Stacking the Deck (A Betting on Romance Novel Book 2)(53)
“Where are you going?” he demanded under his breath.
“Back to my table,” Liz said.
But Carter grabbed her elbow and pulled her toward the podium again. He leaned toward the microphone. “Liz glossed over a few things, so I’ll take the liberty of filling in the blanks.”
“Carter? What are you—?”
“First of all, did you know she graduated from Stanford with high honors? That’s where she earned her master’s. Now she’s Assistant Vice President of Ames & Reed Consulting, one of the most respected business consulting firms in the Midwest.”
“Carter, please,” Liz murmured uneasily.
“Not only has she volunteered at the local animal shelter for years—which explains all the cats she’s rescued, rehabbed and found homes for—she also organized a collaboration between area businesses and the local Homes for All chapter, which earned her a key to the city.”
Liz stared at Carter. She’d only been making small talk the other night. Catching up. But now that he repeated it, it sounded so boastful. “It wasn’t actually a key to the city,” she corrected, leaning toward the microphone herself. “Just a letter of appreciation from the mayor’s office. Really, not a big deal.”
“Well,” Valerie choked into the silence. “Maybe we need to nominate Beth to sainthood.”
“She goes—” Carter began.
“—by Liz now,” finished Liz. “And technically, you can’t be sainted until your dead.”
Valerie’s wilting look said that could be arranged. “Well,” she said, “enough reminiscing. We have a short video presentation by Kat Dailey and Rich Emerson, our former yearbook editors, giving us a trip down memory lane, and after that, our cover band, My Generation, will be playing until midnight. They’re taking requests, so stick around! Ready, Kat?”
Liz pulled away from Carter’s grip and strode right past their table toward the bar. She intended to order something tall, fruity and alcoholic. Carter appeared at her side. She refused to look at him. “How could you?” she hissed.
“How could I what? You were painting yourself like some drop-out with a weird cat thing going on instead of what and who you really are.”
She gave her order to the bartender and then half-turned to him. “Weird cat thing? I’d rather that than have everyone think I’m some uppity saint wannabe. I’ve fought all my life to be something other than Brainy Beth Beacon, and just when I get people seeing me as a regular, normal person you have to go and screw it up!”
“Screw it...? Now wait a minute… You’re mad?”
“Damn straight, I’m mad!” she yelled under her breath. “You couldn’t have made me—”
“Hey, Liz? I’d love to talk to you about that Homes for All collaboration you set up. How long are you in town?”
Liz turned and smiled tautly at Dan O’Connell—easier done now that her dress wasn’t flapping in the breeze. “A couple weeks maybe.”
“Think you could fill in as a guest speaker at our next Rotary meeting? We’d love to have you.”
“Oh! That’s… that’s very flattering.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and ignored Carter’s glower. “I suppose I could put something together. Give me a call.” She scribbled her number on a napkin and handed it to Dan. “We’ll see if our schedules mesh out.”
“I’ll let Kat Emerson know. She books our speakers.” Dan smiled as he pocketed the napkin, and Liz felt the full force of his all-American good looks as if she were ten years younger. “Maybe we could get together first, you know, to talk it over, just the two of us? There’s a great new Indian place on South Main.”
“Oh. I’d enjoy that. I love Indian food.”
“I’ll call you.”
“I look forward to it.” Liz paid for her drink as Dan sauntered away.
“Christ, Liz, you think you could at least wait until I was out of the room?”
“What?” Liz spun around to find Carter glaring at her, his green eyes like a stormy sea.
“You just agreed to a date with Dan right in front of me!”
“That wasn’t a date. He just wanted to talk about the thing—”
“Just the two of you? It was a date. Something I thought we were on. My mistake.”
“You thought we—? Carter, wait!” Liz found herself scrambling after him as he strode toward the exit. “He caught me by surprise!”
“So your first response was ‘yes’? Funny, every time I catch you by surprise you say ‘no.’ Or recommend therapy. I guess I know why now. I’m no Dan O’Connell. Never was. How ironic. Well, enjoy, Liz. I’m out of here.”
“You can’t leave! You’re my ride!”
Carter’s eyes raked her body. “I’m sure you’ll find someone to give you a lift.”
Liz stared at his retreating back and fought against angry tears. She’d tried not to believe tonight was anything other than a fun trip down memory lane, but who was she kidding? She hadn’t bothered worrying about her zipper earlier, because a part of her had imagined the new Liz would be brave enough to ask Carter to do the unzipping. And now he was walking out the door?