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“I saw you walk in with Rhett Myers, young lady, so that is difficult to believe.”
Then her eyesight wasn’t as awful as she claimed it to be. She turned her shrewd gaze on me, and it pierced like a truth serum.
“I work for Rhett. He only brought me as a favor.” It felt like a safe story to stick to. It was true, and it wouldn’t detract from whatever Bridget was trying to accomplish with Karina.
It was also hard to put a label on whatever was going on with us. I’d begun to convince myself that Rhett wanted me here, but the way he dropped me as soon as we walked through the door screamed otherwise.
Uncertainty with men was not a normal thing for me. It was common knowledge that I never dated anyone for very long, as Charlie had mentioned earlier, but I also never dated anyone unless I was completely confident in how they felt about me.
Not that I wasdatingRhett, but I had sort of thought that was what this was. After the dress and the comment about jealousy, it was reasonable for me to come to that conclusion, right?
Sheesh, was I really as pathetic as I sounded?
“Lucky woman,” Mrs. Daugherty said, dragging my thoughts back to earth. “He must be an excellent employer to bring you to such an expensive function. You ought to eat your weight in shrimp now.”
Shrimp? No, thank you. “He is certainly never boring.”
“Now go off and meet some young people.” She fidgeted with her hair, and another lock fell out of the updo, resting on her shoulder.
“Can I...” I gestured to her hair. “Can I fix that for you first?”
Her hands went to her hair. “Is it a mess? I can feel it falling. My fingers don’t have the grip they once did.”
“It’s not bad, but a few pins in certain places will make it feel secure. Do you mind? We can slip out to the bathroom and take care of it in a snap.”
“No, darling, I don’t mind. But my tired bones want to stay right here.”
Our corner was dark. I doubted anyone would notice a little hairstyling going on. Most of their eyes were on the celebrities anyway.
“As you wish, madam.” I stood behind her chair and pulled the pins free. My fingers ran through the hair, scraping it gently into my fist and then rolling it into a French twist. I slid her pins back into it, using two to anchor the hair and the rest to keep the roll in place. When I sat back down, I smoothed my skirt over my knees. “Give it a little shake?”
She did, and nothing moved. Her eyes seemed brighter, her smile a little broader. “Thank you. I need you here for every event.”
My stomach warmed with satisfaction, glad I’d been able to help her feel more confident about herself. “Unfortunately, I’m only in town for a few days.”
“Then quit wasting time with me.”
“I like chatting with you, Mrs. Daugherty. Perhaps we’ll have another opportunity to chat later tonight.”
“I will always welcome conversation with a kind person,” she said with a smile. “I do not intend to stay much longer, though.”
“Oh? Why not?”
“They start these fundraisers later and later every year. I would much rather be in bed.”
“We’re in a hotel right now, aren’t we? We can go find you one.”
She laughed. “You’re a dear. I do hope I’ll see you around more often.”
I left Mrs. Daugherty and walked through the crowd, not recognizing a single face and not seeing the one man I’d hoped to catch a glimpse of. I made my way toward the bar. I was clearly too distracted in my Rhett search, because I bumped a man’s shoulder and nearly spilled his drink. I pressed my hand into his arm. “I’m sorry. I should have been watching where I was going.”
His dark-brown gaze didn’t look the least bit bothered. “It’s no problem. I don’t mind when a beautiful woman accidentally runs into me.” He said the wordaccidentallyas though he believed I had done it on purpose.
Gross. “Well, good.” I moved to walk away when he talked again.
“Your hands look empty.”
I paused and tried to figure out what he meant by that.
