“That’s right. Evelyn. I couldn’t remember her name. I met her a few times. She seemed very sweet, but not attractive at all. Still I never had much to do with her. I hadn’t known she wasn’t from a good family.”
“That’s not the worst of it. She adored him. You could read it on her face. While he—”
The sound of running water drowned out the woman’s words. Cathy nearly screamed in frustration. All she’d wanted was to listen. Was that too much to ask? But the sound of the water reminded her that she wouldn’t be alone much longer. She quickly pulled a couple of pins from her upswept hair and concentrated on the mirror as if her minor style disaster was all that was on her mind.
The women walked out together. They hesitated when they saw her. She moved to the right to give them more room, then offered an absentminded smile.
The blonde began to wash her hands. “He never loved her at all,” she said, her voice low. “She was nothing but a friend. He took her on as a project—you know, as a way to help her better herself. Of course, he knew she loved him, but that only made him pity her.”
Cathy nearly stabbed herself with the hairpin. She didn’t know what to think. The woman couldn’t be telling the truth. Of course Stone loved Evelyn. He’d been in mourning for her for years.
The brunette voiced her opinion. “Then why has he withdrawn from everyone? This is the first party he’s held in years. And no one has seen him anywhere since the accident.”
“That’s not about her. It’s about the scars. Remember, he was hurt in the accident. How like a man to hide away, when women find that sort of thing very sexy. Of course, if a woman has so much as a pimple on her face, men go screaming in the other direction.”
The two women laughed and left the rest room. Cathy stared after them, not sure what she was supposed to think. They couldn’t be talking about Stone, but of course they had been. Yet everything had been wrong. He loved Evelyn. She’d been his whole world. He’d as much as told her that himself. It had to be true. The alternative was too unthinkable.
She finished fixing her hair, then sank into the upholstered chair in front of the mirror. Her head was spinning. Was any of it true? Could it be? Had he really not loved Evelyn?
A project, the blonde had said. Someone he could feel sorry for. Someone he could fix.
Her blood ran cold. She told herself that none of it was true, that even if it was, she wasn’t Evelyn. But the parallels were too clear, she thought unhappily. She, too, had been plain. She was poor and alone in the world except for him and what he offered her. Worse, she’d fallen in love with him.
“Please God, it can’t be like that,” she whispered.
A group of women entered the rest room. They looked at her oddly. She rose to her feet and took a deep breath. She had to get out of here. Maybe she could make her escape and walk around the grounds until her head cleared and she could think again. She felt as if her whole world had suddenly shifted and she didn’t know how to keep her balance. Anything but pity, she thought fiercely. She could stand anything but that.
She stepped out into the foyer, then walked toward the doors. Strains of music drifted out from the tent. She was about to duck around it when she heard someone call her name.
The man approaching her didn’t make her heart beat faster. All that happened was that she felt even more frantic about being on her own. Unfortunately Eric, one of the men from Stone’s office, couldn’t read her mind. He stopped in front of her and smiled. “They’re playing a waltz, Cathy. May I have this dance?”
Before she could think of a polite way to refuse, she sensed more than heard Stone approach. He took her hand in his. “I’m afraid the lady has already promised this dance to me,” he said, and led her off.
Cathy gave Eric an apologetic smile.
“I’ve been watching for you,” Stone said as they entered the tent. “I was afraid you weren’t feeling well.”
“I’m fine. I had a bit of trouble with my hair.”
“It and you look very beautiful tonight,” he murmured as he took her in his arms.
The music was lovely, a steady three-three beat that allowed her to follow him around the tent. There were more dancers now. Cathy stared at the costumes, tried to absorb the spectacular scene, anything to avoid thinking about what she’d just learned. There was no point in trying to talk to Stone now. Later, when they were alone, she would seek the truth.
But even the pleasure of being in his arms wasn’t enough to keep her mind from racing. She didn’t know what to think. How much of it was true? What if it was all true? Then she was just another project to him. She wasn’t anyone special at all. She’d never thought he would love her but she had hoped that he would care…at least a little.
She reminded herself that they were lovers. He wanted her in his bed, if nowhere else in his life. He couldn’t fake that kind of passion. Was it enough? She didn’t have an answer, but as her body grew cold, despite his closeness and heat, she had a bad feeling that it was going to have to be. Just like for Evelyn, her story wasn’t going to have a happy ending, either.
Chapter Fourteen
Stone watched Cathy remove the pins from her hair. She’d already hung up her dress and taken off her makeup. She wore a short peach-colored robe with a matching nightie underneath.
He stretched out under the sheets and waited for her impatiently. While he enjoyed her bedtime rituals, tonight he was already aroused and ready for her. He wanted her in his bed, his arms around her, her body pressing against his. He wanted to kiss her and taste her. He wanted to reach between her thighs and find her already wet for him. Then he wanted to plunge inside of her and take them both to fantastic release.
“Thinking about it doesn’t make the wait any easier,” he mumbled to himself.
Cathy glanced up and looked at him. “What was that, Stone?” she asked. She finished pulling out the pins, then reached for her brush.
“Nothing. I was talking to myself.”
