Masquerade (11 page)

“I’m on vacation,” she told him slowly. “I went to the beach.” She put her things down by her door and ran her key card through the slot. “I had a lovely afternoon and met a very nice banker from Idaho.” She opened the door and gave them
a smile. “He didn’t seem to think I was too old at all.”

Before she went into the room
, Slade said, “I need you to come to dinner with me at quarter til six. Wear something Hawaiian. It’s a luau.”

She turned back toward him and smiled graciously. “I had a late lunc
h with Bill, so I’m not hungry. Thanks anyway.”

Slade walked toward
her. “It’s one of AJ’s affairs. He’ll be there with Natalie Granger, and she’s already threatened to go seashell hunting for me. I need you with me.”

Meredith shook her head. “I’m tired and sunburned. The last thing I want to do is stay up all night keep
ing Natalie Granger away from you. Besides, you know how I hate mingling with celebrities. It’s awful. You always have to think up compliments about their work no matter how pathetic it is.”

“You won’t have to talk business tonight,” Slade said.

“That’s what you said when we went to the network charity dinner. I was trapped in a corner with Will Ferrell for a complete hour. The things I had to say about his comedies—” She looked at the ceiling and breathed out slowly. “It burns my soul just to think about it.”

Meredith then glanced back over at them, and her gaze locked onto Clarissa. Perhaps a little desperately, she said, “Why don’t you take Clarissa?”

“She’s watching the girls.”

“I’ll watch them.”

“They’re too much for you to handle.”

“Nonsense. I watched them for a bit last night and survived just fine. Besides, they’ll be going to bed in a few hours, which means I’ll be able to relax.” Without waiting for further protests,
Meredith peeked into Clarissa’s room at the girls. “While your parents are at dinner, we’re going to have a slumber party in my room.”

“A party?” Elaina asked. “Do we get balloons?”

“Of course,” Meredith replied. “Don’t forget to bring your jammies and toothbrushes.”

Both girls got to their feet and chattered to each other happily.

“I want a pink balloon,” Bella said.

“I want
anudder pink one,” Elaina added.

“We’ll take whatever colors we can bribe the housekeeping staff to get for us,” Meredith answered.

Clarissa turned to Slade, “What about our affair? I mean, I thought you didn’t want us to be seen together.”

Before Slade could answer, Meredith spoke.
“Seeing the two of you together will help dispel any rumors.” She patted Clarissa’s arm. “Just talk about your husband every few minutes.”

“I don’t have anything to wear,” Clarissa said weakly, but it was too late. Meredith was already
headed toward her room.

“Just keep repeating, ‘The cinematography was breathtaking!’
” Meredith told Clarissa, “and you’ll be fine.”

Slade glanced at his watch. He didn’t look entirely pleased by the turn of events. “Can you be ready
at quarter til?”

“I suppose so,”
Clarissa said, because she knew she didn’t have a choice.

“Wear your hair up,” he told her
as he left the room. “That looks more matronly.”

Chapter 13

At
five-forty, Slade knocked on Clarissa’s door. He wore tan pants and a Hawaiian shirt that made him look casual and utterly handsome. She hadn’t brought anything tropical to wear, so she’d put on a straight khaki skirt, a beige blouse, and the lei she’d been given by the flight attendant as she left the airplane in Honolulu. The tiny yellow flowers were a little wilted around the edges, but it was the only Hawaiian thing she had.

Slade’s gaze ran over her
with evident disapproval. “You don’t look matronly.”

“Do you want me to bring Elaina along to prove the point?”

“No.” He sighed and then moved away from the door so she could come out of the room. “I suppose I’m asking the impossible again.”

She would have taken this as a compliment if he hadn’t looked so displeased as he said it.

As they walked to the elevator, Clarissa could feel him surveying her again. “Remember to bring up your husband every few minutes. You know, in that annoying gloating way married people always talk about their spouses.”

Clarissa glanced over at him. “Women don’t generally accuse you of being charming, do they?”

He smiled and reached to push the elevator button. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want anything else to go wrong.”

The door opened, and Clarissa stepped in and waited for Slade to join her. They both reached for the button to the lobby at the same time, and their hands brushed together. She quickly withdrew h
ers. She suddenly felt awkward, as though without Elaina’s hand to hold, Clarissa wasn’t sure what to do with her hands. She finally folded them together. She and Slade stood in silence for a moment, then Clarissa said, “Who is Natalie Granger, anyway?”

“An old colleague. She has some ideas about the two of us
, which makes things tricky because she’s here with AJ. He’s the one I want to pitch my script to.”

Clarissa considered this. “She’s
AJ’s girlfriend?”

“Yes.”

“But she’s coming on to you?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Awesome girlfriend.”

