were eating outside?”
“My bragging might have forced me to prove myself to the partners by being the chef for the steaks, but it was a formal meeting.”
“Okay.” She still wouldn’t meet his gaze. “This isn’t a big deal. You go ahead to your office or wherever. I can handle it. I’ve been here enough that I know where to put everything.”
He shook his head. If they were going to be around each other for the next few weeks, they had to get to know each other as new people. Otherwise, they’d always relate to each other as the people they knew from their doomed marriage.
“It’s late. If you do this alone, it could take hours. I’ll help so you can be out of here before midnight.”
The expression on her face clearly said she wanted to argue, but in the end, she turned and walked to the far side of the table, away from him. “Suit yourself.”
She began stacking plates and gathering silverware at the head of the table. Cain did the same at the opposite end.
Though she hadn’t argued with his decision to help her, she made it clear that she wasn’t in the mood to talk. They worked in silence save for the clink and clatter of silverware and plates then he realized something amazing. She might be wary of him, but she wasn’t afraid of his fancy silverware anymore. Wasn’t afraid of chipping the china or breaking the crystal as she had been when they were married.
Funny that she had to leave him, become a maid, to grow accustomed to his things, his lifestyle.
“It seems weird to see how comfortable you are with the china.”
She peeked up at him. “Until you said that, I’d forgotten how uncomfortable I had been around expensive things.” She shrugged. “I was always afraid I’d break them. Now I can twirl them in the air and catch them behind my back with one hand.”
He laughed, hoping to lighten the mood. “A demonstration’s not really necessary.”
She picked up a stack of dishes and headed for the kitchen. He grabbed some of the empty wineglasses and followed her. If discussing his china was what it took to get her comfortable enough to open up, then he wasn’t letting this conversation die. “I never did understand why you were so afraid.”
“I’d never been around nice things.”
“Really?” He shook his head in disbelief. “Liz, your job took you all over the place. You yourself told me that you had to wine and dine clients.”
“In restaurants.” She slid the glasses he handed her into the dishwasher. “It’s one thing to go to a restaurant where somebody serves you and quite another to be the one in charge.”
“You wouldn’t hesitate now.”
“No. I wouldn’t. I love crystal and china and fancy silver.”
The way he was watching her made Liz selfconscious, so embarrassed by her past that she felt the need to brag a little.
“I’m actually the person in charge of A Friend Indeed’s annual fund-raiser.” Her attention on placing dishes in the dishwasher, she added, “When we were married, I couldn’t plan a simple Christmas party, now I’m in charge of a huge ball.”
“There’s a ball?”
Too late she realized her mistake. Though she wanted him to know about her accomplishments, she wasn’t sure she wanted him at the ball, watching her, comparing her to the past. As coordinator for the event, she’d be nervous enough without him being there.
“It’s no big deal,” she said, brushing it off as insignificant. “Just Ayleen’s way of getting her rich friends together to thank them for the donations she’ll wheedle out of them before the end of the evening.”
She straightened away from the dishwasher and headed for the dining room and the rest of the dirty dishes.
He followed her. “I know some people who could also contribute.” He stopped in front of the table she was clearing and caught her gaze. “Can I get a couple of invitations to this ball or is it closed?”
Liz stifled a groan, as his dark eyes held hers. There was no way out of this.
“As someone working for the group, you’re automatically invited. You won’t get an invitation. Ayleen will simply expect you to be there.”
But he would get invitations to Joni’s barbecue and Matt’s Christmas party. As long as he volunteered for A Friend Indeed, he’d be connected to her. She had to get beyond her fear that he would be watching her, evaluating her, remembering how she used to be.
The room became silent except for the clang of utensils as Liz gathered them. Cain joined in the gathering again. He didn’t say anything, until they returned to the kitchen.
“Are you going to be uncomfortable having me there?”
She busied herself with the dishwasher to cover the fact that she winced. “No.”
“Really? Because you seem a little standoffish. Weird. As if you’re not happy that I want to go.”
Because her back was to him, she squeezed her eyes shut. Memories of similar functions they’d attended during their marriage came tumbling back. Their compatibility in bed was only equaled by how incompatible they’d been at his events. A Friend Indeed’s ball would be the first time he’d see her in his world since their divorce. She’d failed miserably when she was his wife. Now he’d see her in a gown, hosting the kind of event she’d refused to host for him.
“This is making you nervous.” He paused, probably waiting for her to deny that. When she didn’t he said, “Why?”
She desperately wanted to lie. To pretend nothing was wrong. But that was what had gotten her into trouble with him the first time around. She hadn’t told him the truth about herself. She let him believe she was something she wasn’t.
She sucked in a breath for courage and faced him. “Because I’ll know you’ll be watching me. Looking for the difference in how I am now and how I was when we were married.”
He chuckled. “I’ve already noticed the differences.”
“All the differences? I don’t think so.”
“So tell me.”
“Maybe I don’t want to be reminded of the past.”
“Maybe if you told me about your past, you wouldn’t be so afraid. If what you’re fearing is my reaction, if you tell me, we’ll get it out of the way and you won’t have anything to fear anymore.”
He wasn’t exactly right, but he had made a point without realizing it. Maybe if she told him the truth about her humble beginnings and saw his disappointment, she could deal with it once and for all.
She returned to the dining room and walked around the table, gathering napkins as she spoke, so she wouldn’t have to look at him.
“When I was growing up my mom just barely made enough for us to scrape by. I’d never even eaten in a restaurant
