Cinderella Busted (The Cinderella Romances #1) (15 page)

“Where will I go?” Rob asked, squeezing between heavy sable palms from the next aisle over.

“To the black-tie charity gala with Lily this Saturday night?” Tammy prodded hopefully.

Rob smiled at Lily. “I have a tux in my closet.”

With a wink and a nod, Garrett strode right past Rhett’s secretary, Marcy James, and into Rhett’s office without slowing his step. He’d called from downstairs to be sure Rhett was alone rather than storm the gates unannounced. This visit would require some finesse.

Rhett stood at the battery of windows forming the back wall of his office and stared out over Palm Beach Island. He had acquired this exclusive address at the business end of famed Worth Avenue for the prestige rather than the spotlight. Everything the man did in life was carefully planned and calculated like a formal risk assessment.

Everything except Lily.

Garrett had never once wondered why Rhett, who could afford to live anywhere he wanted, chose to live forty minutes away on Jupiter Island rather than in one of the nearby Palm Beach mansions. He already knew the answer. Rhett liked his privacy, away from the glare of the social circle, and liked being tucked away at the far end of Jupiter Island by that state park. Garrett suspected Rhett had subconsciously focused on quiet, unassuming Lily Foster for the same reason.

“Are you going to say something or just stare at me?” Rhett asked without turning.

“I got the plants out and the pool cleaned up. Thought you’d want to know.”

“Good. Thanks. I owe you.”

“No, you don’t,” Garrett said, feeling a stab of guilt over what he was about to do. “That’s what friends are for.”

“Still, my behavior last night was inexcus—”

“Forget it!” he interrupted. “I just called the girl, and she met me over there and picked up the plants.”

Rhett stiffened at the window. “She met you at my house?”

Garrett winced at the menace in his tone, but cheerfully pressed forward. “Yeah, we loaded everything up while the pool tech was there. He helped me with a couple of the bigger palms. House looks good as new.”

“And the girl?” If anything, Rhett’s tone grew even more ominous.

“Gladly took the plants back. I was happy to get a chance to talk with her for a while. I hope you don’t mind, but I asked her to the black-tie charity gala and auction at Palm Isles next Saturday night.”

Rhett whipped around so fast Garrett almost took a step back, but he’d steeled himself for a volatile response, and he had no fear of Rhett Buchanan. The two had been best friends for over fifteen years. Each was an only child, so their closeness had evolved to a relationship of brothers over the years, which was why Garrett felt so comfortable poking his nose into Rhett’s private life.

Rhett’s eyes glittered dangerously. “You asked Lily out?” he roared.

Bingo
.

Garrett had guessed right. Rhett looked ready to kill him, madder than Garrett had seen him in over fifteen years. Rhett hadn’t forgotten Lily Foster
or
given her up. He was still madly in love with her as evidenced by his insanely jealous display at the moment.

Garrett kept his expression skillfully blank for a brief moment. “Lily? Oh hell no,” he protested innocently. “I asked Tammy to go with me.”

Rhett glared and waited.

“Tammy’s the sales manager, the redhead? I’ve seen her several times over at Bloom & Grow when I selected plant lists, and I thought she was hot. Your cleanup this morning gave me the chance to ask her out. If that bothers you, I can call and cancel.”

Rhett continued his intense stare, the one Garrett hated, the one where he seemed to look into your soul. Garrett fought to keep what he hoped looked like an innocent expression.

“What do I care if you take her out,” Rhett growled finally and turned back to the window.

“I didn’t think you would,” he muttered casually. “Are you going? To the charity gala I mean.”

Rhett spun back around. “Why?”

Garrett shrugged. “Just curious. If you are, I can keep Tammy away from you if you like. You know, if she reminds you of Lily or something.”

Something flashed in Rhett’s eye. “Careful, Garrett,” he said ominously.

Garrett threw both hands up, palms out. “Just asking.”

He had crossed the line, exactly as he had intended, and now he needed to back off to let his well-stirred pot simmer.

“Do whatever you want,” Rhett snapped.

