Kennedy dressed in a simple off-the-shoulder pink floral top with white capris and sandals. She combed out her hair and reapplied makeup. When she emerged from the bathroom, Luke was busy on his cell phone and shirtless. She tore her gaze away. There’d be plenty of time for that tonight. Nerves ran through her at the thought. Having Luke stretched out on top of her, kissing her, had made her crazy with lust, but now…well, now she had to focus on Bentley again.
“Hey, gorgeous,” Luke said, looking up from the screen. “Give me a few minutes.”
“Take all the time you need,” she said and left, determined to get back on track with her real mission. It was way too easy to let her mind get clouded with lust in his presence. She headed downstairs and mentally reviewed her proposal for a foundation that would both provide a tax shelter and bring some good PR to Williams Oil.
She stepped into a formal dining room, where Bentley and Candy were already seated at one end of a long cherrywood mission-style table. They wore matching orange polo shirts with orange shorts.
“There you are,” Bentley said with a big smile. “Don’t you look relaxed? The spa was to your liking?”
“It was wonderful,” she replied honestly. “Thanks so much for inviting us.”
“Where’s Luke?” Candy asked, peering behind her.
She took the seat across from Candy. “He’s still getting ready.”
“Did he like the body scrub?” Candy asked. “Bennie didn’t like it the first time.”
“I sure did,” Luke replied, stepping into the room. His navy polo shirt brought out the dark blue of his eyes, and she fervently wished she didn’t notice that kind of distracting detail about him. Somehow he blended the upper class and casual look effortlessly. The sandals looked designer. Her gaze lingered on his calves for no good reason other than that they were muscular, golden, and beautiful. She sighed inwardly. Just like the rest of him.
He stopped by her chair and leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Thanks for waiting for me,” he said in a low voice. He smiled at her, a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, a smile that said he was onto her, before taking the seat next to her.
She battled briefly with a pang of guilt and shook it off. This was business.
Bentley signaled and a man wearing all white as Elizabeth had (the staff uniform?) appeared with a silver tray of appetizers. The man stopped by each of them, offering the food. She watched as Bentley and Candy pointed to what they wanted and the man picked it up with tongs and placed it on their small plates. When the tray reached her, she couldn’t decide between crab meat in a phyllo shell, some kind of pate on crostini, or miniature quiche.
“I’ll take one of each,” Luke said.
“Me too,” she quickly added.
The man inclined his head. “Certainly.” He set the delicacies on their plates.
She ate the crab in phyllo first. So buttery and delicious she nearly moaned. She was used to crackers and hastily made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
“Did you also do the full spa treatment?” Luke asked Bentley and Candy.
“We’ll do it tomorrow,” Candy said. “We didn’t want to miss out on our time with you. We thought after lunch we’d take a sail together. And then, Ken, you and I can do mani-pedis tomorrow after I finish my spa treatments. Sound good?”
“Sounds good,” Kennedy said. She’d never had a mani-pedi, but she knew this weekend was all about doing whatever Bentley and Candy wanted.
“How did you two like the soaking tub?” Candy asked with a knowing smile.
“Very nice,” Luke said in a deep voice that implied more. He smiled at her, and she forced herself to smile back. He squeezed her hand under the table, which somehow made her relax.
Bentley and Candy laughed. “That’s our favorite too,” Bentley said, taking Candy’s hand.
Kennedy suppressed a shudder and glanced at Luke, whose expression didn’t change. He was good.
After the appetizers, she enjoyed a course of cold melon soup followed by a plate of fresh lobster, roasted potatoes, and asparagus. It was the best meal she’d ever had. She was so full she couldn’t even eat the chocolate mousse they brought out for dessert. They were going to have to roll her out of the room.
“No dessert?” Luke asked her.
She put a hand on her stomach, which felt like it had grown. “I’m just so full.”
“You’re so skinny,” Candy said. “I’m jealous. I could never pass up dessert.”
“Ask me in a few hours and I’d eat the whole thing,” Kennedy said with a smile.
“Don’t forget,” Candy said, “tonight’s the dinner party. Not black tie, but nice, you know. Then we’ll go to the beach for a bonfire.” She turned to Bentley. “Did I miss anything?”
“That’s everything for today,” Bentley said.
“Who’s coming to the dinner party?” Kennedy asked.
“Just a few of my closest friends,” Bentley replied.
“Is Prince Erik able to come?” Candy asked.
Kennedy’s eyes widened. A prince?
Bentley shook his head. “Not this time. Some urgent business to attend to. Princely life isn’t all fun and games. But let’s see…” He then rattled off a list of names that were not at all what Kennedy had expected. Not titans of industry, not billionaires born into the family money. The guests were A-list actors, rock stars, and professional athletes. Of course, they had money, but the vibe was going to be entirely different. She had a sinking feeling she was not going to be remotely interesting to this crowd. And she had nothing glam to wear either. She put her hands under her legs so she wouldn’t start biting her nails again. She might’ve been a little out of her league before, battling for a big financial-management client, but at least she’d had solid research to back her up. These people wouldn’t care about that.
“Sounds like a blast,” Luke said. And he sounded like he meant it.
“So fun!” she said, matching his tone.
Luke asked Bentley about the house, and he launched into what was clearly a favorite topic as he told them all about having the house and surrounding property designed to his party expectations.
“Entertaining guests is so important in relationship building,” Bentley finished. “Well, you two know that.”
“Couldn’t agree more,” Luke said.
Kennedy felt like she was having an out-of-body experience, floating above it all. She’d attended an exclusive private school with the children of old-money families. She could hold her own, but this was a whole different thing with celebrities. The day’s events caught up with her. The foreign experience of being near naked while strangers rubbed and squeezed her. The constant back and forth with Luke, which triggered a mighty lust that she was not at all used to. She suddenly felt exhausted.
