Page 2 of Texas Tycoon's Christmas Fiancée
“Team missed you,” Jake said. “Hope you’re not too out of shape after a month off.”
“Given the amateurs we are and playing twice a month at best, I don’t think my missing a couple of games will matter except for the score of our team,” Nick remarked, and his friends laughed.
“Great party, Nick,?
? a tall, blue-eyed man said as he joined the three. “Missed you at the last game.”
“See, Gabe agrees. The team needs you,” Jake said.
Nick faced Jake’s younger brother. “I don’t think I’m all that important. I’m not giving up my trips for basketball with the three of you,” he added, and the others grinned.
As they talked about their hobby, Nick tried to keep his attention on his friends. They had known him long enough that they would notice if he continued to watch Grace. Both Tony and Jake were as close to him as brothers. Gabe was close also, since he had grown up with them. Nick knew he could trust all three if he told them about Grace, but he didn’t care to discuss Michael with anyone.
He didn’t want to discuss his nephew with Grace either, but he had to. Later during the party, when she was in the kitchen, he strolled in to find her refilling a tray of hors d’oeuvres.
After a glance at him she returned her attention to the job at hand. “I hope everything is satisfactory.”
“More than acceptable,” he replied, watching her long fingers move, deftly arranging bruschetta, mini quiches, enticing tidbits on the tray. Even though her hands bore no rings, he already knew her single status. He caught a whiff of an unfamiliar, exotic perfume. Too much about her enticed him to the point he forgot his mission for minutes at a time. When had he found a woman as distracting as Grace?
“You’re very good at this, yet you’ve only been doing it a few years,” he said, taking a tasty cheese phyllo she had just placed on a silver tray. Replacing it immediately, she continued working.
“As I expected, you’ve inquired about my background,” she remarked without looking up. The light glinted on gold highlights in her silky brown hair worn clipped in a loose bun on her head. “I’ve worked in restaurants or in catering since I was in high school.” Her long brown lashes hid her eyes as she worked.
“So this catering business of yours, is it a childhood wish come true?”
“Not exactly, but close,” she answered. Big green eyes jolted him as they had at his first encounter. The crystal, vivid green beneath the long lashes was a stunning combination. Each look burned with a simmering animosity. He had to concede to himself that her beauty complicated his mission in spite of having nothing to do with the problem between them.
“You’ve done an excellent job tonight. You’ve impressed my friends.”
“Thank you,” she answered.
He left, fighting the urge to flirt with her, because that would be the road to disaster. He remained astounded by her aloof manner. He had never anticipated it. Her coolness made him reassess his view of her. Her poise and self-assurance denied her impoverished background. While she demonstrated little gratitude for his business, the catering had been executed with perfection. She loomed a more formidable foe than he had imagined.
“I don’t have any idea what the deal is, Nick,” Jake said, walking up to him. “Anyone can feel the sparks when you and your caterer are together, yet the looks she gives you contradict that.”
“You’ve forgotten,” Nick said. “I told you about my brother and this baby he supposedly fathered.”
“I remember,” Jake said, turning to look again at Grace. “So this woman is the guardian?”
“Yes. I keep expecting Dad to revert to his old self and forget this nonsense about wanting a grandchild in the family, but so far he hasn’t. He wants the baby to have our name and be in his life. He doesn’t expect or want to have complete custody.”
“He’s older, Nick, and he’s had a brush with mortality. That can change a man.”
“This is totally out of character for him. Dad’s thinking isn’t as clear as it was before the last heart attack.”
Jake sipped his drink and frowned slightly. “On other subjects or just this one?”
“I’ll admit, mostly this one, but I’ll repeat, this interest in a baby is so unlike him.”
As a mutual friend approached, Nick turned to greet him and the conversation switched to golf, yet Nick couldn’t lose his continual awareness of Grace. Occasionally, he looked into her green eyes and each time, electricity zigzagged through him. Certain he had the pertinent facts about her, he had been surprised there was no man in her life.
Thinking she would be impressed by the family wealth, he was still surprised by her frosty manner. His stubborn father would not back down. If she was uncooperative, they would be in for a battle, and he was the one in the middle who would have to do the negotiating. Normally, where a beautiful, single woman was involved, he would be happy to step in, but in the current situation, he opposed what his father wanted. Maybe Grace herself would settle the whole thing and for once in his life, the old man would have to accept not getting what he wanted.
Nick’s spirits lifted only slightly. He hated to break the news to his father, who was frail now and in failing health. Eli had spent a lifetime getting his way and didn’t take it well when he couldn’t. Monday morning, Nick would discover where they stood.
A piano player filled the evening with music and conversation grew louder after everyone had eaten their fill.
In spite of enjoying his guests, Nick kept track of Grace, who remained in the background assisting and directing the cleanup. He had been watching her talk to one of her staff but then a guest took his attention and the next time he looked for Grace, she was nowhere in sight. The catering staff had disappeared as well. He excused himself and strolled through the crowd, entering an empty kitchen.
