False Pretenses (6 page)

“Jeff, hello. Thank you, same to you,” she answered.

Lydia nodded as if the situation was as it should be, but Piper glared. Alyssa glided past her, head held high, as Jeff led them to the private room. She had scarcely put in her order before her phone rang, and she read Nathan’s name on the screen. She slid her chair back. “Excuse me a moment, please.”

She left the room and strolled a little along the hall and around a corner. When she pressed the connect button, the sound of Nathan’s voice echoing across the lines brought her body to life and activated her imagination of his handsome face.

“Hey,” she breathed.

“Alyssa, everything going okay?”

She wanted to forbid him from saying her name. One would think she’d never been attracted to a man. “Yes, everything is fine. I actually had fun with your mother. She’s a shopaholic, but she was a good sport to go with me to the regular stores.”

“Regular stores?”

“Never mind. Work going fine?”

“Yes, I’m finished for now. I had a local businessman contact me a few months ago about a possible venture here in the islands, and when he heard I’d come down, he requested a meeting. I promise I won’t let it get in the way of us.”

She pushed a trembling hand through her hair. “Well, this isn’t real, right, so no biggie.”

“I want it to be as real as possible.”

She would not rise to that bait. “Do you want me to come back? We’ve just sat down to lunch. If you’re close, you can join us. We’re at the same place you took me last night.”

“I am close.” Why did his voice drop as if he sought to seduce her? “I look forward to seeing you. Please ask the waiter to bring my usual. I’ll be twenty minutes at the longest.”

Alyssa shifted from one foot to the other, trying to calm her idiot body. “O-Okay, sure.”

“See you then.”

He hung up, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Then the thought of him arriving so soon hit her, and anticipation took over. He would no doubt greet her with a kiss, and a hand at her waist or back. Longing turned her around to the point that she walked in the opposite direction to where she intended. She started back the way she came and then stopped at a familiar voice coming from behind a door to her left. Maybe this was the room and she’d forgotten. Shaking her head in confusion, she pushed at the panels, glad it wasn’t shut all the way.

Piper came into view and then a woman she didn’t recognize. “I told you I would call you,” Piper said to the woman, who had dark hair cropped so close to her head, she seemed more like a soft-featured man than a woman. Her figure, almost as slender as Piper’s was unmistakably female, though, with large breasts and curvy hips.

The woman frowned and drew Piper close, so close that their chests touched. Alyssa expected Piper to jerk away, but she stayed in the embrace and lowered her lashes like a woman in the throes of desire.

“Why wouldn’t I try to see you?” the woman complained. “I hate that you haven’t told them about me yet. It’s been three years, Piper. I think it’s time, and I got my dad to agree to let me come down here. Please, just—”

“No. Look, I love you, but I’m not ready.”

Alyssa didn’t realize she’d gasped until the two women turned in her direction. All the blood drained from Piper’s face, and she rocked so much on her feet, her girlfriend had to steady her. Alyssa took a step back.

“Um, sorry, I think I have the wrong room.” She yanked the door shut with too much force and spun on her heel. In seconds, she arrived back at her seat and dropped into it, panting.

Lydia frowned in concern. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

Alyssa forced a smile. “I’m fine, thanks.” She scrambled for an excuse while trying to make sense of what she’d just witnessed. “Oh, Nathan is going to join us for lunch, so I need to order him something.”

Lydia clapped her hands. “Good! We can show him what we bought. Leo gets worn out too quickly, so I have to make Nathan endure it.” She laughed. “He’s a good son. He doesn’t complain.”

Alyssa laughed. “So you know what you’re doing.”

The older woman winked. “Of course. Men are here to serve us, darling. Never forget that.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They continued to chat after Alyssa put in Nathan’s order with the waiter, and just before he arrived, Piper returned to the table alone. She sat down, more subdued than Alyssa had seen her since they met, and the younger woman refused to meet her gaze. With her hands in her lap, Piper’s shoulders remained high and stiff. The moment her brother arrived, the tension in them grew still more. Alyssa guessed she waited on pins and needles for Alyssa to blow her cover.

If I was the bitch she thinks I am, I’d have her. Maybe now she’ll get off my back when she realizes I don’t give a damn about her secrets.

