“Hell yes, it worked. Now I’ll be disturbed for the rest of the evening.”
The Delaneys’ home was much like the Andersons’ mansion—over-the-top wealth that intimidated the heck out of you. However, at least I’d gotten the shock and awe over with at the Andersons’, and as Caine led me inside with a hand on my lower back, gently guiding me, I didn’t feel as uncomfortable as last time. Perhaps it was because Caine was with me now, and I never felt more safe than I did when I was with him.
“Alexa, looking more beautiful than ever,” Henry said as he approached us in the main ballroom. Elegant dinner tables had been set up all around one half of the room. At the other end of the room, there was a stage. What seemed to be a small orchestra was set up offside on the left, and there was a dance floor in front of the stage.
Henry drew my gaze from the general splendor of the ballroom to him and his voluptuous and somehow familiar redheaded date. “Henry,” I murmured as he kissed both my cheeks. His hand rested on my waist as he did so, but I knew there was nothing in the gesture.
However, when I pulled back I could see the storm clouds gathering in the eyes of an already wired Caine.
The past few weeks had proven my theory correct, and Caine had been noticeably more laid-back when I was around the opposite sex.
Henry was a completely different matter. The man was a natural flirt, and I understood he didn’t mean anything by it. But his flirting with me bothered Caine. His laughing with me bothered Caine. His touching me bothered Caine, and his being anywhere in my general vicinity bothered Caine.
This bothered me.
Henry was Caine’s closest friend. I did not want to cause problems between the two of them. I had the suspicion that the problem had existed between them before I arrived on the scene. There was a story behind Caine’s weirdness and I was more than curious to find out what that story was. I just hadn’t found the right time to mention it yet.
Catching the look on Caine’s face, Henry practically rolled his eyes and backed off. He put his arm around his date and nudged her forward. “Caine, Lexie, this is Nadia Ray. She’s a local weather girl.”
Recognition hit me. Nadia Ray had caused quite a stir a few months ago when she appeared on our televisions. The ratings at WCVB had gone through the roof since she joined the weather team. “It’s nice to meet you,” I said as Caine gave her a clipped nod in greeting.
She smiled a little nervously, and I wondered if she was feeling like a fish out of water. I knew that feeling well. “This place is insane, right?” I said, bugging my eyes out humorously.
Nadia gave a huff of relieved laughter. “It’s not what I’m used to.”
“I hear you.” I nodded, scanning the room. My eyes fell on a waiter who was serving appetizers. “But the mini crab rolls at these things are usually to die for.”
“Nowhere near as good as the crab rolls we used to get at this little deli on campus at Wharton.” Henry closed his eyes in exaggerated blissful reflection. “Oh, those were the days.”
I smirked. “Crab rolls. That’s what you remember most about business school?”
“I didn’t say that.” His eyes popped open as he grinned. “The women were also very memorable.”
“Oh, so it was the crabs you remember most?”
He snorted. “I wasn’t that bad. Okay … I was almost that bad.”
“How did you put up with him? Or were you even worse than him?” I said to Caine.
Caine didn’t join in on our teasing. If anything he looked more uncomfortable than ever.
And I knew why. I sighed in exasperation. “Caine never talks about Wharton. It’s like he’s wiped it from existence.”
Henry sobered as he and Caine shared a dark look I didn’t understand. Uneasiness moved through me, but before I could say anything Caine beat me to it.
“We’ll get you a crab roll in a minute,” Caine said, returning to our earlier conversation. “First we have to go over and say hello to the Delaneys.”
He was already physically guiding me in that direction before I could protest. I shot Nadia and Henry an apologetic smile over my shoulder and then hissed, “That was rude.”
His fingers curled into my dress. “Excuse me?”
“I think it would have been nice for us to hang out with them a little longer. Nadia is clearly not comfortable being here, and since I know what that feels like, it might have been nice to spend time with her.”
“We’re here on business.”
“I thought we were here because it’s a charity event.”
“We’re here because if the Delaneys invite you to an event, you go. They own a third of the real estate in Boston, Philadelphia, and nearly all of Providence. That’s a lot of money, and I’m in the business of making money, so I don’t ignore them. So yes, it’s business.”
I was stiff against him as we neared the host and hostess. “I wish I knew what was wrong with you tonight.”
Caine didn’t reply. He just pasted on a polite mask and introduced me to people who peered at me speculatively and then turned their attention elsewhere.
I sighed inwardly, my eyes searching for a waiter.
I needed a drink if I was going to survive this crowd and Mr. Moody.
While Caine was busy talking with one of his board of directors, Henry’s father and some investment guy I’d never met before, I managed to subtly back away from the group so I could rescue Nadia, who Henry had abandoned beside the ballroom entrance for whatever reason.
“You look like you need this,” I said as I approached and offered her a fresh glass of champagne.
Nadia smiled gratefully, a gorgeous smile that along with her figure had gone a long way to making her the most popular weather girl in Massachusetts history. “Thank you. Henry was pulled away by some catty society girl and there really was no polite way for him to get out of it.”
“Henry’s a catch around these parts.” I smiled sympathetically. “The women that have grown up in his circles think of him as theirs.”
“I’m getting that.”
“Honestly, I think they bore him,” I reassured her.
“Well, I’m from Beacon Falls, Connecticut, which is a slightly different crowd of people. Definitely not boring.” She grinned dryly.
My mouth fell open. “I’m from Chester.”
“No way.” She chuckled. “We grew up, like … what? An hour from each other?”