Lady Be Good (17 page)

“Don’t look at me. I’m scared of her.”

Torie leaned over and kissed Ted’s cheek. “If you were just a couple years older, sonny boy, I’d show you the time of your life.”

“I doubt I’d survive it.”

“You ask me,” Kenny said, “the Antichrist is going through some kind of midlife crisis. Sonovabitch turns fifty this year. I think it’s twisted his mind.”

Ted tilted his chair back and stretched out his legs. “He’s just pissed off at you is all.”

“Abuse of power,” Kenny grumbled. “Thinks he’s the damned President of the United States.”

Ted smiled.

“I’m serious,” Kenny went on. “Everybody who belongs to the PGA expects the commissioner to be fair. Even though he only has the job temporarily, he should at least pretend to be impartial.”

At that moment, Emma spotted the man in the floral shirt who’d followed them into the bar and realized he was watching her quite closely from across the room. A rush of excitement went through her. He really was Beddington’s watchdog!

She knew she had to make the most of the moment, but all she could think to do was grab her gin and tonic and take a healthy slug. As a scandalous act, it was fairly pathetic, but she couldn’t think of anything else. And then another idea occurred to her, although she didn’t want to do it. Still, she wanted to be married to Hugh even less.

Steeling herself, she rose out of her chair, looped her arm around Kenny’s neck, and planted herself in his lap.

He lifted an eyebrow. “Have I missed something?”

She curled her mouth into what she hoped was a seductive smile and tried to speak without moving her lips. “Kiss me at once.”

“No,” he said indignantly.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t like your attitude.”

She had been a bit bossy, but that was only because she was nervous. “I apologize.”

His eyes settled on her mouth. “Okay, I’ll kiss you.”

The burly man turned away, and she immediately ejected from Kenny’s lap.

He frowned at her as she grabbed for her gin and tonic. “Are you drunk again?”

“Certainly not.”

“Good. Because Wynette doesn’t have even a halfway decent tattoo parlor.”

The burly man had moved over near the jukebox, but he was still watching her. He was balding, with straw-colored hair and prominent jowls. Thinking hard, she looked over at Ted. “Would you mind very much dancing with me?” Beddington definitely wouldn’t like her dancing with anyone, let alone an obviously younger man.

“I wouldn’t mind at all,” Ted replied.

“He’s a terrible dancer,” Torie said. “You want somebody good, you get out on the floor with Kenny.”

Ted looked injured. “She asked
me
to dance, not John Travolta here.”

Torie shrugged. “It’s your feet, Lady Emma.”

Although Emma didn’t look at Kenny, she sensed his eyes on her as she got up from the table. Ted took her hand and led her toward the floor, where a ballad was playing. As they began to dance, she experienced the unusual sensation of being led around a dance floor by a sexy young man.
Very
young, she reminded herself.

And very sexy.

He smiled down at her and asked how she liked Texas.

She smiled back and said she loved it. He wanted to know if she’d enjoyed the ride in from Dallas and what she thought of the United States. They chatted easily.

The song ended, and a fast tune began to play. The crowd reshuffled and started performing a line dance. “Maybe I’d better sit this one out.”

“I’ll show you the steps,” Ted said. “Torie’s right. I’m not much of a dancer, but this one’s pretty easy.” He led her to the side, and she caught on quickly as he demonstrated.

As soon as they were back on the dance floor, she spotted Kenny and Torie dancing together. With their gleaming dark hair and easy grace, they moved like mirror images of each other. Kenny laughed at something one of the women passing by said to him. Torie flirted with an older man wearing a cowboy hat. They looked beautiful, rich, and a little jaded. Emma thought of Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan transplanted to a Texas honky-tonk.

The music slowed. Emma turned to go back to the table only to have Ted tug on her hand. “One more, Lady Emma. I like dancing with you. I always appreciate it when the lady leads.”

She laughed and slid back into his arms. It was nice being with someone who enjoyed her company. But they’d barely begun to dance before Kenny tapped Ted on the shoulder. “I’m taking over, little boy, so you go on back to the table and let Torie fight with you.”

“I don’t want to fight with Torie,” Ted said mildly. “I’m enjoying myself with Lady Emma.”

“And I’m real sure she’s enjoying herself with you, but right now, I’m suggesting you move aside.”

