Happily Ever Afton (8 page)

‘If a bomb went off in here it would wipe out half the capital wealth in the universe!’

‘Er…you seem to have a bit of a chip on your shoulder when it comes to wealth,’ Cooper observed dryly. He was feeling some discomfort uncovering her rather vociferous opinions on the wealthy, walking her over with a hand beneath her elbow to the reception area where they stood in line with some of the biggest, card-carrying representatives of that particular group.

A group of which he himself was also a platinum card member!

‘I just don’t care for anyone who thinks because they have more money than they could ever even spend in a lifetime that it makes them better somehow,’ she stated intensely as they waited to turn over their tickets to an attendant seated behind a greeting table.

‘Moguls, land barons, brokers and investment bankers,’ Cooper stiffened as his own profession was singled out, ‘– they become
obsessed
almost with getting more and more wealth. It’s that relentless pursuit of money, power and prestige that slowly destroys relationships – well, that’s what happened to my parent’s marriage anyway,’ she murmured in a rare sharing moment about her past he listened to closely. ‘People in their lives just get left by the wayside…’ Her voice trailed off and she grew pensively silent.

‘What happened to finally break them up?’ he probed trying to get to the root of her antipathy. Afton hesitated and Cooper, thinking maybe he had overstepped into an emotional minefield, was about to apologize and change the subject when she gave a quiet explanation.

‘My mother…she has to share the blame I suppose…she’s all about ‘appearances’. What will people
think,
Afton – is all I ever heard growing up. She constantly pushed my father to be more, be bigger…be
better
…’ The hazel eyes grew shadowed.

‘And he couldn’t live up to her expectations?’ Cooper asked gently.

‘No, it wasn’t that…’ Afton corrected softly her blank gaze resting on a priceless gilt-framed painting from the Renaissance era hanging in a gallery across the way.

‘He actually made it all the way to the top from practically nothing – amassed a small fortune in his own software development business, but once he had money that’s
all
he could think about. He began working longer and longer hours at the office – around the clock practically, wanting more and more,’ she recalled with a troubled look in her eyes. ‘Never satisfied with what he had achieved already – and
never
spending time at home with me and my mother anymore.’

‘So your mother left him,’ Cooper stated, keeping his voice low to ensure their conversation would remain private in the slow-moving line.

‘No,’ Afton tore her gaze away from the painting to glance up at him, ‘he left
us
. He had an affair with his secretary,’ she said tonelessly, ‘which I suppose was to be expected since he was spending so much time with her at the office. By the time he died – a premature death from what the doctors’ said was a heart condition caused by stress and exhaustion from his all-consuming job – his new wife had spent all the money he’d made on designer clothes and jewelry and expensive homes here and in the south of France.’

Afton paused in her painful recollection.

‘There was absolute
nothing
left of the fortune he’d made and my mother had to go back to work as a nurse to support us. I guess that’s why she’s almost obsessed with me marrying well – so I never have to go through what she did. She was
thrilled
when Jason and I got engaged and she found out he was an editor at the paper. I haven’t had the nerve to tell her we broke up yet…I said we’d just decided to postpone it a few months – until we could buy a house…’

Cooper was grimly silent digesting all this and Afton blinked rapidly as though clearing bad memories from her darkened eyes.

‘Hey, I’m sorry;’ she swatted his arm playfully; ‘I didn’t mean to get all maudlin on you, Cooper. It’s time for your first murder to get started – don’t let me be the death of the party!’

Cooper smiled at her pun, shelving their very revealing conversation for a more appropriate time when he hoped to revisit it and make her see not everyone with money was cut from the same cloth.

Especially not him!

After turning in their tickets, he steered Afton to the main exhibition hall where the crowd gathered admired the artwork hanging on stark white walls with waiters in red jackets scattered throughout, offering crystal flutes of champagne off polished silver trays expertly held aloft in the air. Cooper snagged two glasses of the pale golden bubbles, handing one to Afton. She was just thanking him when his name was shouted out for what was to be the first of many times that night.

‘Cooper,’ an elegantly dressed, silver-haired man greeted him warmly with a pat on his back, ‘good to see you this evening, my boy!’