“Mom, Piper,” Nathan greeted his family and then leaned over to kiss Alyssa. She offered him her cheek, but a click of his tongue in chastisement made her raise her chin, and he kissed her lips. He took the seat next to her and scooted closer to Alyssa’s side, as if he weren’t near enough. She did her best not to fidget, but Nathan seemed at ease, damn the man. “So, ladies, how did the shopping go?”

Lydia launched into a play-by-play of everywhere they’d gone and everything they’d said while there. Between sips of wine, she rifled through bags to pull out items to show her son. Alyssa wondered how she could go on with so few breaths at her age. All the while, Nathan’s expression of polite interest never changed. On impulse, Alyssa laid a hand on his thigh, and the muscles tautened under her touch. She jerked away, but Nathan caught her fingers and placed them back on his leg. He peered down at her, causing her heartbeat to increase.

“Okay?” he whispered.

“Of course,” she murmured back.

Across the table, Piper knocked over a glass of water, and a waiter materialized from nowhere to mop up the mess. Nathan studied his sister in silence. Her hands fluttered all the more, and the same server saved the replacement glass from her destruction just in time.

“Is there something bothering you, Piper?” Nathan queried.

“Why should it be?” she croaked and then cleared her throat. “I’m fine. Worry about your girlfriend.”

Nathan looked from his sister to Alyssa and back again. Alyssa rolled her eyes and shrugged.

“They think I don’t know, but the two of them haven’t been getting along all morning,” Lydia said. “I’m trying to stay positive, but I don’t like the negativity. It’s not good for Dad.”

All conversation came to a halt. Guilt tightened the muscles in Alyssa’s chest. She’d thought Lydia’s constant chatter the result of just her personality, but from her words, she realized she worried about her husband.

“I’m sorry, Mom.” Piper’s sincerity shone clear in her watery gaze. That they each felt the pain of Leo’s sickness no matter the happy face they put on brought home to Alyssa that she didn’t belong among them, least of all at a time like this. She considered informing Nathan when they were alone that she would fly home tomorrow. He could say she’d had an emergency.

“I’m not very hungry,” Lydia announced.

The food arrived, and with the assistance of a couple servers was soon in place on the table. Nathan pulled his wallet from his back pocket. “I’m afraid we won’t be able to stay. This should cover everything.” He tossed a few bills on the table, and Alyssa guessed it amounted to much more than the charge plus a generous tip.

The waiter’s brows rose. “I apologize, Mr. Corde. Was there something you weren’t satisfied with in our service or the food?”

“Not at all. A family matter.”

“Of course, sir. Shall we box this up?”

Nathan rose. “That won’t be necessary.”

Alyssa shook her head. “Oh hell no, we can’t just waste food like this. Please, box it all. We can eat it later if we get hungry, or for dinner. Thanks.”

All three Cordes looked at her like she’d lost her mind. Alyssa crossed her arms and stared back. Amusement brightened Nathan’s eyes, and he ran a hand down her arm. “You heard the woman. Please box everything.”

As they left the restaurant, Alyssa expected backlash from Piper but got nothing. The woman took the seat opposite her in the limo and stared out the window. Alyssa sat at Nathan’s side, and he grasped her hand in his, lacing his fingers with hers. His mother took the seat beside Piper, and soon they arrived at the mansion.

When the car door opened at the chauffeur’s guidance, she started to get out, but Nathan held her back. She glanced up at him, but he said nothing while his mother and sister vacated the vehicle. When they had gone inside, he waved the driver away.

“Give us a moment, Felix.”

The man nodded and shut the door. Wary, Alyssa faced Nathan. “What’s up?”

He hesitated and then patted her hand. Something told her she wouldn’t like what was coming.

“We don’t…usually box food we don’t eat.”

She tilted her head to the side, studying him. “And what? Oh, did I embarrass you?”

“Not embarrass exactly. You don’t know how we do things.”

Alyssa looked away from him and tugged her hand free of his. She raised it to gesture while she spoke, thought better of the words she intended, and tapped a finger across her lips.

“I don’t know how you do things?” For the life of her, she couldn’t get a grip on the rising anger. “So in other words, you waste food on a regular basis, un
touched
food, food that was slaved over in a hot kitchen for you, food that could have gone to someone else who would appreciate it, but instead, they had to be ousted because your family showed up unannounced at a restaurant where they require reservations.”

