Cinderella Busted (The Cinderella Romances #1) (27 page)

When her eyes finally met his, he couldn’t move. He suddenly wanted something from her. But what? An explanation? Retribution? An apology? He still ached for her as much as he had during their perfect week in New York. Damn his treacherous heart, which was starting up that weird tug and pull again.

“Robby, over here!” Mrs. Berube’s voice called again, sounding more distant this time.

Lily glanced hopefully in the direction of the matron’s voice, and something in Rhett snapped. He snorted in disgust. Lily’s eyes flashed, and that lit his fuse.

“The great Rob Shaw,” he sneered, “and he’s all yours now, isn’t he? Or is Aidan Cross the lucky guy today?”

That probably hurt worse than anything. The pain of Lily’s betrayal had brought Rhett to his knees, but watching Lily cavort with Shaw at the charity gala and then seeing her with Cross today had rammed a dagger through his heart. What a fool he had been!

She was only after a guy with money. Apparently, any guy with money would do. Chester Armstead had blathered on about Rob Shaw’s trust fund at the charity gala, so seeing Lily with Shaw had made sense. But today, she was with Cross who was almost as rich as Rhett. So which guy would she pick?

He felt a growl rumble deep in his throat. Well, the guy who wouldn’t be her pick was a certainty—him.

Lily frowned hard. “He’s not
all mine
.”

“Oh really? What part of him don’t you control? Or should I guess?”

He felt his fingers angle into a fist, and he wished Shaw or Cross was here so he could take a swing at either one of them. They had her. He wanted her.

“I don’t control Rob. He’s his own man.”

“How about Cross? Is Cross his own man, too? Or did you figure out how to control
him
?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said warily.

“Don’t you?”

He took a step forward, and she stepped back. Seeing her desire to move away from him sent a razor-sharp pain straight to his heart. He couldn’t let her see she mattered. He had to cover his vulnerability.

“It’s all one big game to you,” he accused.

“No!” she cried.

“I must have been your greatest game yet. Tell me, did you still hope to corral me? Is that why you’ve been dancing attendance on Shaw and Cross right under my nose? To make me jealous?”

If so, your plan has been working just fine.

She gave him that well-executed, confused look again. “No, I didn’t. I mean, Rob wasn’t . . . And Aidan thought . . .”

“Just say it.”

She cleared her throat. “Garrett said—”

“
Garrett
said!” Rhett exploded. “What the hell does Garrett have to do with this?”

She took another step back, and for a brief instant, he saw a flash of fear in her eyes. Seeing her fear hurt worse than anything, worse even than seeing her with Cross or Shaw, worse than her not wanting him near. How could she think he’d hurt her?

He moderated his tone. “What does Garrett have to do with this?” he repeated through clenched teeth.

“He was just helping me get a chance to talk to you.”

I’ll strangle Garrett
.

“When?” he roared, and Lily flinched.

“Today.”

“I’m not talking about today! I’m talking about when we met. Did Garrett know about your little sting to trap me and make me look like a fool?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but since you can’t stop shouting, I’m leaving. I’ll talk to you when you can calm down.”

She sidestepped to get around him. He shifted and grabbed hold of her arms.

“You’re not going anywhere until you tell me the truth.”

She jerked free. “
Now
you suddenly want the truth? You didn’t want the truth when you threw me out of your house and threw my plants in your pool.” Her eyes flashed with fury. “What truth do you suddenly want?”

“The truth about everything!” he said, half-shouting again. Why was he yelling? This woman made him nuts like no other woman he had ever met.

He struggled for his normally calm demeanor. “The truth about whether Garrett knew you were setting me up. The truth about
why
you set me up. Neat little plan you devised to sell me truckloads of plants at the same time. What was supposed to happen if I didn’t figure out your little deception? Were you going to try and trick me into marrying you? Was that what your little innocent routine was all about? I had to marry you to get you in my bed?”

She had the gall to look stunned. Didn’t she realize how easily that could have happened?

