‘– you all are lovely. Thank you. Thank you so much.’
There was a spontaneous round of applause, and when there was silence again, she continued, ‘That I’d like to thank my publicist and my editor, and all the bookish folks who make my novels a reality, is obvious.’
She leaned a little closer to the microphone, and Garrett could swear she was looking right at him. He braced himself. Was this it, then? Was this the point where Kendra Davis got her revenge? He held his breath as she continued.
‘Not so obvious are the people who inspire me and help me and encourage me in quiet ways, the people who never take the bows, even though they deserve them, even though this –’ she raised the trophy for everyone to see
‘– this could have never happened to me without them. Thank you. You’re truly amazing.’
Garrett was sure she was looking right at him, and he sat a little taller, and for the first time in the evening his smile was easy and genuine. There was another round of applause, and Kendra moved off the stage. The applause continued as she glided between the tables and back to her place, back to Garrett. And it became deafening when he stood, scooped her into his arms, and kissed her. Best of all, she kissed him back like she really meant it, pulling away only enough to beam her bright smile at him and mouth the words “we won”, before she yielded to his next assault.
He could have just kept on with the kissing. He could have just kept on with her there in his arms, pressed tightly against him all warm and soft and breathing hard with the excitement of victory. But Don butted in for a hug and a kiss on the cheek and his date, Julie – that was her name, Garrett remembered – did the same. And then Barker Blessing shoved his way in for a grope and a slobber before Garrett could pull Kendra possessively back to him and before everyone settled in for dessert and an onstage tribute to musicals.
It was when chocolate mousse arrived, mounded high with whipped cream and topped with a huge fresh cherry, that Blessing made his move. He forced his chair in between Kendra and Don – after all, Don was Tess’s publicist, and Blessing always situated himself with the movers and shakers whenever possible. If Garrett had been Ellis, then no doubt he would have squeezed in where he could rub shoulders with him too. But clearly Garrett’s reputation was well known to Blessing who, after a curt nod in his direction, turned his full attention to Kendra, who had just begun her mousse.
‘My dear, I must congratulate you again. I think I speak for everyone here when I say Tess Delaney has stolen our hearts.’
Garrett was never 100 per cent sure about what happened next, though he did play the events over and over in his head many times afterward.
He read Kendra’s body language before he was able to see, from his poor vantage point, what was actually happening. Her spine stiffened and tension tightened her shoulders, which until now had been completely relaxed.
‘As you know, I’ve reviewed all of your novels very well, very well indeed.’
Bullshit, Garrett thought. He had always approached Tess’s books as he did all romance novels, as though they were the bastard stepchildren of proper literature, and the best he’d ever said about her work was that it was not bad for what it was, and that it was a pity such talent was wasted on such low-brow literature. As Blessing’s hand moved up high on Kendra’s right thigh, Garrett had visions of strangling the man with his bow tie.
‘I’m sure my reviews were taken into consideration in these awards, Tess – I can call you Tess, can’t I?’ He addressed Kendra’s cleavage, ‘So, in a small way, I guess you could say I’m responsible for you carrying away that lovely piece of metal. And I’m willing and able to help advance your career in ways you haven’t even thought of.’ His thumb slid beneath the soft green fabric of her dress and his fingers followed suit, finding their way to Kendra’s bare thigh.
What happened next seemed to unfold in slow motion. Garrett rose from his chair and grabbed the bastard by the back of the collar just as Kendra looked up and caught his eye, then she shook her head and mouthed the words “sit down”.
He didn’t. He just couldn’t let the bastard touch her like that. But before he could bodily heave Blessing out of his chair, before he could do more than lay a hand on the man’s jacket, Kendra, without so much as batting an eye, daintily and very deliberately dumped her entire chocolate mousse upside down onto the lap of the man’s white suit, making sure to give it a good hard shove, adding a slide from side to side so there would be no easy clean-up. The whole incident might have been subtly covered up if, at that moment, one of the cameramen hadn’t chosen to zoom in for a close-up of the beaming winner and catch the whole magical moment and multiply it and enlarge it on the big screens that surrounded the room, resulting in a raucous round of applause.