The elevator door opened. As Clarissa stepped out, she lost her footing and wobbled. She’d bought
these high heels on one of her post-divorce, bargain-hunting shopping trips. At the time they’d seemed carefree and young—something a single woman would buy. As it turned out, they were something that only people who didn’t actually have to wear them would buy.

Slade took hold of her arm, catching her. He didn’t let
her go right away. “Are you all okay?”

“Yes,” she said. “It’s just these heels. They’re too high.”

His gaze slid down her legs to her feet. “You’d think after being liberated for so long, women would have done away with heels altogether.”

“We were liberated from men,” she said, “not from fashion.”

He grinned, shook his head, and continued down the hallway.

“W
hat exactly am I supposed to do about Natalie tonight?” Clarissa asked.

“You just have to be around. That way I’m obligated to stick by you and make sure you have a good time. I have a built-in excuse not to disappear anywhere with Natalie.”

“Oh.”

He smiled over at her again. “Now you know where those soap opera plot ideas come from.”

The luau was being held in the hotel garden overlooking the beach. As they exited the lobby and crossed the hotel lanai, Clarissa stopped to take in the view around her. Beyond the resort gardens and through a row of tall palm trees, a bank of purple clouds on the horizon of the ocean was turning shades of pink, yellow, and red. The surf rolled in long white lines toward the beach, and strains of soft Hawaiian music drifted over the garden. Paradise. Clarissa breathed in the fragrance of tropical flowers and wished she could capture this scene, this moment, and hold it forever.

Slade motioned for her to follow him, and she pulled her
attention away from the beach. Across the garden terrace stood a dozen circular tables covered in crisp white linen and hibiscus centerpieces. A long table stood in the middle of these, loaded with an assortment of salads, rolls, fruit, and meat.

A parquet dance floor spread out in front of the band. Those who had already arrived were congregated in groups, talking, or lined up at the bar for drinks. It all looked very informal,
except for the presence of a number of husky men in hotel uniforms who stood around the perimeter of the banquet site. Security men to keep unwanted guests out.

The next thing Clarissa noticed as they walked around were the familiar faces. People she had seen often but had never met. It wasn’t just the
Undercover Agents
who were scattered about. She also noticed a tennis pro, a former NBA star, a couple of rock stars, and an assortment of supermodels.

Clarissa stayed next to Slade as he slowly circulated through the crowd. He introduced her to everyone as Mrs. Hancock
. No one seemed concerned about who she was or why she was with Slade. In fact, hardly anyone spoke to her beyond the introductions. They all wanted to talk to Slade, to ask him what he’d been doing and why he was in Hawaii.

Clarissa didn’t mind being ignored. It saved her from having to admit she knew nothing about the movie business, the modeling industry, tennis
, or basketball. So she smiled, nodded, sipped her guava juice, and concentrated on keeping her balance in shoes she was now convinced were designed for people with foot abnormalities that required them to walk on their tiptoes.

As she followed Slade around on his mingling tour
, she saw both Joe and Breck. Joe looked at her, grinned, and then laughed softly into his drink. Breck wasn’t as subtle. When Clarissa and Slade reached the group Breck stood in, he winked at her. “Find anyone else to save today?”

Then because everyone looked at him for an explanation, he gave a blow-by-blow description of the whole event, sound effects included. He finished off the story with an aside to Clarissa. “And if you’re ever concerned about Bella getting trapped in an elevator, don’t worry. I
have it on good authority she already knows how to push the buttons.”

“Thanks,” Clarissa said. “Thanks so much.”

She expected more of the same treatment when they reached Sherry’s group, but Sherry barely glanced at her. It was as if Sherry had not only forgotten the whole event at the pool but also forgotten Clarissa altogether. Clarissa didn’t mind the snub. In fact, she was grateful.

At one point
Landon, with drink in hand, sauntered up to the group Slade and Clarissa had joined. He wore a black shirt with a gaudy silver pendant of an eagle around his neck. An average person would have looked absurd wearing it to a luau; on Landon it looked chic.

“Hello, Slade.” He nodded at his friend, then turned to eye Clarissa. “Mrs. Hancock, what a surprise to see you here. I thought you were busy tonight.”

Clarissa shifted the glass in her hands. “I was. I mean, Meredith volunteered to watch the girls.”

“Oh, you got someone else to babysit.” He nodded again. “It’s a pity you didn’t think of that when I suggested it to you.”

Slade turned to Landon then. “When you suggested it? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, nothing,”
Landon said. “I’m just making idle chitchat. Mingling and all that.” He looked over at Clarissa again. “Tell me, Mrs. Hancock, do you think you’ll be too busy to spare me a dance later?”

“I’m sure I’ll have the time.”

“Good, then I’ll talk to you later.” He smiled at her rather pointedly and turned and walked away.

Slade watched him go. “What was that about?”

Clarissa shrugged. “Nothing really.”

