“Are you going to tell me what that was about?” I asked. “What is she doing with your dad?”
Shepherd took another drink and cleared his throat. “My dad doesn’t know.”
“I kind of guessed that. She’s obviously doing it on purpose, though, right?”
“Clearly.”
“Do you know how they met?” It was so odd to be having such an in-depth conversation with him. I was having a hard time not zoning out, watching his lips move. They were very nice lips.
Focus, Everly.
“My dad owns the resort I sent her to. Apparently he decided to take an impromptu trip to figure some things out, whatever that means. He met her there.”
“Why on earth didn’t you pull him aside and tell him?”
He shook his head. “Not here. Not in public. My dad is… sensitive.”
I laughed, and Shepherd shot me a glare. “Sensitive? Really?”
“Yes, sensitive. This is going to be hard for him to take. He’s going to feel very violated and he’ll need time to process it. In private. Plus, he’s getting an award tonight and I didn’t want to ruin that for him.”
“I’m sorry, but are you sure he’s your real dad?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. I just didn’t expect to discover you have a father who’s too sensitive to find out he’s dating his son’s ex-hussy-gold-digger.”
Shepherd opened his mouth, but closed it again. Then he did something I’d never seen before. He smiled. Shepherd Calloway actually smiled.
Oh. My. God. Did that look good on him. He had dimples in those cheeks. For a second, I felt like I’d do just about anything to get him to smile again.
“Ex-hussy-gold-digger?”
I glanced down at my drink. Had that champagne earlier gotten to me faster than I’d thought? “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No, what do you mean?”
“I’m sorry, I just never liked her. It was so obvious she didn’t care about you, she just wanted your money.”
“And that bothered you?”
“Well, yeah. I know we’re not… I mean, we aren’t really… we’re not friends or anything. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care. I didn’t like the way she treated you. You deserve better.”
He eyed me for a moment, then looked away and took another sip. I was talking too freely, and I knew I was going to regret it later. Maybe it was the dress, or sharing a drink with him in a situation that made us look like peers rather than boss and employee. But I needed to be very careful, or the floodgates would open, and I’d find myself saying a lot of things I shouldn’t.
Like how fucking delicious he looked in that tux.
I held up my drink, glaring at it like it had betrayed me. Seriously, was I drunk? I could not think of him as delicious, tux or no.
Get it together, Everly.
While we finished our drinks, the emcee took the mic and gave a lengthy introduction. He talked about Richard, and the impact of his generosity on the community. Richard walked up on stage, beaming. I could tell his smile came naturally; unlike his son, he seemed to do it often. He gave a heartfelt thank you speech and received a standing ovation.
“Wow,” I said, when the noise had died down and people had gone back to mingling. “Your dad seems like a good man. Why have I never met him before?”
“We’re both busy,” Shepherd said.
We left our empty glasses on the table and Shepherd started making the rounds, talking to people. He kept up the pretense that I was his date, guiding me around the room with his hand on my lower back, or lightly gripping my elbow. He even ran his hand up and down my arm a few times, a soft touch that made my heart race and my skin tingle. I looked around, expecting to see Svetlana watching us, but I didn’t see her, or Shepherd’s father, again.
I went along with it, staying by his side. Leaning into him when he seemed to expect it. Smiling when he introduced me to people. He offered to get me another drink, but I declined. After the champagne and the Manhattan, I was in danger of bypassing a little tipsy and heading straight for telling inappropriate stories and asking strangers for hugs.
Not that I’d ever done that before.
Okay, yes I had.
Around the time my feet started to hurt, Shepherd said he’d take me home. He’d driven himself. Although he had a driver available all the time, he usually drove his own car. We went out to the parking garage, his hand still on my back. He held the passenger’s side door of his Mercedes for me, and I got in.
Another first. I’d never been in his car. Scheduled it for detailing, yes. Been a passenger, no.
He was quiet on the drive to my building. I tried not to dwell on what it had felt like to have his hand on my back. Or sliding up and down my bare arm. Or twining his fingers together with mine. It had been awfully nice.
But I needed to get that out of my head right now. I was just a bit too relaxed from the drinks. I’d gone a little outside my normal assistant role, but that was all.
There was a spot on the street a block from my apartment building, so he parked. “I’ll walk you to your door.”
It was the first time he’d spoken since we’d left the hotel. I was about to say he didn’t need to do that, but he got out and came around to open the door for me. I appreciated the hand he offered to help me out of the car. This dress was tricky.
We stopped in front of my building and I gripped my clutch tighter than necessary, feeling suddenly awkward. What were we supposed to do now? We weren’t pretending anything, here. But if I said goodnight to him like I did at the end of a work day, and received no response, it was going to hurt my feelings. I didn’t want the night to end like that.
“Well, I hope your dad is okay,” I said. “I don’t envy you the task of breaking the news to him.”
“No, it’s not going to be pleasant.”
“Yeah. I guess… I’ll see you Monday.”
“Right,” he said. “Monday.”
I took a deep breath. “Goodnight, Mr. Calloway.”
He met my eyes again. “Goodnight.”
That made me smile. He’d said goodnight in return. It was all I needed.
I pulled out my key and went to the door. He turned and started back toward his car.
“Everly,” he said.
I glanced over my shoulder. “Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
My breath caught in my throat and I bit my lip, feeling a poignant mix of giddiness and confusion. It was the first time he’d ever thanked me for anything.
I watched him go, wondering if things would be weird between us on Monday morning. But I had a feeling they wouldn’t. He’d go back to being Mr. Calloway, and this would just be a crazy story I’d tell my besties in the circle of trust.
7
Shepherd
I was on my second cup of coffee and still didn’t feel awake. This wasn’t normal. I popped an Airborne into a glass of water and watched it fizz. Maybe I was getting sick. I hadn’t slept well. I’d been haunted by visions of a blond woman in a red dress.
Where had she come from? The woman who’d posed as my girlfriend last night could not have been my assistant. Everly was just… Everly. She was punctual, efficient, hard-working, and yes, pleasant to look at. But the woman who’d answered my summons last night had been something else.