Bluegrass State of Mind (30 page)

“
To the woman I love,” he
said, as he raised his glass and tapped it to hers.

“
To the man I love,” she
said before taking a sip. “Hmm, so good.” She looked over at Will
when she realized he hadn’t taken a sip and that he was staring at
her hand. She, too, looked at her hand and realized it had started
its own love affair with the tux. She was rubbing his leg up and
down, up and down, and her hand was gradually working its way to
his growing erection. “Oh! I am sorry! It’s the tux,” she
flushed.

“
I hope that’s not all it
is,” he said before he grabbed her into a passionate kiss. She
should thank her runaway hand if this was the kind of kisses she
got when it went wandering.

Will leaned back from the kiss and
took his glass. He raised it, “To the tux,” and then downed the
rest of the drink.

Raising her glass, “Definitely to your
tux,” and followed suit, downing her drink. The second she finished
the champagne, Will’s hands were on her.

“
I should have toasted
this dress,” he said before sliding his hand under the hem and
working his way up her thigh. He bent his head and ran a series of
kisses over the swells of her breasts before pushing it down and
pulling out a taut nipple into his mouth. Kenna’s head fell back as
the sensations of Will’s mouth, hand, and the silk sliding over her
skin took over.

All too soon, he pulled back and a
sound of displeasure escaped from her. “Don’t stop, please,” she
moaned.

“
I would love nothing more
than to continue, but we’re here. We probably have five minutes
before our limo makes it to the front door. Though I would love
nothing more than for you to step out looking like a satisfied
woman, I figured you might want to freshen up. Also, I need to run
through all my football stats for a minute.”

“
Football stats?
Why?”

Will looked down at his
pants.

Without a word from Will, Kenna came
to understand. “Oh. You need a distraction.” She couldn’t seem to
take her gaze away from his erection tenting out in his
pants.

“
Kenna, that doesn’t
help,” he said through gritted teeth.

She pulled her gaze away and opened
the small purse looking for her lipstick and a small mirror. She
straightened her hair and reapplied her lipstick. The door was
opened and Will got out first, offering her his hand.

As she got out of the car, he leaned
over and whispered in her ear, “I never did get to find out if you
have anything on under that dress.”

She gasped, but then laughed when he
winked at her.

He escorted her through security and
into the ballroom of Mo’s house. The party was huge. She was pretty
sure she’d seen the Governor, a music mogul, and maybe even the
Vice President of the United States. There were members of royal
families there from all over the world, mostly the younger sets.
One of the Princes of England was there with some royal from
Sweden.

“
Come on, I see some
people I know.” He placed her hand on his arm, covering it with his
other hand and led her through the crowd. She met the owner of the
NFL team Will played for, along with some other horse people. One
was actually an Ambassador to one of the small countries in Eastern
Europe.

They had made it halfway across the
ballroom when a new dance started. Will pulled her onto the dance
floor and swept her easily into the dance. They talked and laughed
as they moved around the dance floor.

“
Look, Will. There’s Mo
with Bachelorette Number Two. Or is that a new one?” she said using
her chin to indicate where Mo was dancing with a beautiful woman in
formal dress.

“
Bachelorette Number Two?”
Will’s brows drew together.

“
That’s what I call them.
The women his father keeps sending to his doorstep, hoping Mo will
marry. He can’t escape this one since his father is here. Normally,
he just sends them back home. This one just happens to be the
second one I have met. I am pretty sure she’s more like
Bachelorette Number Fourteen or so,” she laughed as Mo managed to
catch her eye. “It looks like he needs us to rescue him. Come on,
handsome, lead the way over to him.”

Will steered her closer to Mo. By the
time the dance ended, they were side-by-side.

“
Will, Kenna, so good to
see you again. Will, I must speak to you about a horse if you don’t
mind.” Mo turned to Number Two, “If you will excuse me, Madam, I
have business to discuss with these two. Please, do not wait for me
as this may take a while. Go and mingle, maybe you will find
someone you have a lot in common with.” Number Two bowed her head
and walked off into the crowd.

