No Love Allowed (Dodge Cove Trilogy #1) (9 page)

He winked at her. “Oh, honey, nothing a stick of butter and a roll of plastic wrap can’t fix.”

AFTER CHECKING IN
with Michael, who gave him strict instructions from JJ to mingle, Caleb decided to head for the biddies. He
figured they were the safest group to hang around while waiting for Nathan to arrive with his fake girlfriend, hopefully made over into a brand-new Didi on the outside. Knowing his cousin’s
considerable talents, he was confident she would fit right in with the DoCo elite once Nathan was done with her.

Unfortunately, on his way to the gaggle of the richest matriarchs, he was intercepted by one of the mothers. She pushed a plate into his hands that contained the customary array of hors
d’oeuvres with a side order of a not-so-subtle mention that her daughter was single.

Jesus. Sharks. It was like they scented him and every unattached male within the party’s perimeter.

As soon as he had politely declined the mother’s offering of a bride and entered the garden, he had been invited to no less than ten events outside the ones he already had to attend for
the firm—several birthday parties, dinners, and a slew of Fourth of July brunches, barbecues, and soirees—some of which were scheduled on the same day.

It took him a good thirty minutes to make it to the relative safety of Mrs. Hassleback’s group. She was the widow of an oil tycoon responsible for several pipelines running through Alaska,
and her ever-present choker of pearls bobbed as she regaled everyone with how her prized stallion had acquired his latest blue ribbon. Mind-numbing, but the mothers didn’t dare interrupt the
biddies when they gathered, so he endured. His brain imploded the moment the conversation segued into stud services because, of course, this came back around to him being available for their
granddaughters, who were somewhere, and if he could wait just a moment they would be summoned. It sickened him that they—the eligibles—were all seen as broodmares and stud stallions
until they were paired off in the name of “love.” Blah.

Checking his watch for what seemed like the hundredth time, he cursed his cousin for being late and leaving him to fend for himself. Normally he would have been by Preston’s side, but the
swimmer from the Grant clan was just as much of a shark magnet as he was. Without Natasha to act as their buffer—there was always safety in numbers—sticking together wasn’t in
their best interest at these parties.

Where the hell were they?

“Who is that pretty flower with Nathan? Don’t tell me he’s off the market. My Marcy has eyes for him.” Mrs. Hassleback craned her neck toward the carousel ice sculpture
by the entrance to the garden. Her cronies followed her line of sight. Murmurs of speculation hummed between all of them.

With his height, Caleb looked over their heads toward his cousin and . . . his throat tightened. There, in a yellow dress that emphasized the elegant line of her shoulders and a new haircut that
accentuated the shape of her face, stood the most exquisite girl to have ever graced the Dodge Cove elite with her presence. His expectations had been met and more. Nathan was a miracle worker.

Then ugly jealousy made his jaw tick when Nathan took Didi’s hand so she could wrap her arm around his. His cousin was just doing the gentlemanly thing by showing those who noticed that
Didi was off limits. But damn if it wasn’t his role to do that.

Clearing his throat to catch the attention of Mrs. Hassleback and company, he said with pride and something else he dared not investigate right then, “That’s Diana Alexander. My
girlfriend.”

“Well,” Mrs. Hassleback exhaled, hand to her rather large rack.

“If you will excuse me.” He treated them all to a cordial smile and handed his plate to a passing waiter before easing away from the Chanel-and-mothball-soaked assemblage to head
toward Nathan and . . . Didi. Just thinking her name propelled his feet to move faster.

“I should punch you for taking so long,” he said when he reached them, but the urge to maim his cousin quickly disappeared the moment Didi looked up at him. Barely-there makeup
suited her. Just a soft blush and a light lip. Simplicity at its finest.

“You can’t rush perfection,” Nathan replied, addressing Caleb’s previous hostility. “And from the looks of everyone here and the way your eyes are devouring her, my
job is done. Play your role, honey,” he said to Didi. “Play it well.”

Caleb growled low in his throat, then just to get his cousin back said, “I saw Preston surrounded by debutantes when I arrived.”