‘Evening, Baxter,’ Cooper greeted the president of the firm and his close mentor since college with a handshake and some trepidation. ‘Er…Baxter Worth, I’d like you to meet Afton Lanford.’

‘Nice to meet you, my dear,’ Baxter greeted Afton with an admiring smile. ‘Cooper, I was just telling Margaret all about your latest trip so you’ll have to stop by our table later and give her more details. She’s off in the ladies room now powdering her nose, or whatever else you gentle ladies
really
do in there,’ he said with a wink at Afton before turning his attention back to Cooper.

‘She just can’t believe you made it back in one piece, Cooper, thinks you’re absolutely stark raving mad! But I told her you’d already climbed five m – ’

‘I’ll definitely stop by and tell her all about it,’ Cooper interrupted quickly, whirling away Afton before Baxter Tyler Worth could finish his sentence.

Something he wasn’t used to, Baxter thought with a frown of consternation. But looking at the beautiful,
very classy woman
, he approved silently, accompanying his up-and-coming Managing Director, he understood why he might want to spend time alone with her and he turned with a smile to search for his own loving wife, Muffy, amongst the crowd.

Having dodged one bullet, Cooper turned right into another.

‘Good evening, sir,’ said his eager-beaver young assistant just recently graduated top of his business class in college and, as he’d told Cooper numerous times,
thrilled
to have been hired by the man whose funding and investment deals were already becoming renowned in the industry. ‘It’s a wonderful event tonight isn’t it, sir?’

Sir? 
Afton mouthed to Cooper behind his back, her amused smile questioning the formality.

‘Er…hello, Ryan.’ Cooper ran a finger beneath the lightly starched collar of the shirt that was beginning to feel uncomfortably tight around his throat. ‘Afton Lanford…Ryan Crenshaw,’ he made the quick introductions, ‘what are you doing here?’ He pinned on a smile, ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight.’

‘My sister is one of the curators at the museum and she got me a ticket at the last minute,’ he said proudly. ‘I hope you don’t mind, sir,’ Ryan added suddenly anxious, ‘I mean I
did
stay at work until my usual quitting time.’

Cooper gave a forced laugh. ‘Why would
I
mind? You’re certainly free to come and go as you please, Ryan.’ He took a needed gulp of champagne and Afton took the opportunity to lean in and ask a question of her own.

‘Are you a teller too?’ She looked startled when her question sent Ryan off into gales of laughter.

‘That’s a good one, Miss Lanford!’ His bright red head nodded up and down appreciatively, ‘but seriously, it’s been such an honor working with Mr. C—’

‘Afton,’ Cooper twirled her away in the opposite direction before Ryan could utter his name, ‘did you see the original painting by Monet over in this exhibit?’ He whisked her quickly away to the European Art gallery as Afton looked over her shoulder to give a befuddled and abruptly deserted Ryan a wave.

‘That was kind of rude, Cooper, and what was up with all the
‘sir’
stuff anyway?’

‘Just an inside joke we have at the bank,’ he murmured, mildly alarmed at how good he was becoming at deception. ‘Er…why don’t we go take a look at the sculptures,’ he hustled her along to the relative safety of the nearly deserted Greek and Roman gallery where just a few couples mingled among divine works created by mystically talented sculptors from centuries past.

As Afton marveled at a soaring sculpture of an ethereal angel perched on a glass-domed pedestal, Cooper marveled at her instead, finding it
uncanny
how much her profile resembled that of the exquisitely carved one above her. He enjoyed viewing both heavenly creations and found himself contemplating Afton more than the masterpiece, wondering if her body could inspire a man to capture it for an eternity, if the skin beneath her dress would be as faultless as the nude female form carved from pale marble. Feeling himself getting a little too hot and bothered, Cooper took a sip of his champagne before quietly suggesting they continue on through the silent row of statues.

Afton held Cooper’s arm as they circled several more iconic sculptures. When they stopped at a reproduction of the statue of David, Afton found she felt a little warm and flustered gazing up at the stunning masterpiece, the towering nude male depicted in powerful, graceful lines and perfect planes and proportions – much like the tall man standing so closely beside her.

Was
he
that impressive unclothed?