Emma felt a prickle of alarm as Ted gave Kenny a long hard assessment that suddenly made him look much older than his twenty-two years. “You and I are overdue for a reckoning.”

“Just name the time.”

“Seven o’clock tomorrow morning.”

“You’re on.”

Emma held up her hands. “Stop this at once!”

Kenny frowned. “Stop what?”

“Threatening each other! You’re acting like children.”

“We’re not threatening. We’re playing golf.”

“
I’ll
be playing golf,” Ted said. “It remains to be seen what John Travolta here’ll be doing.” He gave Emma a slow smile and walked away.

As Emma watched him disappear, she actually felt weak-kneed for a moment. If Ted was this bone-melting at twenty-two, what would he be like in another ten years?

Kenny took her in his arms, and she got weak-kneed all over again. Her instinctive attraction to him irritated her.

“You just put your eyeballs right back in your head, Lady Emma.”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t play dumb. I know exactly what you’re doing. You’re mentally screening candidates to put an end to your you-know-what. Your virginity,” he added, in case she’d missed the point. “And my little pal there just moved to the top of your list.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s much too young.” She couldn’t resist adding, “But very sexy.”

“Yeah, well, take if from me . . . your friend Francesca won’t like it too much if you try to seduce her baby boy.”

She stumbled. “Her baby boy?”

He led her back into the dance steps. “Not to mention what the Antichrist might have to say about it. He has a lot of pride in that son of his.”

“He’s their son?” She blinked her eyes. “Oh, my . . . she always refers to him as Teddy. I never thought . . .”

“Theodore Day Beaudine. The only child of Francesca and you-know-who.”

“I got the impression that her son was much younger, still a child. I never thought . . .”

“Well, start thinking now, Mrs. Robinson, because he’s definitely not a child, and he’s off-limits to you.”

“I wasn’t really planning to seduce him. He’s young enough to have been one of my students. How could you think such an awful thing?”

“Do I have to remind you of a certain unfortunate incident two nights ago?”

“That was different. I intended to
pay
you.”

He chuckled, then moved his hand on her back. She felt his finger slide along the small band of skin between her top and the waistband of her jeans. She couldn’t tell if it was accidental or not, and she gave an involuntary shiver.

His voice deepened a notch. “Until this minute, it never occurred to me that you might be so desperate for sex you’d actually prey on one of our town’s innocent children.”

“He’s hardly—”

“I may have to abandon my principles and go to bed with you after all.”

She stumbled again, and he lifted one dark eyebrow. “Although, to be honest about it, I don’t know if I’m up to all the work involved in having sex with a you-know-what. Still, I guess there comes a time in every man’s life when he has to sacrifice himself for the greater good of the community.”

She deliberately stepped on his foot. “Sorry.”

“You did that on purpose!”

“I most certainly did not.”

For a moment he said nothing, then he gave a long, put-upon sigh. At the same time, he slipped his thumb beneath the hem of her top. “All right, you win. I’ll let you mess around with me.”

Even though she knew he was teasing, she felt this funny quiver in her middle. Then she thought about picking up a beer pitcher from one of the tables and pouring it over his head. How had so much arrogance gotten packaged in one man? “Thanks, but I couldn’t put you to the trouble.”

He drew her closer so her breasts snuggled against his chest. “Not much trouble. I’ll just lie there and let you do all the work. You’d probably like that best anyway.”

Before she could come up with a response, he stopped dancing. “Uh-oh. Just when you think it’s safe to go back in the water . . .”

Emma looked up and spotted a rather disheveled man in his early thirties wearing chinos, a rumpled blue oxford cloth shirt, and wire-rimmed glasses approach the table where Torie sat with Ted. Ted immediately rose and held out his hand, obviously pleased.

Torie, however, wasn’t. Her spine straightened, and she shot him a look of pure venom.

“That’s Dexter O’Conner,” Kenny said. “The heir to Com National, Torie’s intended, and the biggest nerd in Wynette, Texas. Most of the time Ted’s the only person in the entire county who has any idea what he’s talking about.”