“Or were you going to throw me over and go after
their
money? Or better yet, try to get me back and then keep Shaw or Cross on the side?”

“On the side?” she echoed.

“Did Garrett know?” he asked the question, but he refused to believe it was true.

She stared at him for several interminable moments with an incredulous expression, then her blue eyes flashed with fury.

“Let. Me. Get. This. Straight,” she said, enunciating every word.

He could see an explosion was imminent, and that was just fine with him. Everything would finally be out in the open.

Her blue eyes narrowed. “You think Rob and Aidan are both my boyfriends?”

“I don’t think. It’s obvious. Now.”

“You think I cooked up a scheme to sell you lots of trees and plants, so I could meet you and marry you and then cheat on you, with Rob or Aidan on the side. All so I could get my hands on your precious money.” Her voice had gone deadly soft. “And you think your best friend Garrett knew all about the scheme and said nothing?”

Why did it sound so stupid and idiotic when she said it?

What the hell is wrong with me?

Seeing her with Shaw and Cross is what’s wrong with me.

“Did he?” he forced out.

“The only way Garrett helped me was to give me an opportunity to explain things to you, which I no longer want. You are an arrogant, egotistical, pig-headed, gutter-minded imbecile, and I’m not explaining anything to you! It’s a wonder you made ten dollars let alone a billion dollars as boneheaded as you are.” By now, she was fairly shouting. “I don’t want anything to do with you!”

Without warning, she shoved him back a couple steps and marched right around him. He wheeled around to see her back disappearing through a bed of azaleas. Cross and Shaw stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the path from the terrace. Garrett was right behind them. Seeing the three glaring at him had Rhett’s hands curling back into fists.

“What do you want?” he snarled and made an effort to force his palms flat against his thighs.

“A swing at you, you miserable son of a bitch,” Cross growled back and curled his own hands into fists.

Please take a swing. Just one
.

Garrett threw out a forearm to stop Cross. “No! You’re not going to mix it up like boys in a schoolyard. Too many guests here.” He glared at Rhett. “Too many of our clients.”

“I don’t give a damn about your clients,” Cross growled and took a step, but Garrett held him at bay.

“Then go after Lily. Get her out of here before a guest bothers her.”

Cross gave Rhett a narrow-eyed glare, then sprinted in the direction Lily had gone.

Rhett toyed with the idea of chasing him down. He should be the one to go after Lily, not Cross. He and Lily weren’t finished yet, not by a long shot. She hadn’t told him why she had deceived him. He had only been guessing, his stupid assumptions stoked by anger. She had made his guesses sound ridiculous. After all this, Lily owed him the
why
.

“How much did you hear?” Rhett demanded.

“All of it, I think,” Garrett said disgustedly.

“How
dare
you talk to Lily like that!” Shaw raged.

“Who are you to complain?” Rhett roared back. “Or are you just mad the little gold digger tossed you over for bigger money.”

Shaw surged forward, and Garrett used both arms to hold him.

“Let him go!” Rhett ordered.

“Dammit! Enough!” Garrett said furiously. “Lower your voices before everyone comes running, and this little skirmish ends up front page of the
Palm Beach Post
.”

“I don’t care!” Rhett and Shaw roared at him in unison and then exchanged glares.

“I should have kept her away from you,” Shaw said, his voice just under a shout. “You didn’t deserve her. You’re not good enough to wipe her shoes.”

“I sure don’t mind her going after
your
money instead of mine,” Rhett said derisively, though that was hardly the truth.

Just the thought of Lily in the arms of Cross or Shaw had Rhett wanting to hit one of them, but he refused to let any of them see him vulnerable.

Garrett just shook his head, and Shaw stared in ragged disbelief.

“You are everything she called you and more,” Shaw groused. “You deserve to lose her, and you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life. Lily’s innocent in all of this, you bastard!”

“The hell she is!” Rhett shouted, forgetting his guests again. “She lied to me.”