The air around Nathan sparked. His smile quickly turned into a frown. “If you two will excuse me.” He bent down and gave Didi a kiss on the cheek. It took all of Caleb’s
control not to yank his cousin away when the guy whispered how beautiful she looked into her ear. Didi thanked him with a sweet smile, then focused her gaze on Caleb after Nathan had left. The
mischief glinting in those brown orbs drew him in like the moon drew the tide.

“Just so we’re clear, you’re being hostile toward a guy who will never see me that way.” A corner of her lips pulled up. “You get that, right?”

He snorted, then realized what he had been doing. She was there as his shield, nothing more. After mentally telling himself to get a grip, he moved into the space beside her that Nathan had
vacated. He took her hand and rested it on his arm. She fit so well against his side he might as well have heard them snapping together into place.

But before he moved her deeper into the party, he gave in to leaning down and whispering, “You do look beautiful.”

“See, I don’t know if I should be insulted.” She pouted. “You left me with Nathan feeling like maybe the outfit I picked out wasn’t good enough.”

Since the mischief hadn’t left her eyes, he suspected she was still teasing him. “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated the previous outfit. Very much.” He noticed her skin
pebble and ran with the urge to get his own shots in. “But I wanted to save all the lecherous men here from the heart attacks your previous dress would have given them.”

In an unexpected move, she pivoted onto her toes and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. “Then you’re forgiven.”

For a stunned moment, he didn’t know what to do. Clearly she was already in character, right? She was playing the role of his girlfriend. He let the idea settle before using what little
brainpower he had left to start moving.

“So this is what a garden party looks like,” she said. Her gaze wandered over the sea of light suits and pastel dresses.

Grateful for the topic change, he nodded. “It’s just an excuse for people to stand around and talk while the kids play. The men discuss business. . . .”

“While the women gossip,” she finished for him. “I can feel their eyes on me. Is that even possible?”

“It’s only because you’re the shiny new addition to their ranks. They’re probably wondering where you came from.” He tugged her closer when she had moved away
slightly. “And they’re assessing if you’re competition.”

“I’m with you. Of course I’m competition.”

The tightening of her hold on his arm did things to him. Things he never thought about with the others he had taken to parties like this. Afraid of what he might find if he dug deeper, he
scrambled for something safer to talk about.

“I expected Nathan to put you in heels.” He dropped his gaze to her yellow flats.

“Oh, believe me,” she said, her voice taking on a breathless quality. “He did. But I’ve never worn heels before, and I kept tripping. He figured since we would be walking
on grass, heels would be my worst enemy. I thanked him over and over again for showing mercy.”

“You’ve never worn heels?” When she shook her head, he followed up his question with “Not even to prom?”

The shrug made an appearance. Light glanced over the top of her exposed shoulder, revealing a shimmer. Nathan must have rubbed some sort of lotion with glitter on her. He had seen the same on
Natasha when she wore something that showed a hint of skin. He liked it on Natasha then, but he never knew he would like it this much on Didi. It added an extra sparkle to her that sent a hint of
pride spreading through him. Since the Parker princess was absent, he might just be walking around with the most beautiful girl at the party.

“Never been.”

Her words sent him back to the present. He eased them into the shade of a tree and leaned against the trunk. Then, by placing his hands on either side of her waist, he positioned her so she was
standing facing him. “I find it hard to believe that you’ve never been to prom. It’s a high school tradition.”

“No one ever asked me.”

Something in his chest twisted at her admission. “You didn’t go alone?” The hurt that replaced the mischief in her eyes made him instantly regret his question. “I’m
sorry. You’re right. I wouldn’t have gone alone either.” Seeing that he was only digging his grave deeper with each sentence that left his lips, he said, “I love the
dress.”

Her mood instantly lightened. “Natasha is apparently a size smaller than I am, so Nathan put me in shapewear. Who even owns shapewear?” She huffed, then punched him playfully on the
shoulder. “Don’t laugh at me. It’s not funny!”

Stifling the rest of his chuckles with a fist, he said, “I think that’s what Natasha calls ‘suffering for fashion.’ ”

“Yeah, well, no wonder the women at the club only ate leaves. If this keeps up I’ll have to live on air and nothing else.” She pointed at the buffet table and whined,
“Did you see the desserts they have out there?”

“One bite probably won’t kill you.”

