Red Collar (23 page)

Leah slapped his chest fondly. “When have we ever done that to you?”

He grinned. “By the way, where’s Clayton?”

Kate flushed embarrassingly. If she was a real fiancée, she certainly would have known.
But as fate had it, she wasn’t and therefore she had no inkling where her supposed fiancé was.

“I saw him a while ago with the Tennants in the game room,” said a voice from behind her.

“Hi, I’m Matt Newell, Clayton’s first cousin,” he smiled and then greeted Armand and Leah. “I heard about the engagement,” he returned to Kate. “I’m surprised it wasn’t announced officially.”

“Well, it’s just like Clayton not to steal his little niece’s limelight,” Leah chi
rped in. “But come to think of it, it isn’t a bad idea. I’m sure we can share a toast, can we darling?” she asked her husband. “I’m going to go talk it over with Mom.”

“And I have to change little Natalie’s nappy,” Armand grumbled. “She’s already got me bending to her orders.”

Matt let out a laugh. “That’s how it is and will be. Get used to it.”

Now on their own, Kate glanced about her uncomfortably, searching for something to spark a conversation or an excuse to leave
politely.

“You said you were Clayton’s first cousin,” she started in a
feeble attempt. “Can I ask in which way?”

“My mom’s
Frank Reid’s sister,” he put shortly. “So yeah, I’m part Reid as well.”

Now that she studied him, she realized he did indeed carry some Reid characteristics. The same dark hair, their tall height and their defined, sculptured facial features.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” she apologized. She bit her lips. She should have known. Clayton should have told her. But then again, why should he? She was doomed to step down from her pedestal as the Reid bride in two days.

Matt shrugged. “It’s alright. I would have been surpri
sed if Clayton had told you anything about me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I handle most of Uncle Frank’s business. You can say Clayton and I don’t agree on most of what I do.”

Kate nodded. It seemed Clayton’s business sense and passion
put shards in a lot of his family relationships. Although she did admire how they still clung tightly on such occasions, pretending that everything else didn’t matter.

Suddenly, she felt she wasn’t the only one involved in a charade. There was so much more to the Reid family than what met her eye. Is this why Clayton didn’t feel a
ny sense of guilt for their façade as a couple?

“You’re quite a natural with children,” she said, trying to draw away from the awkward issue.

She had seen him earlier with Leah’s sons. And then later, he had efficiently traversed baby Natalie from Armand’s arms to his own, swaddle and all.

“I should. I have two of my own,” he explained shyly. “
Boys too. A little older than Leah’s own sons.”

He began narrating some of their crazy anti
cs which Kate found quite amusing. She chuckled occasionally, listening with interest. She noticed a glint of pride in his eyes as he recounted their cheekiness.

“And their mother?” Kate asked, realizing that he never mentioned her.

He hung his head and shifted at his foot. “We’re no longer together.”

She winced inwardly. How could she have been so careless? She was getting slow at taking hints and more so, she was beginning to step on toes.

The music in the house slowed down to a beautiful, soft tune. They had strolled well deep into the professionally tendered gardens as they had chatted. Alone now, they were doused in the auburn light of the setting sun.

“Autumn leaves,” Matt whispered.

“Hmmm?” she said, not registering what he had said. She was far too busy kicking herself as she reflected on her earlier fickleness.

“
Autumn
Leaves
by Eric Clapton,” Matt repeated, giving her a soft smile. He handed her his palm. “Dance with me?”

She took it
a little nervously.

He clasped it gently, wounding his other arm at her waist and began to sway rhythmically to the mellowed melody.

Kate attuned her movements to his and soon found herself immersed in the song. It was the first time in days she felt so relaxed, as she basked blithely in the golden aura about her. She rested her chin on his shoulders, while he led her in their slow waltz.

As they neared the end of the song, he gave her a gentle
, funny twirl, evoking a chuckle inside her. She threw her head back and laughed, thankful that he knew how to break an oncoming flustered moment after the much cherished silence they had just shared.

He grinned. “Do you want to take a stroll down the dock?”

Kate smiled. She glanced into the distance. Jubilant laughter and chatter drifted into the stillness of the garden. Everyone was far too busy involved in the jocund atmosphere of the occasion to miss her.

“I’d love that,” she said.

And they sauntered together towards the sunset, as Matt continued to entertain her with more cheeky tales of his children.

*****

Clayton sat on the corner of his billiard table, mindlessly studying a red pool ball.

“We need that,” Toby
Spade announced, stubbing his cigar into an ash tray. “And if you don’t mind getting your butt off the table as well. If you don’t want to get shot in the ass that is.”

The four men standing around the table laughed, cheering Toby on.

Clayton grinned. It had been a while since he had seen his college friends. He thought the island stopover would have been a good occasion to catch-up with lost times. It was a last minute call, but they had managed to take time off from their tight schedules and arrived by Toby’s yacht, now bobbing at the island dock.

As agre
ed, they had brought their spouses and partners along with them. But now it seemed Clayton himself would be bailing out on his own plans. Kate had made it clear that she was not willing to stay the extra days he was hoping to spend with her and his friends. He had assumed she would simply agree. Why had he thought that? She was only doing what she was paid to do and she performed her role so believably, even he had forgotten briefly that he had
hired
her in the first place.

“So where’s the girl you’re hitching yourself to?” asked Toby, strolling closer to him. “Something the matter there, Clay? You’ve been quiet all evening.”

Clayton looked at him over his eyebrows and then gave a quick glance at his other friends engrossed in their little pool challenge. “Is it obvious?”

