Bedroom Diplomacy(47)
“Hi, Cowin!”
The clock said it was seven-thirty. Bloody hell. He had meant to go back to his own suite last night, but must have fallen asleep. “Hey, bud, what are you doing out of bed? And how did you get out of your room?”
“Cwimed out,” he said, beaming with pride.
So much for the gate keeping him contained. If he could climb out of a crib, why not over a baby gate, as well?
Colin reached over to shake Rowena awake. “Houston, we have a problem.”
She grumbled a protest, which was surely due to the fact that they had only gotten four hours of sleep, and batted his hand away.
“You need to wake up.”
She shook her head, her hair a tousled mess, and mumbled groggily, “Too early.”
“Yes, but we have company.”
She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, then pushed up on her elbows. “What compan…?”
She trailed off as she looked over at Colin and saw Dylan standing there. She shot up in bed as if the sheets were on fire.
“Dylan! Why aren’t you in your room?”
“He climbed out,” Colin said, and Dylan flashed her one of those big, radiant smiles.
“I a big boy!”
She must have decided that scolding him would be a waste of time, because she took a deep, calming breath, pasted on a tense smile and said, “You sure are, sweetie. Why don’t you go turn on the television while Mommy wakes up?”
“Okay, Mommy.”
He toddled out of the room and Rowena fell back against the pillows. “Damn. Damn, damn, damn.”
“I’m sorry, Rowena. This is all my fault. I was exhausted from the long flight and I fell asleep. I feel terrible.”
“We can’t keep doing this.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“From now on, we only meet in the pool house.”
“Agreed. Are you angry with me?”
“This is as much my fault as it is yours. More, really. I agreed to let you stay. I figured that even if Dylan did wake up, he would be confined to his room. Worst case scenario, I would just have to sneak you out.”
“Good intentions.”
“Exactly. And I should get up and go check on him. And we need to get you out of here.”
“First, I wanted to ask you…I know you can’t officially be my date Saturday, but it might be fun to pretend we don’t like one another, then try to steal a little time together.”
Looking confused, she said, “I’m sorry, what’s going on Saturday?”
“Your father’s annual ball.”
“Oh, yeah, I completely forgot about that.”
“You will save a dance for me.”
“I would if I was going to be there.”
“You’re not?”
“I’m going to be traveling.”
What? She hadn’t said a word to him about leaving. “Where are you going?”
“Or I might have the flu.”
The flu? Didn’t she just have the flu? “I’m confused.”
“In light of my past behavior at his parties, I’ve been officially and permanently exiled from the guest list. Three years ago I was pregnant and on bed rest. The year after that I was taking care of Dylan, who had come down with a miserable cold. Last year…” She paused, nose wrinkled as she tried to recall, and then her eyes lit. “Oh, I remember. Last year I was visiting a sick friend.”
“Is it any coincidence that every excuse puts you in a sympathetic light?”
“It’s a silly formality. Everyone knows why I’m not there. It’s been so long since I’ve been out in public, everyone may still think I’m an addict. Or more likely, they’ve forgotten all about me. At least, that’s probably what the senator hopes.”
“What is it that he thinks you’re going to do?” Colin asked.
“I might tell a raunchy joke in mixed company, or trip on the corner of the rug and snap the heel off my shoe. I may get a little too ‘friendly’ with the ambassador’s son on the dance floor. Or, my personal favorite, spill a double martini on the vice president.”
“Sounds as if you were the life of the party.”
“I was a walking, talking, sometimes slurring example of how not to conduct oneself at a formal gathering. I really don’t blame him for not wanting me there.”
From the other room Colin heard a knock on the suite door.
“It’s probably Betty,” she said. “Dylan will get it.”
Colin heard the door open, then a deep voice that, unless she had started male hormone therapy, could not be Betty’s. Dylan cried, “Papa! You home!”
Rowena looked over at Colin, eyes wide, and said, “Hide.”