He grinned. “They must have been some pricey cookies.”
“I know it sounds ridiculous.”
He shook his head, sobering. “No, Parker’s family always struck me as rather arrogant.”
“Well, let’s just say they would have claimed ancestors on the Mayflower whether they were legitimate or not.”
His eyes crinkled. “That’s right, hit me where it hurts.”
His face changed then, acquiring a quiet intensity. “I’m glad you wore the dress. You look fantastic.”
Lauren raised a hand self-consciously to her throat. The diamond necklace felt cool against her skin. She was lucky the Whittakers didn’t know who’d given it to her. As it was, they’d been more than a little curious—and amused—by her apparent love affair with the last single Whittaker.
“The gown is beautiful,” she said. “So are the necklace and earrings, but they’re too expensive for me to keep—”
He silenced her with a light kiss. “Let me convince you to keep them.”
His voice was full of smoky promise, and Lauren shivered in response.
It was, she thought, a magical night. She felt swept away on a wave of frothy happiness.
Rather than looking forward to the evening’s end, as she’d done in the car, it came all too soon for her.
In the lobby, they waited for Matt’s car to be brought around. Other guests were departing from the Imperial Ballroom, and hotel guests went in and out.
Matt leaned close. “I can’t wait to help you out of that dress.”
A smile rose to her lips, and in the next second froze there.
Parker.
It took a moment for her mind to catch up with her senses.
She hadn’t seen him in five years, but now he’d come out of the revolving doors and was striding through the lobby toward them, as casual as can be.
Following the direction of her gaze, Matt stiffened beside her.
In the next instant, Parker spotted them and his expression darkened. There was just a momentary break in his step, though, as he continued to move forward. He stopped only when he was face to face with them. “Well, this is a surprise,” he drawled.
“Parker,” Matt acknowledged, while Lauren remained frozen in place.
Parker’s mouth curved into an unpleasant smile. “I’d heard from some departing guests that you two were at the Gala together tonight, but there’s nothing like seeing it for myself.”
Lauren realized Parker was buzzed from a night on the town. His eyes were too bright, and the hollows under them shadowed.
Still, even taking into account his temporary worn state, it was clear the intervening years had not been good to Parker. He looked wasted in a way that went deeper than one night of carousing.
She wondered whether those signs had been there five years ago, or whether they were more recent symptoms of a life that had disappointed.
There was a weakness around his mouth, a sullen expression in his eyes and a spoiled look about his face.
“I guess it’s a happy coincidence we ran into you then,” Matt said dryly. “It’s fascinating how far rumors can travel.”
Parker’s jaw worked. “I’ve been staying at the Park Plaza since getting back to Boston two days ago. At the time, I didn’t realize I’d find my almost wife had fallen into the arms of one of my grooms- men.”
“Hardly,” Matt countered. “It’s been five years. Five years in which you were incommunicado.”
Lauren could feel the tension vibrating between the two men. The three of them were starting to attract curious stares from people around them.
Parker’s lip curled. “Now I know why you talked me into calling off the wedding. You wanted her for yourself, you bastard.”
She stared at Parker uncomprehendingly.
Then she realized it wasn’t that she hadn’t comprehended what Parker was saying, it was that she didn’t want to.
Matt instigating Parker to jilt her at the altar? It couldn’t be true.
“If you have regrets, you’ve got only yourself to blame,” Matt said, his tone cold. “We both know the real reason you called it off was that you weren’t man enough to stand up to your family, and certainly not man enough to deserve Lauren.”
Those were fighting words, and Lauren knew it.
Parker sprinted forward, but it was Matt who landed the first punch, and it was chaos after that.
They slammed into each other.
Around them, people gasped and moved themselves out of the way.
Lauren couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe the unflappable Matthew Whittaker was involved in a brawl…she couldn’t believe he and Parker were landing blows…and she particularly couldn’t believe they were fighting over her.
“Stop it!” she said, her voice sounding ineffectual to her own ears.
She looked frantically around her for help, but none of the other Whittakers were in sight and the middle-aged crowd appeared to be an unlikely source of assistance.
Her eyes darted back to the two combatants in time to see Matt deliver a blow that knocked Parker off his feet.
She winced, then saw her chance and dashed forward.
“That’s enough!” She sounded shrill, bordering on hysterical.
A tremor ran through her as she grabbed Matt’s arm and pulled him back from where he was standing over Parker. She managed to pull him only a half step, even after putting all her weight into it.
Staggering on the floor before them, Parker nursed a bloody lip, his clothing torn. He sported a couple of bruises on his face that promised to turn black-and-blue.
Glancing up at Matt, Lauren noticed he looked little better. Disheveled, his chest rising and falling with every breath, he had an angry bruise near his jaw. He was a far cry from the polished man she’d laughed and danced with earlier in the evening.
Parker’s accusation flashed through her mind again.
Matt hadn’t categorically denied it.
She again tried to digest the fact that Matt—her seducer, now her lover—might have been responsible for the worst humiliation of her life.
Just in time, though, hotel security arrived, making their way through the throng around them.
People whispered, and Lauren thought with mortification about how long it would take her to live this down. It had taken her five years to move on after the jilting.
As a security guard hoisted him up by one arm, Parker wiped his lip with the back of his hand. “I’ll sue, you bastard. I’ll make you sorry we ever crossed paths.”