Bluegrass State of Mind(78)

Will steered her closer to Mo. By the time the dance ended, they were side by side.

“Will, Kenna, so good to see you again. Will, I must speak to you about a horse if you don’t mind.” Mo turned to Number Two. “If you will excuse me, madam, I have business to discuss with these two. Please do not wait for me as this may take a while. Go and mingle. Maybe you will find someone you have a lot in common with.” Number Two bowed her head and walked off into the crowd.

“Very nice, Mo. Could you be more dismissive?” Kenna chided.

“She’s a mute. She’s clung to my arm the whole night and has not said a single word. Thankfully, you two came along and can rescue me. My father has promised me a choice of eligible women tonight. Apparently he’s invited upwards of ten women and their families here. If I wasn’t hosting this party at my house, I would run and hide until they all left.”

Kenna couldn’t help it as a giggle escaped. Apparently Will was having as much trouble as she was not laughing, because as soon as her giggle escaped, so did a bark of laughter from him.

“If only I had won that stupid basketball game, then I could have made you come as my date. Maybe that would have kept the wolves at bay,” Mo muttered.

“What are you talking about?” Will asked Mo. Kenna laughed again and tried to smother it with her hand over her mouth.

“Kenna and I played a basketball game the other night. The winner got to name a favor from the loser. I was the loser. If I had won the favor, I would have called for her to escort me to the ball tonight and help me keep those women away from me,” Mo explained.

“So, what favor did Kenna win?”

“I haven’t claimed it yet. I'll know it when I see it,” she laughed, laying her hand on Will’s arm and loving the feel of him enveloping it with his own hand. Mo and Will started talking about the horses competing against Boots when Kenna let her attention be drawn away from the conversation, and she started to people-watch.

She felt it first. Will’s arm muscles tightened beneath her hand.

“Shit. What the hell is she doing here?” Kenna followed Will’s gaze as Mo turned to see who it was.

“Dammit, my parents were forced into inviting her father, Senator Bruce. He sits on a committee that we need the support of to start raising the amount of oil we export into the country. I didn’t think he’d bring his daughter as his escort. I'm sorry,” Mo said in hushed tones as they watched Whitney sashay her way toward them in a dress that more resembled lingerie than a ball gown.

“Your Highness,” Whitney said as she attempted a curtsey but only managed a clumsy bend that threatened to spill her breasts out of her dress. “Thank you so much for thinking about my family. We're having a wonderful time.” She placed her hand on Mo’s arm and managed to rub her breast against him.

“I'm so very glad,” Mo said stiffly and with a sneer of disgust as he removed her hand from his arm and stepped away from her.

Pretending not to notice the snub, she turned to Will and tried to kiss his lips. Instead, she hit his cheek when he turned his head. “Hello, my love. Are you having a good time?”

“Until just recently.” He pulled Kenna closer to his side as if trying to protect her, or maybe using her as a shield.

“Oh, Kenna, darling. I have such a surprise for you!” Whitney squealed, the sound sending shivers up Kenna’s back. “You're just going to die! Look!” Whitney pointed over Kenna’s shoulder.

Kenna, Will, and Mo all turned to see what, or rather who, the surprise was. Her reaction was instantaneous. She felt all the blood leave her head so fast that she thought she’d faint. She started shaking, and she gripped Will’s arm with bone-crushing strength.

Chad Taylor, with a fitted tux, bleached teeth, and hair gelled perfectly in place, sauntered up to her. “Hello, sweetheart. Happy to see me?”

Will moved to place his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. Out of the corner of her blurring vision, she saw Mo move next to her on her other side.

Not to be left out of the center of attention, Whitney moved over to Chad and placed her hand on his arm. “Last week I was on the Hill with Daddy for lunch, and he had Chad with him. I was talking about how fortunate I was to speak with you about my legal matters and how I wanted you to be my lawyer from now on. I told him, ‘Miss Mason is the wonderful new attorney everyone is talking about,’ and how you're the only woman in town taking on all these stuffy old men.”

No, this couldn’t be happening. Shivers overtook her body. She knew by using her own name it would only be a matter of time before they found her. She was lucky to have made it this long. But she still found that she was unprepared for this encounter.