“Nothing?”
Slade didn’t press the point because another couple approached them.

The man was tall, lanky, and probably in his fifties. Streaks of gray lightened his brown hair, and wrinkles lined the corners of his eyes. His maroon shirt looked more western
than Hawaiian and matched the pair of cowboy boots he wore. The woman at his side was much younger. She could have been his daughter, except a daughter wouldn’t have hung onto his arm so possessively. Her platinum-blonde hair, expertly styled, brushed against her bare shoulders. Her flowered sundress was short, tight, and showed off her tan exceptionally.

The man extended his hand. “Slade, glad you could make it tonight.”

“I wouldn’t want to miss one of your events, AJ.”

The woman turned huge blue eyes on Slade. “Your secretary looks better and better every time I see her.”

“Oh, I forgot to make introductions.” Slade held out his hand as he spoke the names. “AJ, Natalie, this is Bella’s nanny, Mrs. Clarissa Hancock. My secretary couldn’t make it tonight, but Clarissa is a big fan of
Undercover Agents
, so I brought her along.”

All eyes turned on Clarissa as though they expected her to make some comment about her love of
the show. She stammered out, “
Undercover Agents
is . . . well . . . the cinematography is breathtaking.” It made no sense, and she quickly took a drink of her guava juice so she wouldn’t have to say anything else.

Natalie cast her a half-sincere smile. “How nice of you to come. I can tell just by looking at you that you must be good with children.”

“Thank you,” Clarissa answered, even though she had the distinct feeling she’d been insulted.

“Slade,”
AJ said, “I haven’t seen you since the Oscars. What are you up to these days?”

Slade smiled broadly. “I’ve written a screenplay. A wonderful screenplay some astute producer is going to pick up soon.”

Natalie turned her gaze back onto AJ. “You’re as astute as they come, AJ. You’d better set up a pitch meeting.”

AJ
laughed and pulled Natalie close. “Sure thing. We’ll have lunch sometime.”

“Why don’t we have Slade sit at our table?” Natalie said. “Then he can tell you about it over dinner.”

AJ waved off the suggestion. “I don’t talk business at parties. That’s the fastest way to give everyone heartburn, but we’ll save a spot for you at the table anyway. And I’ll tell you what—you give me a call tomorrow, and we’ll set something up.”

“Great,” Slade said. “I look forward to it.”

AJ and Natalie drifted away after that, and Slade didn’t seem any worse for his encounter with the actress. Still, every once in a while when Slade talked, Clarissa glanced over to where Natalie was circulating through the crowd. There was no doubt; the woman had a knack for displaying herself. She didn’t just walk; she glided, she flowed, she drew glances to her like a magnet, and Clarissa was suddenly glad Slade wanted to stay away from her.

Dinner was a continuation of the mingling session, only sitting down. Clarissa still felt like an outsider who had nothing to say and no idea what anyone else was talking about. She ate silently, occasionally nodding at the conversation so people would think she was paying attention.

Landon sat a few tables over, talking animatedly with the group of people there. As she watched him, he turned and saw her. She looked away quickly, embarrassed to be caught staring. She gazed intently at her plate, at the centerpiece, at anything but Landon.

It was ridiculous to feel guilty for showing up with Slade when
Landon had asked her first. She hadn’t planned to slight him. And besides, he couldn’t be slighted by her anyway. He was a star. All he had to do was walk into a room that had more than three women in it, and he could find a date . . . or two. Landon knew that. He’d only asked her out in the first place on a whim—because she was standing in the store wearing a swimsuit, and he’d enjoyed embarrassing her over it. He didn’t care what she did or who she was with. In this crowd, she was a nobody.

Almost against her will, she glanced over at
Landon’s table again and saw him looking back at her. This time he turned away, smiling before he did it.

Clarissa blushed. It shouldn’t have mattered to
Landon that she’d turned him down. He didn’t have any real intentions toward her. That was too unlikely for a man like Landon.

Of course, now that she thought about it, she realized she didn’t really know what sort of man
Landon was. She only knew what sort of man he portrayed in movies and TV. Perhaps he wasn’t like those wicked but charming scoundrels at all.

“Clarissa is married and has a three-year-old daughter,” she heard Slade say.

He smiled over at her like she ought to have some commentary on that statement, but she had no idea what he wanted her to say. She nodded awkwardly. “That’s right.”

“Clarissa’s husband is a great guy,” Slade said. “She talks about what a great guy he is all the time.”

“That’s right,” Clarissa said again. Everyone at the table was staring at her now.

Slade snapped his fingers and put his finger to his lips as though trying to remember something. “What was that funny thing you told me about your husband on the way up here?” Clarissa blinked at him and said the first thing she thought of. “He’s a perfectionist.”

“What’s funny about that?” Natalie asked.