“No. But I know you too long to know something isn’t right.”
He poured himself and Clayton a small drink and handed one over to him. “Everything okay on the girl front?”

“I think I made a mistake,” Clayton replied, quietly.

“Yeah?” Toby said, swirling his drink in deep thought. “Don’t we all? Except I married mine.”

“
Helen is a fine woman, Toby.”

“Oh yeah, she is. She is the kind that loves the quiet, settled down life. And now that we have our own little brood, she couldn’t be happier. But you know what? I ain’t the settling sort, man. In fact, I hate it. I want back the days when I could just sleep with whoever I liked without feeling guilty.
I want to party hard and drink like a horse. I wasn’t made for this married man bullshit.” He gulped down his drink in annoyance. “If you’re giving second, third and bloody hell a hundred thoughts about getting hooked up legally, then you’re doing the right thing.”

He staggered at his feet and Clayton lurched immediately to steady him.

“You’re drunk,” Clayton said, observing him. “You might want to take it easy on the drinks.”

“I’m fine,” Toby waved away. “A little drink now and then doesn’t hurt.”

“No, it doesn’t. But if you were sober, you wouldn’t be saying all that shit about Helen. You don’t want her hearing it, man. So be careful, ok?”

Toby sighed. “Where is she? I better go find her. I kinda miss her suddenly.”
He chuckled. “Oh damn, I’m so messed up.” He ran his hand through his already tousled hair and then slapped Clayton’s back. “Don’t be like me, man. Sort your shit out,” he said, as he stumbled out into the veranda.

Clayton watched him gather his wife in his arms, cajoling her into a dance.
He gave a small smile. He understood Toby’s loss for his single life. It was that same fear that prevented him from ever committing himself to a relationship.

But the
n this week, he realized he enjoyed playing his little charade with Kate. And despite being hired for the role, she played it so remarkably well he was beginning to wish it was all real. She was the dutiful, obedient fiancée. The perfect sister-in-law and the dream daughter-in-law.

However,
she had also refused to stay any longer with him. Had she been the real fiancée, would he have been as offended or angry? Perhaps not because he would have indulged her. Doted on her every whim.

He hated those times when he would disc
over he was wrong about anything. He knew he had been rash with Kate. Maybe far too rash. It wasn’t fair on her to assume she would jump at his offer in the last minute. If anything, she was direct and honest.

He
skillfully moved through a crowd of drunk relatives and friends as his eyes skimmed through them for her.

“Clayton,” he heard Leah call out. “Where have you been? I need to talk to you.”

“Not now, Leah,” he brushed aside. “I’m looking for Kate. Have you seen her?”

Leah reddened. “I … She was in the garden
s. I’ll get her for you,” she added rather quickly.

“No, don’t,” he said, walking
briskly towards the gardens.

“Clayton, there’s something I have to tell you,” she called out from behind him.

But he was already gone, away from the chatter and raucous laughter of the guests. The slow jazzy tune of
Autumn Leaves
resonated in the silence, driving in him the eagerness to tell her he was sorry so he could hold her in his arms and dance to the somber melody.

However, as he neared
them, he saw their entwined figures moving in harmony to the song. His muscles tensed, his steely grey eyes pinned on her face as she rested her chin on his shoulders.

Him? Matt Newell?

His fists clenched, his teeth ground from the anger building inside of him. Did she know him? Was he the one she was running back to? Did she plan all this with him? The questions drove into him as rapidly as the molten rage racing through his veins.

And then she threw her head back and laughed as he twirled her in his arms. The image tore at his heart.
He felt deathly cold. She’s a whore, he reminded herself. She’d do anything for money. Why was he taking her too personally? Newell simply must have offered her a better bargain. His eyes glided over her. She was not his to be possessive of.

His
face darkened, fury seeping back into his core. But she was contracted to be his for the week. And that didn’t end until tomorrow. As far as he knew, she had betrayed him. Like all women did.

He spun
at his feet and stormed back towards the house. In the distance, he saw them stroll leisurely towards the dock. He was desperately trying to control his wrath. Matt Newell was his cousin and he didn’t want to upset the majority of people who loved Matt. Yes, Matt was popular unlike him. But he cared a darn about that. What did concern him, was
his
family- Leah, Mom and Grandma. Yes, they loved Matt too. Far too much for his liking.

He always thought he could deal with his envy
for his cousin. But tonight, Matt drove into him his most lethal wound. Kate.

He didn’t unde
rstand why she mattered to him. She was just a whore, he told himself again. She’s a whore, he repeated like a mantra, in a desperate effort to convince himself. But the fact was, no matter how much he tried beating it into his mind, she did matter.

“Clayton,” Leah said, rushing up to him. Her face was ashen, and the panic in her voice told him that he didn’t have to explain why he looked so forlorn.

“You knew,” he said, flatly.

She bit her lip. “Clayton, he’s your cousin. It’s not like Kate can avoid him forever.”

“So you think that
I’m being irrational for disliking him? That I am childish for detesting him for the man he is?”

“Yes…no,” she stammered. “I mean, it happened
a long time ago. You both were far too young to make any matured, calculating decisions. There were mistakes made on both parties but then they were expected because of your age. Clayton, you need to start forgiving people. Matt has.”

“Oh so now I am the immature one,” Clayton said, angrily. “But aren’t I always the one? Unlike Matt. Perfect, forgiving, gentle-hearted Matt,” he spat out sarcas
tically. “Ain’t that a surprise?”