Garrett turned and headed for the door. He paused, his hand on the knob. “I’ve ordered another shipment of those weeping orchids and rare gray palms and a handful of pygmy date palms for that revamped office complex we’re flipping in Del Ray Beach. The plants will sell the place in a week.” He slipped through the door without waiting for a response.

Rhett glared at Garrett’s retreating form and clenched his jaw in anger. More Bloom & Grow palms meant another inspection. He’d never wanted to slug Garrett before, but he did right at that moment. He felt his fingers ball into a fist of their own accord. How could Garrett force him to go back there for another inspection? Because he loved his damned specialty trees,
that’s
why. And he thought Rhett was tough enough to
man up
and get the job done.

Damn it, he
was
tough enough. He would show the lying little gold-digger she didn’t mean a thing to him. He would go in and inspect the trees without a backward glance.

An image of Lily formed in his imagination, her enormous blue eyes and silky blond hair. If she didn’t mean a thing, then why did his stomach muscles tighten at the mere image in his mind?

He stared at the closing door.

What the hell was Garrett up to?

Chapter 7

Rob strode into the nursery office and glanced all around. “Where’s the newspaper?”

Tammy reached behind her desk. “Over here, and good morning to you, too.”

Rob grinned as he leafed through the sections. “Sorry, my mom called. She and my dad are in a picture on the society page, and she didn’t want me to miss it.”

“She’s been calling you more lately.”

He grinned wider. “Yeah, she’s finally grown accustomed to her son’s
odd
line of work.”

“And your dad?”

His grin faded slightly. “Not a chance. But Mom has an agenda. She’s mentioned grandchildren more than once.”

Tammy hooted with laughter.

“Hey, it’s not
that
funny.”

“The thought of you with kids is hilarious,” she said.

He looked up from the paper. “Where’s the Local section?”

Tammy stopped laughing instantly and put a finger up to her lips. “Shhh. I pulled it out.”

“For me?”

“No, to hide it.”

“Hide? Why?”

Tammy grimaced. “You’ll see.” She handed the section over.

Rob took only a minute to locate the picture in question. He gave a low whistle. “You’re hiding
this
from Lily?”

He held the paper up and for the second time that morning, Tammy stared at a picture taken of billionaire Rhett Buchanan and the supermodel Hennessy at a political fundraiser in Miami on Saturday night.

“Of course I am,” she said curtly. “Now look quick so I can stuff it back in my desk drawer.”

Rob frowned. “So what do
we
do?”

“The story after this is that someone must have taken the newspaper section or misplaced it.”

“No, I mean about Buchanan.”

Tammy sighed. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Lily is strong enough to decide what to do on her own.”

“No, she’s not, or you wouldn’t be hiding the newspaper from her.”

“I’m protecting her from further hurt. And
you’re
taking her to the charity gala this weekend.”

He shook his head and ambled to the door. “I sure hope
we
know what
we’re
doing,” he muttered.

Lily stared at her reflection in the mirrored wall of the Palm Isles ballroom and wondered who the curmudgeon was who stared back. The body was draped in a clingy black silk gown, accented only by her mother’s diamond pendant and matching dangly earrings. The body appeared to be hers, but the face was all wrong, huddled in an unfamiliar scowl.

“You look stunning,” Rob whispered in her ear, “especially with your hair done up like that. Now stop fidgeting
and
scowling. People will think you don’t like your date.”

Her reflection immediately returned to normal as a smile spread across her face. Satisfied finally with her appearance, she turned to Rob. “I love my date, and you look gorgeous tonight.”

He did look handsome in his tailored tuxedo, and Lily felt a spark of pride that he’d agreed to escort her to this soiree. If that rotten Buchanan showed up, he could see what he so callously threw away.

A lump suddenly made a desperate attempt to lodge in her throat, and she forced it back down as she had the thousand other times the lump had attacked since she ran from Buchanan’s terrace that awful afternoon. She refused to grieve over a relationship with a man who was that mean and nasty. She was far better off without him.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Rob complained, “don’t bring that scowl back out. You’re scaring the patrons away, and this is a charity event.”

She actually chuckled at that, her first this week. “You’re wonderful, Rob.”