Shaw’s lip curled in a sneer. “Her only crime was believing in fairy tales. You know, the
happily ever after
? Unfortunately for Lily, she picked a bastard for a Prince Charming.”

Rhett surged forward, and Garrett stepped between them, stiff-arming both men.

“You’ll never find a woman better than Lily,” Shaw said. “Certainly not one with the decency and integrity and compassion you lack.”

Rhett let out a bark of laughter. “The queen of deception, you mean.”

Shaw’s eyes narrowed. “She didn’t know who you were when you walked into the nursery for your inspection that day. Unlike the rest of Palm Beach and Jupiter Island, Lily doesn’t even read the society page. And when she figured out who you were, she assumed you only asked her out because you thought
she
was a Jupiter Island socialite and thus good enough for you. She kept silent because she liked you
before
she knew who you were, and she only wanted one lousy date with you.” He threw up both hands. “Though God knows why!”

Something about the explanation rang true, but Rhett ignored the instinct to back off. “How do you know all of this if you weren’t part of her game?”

Shaw gave him a look of unbridled disgust. “You’re sick! You know that? Lily Foster is the closest thing to a sister I’ll ever have. Her father took me in and treated me like a son when my family practically disowned me.”

That took Rhett aback, a tidbit he hadn’t expected. Why hadn’t he known that? Because he’d fallen for Lily the moment he met her and hadn’t bothered to have her checked out thoroughly like he did other women he dated.

“Surprised you, didn’t I? You’re so jaded you can’t conceive of good in anybody. You think everyone’s after your
stinking
money.” He stabbed a finger at Rhett and almost broke free of Garrett. “She never wanted your stinking money, and she certainly doesn’t need it.”

“What are you talking about?” Rhett demanded.

“She’s a millionaire, you moron! That’s what I’m talking about! Her father left her five million dollars in trust when he died. He had been investing a percentage of his nursery profits every year since Lily was born to create a nest egg for her, and she’s good at investing. So you see, you miserable son of a bitch, she didn’t need you.”

Rhett could only gape at him in disbelief.

“She refuses to withdraw a dime from that trust fund because she wants to make the nursery succeed on her own merits. That’s more important to her than anything, and you’re not fit to wipe her shoes. You know what the sad part is? You probably ruined her for the next guy to come along, who just might
be
Lily’s Mr. Right.”

Shaw broke free of Garrett’s grasp. “Let me go. I’ve got to make sure Aidan found Lily.”

Dumbfounded, Rhett watched him sprint for the terrace.

Garrett stepped forward. “One question,” he said softly. “How does it feel to be the world’s biggest asshole?”

Twilight had settled over his gardens, and Rhett stared out over the dunes at the ocean waves roiling up on the beach sand at high tide. He had the raised deck put in at the southeast corner of his property right after he bought the house, so he could watch the waves crashing on shore when the mood struck him. Normally, the routine swell and splash soothed him. Tonight his heart felt just like the waves crashing against the sand. Each beat pounded with despair against the back of his sternum and created a painful ache.

His gaze drifted toward the beach at Sea Turtle Park, and he grimaced. Who had been the deceiver that night? He hadn’t been willing to tell Lily he lived here, preferring to let her think they had trespassed as they scurried down the property-line under cover of darkness. He could still feel her delicate hand gripped trustingly in his. Who was he to have ever cast stones over deception when his was the far greater sin? He paid the painful price now as his mind tortured him with the memory of her innocent kisses down there on the beach and the way she had felt in his arms.

His barbecue guests had left hours earlier amid the disgruntled good-byes from their host. The caterers had left not long after, and Lily and her three protectors had all vanished from the scene. Only Delia had remained, but after a brazen and unsuccessful attempt to get him into bed, she too had made an early exit.

Lily had called him arrogant, egotistical, and gutter-minded, and she had been dead-on accurate. When had he changed? When had it become so difficult for him to trust in someone else or to believe in someone else? He had been so busy guarding his damned money, he’d let Lily slip through his fingers. More like tossed her away with both hands.