“
Very nice, Mo. Could you
be more dismissive?” Kenna chided.

“
She’s a mute. She’s clung
to my arm the whole night and has not said a single word.
Thankfully, you two came along and can rescue me. My father has
promised me a choice of eligible women tonight. Apparently he’s
invited upwards of ten women and their families here. If I wasn’t
hosting this party at my house, I would run and hide until they all
left.”

Kenna couldn’t help it, a giggle
escaped. Apparently Will was having as much trouble as her not
laughing because as soon as her giggle escaped, so did a bark of
laughter from him.

“
If only I had won that
stupid basketball game, then I could have made you come as my date.
Maybe that would have kept the wolves at bay,” Mo
muttered.

“
What are you talking
about?” Will asked Mo. Kenna laughed again and tried to smother it
with her hand over her mouth.

“
Kenna and I played a
basketball game the other night. The winner got to name a favor
from the loser. I was the loser. If I had won the favor, I would
have called for her to escort me to the ball tonight and help me
keep those women away from me,” Mo explained.

“
So, what favor did Kenna
win?”

“
I haven’t claimed it yet.
I will know it when I see it,” she laughed, laying her hand on
Will’s arm and loving the feel of him enveloping it with his own
hand. Mo and Will started talking about the horses competing
against Boots when Kenna let her attention be drawn away from the
conversation and she started to people watch.

She felt it first, Will’s arm muscles
tightened beneath her hand.

“
Shit. What the hell is
she doing here?” Kenna followed Will’s gaze as Mo turned to see
what it was.

“
Dammit. My parents were
forced into inviting her father, Senator Bruce. He sits on a
committee that we need the support of to start raising the amount
of oil we export into the country. I didn’t think he’d bring his
daughter as his escort. I am sorry,” Mo said in hushed tones as
they watched Whitney sashayed her way towards them in a dress that
more resembled lingerie than a ball gown.

“
Your Highness,” Whitney
said as she attempted a curtsey, but only managed a clumsy bend
that threatened to spill her breasts out of her dress. “Thank you
so much for thinking about my family. We are having a wonderful
time.” She placed her hand on Mo’s arm and managed to rub her
breast against him.

“
I am so very glad,” Mo
said stiffly and with a sneer of disgust as he removed her hand
from his arm and stepped away from her.

Pretending not to notice the snub, she
turned to Will and tried to kiss his lips. Instead, she hit his
cheek when he turned his head. “Hello, my love. Are you having a
good time?”

“
Until just recently.” He
pulled Kenna closer to his side as if trying to protect her, or
maybe using her as a shield.

“
Oh, Kenna, darling. I
have such a surprise for you!” Whitney squealed, the sound sending
shivers up Kenna’s back. “You are just going to die! Look!” Whitney
pointed over Kenna shoulder.

Kenna, Will and Mo all turned to see
what, or rather who, the surprise was. Her reaction was
instantaneous. She felt all the blood leave her head so fast that
she thought she’d faint. She started shaking and she gripped Will’s
arm with bone crushing strength.

Chad Taylor, with a fitted tux,
bleached teeth, and hair gelled perfectly in place, sauntered up to
her. “Hello, sweetheart. Happy to see me?”

Will moved to place his arm around her
waist and pulled her against him. Out of the corner of her blurring
vision, she saw Mo move next to her on her other side.

Not to be left out of the center of
attention, Whitney moved over to Chad and placed her hand on his
arm. “Last week I was on the Hill with Daddy for lunch and he had
Chad with him. I was talking about how fortunate I was to speak
with you about my legal matters and how I wanted you to be my
lawyer from now on. I told him, ‘Miss Mason is the wonderful new
attorney everyone is talking about’, and how you are the only woman
in town taking on all these stuffy old men.”

