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“Yeah, Aubrey needs me. Makeup stuff.” I gesture with the hand holding the bag. “I should get back to her.”
With an almost bashful look, Rhett leans in and kisses me on the cheek. “Sorry for distracting you. Couldn’t help myself.”
“Oh, I’m sure Aubrey understands,” Ludo says, and I hate the way his eyes track me as I step away.
As I move toward the ballroom, I stare at the ground, too afraid my facial expressions will give something away. Even once I’m out of sight, I don’t look up. Rhett kissing me like that left my brain all fuzzy, and Ludo catching us only threw me off more. I have to find a way to calm myself down before I get back to the ballroom.
My lack of awareness is probably what leads me to walk directly into a large man. As I stumble backward from the impact, I meet Axel’s hard glare. My stomach drops.
“What the hell are you doing over here?” His eyes narrow with suspicion as he takes me in. “You’re a little far from the party, aren’t you?”
“I was just grabbing Aubrey’s makeup bag.” The words roll off my tongue with ease, and I mentally thank myself for practicing so many times. “And then I got . . . distracted.”
“Sure,” he says dryly, and then he snatches the bag from my hands.
Shit.
“Aubrey needs that,” I snap. When I try to grab it back, Axel holds it over my head. “Hey!”
“Axel,” Ludo says from behind me. He’s walking briskly with Rhett by his side. “What’re you doing?”
“I saw that these two were missing.” Axel gestures between the two of us. “There’s something off here, boss.”
“You’re focusing on the wrong people.” Ludo plucks the bag from Axel’s hands. “I just caught them making out by the stairs. That’s all.”
“Then check the bag,” Axel grits out. “If it’s full of makeup, then it’ll only prove their innocence.”
“All you’re proving,” Ludo says menacingly, “is that I made a mistake in making you my most trusted employee. Are you really doubting my judgment?”
“You only tested the men.” Axel levels me with a glare that has goosebumps covering my skin. “I still stand by my idea that she could be working separately from them.”
“What?” I ask, and I barely have to feign confusion. “Working separately from them how? I’m only grabbing Aubrey’s bag like she asked me to.”
“What’s he accusing us of, Ludo?” Rhett steps close enough that my fingers brush against his thigh. It doesn’t put him between me and Axel, but the move is still clear. To get to me, he’ll have to go through Rhett first.
“A problem that resolved itself.” Shoving the bag into my hands, Ludo walks back the way we came. “Axel, come with me. Wren, go see my wife.” He pauses and turns to Rhett. “No more distractions.”
Without another word, I grab Rhett’s hand and pull him toward the ballroom. That was close.Waytoo close. Like, Elliot-is-going-to-freak-out-and-lock-me-in-a-safe-room kind of close. But at the same time, this whole situation is so ironically comical that I’m close to laughing.
“Wren.” Rhett tugs on my hand once we’ve put enough distance between us and Ludo. He turns me toward him and frames my face between his hands. “Are you all right?”
I keep my voice as low as I can considering I’m on the verge of . . .something.Whether it’s tears or laughter, I don’t know. “Did Ludo just hand me the very thing that’s going to destroy him?”
The corners of Rhett’s lips tip up. “Yeah. Fuck, he did, didn’t he?”
“And we . . . did we just almost die?”
“Most definitely.” He lifts my face with a bent knuckle under my chin. “But we didn’t. At least for right now, focus on that.”
I can do that—not that I have much of a choice.
His lips meet mine in a chaste kiss before he whispers, “Go. This isn’t over yet.”
I rush back to the ballroom and spot Oliver and Elliot caught in conversation with Mr. Stallard. They both seem perfectly relaxed, but I don’t miss the relief on their faces when they see me. I blow them a kiss before heading back to the bridal table.
Aubrey is right where I left her, talking to a couple of her parents’ friends. When she laughs, it’s in a much more restrained way than she does when she doesn’t have to worry about her family’s reputation.
When I hover close by, she wishes them a lovely evening before we slip into the room where we got ready. Aubrey doesn’t let down her perfectly-happy-and-in-love persona until she’s double checked that we’re alone.