She rubbed her belly. “Don’t tempt me.”

Taking her hand, he brought the back to his lips and asked, “Remind me again why you agreed to this?”

Didi’s eyes twinkled when she smiled. “Caleb, when you came to my house and said you had a proposal for me, not in a million years did I imagine this.” She gestured at the
expanse of the garden party. “It was like hitting some sort of jackpot. I get to play make-believe with a super-hot guy and at the end of the summer, you leave. Like you said about the others
you dated, this is no-strings-attached fun.”

“You think I’m hot?” His tone might have been teasing, but inside her words hit him like bullets from a firing squad. If he hadn’t been leaning against the tree he would
surely be on his knees. But why should her honesty bother him? He wanted this. She would help him navigate this world for a little while longer, and then he would leave. That was their arrangement.
If Didi happened to be enjoying herself, then why should it matter to him? It should be a good thing that she took things in stride and went with the flow.

“Correction.” She wiggled her eyebrows, pulling his attention back to her stunning face. He made a mental note to thank Nathan later. He had done a wonderful job. Maybe even too good
of a job. “I think you’re
super hot
.”

“Oh, sorry.” He grinned, then placed a kiss on each of her cheeks after he said
super
and
hot.

She rewarded him with the sweetest blush he had ever seen. Then a scary thought hit him. The summer had barely started and Didi was already holding more of his attention than Amber ever had.

He let go of Didi’s hand when he spotted the girl responsible for this mess swaying her hips toward them. “Are you ready to play girlfriend?”

“I thought that’s what I’ve been doing.”

“Amber’s coming this way.”

“Amber?” Didi tilted her head in confusion, then she understood who he meant. “Oh, you mean Ashley.”

He rolled his eyes, and she smiled at him before whirling around to face Amber, who had plastered the fakest smile someone could ever give during one of these events on her face—all white
teeth and emotionless eyes.

“Caleb,” she said in that high-pitched voice of hers. How he had managed to tolerate it all of senior year, he had no idea. “I’m hurt that you didn’t even bother to
find me and say hello when you arrived. I had to find out from Courtney that you were already here.”

Boxing up the annoyance that came with Amber’s presence, he returned her smile with one of his own. “Amber, let me introduce you to Diana Alexander.”

Didi reached out her hand. “Didi. They all call me Didi.”

He held his breath.

When Amber didn’t move to take her hand, Didi actually bent forward and took Amber’s hand in both of hers. She shook it vigorously. He swallowed down the laughter fighting to get out
as Amber’s friendly expression slipped into irritation.

Then Didi slammed things home when she said, “It’s so nice to meet you, Ashley. Caleb has been telling me so much about you.”

The disgust in Amber’s face was priceless. “It’s Amber.”

“Oh, right.” Didi buried herself against his side, forcing him to wrap his arm around her shoulders to accommodate her. Then she patted his chest. “You know Caleb, always
mixing up names.”

“I didn’t know that. Have we met?” Amber’s eyes narrowed. “You seem familiar.”

“I’m pretty sure we haven’t,” Didi answered smoothly, never removing her hand from the center of his chest.

Spotting murder in Amber’s eyes, he intervened. “I think I just spotted my uncle in the crowd. It’s so good to see you again, Amber. Enjoy the party.” He maneuvered Didi
away from the stewing DoCo socialite. When they were several paces away he gave in to kissing her temple, then whispered, “That was fucking fantastic.”

She leaned away so she could look up at him as they ambled through the crowd. “Not regretting this thing between us you started?”

Unsure what she had actually meant, he went with the truth. “After the minor stroke you just gave Amber slash Ashley? Not one bit. You were fantastic.”

“I think you mean fucking fantastic.”

He threw his head back and laughed before he said, “Come on, let’s introduce you to some people.”

AS CALEB PARKED
in front of her house, an overwhelming silence spread between them that Didi didn’t quite know the
source of. She thought she had played her part well. She even thought she’d done the right thing by pissing off Amber. She had been happy to do it, owing the girl for all the harsh words she
had thrown at her the day they’d met. Caleb had seemed okay with it. No admonishments had come from him. She had followed all his rules. Interacted politely. Her smile had come from a genuine
place. So why the silence? He had been quiet since they left.