Dexter O’Conner reminded her of Jeremy Fox. They both had that same pleasantly untidy look, although this man was taller and thinner. His bony scholar’s face was a bit long, but still attractive. He had a wide, intelligent brow, well-spaced eyes, and shaggy brown hair. It didn’t take Emma more than a few seconds to realize that Dexter O’Conner was exactly the kind of man who had always appealed to her.

Kenny let her go. “We’d better get over there before Torie takes too big a bite out of him and lets the poor sonovabitch bleed to death.” He approached the table like the masked avenger. “What the hell are you doing here, O’Conner?”

“Dex came here to meet
me,
” Ted said. “You and Torie are the damned interlopers, so go away. Lady Emma, you can stay.”

She smiled at him. “Thank you.”

Ted introduced her, and Dexter O’Conner acknowledged her presence with a brief, level-eyed survey, then a courteous nod. There was something about his manner that made her warm to him. He pulled off his wire-rims, revealing a very nice pair of gray eyes, and extracted a handkerchief from his pocket to polish them.

“As a matter of fact, I’d like Victoria and Kenny to stay, too. As long as we’re all here, I think it would behoove us to reach some sort of understanding.”

“You hear that, Kenny?
Behoove
. He talks like he’s inhaled a damned dictionary. And, I swear to God, Dexter, the next time you call me Victoria, I’m going to body slam you.”

“I doubt that would be possible.” He slipped his glasses back on. “I’m quite a bit bigger.”

Torie slumped forward and caught her forehead in her hands. “Jesus . . . you are such a dork.”

“He’s a smart dork,” Ted pointed out. “And unlike you, Dex has actually
earned
his share of the family money.”

“Shut up, you little putz.” Torie reached for her cigarettes only to have Dex take them from her hands.

“I really don’t like seeing you smoking, Victoria.”

“That does it!” With a growl, she sprang to her feet and lunged for his throat.

Kenny caught her around the waist just before she struck. “Settle down, now. You know how you hate it when you get blood on your clothes.” He shot Dexter a warning glare as Torie struggled in his arms. “You’d better get out of here, Dex. I don’t know how much longer I can hold her.”

“I see no reason to leave,” Dex said. “I have something to discuss with her. You’re welcome to listen.”

As Torie’s growls of outrage grew louder, Ted rose. “You’re right, Kenny. Somebody needs to swat her. I’ll take her away till she cools down.” He sighed. “Even though I don’t want to.” He grabbed Torie by the waist, just under Kenny’s arm, and yanked. “Let’s go play Foosball. And this time, let me win!”

Torie shot Dexter a venomous look as Ted dragged her away.

Emma observed Dexter with interest. She’d known Texas would be fascinating, but she hadn’t expected to find herself thrown into the middle of such an absorbing drama. This was like a rerun of
Dallas
, except with much nicer people. Well, nicer except for Kenny Traveler.

Just then, she spotted the burly man watching them and felt a thrill of anticipation. Beddington would hate having her involved in this kind of public scene.

Kenny took a seat. “I’d advise you not to hang out in any dark alleys, Dex. She doesn’t fight like a girl.”

“As I’m sure both of her ex-husbands discovered.” Dexter settled in the chair Torie had abandoned. “I’m not afraid of your sister, Kenny. I thought you’d realize that. She, of course, is terrified of me.”

Kenny grinned and shook his head. “Whatever you want to believe.”

Dex looked resigned. “I should have expected this.” He turned to Emma. “How long have you known Victoria, Lady Emma?”

“Just Emma. I only met her this morning.”

“I suppose that’s too little time for you to have any influence with her. It’s unfortunate. You seem quite level-headed.”

Kenny shot out his hand. “Now, Lady Emma, level-headed isn’t the same as being conservative, so keep your clothes on.”

“I had no intention of taking them off.”

Dex studied her more closely.

“Why don’t you just leave Torie alone?” Kenny said.

“It’s not that simple. Remember that our fathers are involved.”

“If you had any balls, Dex, you’d tell both of them to go to hell instead of letting them torture Torie like this.”

He gave Kenny a long, inscrutable look. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at your reaction.” With a shrug, he rose. “I’ll talk with Ted later. It’s been very nice meeting you, Emma. I look forward to seeing you again soon.” He nodded at Kenny and, without so much as a glance toward the Foosball game, headed for the door of the Roustabout.

“Coldhearted sonovabitch.”

“I found him very pleasant,” Emma said.