?”
“No, I’m all for you doing that last one.” He exhaled heavily. “And I’ve never ‘tested’ you. I don’t know what you mean by that.”
Her hands flew to his wrists, arresting his attempted advance to pull her back to him. “Yes, you do. That whole ‘any man would be lucky to have you’ and ‘you sabotage relationships’ spiel you were on last night. I thought you were saying all that to get me over my doubts about Kane. And the near kiss … your way to show me that I might tend to sabotage, but I didn’t have to.”
“You think that’s why I tried to kiss you? To sure up your ties to Kane?” Xavier hitched his elbow on the wall over her shoulder and flexed back his arm to run his hand through his hair. “Rosalind, that is so not the reason.”
“You mean you were actually going to kiss me just because you wanted to?” He nodded, she huffed. “So you like me, and you’ve waited until now, literally moments from when I’m about to propose to the man you found for me, to say anything?”
“It’s scomplicated.” Xavier let out a groan. “Because I feel too much for you.”
“Well that makes about as much sense as a wheelchair for a tuna fish.”
“I was trying to stand back and let you be happy. And I didn’t know how to get you to admit your feelings for me without making you feel guilty about Kane.”
Her fingers threaded her hair and yanked. “Oh, God, this isn’t happening. It can’t be. Kane is… You even picked Kane out yourself. Don’t dare tell me now that you think he’s a mistake.”
“He is my mistake, not yours. You’ve done nothing wrong. He’s just not the best man for the job. I am.” His elbow dropped as he coaxed Rosalind into easing down her arms. His lips returned to hers and he leaned in, but he hesitated. “I see what’s hidden beneath the surface, you beautiful creature. I understand what will compliment it. I understand you.”
She couldn’t stop her eyes from rolling. Rosalind ducked out from under his arms. “Oh, puh-lease, you’re not the Rosalind Whisperer. Just because you can track down a great CFO that everyone grooves with doesn’t mean you know what’s in my heart. You couldn’t possibly know that I have feelings for you.” Her arms crossed over her chest.
A smile danced in his voice and raised a corner of his mouth. “You make plain your truth, milady.” As he pushed off the wall, Xavier leaned over and swooped his fallen folio from the floor. “You’ve just acknowledged it without meaning to. ‘That I have feelings for you,’ is an affirming statement spoken by your heart, proving you do. If you can’t be honest with me, at least be honest with yourself. Things have happened with him that have made you doubt, haven’t they? When you found out about Kamakshi’s secret last night, that just lit on fire the tinderbox you were already carrying around. Tell me, had you any niggling doubts?”
“My doubts don’t niggle.” If he thought she was going to give him an inch in this conversation, he was crazy. Even if what he was suggesting were true, all relationships carried with them a smidgen of concern. Didn’t they? It proved nothing.
“There should be doubts, because he’s not right for you. I never would have paired you with him.”
She turned, confusion marring her features. “But he was in the folio you left at my loft.”
“Accidentally left. You never should have seen that folder without my giving you a proper introduction to its intent. If I knew now what I knew then, you wouldn’t have seen it at all.” He could tell by the look on her face—those arched eyebrows, those fretting lips—that she hadn’t a clue what he was talking about. “Look, do you remember that dinner we were supposed to
have the night you brought Kane with you?”
“Yeah, so?”
“I was going to tell you that night, but I guess I forgot the files of the second group at your loft the night you were sick. If I hadn’t, you never would have phoned Kane, and you’d already be wearing my ring. Besides, my methodology is skewed in the case of Kane Kennedy, because of your prior relationship with him—”
“There was no prior relationship,” Rosalind interjected. “We never dated at Stanford. Hell, we only said hello to each other a handful of times. I never would have …”
“Dated someone like him back then,” Xavier completed for her. “Yeah, I know. And until what you told me in the elevator this morning, I thought it was because you thought you weren’t worthy of him. I thought you were trying to correct that past sense of inferiority by proving you were worthy of him now. But you know what, Rosalind? You’re not worthy of him.”
As though someone had just whacked her on the back with a Louisville Slugger, Rosalind felt all the air in her lungs perform an emergency escape. “Excuse me?” she finally managed to cough out.
“You are not worthy of him,” Xavier repeated the pronouncement in a slow, measured tone. “That night I intercepted you at the charity ball? I was on assignment from Kane. He said he had heard rumors that you were haughty and superior, he didn’t want someone who wouldn’t be willing to step back and let a man have some say. He had me to devise a pre-screening to see if you had the ability to bend.”
Have Gown, Will Wed Page 18