“I know. Let’s go find Tammy and the bar and not in that order. We need champagne to celebrate.”

“Celebrate what?”

“You escaping the doldrums.” He smiled down at her. “And the end of the second and enormously successful week of our new interiors line.”

He skillfully maneuvered her through the crowd of gowned and tuxedoed couples, and Lily tried not to gape at the opulence surrounding her. She owed Tammy for talking her into this. She would never get another chance to rub shoulders with the
crème de la crème
of Jupiter Island society. Rob seemed to know half the people here and stopped a half dozen times on the way to the bar to introduce her to those who had waylaid him.

“Why do you complain about these society folks so much,” she whispered, as they neared the bar. “They’re all rather exciting.”

“Not when you get to know them and see what’s under the veneer,” he muttered.

“Surely, not all of them,” she said.

He stopped suddenly and glanced around at the people crowding the ballroom and then stared down at her for a long moment. “You’re right. A majority of them
are
nice. It’s people like the Armsteads who give the rest of them a bad name.”

“I see Tammy,” Lily said and nodded to a large group of people on the other side of the bar. Rob eased her that direction, and seconds later, she was at Tammy’s side.

“You look breathtaking in that emerald gown,” Lily said and hugged her friend.

“I’ll second that,” Garrett said and handed one of the two glasses of wine he carried to Tammy.

“Have you two actually met?” Tammy asked, looking from Garrett to Lily and back.

Garrett looked momentarily chagrined. “Yes, we did. At a cocktail party not too long ago.”

Lily extended a hand, which he took. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Tucker.”

He winced and shook her hand. “Call me Garrett, please.”

“All right, Garrett.” She turned. “This is Rob Shaw, my dear friend and head grower at Bloom & Grow.”

Rob gave him a stilted smile.

“Your plant lines are amazing,” Garrett said sincerely, and Lily watched Rob’s expression soften.

“You grow things I can’t get anywhere else, and the stock is healthy, too. The combination is nothing short of a miracle.”

“We love compliments like that. Don’t we, Rob?” She tugged on Rob’s arm, and his expression loosened a bit more.

“I notice you have another order in,” Rob said. “Where’ll this one be going?”

“To a commercial property we’re flipping down south, and those gray
Bismarchia
palms will be perfect with the façade.”

“We’re still short two,” Tammy cut in, “but Rob’s searching for them. He needs a few weeks to clean them up after he gets them.”

“No problem.”

“Is there big money in flipping commercial properties?” Rob wanted to know.

“Oh yeah, if you dress them up just right. We do a lot of that type work in between going on location for larger projects, and several small jobs can bring in almost as much money as one of the really big developments.”

“Any big stuff on the horizon?” Lily asked, telling herself she was only making idle conversation. What did she care if Buchanan had to leave town to manage a large-scale development?

“Actually, our attorneys have a parcel picked out and ready to go—some waterfront property near Jupiter. Just some last-minute stumbling blocks to remove first.”

“Where is it?” Lily asked.

“I don’t even know.” Garrett smiled. “The real estate procurement team locates and sets up the properties for sale, then Rhett swoops in to approve and sign the final papers. After that, he drags me out to the site with the conceptual plans and shows me what he wants.”

“How nice to be so busy,” she murmured, hating that a simple discussion about Buchanan made her heart race.

The man had humiliated her, and she hated him for it. She felt her cheeks growing warm, and she hated that, too.

Garrett noticed. “Sorry, Lily. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Let’s get that drink we came over here for,” Rob said and took Lily’s elbow.

As they turned toward the mobile bar, Lily heard Tammy whisper, “Is
he
coming tonight?”

“I asked him, but he wouldn’t say if he was or not,” Garrett said.

“Will he bring a date?” Tammy asked.

Her voice was low, but Lily still heard, and her heart suffered a reflexive stab of pain. She stuck close to Rob and refused to look back. She didn’t want to know Buchanan’s plans. As Rob eased into the line at the bar, Lily heard a hiss coming from Tammy’s direction. She turned to see Tammy and Garrett staring wide-eyed at the ballroom entrance. Lily didn’t have to look to know Rhett Buchanan had just appeared at the event with a date.