She took a needed sip of champagne to steady herself, draining her glass and Cooper attentively replaced it with a fresh one supplied by a passing waiter. He was just suggesting to her they find their table in the museum’s entry hall where a formal dinner would be served, when Afton peeked around his shoulder, muttering beneath her breath,
‘look out – iceberg straight ahead,’
in homage to one of her favorite movies.

Cooper glanced curiously around at her comment, stiffening beneath her hand after also spying Katherine sailing straight towards them. The iceberg analogy very apt as she wore a crystal-encrusted silver gown, hair piled high in an elaborate creation, blue-frosted eyes shooting them both a stare of black ice. She was accompanied by a formally dressed, startlingly attractive man with wheat-colored, subtly highlighted hair contrasting with a dark
manmade
, Afton judged, tan.

Cooper cursed beneath his breath appearing to recognize him.

‘Good evening, Cooper,’ Katherine conveyed a haughty greeting sweeping to a stop with a rustle of her gown in front of them. ‘I wasn’t sure if you would be here tonight, since we were originally supposed to attend this event
together
,’ she emphasized tartly. ‘I asked Reed to come along with me instead although I didn’t realize the guest list allowed you to substitute just anyone off the street.’

She spared Afton a quick, dismissive look. ‘Hello, Ashley.’

‘It’s Afton actually,’ Afton corrected.

‘What?
’ Katherine’s head snapped to her, the scarlet-painted mouth thinning ominously, two bright spots of color appearing on her cheeks when she spotted the
spectacular
large diamond glittering on Afton’s ring finger that was many carats bigger than the one she’d assessed and dismissed previously.

‘Er… never mind,’ Afton sighed and feeling uncharacteristically wicked; she lifted the champagne flute to her lips to better show off the fake diamond to Katherine’s eagle-sharp eyes. She decided though, that it was probably best to keep her mouth shut and just steer clear of the iceberg – much as the crew of the Titanic should have done to avoid catastrophe.

‘Cooper,’ the other man didn’t bother to extend his hand as though he knew it wouldn’t be shaken, ‘haven’t seen you at any club events lately. Getting a little too decrepit for physical activities are we,
old
man?’

Cooper gave him a cold smile. ‘Really, I think you could just say that I’m getting a little too old for fun and games – aren’t you as well, Reed – or are you still avoiding
real
work by living off of daddy’s oil fortune?’

Afton caught her breath a little unnerved at being caught in the middle of such open warfare, but her curiosity was definitely peaked –
how exactly had Cooper become mixed up with such a high roller crowd anyway?

Reed shot Cooper a frosty look from a pair of clear grey eyes. They wandered over in Afton’s direction and he was instantly diverted. ‘I’m sorry, how rude of me. I haven’t introduced myself to your lovely date,’ he took Afton’s hand in his and raised it to his lips, lingering over it just that moment too long, ‘I’m Reed Sinclair, and you are?’

‘
Afton
Lanford,’ Afton stressed her first name for the benefit of a disinterested Katherine whose entire focus was now solely and exclusively back on Cooper.

‘Afton – that’s an unusually beautiful name for an unusually beautiful lady,’ Reed slid out smoothly, the playboy image he obviously attempted to maintain coming to the forefront.

Cooper visibly bristled. He retrieved Afton’s hand from the other man, lifting it high so it was clearly in his line of vision. ‘And she’ll soon be using
my
last name, Sinclair – in case you’d failed to notice.’

‘Congratulations,’ Reed said with a sneer passing for a smile, ‘so the mighty have fallen, eh Coop? I never thought I would see you being led with a ring through your nose!’

‘When the
right
person comes along,’ Cooper’s gaze lingered lovingly on Afton and she had to give a hidden thumbs up to his acting skills, ‘you go along willingly. And now if you’ll both excuse us, Afton and I had planned to stroll through a few more of the exhibits before we head to our table.’

‘We’ll walk with you,’ Katherine shot out quickly ignoring the glower of displeasure appearing on Cooper’s face at her pronouncement. ‘I’m sure you could use someone who’s
educated
in art and culture to point out all the masterpieces in the exhibits to you, Cooper.’