Stephanie Julian - By Private Invitation

“So where is this shop of yours?” he asked when she paused.

Her gaze faltered for a second. He would have attributed it to the dance, but they weren’t doing more than a slow circle at the moment.

“Outside the city.” She shrugged. “It’s not huge but we—I do a decent business. I travel a lot. Granddad and I were never in the same place more than a few months when I was growing up. I traveled the world with an antiques dealer and a tutor with a doctorate in history. It was an unorthodox upbringing.”

He wondered what she meant by that. Unorthodox. “Sounds interesting.”

She smiled, but it was perfunctory, as if she’d shut down her emotions. “It was. Unfortunately, my grandfather died a year ago.” She shook her head and her smile began to warm. “I’m sorry, I’ve monopolized the conversation. Tell me about you. And”—her eyes widened as she realized they’d just danced through three songs nonstop—“I don’t want to get you in trouble with your boss. Do you need to get back to work?”

Jared quashed a smile, shooting a glance at the door to see if Tyler was sending lightning bolts his way. But his brother wasn’t at the entrance.

“Actually, my boss must’ve stepped out.” He spotted his parents, sitting at a table in the corner, but Tyler wasn’t with them either. “There really isn’t much to tell. I’ve been with the hotel since it opened. I enjoy my job and the people I work with. And it has its perks.”

He flashed her one of his most charming grins, and she laughed.

“I bet.” Her teeth sank into her lower lip, making him want to do the same. “You must meet a lot of people in a job like this.”

“Yes, I do. Though I’ve never met anyone like you.”

He didn’t realize how true that was until he said the words. He frowned at the thought, and Belle dropped her gaze. She took a deep breath, drawing his attention again to the pin.

Damn, what was he going to do about that? However, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with the woman.

“Sorry to interrupt.” Tyler clapped him on the shoulder, startling him and causing Belle to step out of his arms. They had danced to the opposite side of the room. “I need you at the door for a few minutes, Jed.” Tyler lowered his voice. “And you have to honor our agreement.”

With a raised eyebrow for Jared and a slight smile for Belle, Tyler moved away.

“I should get back to my friend, anyway.” Belle made a slight wave in the direction of her table. “Thank you for the dance.”

The fact that her flirtatious smile nearly made him go caveman and toss her over his shoulder threw him for a second, and he didn’t say anything until she started to move away.

“Wait.” He caught her upper arm gently, smoothing a thumb over her silky flesh. “I’d like to see you later.”

“I…I really shouldn’t have deserted my friend like that.” Consternation clouded her expression, but she paused. “When are you finished for the night?”

“Meet me at twelve thirty in the lobby, by the courtyard entrance. The garden is beautiful.”

Her smile brightened again. “I’d love to see it.”

She turned and walked away and he couldn’t tear his gaze from her.

Twelve thirty couldn’t come fast enough.

“I don’t believe I recognized the woman you were dancing with. Should I?”

Jared waltzed his mother sedately around the dance floor, sliding glances when he could at Belle, irrational outrage swamping him when she smiled at another man standing by her table.

While he danced with his mother.

Amazingly, Mom had behaved herself so far. Smiling into her pale green eyes, he noted their clarity.

And breathed a silent sigh of relief.

“No, no one you know. So, how’s the Arts and Artists benefit ball coming along?” That should distract her for a while. Helena loved to talk about her projects, especially the yearly ball she helped chair for one of the local colleges.

Unfortunately, her sons held the top spots on her list of projects.

“Very well, actually.” She smiled, and guilt hit him in the gut at the thought that he could make his mom so happy with a simple question. “We’ve got the guest list worked out and we only need confirmation on the date from the college.”

Jared relaxed even more as his mother talked about her favorite charity. He didn’t want to discuss Belle. He was still trying to figure out what had happened between them.

They’d made an instant connection and she’d returned to her table looking somewhat dazed. That was good. However, the minute she’d sat down, some guy in a penguin suit—not a tuxedo, but an actual penguin outfit with flippers—started hitting on her.

His reaction had been immediate and completely unlike him. He’d been jealous.

Jared had a very long fuse. Only his father ever managed to infuriate him with his lies and overbearing arrogance. But right now, he would have gladly tossed the penguin out on his ridiculous flipper.

“So, I told the chaplain…”

As his mother continued, he nodded at all the appropriate places, trying to decide his next move with the lovely Belle. He didn’t want to wait until twelve thirty. He wanted to monopolize her entire evening.

But that wasn’t his style. He didn’t do exclusive. He refused to give any woman the false impression that he’d pledge his undying love for her. Or even commit to more than another date.

Tyler was right, though Jared would never admit it. Jared was a lot like his father. Neither of them had the gene that allowed them to love. Jared, at least, was honest. He’d never lied to a woman the way his father lied to his mother. Jared would never put a woman through what his father had put his mother through.

He tuned back in to Helena, still talking about her charity ball. She lived to volunteer, found the appreciation she craved there, which she never got enough of from her husband. Helena and Glen Golden were the only offspring of two very wealthy families. Their marriage had cemented their place in Philadelphia society. But Jared knew his mother would trade it all for her husband’s love, which he was incapable of.

Jared couldn’t understand why she allowed herself to be hurt like that.

When the song ended, he escorted her back to her table and exchanged civilities with his father, whose subdued responses were so unlike him Jared wondered if he’d gotten caught in one of his affairs again.

Old anger flared, but he submerged it under thoughts of one beautiful redhead and made his way back to Tyler at the entrance, flipping again through the guest book on the computer.

“I’ve held up my end, big brother.” Jared sent a brotherly elbow into Tyler’s side. Tyler didn’t flinch. “It’s your turn.”

“I already did my part.” Tyler tapped the screen. “I asked and got rejected.”

Rolling his eyes, Jared sighed. He should have known his brother would find a way out of his end of the bargain. The man had graduated top of his class at the Wharton School of Business. He hadn’t wanted to dance, so he’d found the one woman in the room who’d say no.

“You’re a coward.” Jared leveled the only truthfully disparaging remark he could at his brother.

One corner of Tyler’s mouth curled up. “Nah, I’m just smarter than you.”

In some ways, Jared agreed. Though he’d never admit it. “Who’d you ask?”

Tyler stiffened for a moment. “The blue fairy.”

Jared snorted. Yeah, that was what he’d figured. She hadn’t danced with a man all night, though several had asked. She’d only gotten on the floor with Belle for a few faster numbers.

Tyler shot him a hard look, his fingers stilling on the screen. “What was that for?”