She suddenly felt cold from head to toe, and she fought the scowl trying to reform on her face. Why should she give a fig if Buchanan showed up tonight with a date? She was
so
over him. But in that moment, she just couldn’t help herself, and she tracked Tammy’s gaze to the ballroom entrance to see the woman Rhett had escorted here tonight.

Lily promised herself—insisted—his date’s identity did not matter. Her gaze fell on Rhett’s broad-shouldered outline silhouetted in the doorway, and she stilled at the sight of the woman on his arm.

Unless Delia Armstead was his date
.

“Damnation,” Garrett hissed. “What was he thinking?”

“You mean what was he thinking
with
,” Tammy said dryly.

Lily turned back to face forward with Rob. He gave no sign of having heard Garrett and Tammy, but his arm swept protectively around her shoulders, and she felt grateful. She had known if Garrett was here, there was a chance Buchanan would show.

So why had
she
come? To prove how brave she was? How unhurt she was? She didn’t feel very brave right now, and seeing Buchanan with Delia made her heart hurt so bad there was a stabbing pain in her chest. She could convince herself she was over Rhett as long as she didn’t have to actually
see
Rhett. She had convinced herself she didn’t care anymore, but seeing him with Delia made a liar out of her.

Rob let go her shoulder long enough to reach for the two glasses of champagne the bartender placed on the counter. He handed one glass to Lily and took her elbow to guide her away from the bar.

Stopping several yards away, he leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I want you to give as good as you get. He dared to show up here with Delia, after what she did, so we will make him pay. If you promise to look like you’re having the time of your life, I’ll get you out of here as soon as I can.” He leaned back to look in her eyes. “Deal?”

She nodded. “Deal. And thanks, Rob.”

“You’re my best friend, Lily. I’d do anything for you,” he said and leaned over to kiss her cheek.

Closing her eyes, she smiled and leaned into him. When her eyes opened, her gaze settled on Buchanan staring stonily from across the room. She glanced up at Rob and slid her arm around his waist.

“Smooth move, Lil. I caught all that, and right now he looks like he could clock me.”

“Maybe this isn’t wise,” she said, but she noticed Rob was smiling.

“Are you kidding me? I’m enjoying the hell out of this. How many times in my life will I get the opportunity to make a
billionaire
jealous?”

“He’s not jealous. He hates me. You weren’t there. You didn’t hear him call me a liar and scream at me to get out of his house.”

She shuddered, and Rob tucked her closer, hoping Buchanan got an eyeful. “You don’t know that he hates you.”

“I do. He accused me of being after his money, of luring patrons into the nursery like some kind of
plant slut
.”

Rob roared with laughter.

“That’s not funny.”

“Yes, it is. You a slut? Come on.”

Rob was still shaking with laughter when Tammy and Garrett approached.

“What’s so funny?” Tammy asked.

“Buchanan accused Lily of using her feminine wiles to sell plants,” Rob said, unable to contain his mirth.

“Oh good Lord,” Garrett muttered, looking embarrassed. “Lily, I’m sorry. If he tries to get near you, I’ll run interference.”

“No, it’s all right. I don’t care. It’s over. He made his position perfectly clear the other day, and it’s fine with me this way.”

Garrett and Tammy exchanged glances. Tammy leaned in and whispered, “But I thought you . . .”

“. . . fell for him?” Lily finished for her. “Purely infatuation and I’m over it.”

She didn’t bother keeping her voice down. She didn’t care if Garrett heard or not. She hoped he told Buchanan exactly how she felt.

“I’d be silly to think I’d fallen for a guy after only a couple weeks like some schoolgirl.”

“I had no idea he would bring Delia tonight,” Garrett said apologetically.

“Now that’s one thing I could have lived without,” Lily said, her smile fading, and she wandered off with Rob to see where they were seated for dinner.

Garrett left the redhead and walked alone to the bar. Rhett caught up with him there. The sight of Lily Foster here with her date had Rhett’s jaws clenching. He knew Garrett was behind her appearance here at the charity gala, but Rhett would make an effort to be civilized. After all, Garrett was his best friend.