“Excuse me,” she said. “I need the ladies’ room.”
Candy gave her a nod, and the conversation went on without her. She went up to the guest room, quietly shut the door, and walked like a zombie over to the bed, where she promptly flopped face down.
A few minutes later, the door opened and she heard footsteps. She didn’t bother to lift her head. Whether it was Luke or Elizabeth coming to check on her, she didn’t have the energy. The person sat on the bed, and she immediately knew from the way the bed creaked and her whole body came to attention that it was Luke. Not to mention that delicious uber-expensive cologne he wore.
“Relaxing again?” Luke asked. He stroked her hair. “Didn’t we spend the whole morning relaxing?”
She rolled over to face him. “You ever meet a celebrity before?”
“Sure, lots of times at parties in the city. They’re just regular people that get their faces on TV.”
She sat up. Should she confide in him? Or would her confession just make it easier for him to win Bentley over and leave her behind?
“Spit it out,” he said. “Or I’ll be forced to tickle it out of you.”
“I’m afraid I’m going to clam up,” she blurted. “I’ll just stand there like an idiot and Bentley will think I have nothing to offer someone like him.”
“Advantage mine.”
She groaned and threw herself back on the bed, covering her face with both hands. “Augh!” She took her hands off her face. “I don’t know why I told you that. Now I’ve just handed everything over on a silver platter.”
He flopped down on his back next to her. “I’ve always had the advantage. I worked Wall Street for years. I have connections, lots and lots of connections, and ten years’ experience. You have two as an assistant.” He turned and pinned her with his dark blue eyes before delivering a direct hit to the gut. “This game was always rigged. I fully expect to walk away with Bentley’s business.”
Rage began a slow boil in her. He was so damn arrogant. So casually dismissive of her abilities.
She propped up on one elbow. “Well, that’s honest.”
He turned on his side and propped his head on his hand. “I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea about what’s going on. So now you know where you stand. Can you just enjoy the best night of your life? Not everyone gets invited to an A-list Bentley party.”
“Enjoy the best night of my life with you?”
“Who else?”
She battled between wanting to punch him for his dismissal and, at the same time, secretly fearing he was right. She sat up, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and rested her elbows on her knees while she thought over what he’d said. Was it true? Was the game rigged? But then why had Bentley narrowed it down to just the two of them? That was before she’d announced they were engaged. There must be a reason she’d gotten the meeting, something Bentley saw in her that he liked.
Her cell rang in her purse. She leaped up to answer it.
It was her younger brother Alex. “Ken,” he said in a subdued voice, “can you pick me up at the Clover Park police station? Mom’s up at Frank’s college for parents’ weekend and Dad wants me to spend the night in jail to learn my lesson, but—” he lowered his voice, nearly inaudible “—this place skeeves me out. I’m in the basement. It looks like a dungeon.” His voice cracked. “I think I saw a rat.”
She groaned. “What’d you do?” Ever since their dad’s accident, Alex had been acting out.
“Shoplifting.”
“What was it? I told you we couldn’t afford the sneakers you wanted.” At seventeen, Alex’s need to follow the crowd in certain brand-name clothes and shoes trumped his understanding of just how dire their family’s money situation was. Though she’d explained it several times.
“It wasn’t that,” Alex mumbled.
“What, then?”
“Nothing. Okay? Would you please come get me?”
“I don’t even have my car. I got a ride to Greenport.”
“I can’t spend the night in a dungeon with rats. Please, Ken.” His voice came out small at the end, and her protective big-sister instincts reared up. He used to be so sweet. Of all her brothers and sisters, Alex was the one who looked to her most when he needed a hug or extra attention when their mom was overwhelmed with their other siblings.
“Hold on.” She covered the mouthpiece of the phone and turned to Luke. “Can you lend me some money for a cab back to Clover Park?”
He stood. “What’s going on?”
“My brother needs me.”
“Let’s go. I’ll drive you.”
She stared at him for a moment, shocked that he was willing to leave Bentley’s place on a moment’s notice to help her brother that he’d never met. “You don’t have to come. I’ll take a cab.”
His gaze was direct. “I said I’d drive.”
“Uh…thank you.”
He nodded once.
She spoke to Alex. “I’m coming to get you. Do we have to pay bail, or will they just let you go?”
“Bail!” Luke exclaimed. She waved her hand, telling him to quiet down.
“They’ll let me go,” Alex said. “I’m a minor. Can you tell them you have permission from Dad?”
She sighed. She’d have to actually get her dad to call in and agree. Unlikely. In any case, her dad couldn’t drive even if he wanted to, her mom had the car and he hadn’t driven since his surgery because it pained him to move. She’d try her mom on her cell. She knew her mom would never directly oppose her dad, but she might be willing to call on the side in her quiet way. Kennedy would take it from there.
They quickly made their apologies to Bentley and Candy, taking a rain check on the sail, and promised to be back in time for the cocktail hour before the party.
After they got in Luke’s car, he turned to her. “We headed to the police station?”
“Unfortunately.”
He started the car and pulled out onto the main road. “What’d your brother do?”
She shook her head, still not quite believing it herself. “Shoplifted. I don’t know what. He’s seventeen. Probably some jeans or a hoodie with some sports logo on the front. I told him we can’t afford that logo stuff. How’s he going to get into a good college? Now he’ll have a record.”
“Maybe not. Maybe we can work something out with the police. The chief of police’s been involved with punk kids through the Police Athletic League for years. Chief O’Hare picked up right where Chief Bailey left off.”
We? For the first time she felt like she wasn’t alone in her efforts to help her family. “How do you know all this?”
One corner of his mouth lifted in a wry smile. “Because I used to be one of those punk kids.”