did that mean? There was an undercurrent here she couldn’t put her finger on, but Dax definitely wasn’t warming up to her. Problem alert. Dax and Leo were old friends and a wife was a second-class citizen next to that. Was Dax the genesis of Leo’s silent treatment?
“Well, your media empire is impressive nonetheless. We watch your news channel regularly.” It wasn’t a total lie—Leo had scrutinized stock prices as they scrolled across the bottom of the screen last night as she pretended to sleep after the spelling lesson.
Dax smiled and a chill rocked her shoulders. If Leo wanted people to believe he was a ruthless, cold-blooded businessman, he should take lessons from his friend. That guy exuded take no prisoners.
One of the servers discreetly signaled to get her attention and she pounced on the opportunity to escape. “Will you excuse me? Duty calls.”
“Of course.” Dax immediately turned to one of Leo’s new partners, Miles Bennett, and launched into an impassioned speech about the Cowboys roster and whether they could make it to the Super Bowl this time around.
The server detailed a problem in the kitchen with several broken champagne bottles, which Dannie solved by pulling out Leo’s reserve stash of Meunier & Cie. It was a rosé, but very good and would have to do in a pinch. Most of the guests were men and such a girly drink had definite potential to go over like a lead balloon.
Mental note—next time, buy extra champagne in case of nervous, butterfingered staff.
She poured two glasses of the pink champagne and sought out Tommy Garrett. Something told her he’d take to both an out-of-the-norm drink and being roped into a coconspiracy.
Maybe because of the purple canvas high-tops he’d worn with his tuxedo.
“Tommy.” Grateful she’d caught him alone by the stairs, she handed him a champagne flute. When Leo had introduced them earlier, they’d chatted for a while and she’d immediately seen why her husband liked him. “You look thirsty. Humor me and drink this. Pretend it’s beer.”
A brewery in the Czech Republic exported Tommy’s vice of choice, which she’d gleaned from his admin. But he’d already had two pints and hopefully wouldn’t balk at her plea.
The young man flipped chin-length hair, bleached almost white by the sun, out of his face. “You read my mind. Talking to all these suits has parched me fiercely.”
Half the champagne disappeared into Tommy’s mouth in one round and he didn’t gag. A glance around the room showed her that others weren’t tossing the rosé into the potted plants. Crisis averted.
“Thanks, Mrs. Reynolds.” She shot him a withering glare and he winked. “I mean Dannie. Sorry, I forgot. Beautiful women get me all tongue-tied.”
She laughed. “Does that geek approach actually work?”
“More often than I would have ever imagined. Yet I find myself devoid of promising action this evening.” Tommy sighed dramatically and waggled his brows, leaning in to murmur in her ear. “Wanna see my set of protractors sometime?”
Her grin widened. She really liked him, too, and was almost disappointed he hadn’t worn a hoodie to her fancy party. “Why, Thomas Garrett, you should be ashamed of yourself. Hitting on a married lady.”
“I should be, but I’m totally not. Anyway, I couldn’t pry you away from Leo with a crowbar and my own private island. Could I?” he asked hopefully with a practiced once-over she suspected the coeds fell for hook, line and sinker.
“Not a chance,” she assured him. “I like my men all grown-up. But feel free to keep trying your moves on me. Eventually you’ll become passable at flirting with a woman.”
Tommy clutched his heart in mock pain. “Harsh. I think there might be blood.”
That prickly, hot flash traveled down her back an instant before Leo materialized at her elbow. His palm settled with familiarity into the groove at her waist and she clamped down on the shiver before it tipped him off that such a simple touch could be so affecting. Why had she worn a backless dress?
“Hey, Leo.” Tommy lifted his nearly empty glass in a toast. “Great party. Dannie was telling me how much she likes protractors.”
“Was she, now?” Leo said easily, his voice mellower than the scotch in his highball.
Uh-oh. She’d never heard him speak like that.
Swiping at Tommy with a flustered hand, she glanced up at Leo and nearly flinched at the lethal glint in her husband’s eyes. Directed at her or Tommy? “Protractors. Yes. They get the job done, don’t they? Just like Leo. Think of him as a protractor and Reynolds’s competitor, Moreno Partners, as a ruler. Why not use the right tool for the job from the very beginning?”
Tommy eyed her. “Moreno is pretty straight and narrow in their approach. Maybe that’s what I need.”
Good, he’d picked up on her desperate subject change.
“Oh, no.” Dannie shook her head and prayed Leo’s stiff carriage wasn’t because he didn’t like the way she was sticking her nose in his business with Tommy. This was absolutely what she was here for and she absolutely didn’t want to blow it, especially with Leo in such a strange, unpredictable mood. “Reynolds can help you. Leo’s been doing this far longer than Moreno. He has connections. Expertise. You know Leo has a degree in engineering, too, right?”
Leo’s hand drifted a little lower. His pinky dipped inside her dress and grazed the top edge of her panties. Her brain liquefied into the soles of her sparkly Manolos and she forgot to mention he’d actually double majored in engineering and business.
“Daniella,” Leo murmured. “Perhaps you’d see to Mrs. Ross? She’s wandering around by the double glass doors and I’m afraid she might end up in the pool.”
“Of course.” She smiled at Tommy, then at Leo and went on the trumped-up errand Leo had devised, likely to avoid saying outright in front of a prospective partner that he could handle his own public relations. Which she appreciated.
As she guided Mrs. Ross toward the buffet, she laughed at the sweet old lady’s jokes, but kept an eye on Leo and Tommy. They were still talking near the stairs and Leo’s expression had finally lost that edge she so desperately wanted to understand.
If she’d gone too far with the bedroom-sharing idea, why didn’t he just tell her?
This party was a measure of how effectively she could do her job as Leo’s wife and how well she contributed to his success. Coupled with the high-level tension constantly pulsing between them, her nerves had stretched about as tight as they could without snapping.
* * *
Dannie showed the last guest to the door and spent a long thirty minutes with the auxiliary staff wrapping up postparty details.
Leo was nowhere to be seen.
Around midnight, she finally stumbled to their bedroom with the last bottle of champagne, uncorked, intending to split it with him in celebration of a successful party. Surely Leo shared that opinion. If he didn’t, she really should be told why.
Darkness