Nathan drew back as if she’d slapped him. The displeasure radiated off of him. “It’s not a situation we need to argue about, Alyssa. We just need to come to an agreement that—”

“Oh, an agreement!”

His eyebrows snapped together over darkened eyes. “Alyssa.”

“Don’t Alyssa me.” He had no idea of the many nights she had to do with ramen and green beans because she couldn’t afford meat when money got tight. That wasn’t his fault, but the man knew nothing of suffering, and she wouldn’t sit here and be made to feel ashamed of asking for a box.

He sighed, a long-suffering sound that pissed her off all the more.

“I’m not angry. Nor am I scolding you as if you’d made a mistake. I respect who you are and your experiences.”

“Yeah, I’ll just bet you do.”

He grabbed for her hand, but she moved it out of reach. Not to be put off, he slid a palm over her belly, and she could have cussed out her own flesh at the reaction of his touch. Short of fleeing the car, she sat stuck.

“Contrary to your assumptions, we do not make a habit of wasting food.”

“But you don’t eat leftovers. I don’t even know why we’re sitting here having this discussion. It’s pointless. Okay, I won’t ask for anything to be boxed again. Happy?”

He stroked her cheek, and his face softened. “How about we offer the food to the staff? Will that make you happy?”

As if he’s really my man and needs to make me happy.
“Okay. That sounds good.”

“Great. Shall we go inside?”

He opened the door and gestured for her to precede him into the house. Alyssa wondered what else she’d have to learn about rich people and how their worlds did not mesh before the end of her foray into fantasyland ended.

Chapter Six

“Our turn,” Nathan announced and stood to pull Alyssa from her seat. She followed him to the middle of the floor and glanced over to his dad and mom, sitting side by side, with Piper sitting nearby in a recliner, bare feet drawn up to her chest. Alyssa could not believe they were playing charades, but she had to admit it was fun. Leo didn’t participate, but enjoyed laughing at their antics. Alyssa, who didn’t get out to social gatherings that much where she might have learned better skills at these types of games, sucked royal ass at it and despised whoever had suggested the entertainment. Then again, it might have been Nathan, and she glared at him. She speculated on whether he’d suggested the game because he thought it was something she as a middle-class woman would enjoy. On another thought, the three Cordes were decent at picking up each other’s clues, while she missed most.

“You can do this, honey,” he encouraged her. “Just remember tugging of the ear means ‘sounds like.’ If I hold up fingers, it indicates the number of words, or if we’re down to a single word, number of syllables.”

She grumbled at him, “I remember that part.”

“I can’t believe you haven’t played this more than once in your life, darling,” Lydia said, making her feel worse.

Alyssa stabbed an accusing finger toward her pretend boyfriend. “Nathan’s acting stinks. I need a better partner, that’s all.”

“You will pay for that remark, woman.”

“Gag,” was Piper’s single comment.

Nathan took the hat from his father’s hands. “It’s your turn to act it out, Alyssa, so make it good.”

The game continued, and Alyssa found out it wasn’t Nathan’s impressions of scenes and words that presented the problem. They soon had to admit defeat, and Lydia, gracious hostess that she was, offered the best player to pair with Alyssa for the next round—Piper. Nathan’s younger sister popped up from her chair and strode with purpose over to Alyssa. She all but dragged her toward the door, calling over her shoulder, “Quick strategy session,” and the others, including Leo, burst out laughing.

The second the door clicked closed behind them, Piper dropped her hold on Alyssa’s arm. The woman’s entire visage transformed into one of dislike and suspicion. “What are you waiting for?”

“Excuse me?”

Piper lowered her voice. “You heard me. What are you waiting for? We both know what you saw back at the restaurant, so why haven’t you told my family? I thought that’s why you kept Nathan talking in the car after Mom and I got out, but he didn’t say anything to me or act like he knew my secret.”

Alyssa rocked back on her heels and folded her arms over her chest. “It must have killed you waiting for us to come inside, huh?”

“Don’t play games with me, bitch.”

Alyssa laughed. “Go ahead. Please get in my face. I dare you.”