No, this couldn’t be happening.
Shivers overtook her body. She knew by using her own name, it would
only be a matter of time before they found her. She was lucky to
have made it this long. But she still found that she was unprepared
for this encounter.

“
And then Chad asked me,
‘Mason? Not McKenna Mason?’ and I was like, ‘Oh my God you know
McKenna?’ What a surprise it turned out to be to find your
boyfriend in D.C.” Turning to Will she asked, “Did you know Kenna
had a boyfriend slaving away in D.C.?”

Chad had not taken his eyes off of her
yet. The cold, calculating sneer he was trying to pass off as a
smile was only turning more predatory as he ran his eyes up and
down her body, pausing at her breasts for a moment before traveling
on. “It seems that these past couple of months have done wonders
for you, sweetheart.”

Kenna managed to drag in a
breath and then remembered,
He’s
coming
. Danielle tried to warn her, but
she was in such a state of denial she had thought someone was
coming after Danielle.

She felt Mo shift next to her. She
watched as he pulled himself up to his full height and a mask of
impenetrable royal snobbery was placed on his face. “I don’t
believe we have met. I am Sheik Rahman and this is my place.” With
a flick of his wrist he indicated the house around him. “Well, one
of my places.” The elitist tone froze the almost feral smile on
Chad’s face and finally made him break eye contact with
her.

“
Chad Taylor, I lobby for
special interest groups in Washington. I believe we
have…”

“
Excuse me, I see someone
more important I need to talk to.” Without looking at anyone in the
group, Mo walked away and into the crowd. Kenna watched where he
was headed and almost felt a little relief when she saw he was
headed straight to Ahmed.

Will patted her hand, “Royalty, you
never know what they are going to do. I do believe this is our
waltz, my love.” With a territorial stare to Chad, Will turned to
her, “Shall we?”

He was offering her a lifeline, a
means of escape, and she took it. He escorted her to the dance
floor and swept her elegantly into the waltz. As Will spun her
around the dance floor, she saw Whitney and Chad move to the edge
of one side of the dance floor. On the other side, she saw Mo and
Ahmed with their heads together. She caught a small gesture Mo made
in Whitney and Chad’s direction.

“
So, are you going to tell
me what’s going on? With that reaction of yours, I do not believe
he’s your boyfriend. Don’t think for one minute I am upset about
that. However, I am upset you were keeping something from me that
obviously upsets you. I am here to share your problems, Kenna. I
love you. All of you, even your problems.”

Kenna couldn’t stop the nervous
laughter that bubbled up, “Then I hope you love me a lot, because
this is a whopper.”

“
Kenna, I am here for you.
I love you and nothing will change that. Trust me.”

“
Okay, the quick version
is: After my birthday in February, my best friend, Danielle and I
went back to my office late at night to get some papers. The senior
partners hold a poker night once a month where local and national
VIPs, like judges and Senators come. Chad had been with me at the
party, but said he had to meet a Senator in D.C. and left early.
Danielle and I drove back to the office. While she was changing her
shoes and looking for her keys, I went to my office. I heard a lot
of noise from the poker night, but just ignored it till I heard a
scream. I snuck down the hall and hid in a cubicle to look into the
conference room. There was a stripper on our table and I thought
everything was fine. I was about to leave when she screamed again.
I looked in and saw Chad knock her onto the table and rip off her
top. She was crying and screaming. No one was doing anything. Chad
then said he won at poker, so he was going first and the rest could
have her when he was done with her. He was going to rape her, Will.
He did rape her. But the worst was standing there knowing the girl
was about to be gang raped by some of the most prominent men in the
state and country, and I couldn’t stop it.”

She felt Will’s arms tighten around
her. “What happened next?”

“
I called 9-1-1 and
reported the rape in progress. Then I grabbed a stapler, marched
into the room and hit Chad on the head with it.”