“WILLIAM—”
“Tonight we’re Beth Ann and Bill,” he reminded her. As he had done several times.
The dinner was excellent, the wine was extraordinary and William—Bill—was a witty and amusing companion. A witty and amusing and devastatingly handsome companion.
Not the Bill she remembered.
Except for the good-looking part. She remembered that. It was the devastatingly handsome part that had crept up on her.
The beautifully tailored suit he wore hadn’t come from Tuxedo Park’s inventory. He looked better, more successful and sophisticated. Julian Wainright himself had come by their table and greeted Bill as a friend. Julian defined Beth Ann’s idea of sophistication, and tonight, Bill was his peer.
And the way he’d focused intently on her all evening had her running hot and cold.
He found her attractive and he was making sure she knew it. That made her hot. Wondering what to do about it made her cold.
He appeared casually relaxed, content to wait for…she wished she knew. Or was it she was afraid she knew?
She shouldn’t have let Lia talk her into wearing this jacket. It sent the wrong signal.
“We should probably discuss the men’s vests,” she said.
Bill set his wineglass down. “We should not.”
“Then what should we discuss?”
“How about we talk about me waiting the last eight years for you?”
Beth Ann was afraid she was going to cough up her sea bass because of the sudden knot in her throat.
“I could tell that the timing was never right, but damn, woman, you’re worth the wait.”
Beth Ann choked down her food. “I never led you on. I never implied we were anything more than business partners.”
“But you knew how I felt.” He gazed steadily at her.
Beth Ann felt her cheeks heat and went for her water glass.
“I was happy at the Monkey Suit, but I sold up and followed you here to Rocky Falls because this is what you wanted.”
“You didn’t have to.” She should have seen this coming. He was right—she had guessed that he felt something for her.
“If I wanted to be with you, I did.”
“Don’t pretend that this hasn’t been a great partnership and that you haven’t benefited from my ideas.”
“Never said it wasn’t.”
“I’ve worked hard—”
“Never said you hadn’t. And you just landed a wedding big enough to take you to the next level.”
“To take us to the next level.”
Bill picked up his wine and studied the liquid through the candlelight. “I don’t know if I want to go there with you or get out while the gettin’s good.”
She felt frozen. “What are you saying?”
He set the glass back down. Reaching across the table, he covered one of her cold hands with his. “I’m saying that I’ve been in love with you since your bad-perm days. One look at you all excited about opening your first shop and I fell so hard and so fast, I woke up in a different world. Since I met you, you’re my last thought at night and my first thought in the morning. Every. Single. Day.” His eyes were as intense as she’d ever seen them.
“Bill,” she whispered.
He squeezed her hand and withdrew his. “I’ve been waiting for the right time for you, and today I decided that it was the right time for me.”
Beth Ann was sweating in the sample jacket. “What do you want me to say?”
Hurt and disappointment flashed briefly across his face. “I want to know if you can ever feel that way about me.”
Beth Ann’s heart was pounding so hard she could barely breathe. She wasn’t ready to think about this. She couldn’t think about this. There was too much going on. With the exposure from the Brantley wedding, she was going to be busier than ever. He was putting pressure on her. She—
Her cell phone rang.
“Don’t answer,” Bill said quietly.
Beth Ann was already looking at the number. “It’s Lia.”
“Beth Ann. Call her back in a few minutes.”
“It’s…it’s got to be an emergency. She wouldn’t call me otherwise.” Beth Ann jabbed at the talk button. “Lia?”
She turned away with her finger in her other ear even though she could hear perfectly well. But she didn’t want to look at Bill.
It was bad enough meeting his eyes when she disconnected. “The computer crashed and Lia lost all the orders including the Brantleys’.” Beth Ann gathered her purse and stood.
“Sit.”
“Didn’t you hear what I said? This is a disaster.”
Bill drank his wine.
“We need to leave.”
“Finish your dinner. The computer is going to stay crashed whether you eat or not, and there’s nothing you can do until tomorrow.”
“I can help re-create the orders.”
“You can do that tomorrow.”
“Bill!”
He set the empty glass down with such force, the stem snapped. Staring at it, he took a deep breath. “Here.” He reached into his pocket and tossed his keys onto the table. “Take my truck.”
“But…”
“I’m staying here tonight. In the Rocky Falls Suite. Send James or somebody to pick me up tomorrow.”
“You…you reserved the Rocky Falls Suite? The one with the two-story waterfall?”
He said nothing, his face stony.
As though it was happening to somebody else, Beth Ann saw her hand reach for the ring of keys. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Dazed, she drove his truck to the salon.
She listened to what Lia was saying, but it was Bill and the expression on his face when she’d taken the keys that dominated her thoughts.
She heard enough to know that what had happened was bad, but it wasn’t a disaster like having the building catch fire.
The elegant salon was her dream. William—Bill’s partnership had given her that dream. His jokes and casual ways had balanced her pretentions. Had kept her focused. Kept her sane.
And now he was going to leave. Knowing Bill, he’d walk away and let her have everything.
Right at that moment, Beth Ann knew she didn’t want the bridal salon without Bill.
She blinked as Lia said something about the Brantley pinks. “It’ll be fine,” she told her vaguely. “Just finish up here and go on home.”
Beth Ann didn’t remember the details of the drive back to the Wainright in Bill’s truck. She remembered shaking with nerves. She remembered the elevator ride to the top floor and desperately trying to think of what she was going to say.
She remembered walking down the hall to the end opposite the bridal suite, where she’d delivered so many dresses.
And now she stood at the door with her hand poised to knock and noticed that there was a doorbell. That made sense. The famed Rocky Falls Suite with its outdoor balcony and hot tub that replicated the falls needed a doorbell because discreet knocks wouldn’t be heard outside.
Beth Ann knocked anyway. And she rang the bell, too. And then she rang it again.
It seemed as though an eternity passed before Bill opened the door. He barely wore a casually knotted terry robe. His chest and hair were wet. His face was blank.
“Did monsieur ring for zee French maid?”
He just stared at her and Beth Ann was terrified that she was too late.
“That is the worst French accent I’ve ever heard. Get in here.” He pulled her into the suite and into his arms and into a kiss that threatened to devour her.
Desire, passion and pure lust bloomed within her. Why had she been afraid? She slipped her hands beneath his robe as his fingers quickly unbuttoned the lace jacket.
A benefit of being in their profession was that they were experts in dressing and undressing. Beth Ann shucked her skirt and heard Bill inhale sharply.
“Beth Ann Grakowski, where are your panties?” Bill seemed genuinely shocked and not teasing at all.
What was the matter with him? “I’m wearing panty hose.” Probably the last woman on earth to do so. She rolled them over her hips.
Bill seemed to be breathing hard. Maybe he was a stocking man. Good to know.
“Y-you mean to tell me that all those years I gave you foot rubs, you weren’t wearing any panties?”
“Panty. Hose.” She finished pulling them off.
Bill took them and held them up. “See. Through.”
“So? No one is going to be looking.”
He made a strangled sound, scooped her up in his arms and carried her out to the patio. Without pausing, he descended into the lush pool, designed to look like a forest grotto and waterfall. “Beth Ann, from now on, your foot rubs are going to be a little different.”