Feels Like Home. Beth Andrews
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she forgotten how stubborn he was? “In that case,” she said, all sweetness and light while she clutched her laptop case, “Monday will be fine.”
“Have a list of the topics you want to discuss, along with your ideas, to me by Friday.”
“So you won’t have to spend any more time in my company than necessary?”
He sat on the thronelike leather chair and leaned back. The flat line of his mouth and the way he studied her gave her the answer to her question. “I guess I’ll see you Monday then.”
She blushed. He was dismissing her. Oh, it was polite enough, she supposed, but it still felt as if he’d put a foot to her rear and given her a good shove.
Yvonne turned and even took a step toward the door before facing him again. “Maybe it would help if we got a few things out in the open.”
“Help what?”
“Help ease this…awkwardness.”
Awkwardness she couldn’t stand. That made her want to hide within herself so she wouldn’t do or say anything to make things worse.
Except he didn’t seem to be uncomfortable in the least. His hands were linked together on his flat stomach, his shoulders relaxed. The only sign he wasn’t less than perfectly put together were the slight wrinkles on his sleeves from having rolled them up earlier.
Some things never changed. As always, he was calm, his thoughts neatly hidden, his feelings under wraps. While she fought not to show how frazzled she was, how worried that she’d say the wrong thing.
“Your mother assured me I’ll be treated fairly and without bias while I’m here,” Yvonne said, sounding even to her own ears like the petulant princess Aidan thought she was.
“But you doubt her word?”
“Not at all.” She’d be a fool to doubt what Diane said. Besides, she wanted to believe her job here could go smoothly. “But I’d like to hear it from you.”
He sat up slowly. “Hear what, exactly?”
“That you’ll be fair. That you’re going to give me a chance to do my job.”
She had to force herself not to squirm under his watchful gaze. “I can guarantee that you’ll be treated like any other employee.”
“But I’m not any other employee. I was your wife.”
His eyes narrowed to slits. “Was being the operative word.”
Her heart pounded so hard, she was sure he could see it fluttering the ruffles on her shirt. “Wife being the important one. I want to make sure we can work together.”
“You really don’t know why my mother hired you, do you?”
Though suddenly uneasy, she kept any hint of it out of her tone. “She hired me to plan her wedding. And because the Diamond Dust needs someone to help coordinate events.”
“We only decided to start hosting events Sunday night—and before you start counting, that was three days ago. And, out of all the events coordinators in the South, she hired you. It never occurred to you to wonder why?”
Yvonne brushed a dog hair from her skirt. “She needed someone with experience who was willing to relocate—”
“She hired you,” he said flatly, “because she thinks if we work together, you’ll get back in my life. She hired you because she wants us to get together again.”
PANIC FLARED IN Yvonne’s dark eyes. But she remained steady on those pencil-thin high heels of hers. “I’m sorry,” she said, as if they were discussing whether to have salmon or chicken for dinner, “I don’t under stand.”
His curled fists hidden from view under his desk, Aidan studied her. As if she didn’t have a care in the world, was above everything he said.
If that was true, why did her fingers tremble when she swept her hair off her shoulder?
He wasn’t the only one out of sorts. Good.
“Seeing as how you’re not stupid or hard of hearing,” he said mildly, “you understand perfectly.”
Her mouth turned down. “Diane wants us back together?”
Aidan held her gaze as he straightened in his chair. “Or maybe you already knew that.”
“Excuse me?” she asked, sounding as snobby and cold as her mother had when Aidan and Yvonne went to Savannah and announced their engagement to her parents.
But he’d been so sure Yvonne was different from her mom. That underneath that cool demeanor was a real, live woman. And all he had to do was help warm her up.
“Have you missed me, Yvonne? Are you looking for a reconciliation?”
She didn’t blush or appear guilty. She just looked…scared. As if the idea of getting back together with him was worse than having her fingernails ripped off. His mouth twisted. Right. Because living with him had been such pure hell. It’d been so bad she’d walked off without so much as giving him a chance to convince her to stay.
“I assure you,” she said, no longer sounding in control, “I had no idea. I…” She pressed her lips together. “I thought Diane hired me because I’m a good wedding planner.”
She seemed sincere. Hell, he probably would have believed her if he hadn’t already learned not to trust anything she said.
I love you. Till death do us part, she’d vowed at their wedding.
She could claim the earth was round and he’d want a second opinion.
He picked up his mechanical pencil and tapped it against the top of his desk, causing Lily to raise her head. “Now that you’re aware of Mom’s real agenda, I’m sure you’ll agree that backing out of your contract is the only option.”
Yvonne frowned and shifted, the movement causing her breasts to sway slightly under the ruffle of her top, drawing his attention to the way that damn skirt hugged her hips. In stark black and white, the severe lines of the skirt contrasting with the soft femininity of her top, highlighted her sexy elegance. As if nothing and no one could touch her.
Good thing he didn’t want to try.
“I can’t do that,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry. I truly am, and I realize this situation is…uncomfortable…for both of us, but I’m staying.”
“Did you get fired?”
Her lips twitched. “No, I’m gainfully employed.”
“Then there’s no reason you can’t return to Charleston.”
“None at all. And I will when I’ve met my obligation here. Until then, can’t we figure out a way to make this work?” She began to lift her laptop case. “If we could get past—”
She broke off when Lily, excited that the new person in the room was moving, got up and walked over to sniff at Yvonne’s backside. Yvonne froze, her face white.
Damn it. He didn’t want to see her afraid. Didn’t like the tug of sympathy that caused in him. How it made him feel…protective of her.
“Lily, sit,” he ordered, more gruffly than necessary.
Lily lowered her head and crept back to her spot by the window. He rubbed the nape of his neck. Great. Now he was taking his irritation out on his dog.
“Since you insist on sticking around,” he said tightly, “you’ll have to get used to Lily. She has free run of the Diamond Dust. And I’m not about to keep her locked up because you don’t like animals.”
“No. Of course not. I would never ask you to keep it…her…” Yvonne paused long enough to take a deep breath and regain her composure. “I’m sorry. I…I