Page 2 of Where She Belongs

“That’s my girl.” Roxanne patted her arm. “We’ll find you someone who can bring everything to the table.”

Rylee cocked a brow. “Meaning…”

“Oh, you know. A name. Power…”

“Roxy,” she warned, though she hadn’t stopped smiling.

“Money would be nice but we both know you won’t need it,” Roxanne said with a wink.

Rylee tipped her head back and addressed the sky.

“And a body that makes your mouth water.”

“Roxy!” The name was getting a workout tonight. “That’s shallow. Every item on that list is shallow.”

Roxanne shrugged. But at the door she caught Rylee’s elbow and stopped her. “There’s more to it than any of that, dear, and I’m glad you know it. Find someone who lights you up. Find someone who sees you.”

The back of Rylee’s neck prickled. She reached for the door and Roxanne pulled her up short. “Where in the world are your shoes?”

Rylee looked down at her bare feet. “You know me. I’d rather go barefoot than spend an evening in heels.”

“But those were Louboutin!”

It was Rylee’s turn to shrug. “They’re pretty, I’ll grant you that, but they just weren’t me.”

Under her aunt’s disapproving stare, Rylee gave it up. “I’m fairly sure I hid them in the potted plant by the door.”

Her aunt gaped at her. For all her talk about the right man and not needing money to be happy, Roxanne loved her clothes. A pity, given that most of Rylee’s wardrobe had been chosen by Roxanne’s own stylist.

They went in, and Roxanne swept through the room as though she’d been born to it. She hadn’t been. Their family came out of farming country. Then she caught the eye of the most eligible bachelor in New York on a road trip she took in college, and never went back. No more dirt under her fingernails. No more breaking her back to put food on the table.

When her husband had passed, she’d offered her family money. To Rylee’s knowledge her father had refused. But he’d made sure they stayed in touch. Family had always been important.

Roxanne never had children of her own. It didn’t stop her from taking in her nephew’s daughter when he died.

Rylee owed her everything.

Someone came up behind her and she stiffened before he said a word.

Alexander King.

“Where did you run off to?” He said it warmly, and his face was kind with it. None of the hard edges she’d come to expect from the men who ran in her uncle’s circles. There was almost a boyish charm to him. He was also eager, and the eagerness didn’t charm her like he probably expected.

Johnathon had done a number on her instincts. She pushed the feeling down and turned to Alexander with a smile she had to build from scratch. “I needed some air.”

His pale blue eyes sparkled as he lifted a glass to his lips and took a sip. His hair was blond and perfectly styled. Not a strand out of place. He looked like a model in the fitted suit he wore. Any other girl might fall to her knees if given his attention. And yet she simply couldn’t bring herself to feel the same way.

He smirked, probably noticing the way her eyes swept over him. He did look like a slightly less buff version of Captain America. For all intents and purposes, she should have been at least a little weak in the knees when he smiled like that. “When are you going to go out with me again?” he murmured. Alexander even had that husky voice down.

She smiled weakly. “I’ll have to check my calendar.”

“You make sure you do that. Otherwise, I might just have to go over your head.”

Rylee frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”

He nodded toward her aunt. “I’m sure Roxy wouldn’t mind a little espionage if it meant getting you out of the house.”

On the outside she stayed calm. Fifteen years of instruction in what a woman in high society is and is not permitted to do will buy you that. Roxanne claimed the rules had stopped applying to her, what with her age and her money. Rylee was single and her inheritance wouldn’t come through until her aunt died, so Rylee played her part.