Worthy Opponents(26)
Spencer was seated at the head table, to the right of the dark-haired man. He was impeccably dressed in a tailor-made tuxedo she guessed had been made for him in London. She could recognize a custom-made suit anywhere. He introduced himself as Mike, they shook hands, and she sat down and glanced at the place card in front of him, as all the men took their seats, since the last of the women had taken theirs. Her eyes opened wide when she saw the name “Mr. Weston” on his place card, and she stared at him in disbelief, just as she remembered where she’d seen him. It had been at the store. He was Mike Weston, the potential investor she had refused to meet. For an instant, she thought about walking out before the dinner started, but she didn’t dare, it would have been too rude. She wondered if he had tricked her into coming, so he could convince her to let him invest in her business. If he had, she would have thought him a total boor to take advantage of a social situation to corner her. She was trapped, seated next to him at the table for the next several hours.
“Did you invite me tonight?” she asked him with a look of shocked disbelief, and he nodded.
“I did,” he confessed. “I just wanted to meet you, so you know I’m not a total savage. I actually met you once at the store, but I didn’t know who you were. I’m the Honorary Chair, this is a project I care a great deal about. And I give you my word of honor, I will not speak a word about business tonight. This is purely social. I thought you might enjoy it. If we never meet again, if that’s what you decide, I promise never to bother you again. I give you my word.” She was still staring at him, and she smiled at what he said. He was certainly determined and had given her free seats to a very expensive, glamorous event. She remembered him perfectly now.
“I’m going to hold you to it,” she said, “and if you break your promise, I’ll leave. But thank you for the very generous seats.” It had been an impressive gesture, and he was much more gentlemanly than she would have expected of Mike Weston, although she had heard that he was brilliant and charming, as well as clever in business. “You found a pair of brown suede shoes you liked but you didn’t buy them,” she said, remembering him distinctly. He had struck her as handsome then, and he had asked her if she liked working there.
“I went back and bought them the next day,” he said with a grin, surprised that she remembered. “I looked for you, but I didn’t see you. I thought you were some kind of floor manager or customer service person. I asked if you liked working there. You didn’t tell me you owned the store, and I didn’t know that was you until I saw you in a magazine. I remembered you too. Do you always walk around the store, talking to customers? And that’s not business, by the way, it’s curiosity, so I haven’t broken my word,” he reminded her, and she smiled. She was still stunned that he had invited her to the party so he could meet her, since she had refused to see him. It was a bold gesture, and very resourceful, and it worked. They were seated together, and she would be obliged to speak to him for the rest of the evening.
“I walk the whole store once a day, every morning, just as my grandfather did. He taught me to do that. It keeps me in touch with the customers and the staff on their toes. Keeping our customers happy is very important to me. And I’m always available if there’s a problem.” She lowered her voice then. “The First Lady shopped with us this week. We closed the store for her. She was very nice.” She sounded a little awestruck and he smiled. There was a sincerity and an innocence to her which touched him, and she looked even younger than he remembered, and exquisite in the gold dress. And he had expected her to be tougher since she had been so rigid and adamant about not meeting him, even to talk.
“That’s quite an honor,” he said admiringly, “and smart of you to close the store for her. The security issue must have been a nightmare.” She nodded agreement and didn’t comment, and she didn’t tell him about the senator’s wife who had stolen the bracelet and the clutch bag the next day. But she did mention the famous rock star and his wife the staff had stayed after hours for the next day. He was amused by that.
“You must meet a lot of interesting people,” he said, watching her. She was so beautiful it was distracting, and he had to concentrate on what she was saying. Spencer was wondering if the woman in the severe black dress with the serious expression sitting next to Bill was Mike’s date or his wife, but she didn’t ask.
Maureen didn’t look happy to be there, but she and Mike always went to big social events together. It was the only social life they still shared. They agreed that it seemed more respectable than going alone and kept up appearances with the social set.
Mike finally couldn’t resist asking Spencer the question he was wondering about. “Is that your husband?” He nodded discreetly toward Bill, and she shook her head.
“No, a friend. I wasn’t sure who to bring, and the fashion director at the store was busy.” Mike nodded, satisfied with the response. Apparently, Bill was neither a boyfriend nor a partner, or he thought she would have said so. “I’m divorced, and I have twin seven-year-old sons,” she volunteered. “Do you have children?” she asked him, since his business interest in her was a taboo subject. They could ask questions in a social setting that they could never have asked at a business meeting, and he was achieving just what he had wanted, getting to know her as a person since she had been determined to not even meet him.