Captivated by the Tycoon (The Whittakers #4)(25)
Author: Anna DePalo

Candace bent forward for a peek, then gasped, as well.

“You are now officially a kept woman,” her receptionist joked.

Lauren felt the tears escape. She’d wear everything—as well as her heart on her sleeve.

Because she loved him.

Candace patted her arm. “Hey, hey. It’s time to crack open the bubbly, not the waterworks.”

“Don’t pay attention to me,” she warbled.

“You know, if this one bails on you,” Candace teased, “I’m guessing you’ll get an even better deal from the pawnshop than you did for the engagement ring.”

The Imperial Ballroom in the Boston Park Plaza Hotel glittered under the light reflected from several large crystal chandeliers.

The room, filled almost to capacity tonight with more than five hundred dinner guests, had an old- world elegance thanks to its vaulted ceiling, gilded balconies and ornate archways.

Lauren felt transported to a different time and place, captivated by the charm of her surroundings and even more so, by the man at her side.

She was wearing the dress Matt had sent her, having paired it with silver pumps and a silver clutch from her closet. Her hair was swept up, and she’d used a black cape to protect herself on the way over against the cold weather outside.

The ensemble boosted her confidence as they stood speaking with the other Whittakers.

She felt she could use all the confidence she could get. When she’d questioned Matt on the drive over, he’d responded that he hadn’t outright told his family about their budding relationship.

He hadn’t totally understood her distressed reaction, either.

“It’s nerve-wracking enough that we’ll be scrutinized by everybody else,” she said, not even wanting to think about the reporters who would likely be at the Gala, “but couldn’t you at least have warned your family in advance?”

“Everything will be fine,” he responded, reaching out to give her hand a squeeze.

But she’d refused to be completely comforted.

She knew the Whittakers would have questions—at least voiced in their eyes, if not spoken. After all, Matt’s siblings knew she’d been his matchmaker, and before that, he’d been a groomsman at her almost wedding. Her history with Matt couldn’t get more complicated.

And whereas before, they may have merely suspected something more than a platonic relationship existed between her and their brother, tonight she and Matt might as well have taken out on ad in the newspapers.

Still, she knew she loved Matt, and she couldn’t hide her feelings and still be true to herself.

Matt’s warm hand at the small of her back was reassuring as she faced his family, including his parents.

They were all standing next to the table where they would be seated for dinner in a short while.

Matt’s mother, Ava, was graceful and gracious, her coiffed hair as dark as Matt’s but tinged with gray. The resemblance to her daughter, Allison, was striking.

Matt’s father, James, dressed in a tux like the other men, was tall and distinguished looking and possessed an easy charm.

“Matt mentioned you’re a professional matchmaker, Lauren,” Ava said.

“Er—yes.” His matchmaker until recently, she wanted to point out.

“It must have been challenging to start your own business,” James said.

“Yes, but rewarding, too,” she responded. “I’ve been active in associations of women small business owners here in Boston.”

She was relieved Matt’s parents, at least, seemed too polite to bring up the subject of how precisely she’d transitioned from being their son’s matchmaker to, from all appearances, being his lover.

His brothers were another story.

“So, Matt, how’s the matchmaking thing going?” Noah asked later, when they had sat down to dinner.

Matt took his time responding. “I’m no longer in the market.”

Noah cupped his hand to his ear. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

“I said I’m no longer in the market.”

Noah opened his eyes wide. “Not even Lauren could find someone to date you, huh?”

Quent stifled a chuckle.

“Noah,” Ava warned, but the look Noah gave his mother was all innocence.

Lauren watched Matt lean back and drape an arm over the back of her chair. “Lauren is my date for tonight, in case it’s escaped your notice.”

Lauren caught the look of delighted approval Allison exchanged with Elizabeth and Kayla as their apparent suspicions were confirmed.

Noah feigned surprise. “You mean she isn’t here just to make sure you’re schooled in the social graces?”

“No.”

It wasn’t so much that Matt’s brothers wanted to tease her, Lauren realized, as that they were intent on ribbing Matt in some time-honored family ritual.

“You mean she’s here with you as a real date?” Noah persisted.

“As real as it gets,” Matt drawled.

Lauren felt herself heat. Matt might as well have come out and announced that they’d been having spectacular sex together night after night.

She waited to be swallowed up by a large hole.

“You’re both embarrassing Lauren,” Allison said, “so stop.”

Lauren threw her a grateful look.

It was then she noticed the other Whittakers were looking at her—not with suspicion, but with sympathy and, yes, kindness.

Her heart squeezed, and she blinked hard. She knew she’d just stepped over a significant threshold.

It was only later on the dance floor that she could express herself, however.

“I like your family,” she said.

Matt looked down at her drolly. “It’s nice of you to say so, but they can be a pain in the butt.”

“Refreshing.”

“Now there’s a euphemism if ever I heard one.”

She smiled. “No, they were welcoming.”

He tilted his head as they made their way past another couple on the crowded dance floor. A twenty-piece orchestra played above them on the stage. “You say that as if you’re surprised.”

“Parker’s family wasn’t the same way,” she said.

“Is that your way of saying they were wealthy and snobby?” he asked, his voice laced with amusement but carrying a note of seriousness, as well.

“Distant and formal,” she countered, struggling for words to explain. “Dinner at their house always ended with coffee and dessert. A plate with exactly one cookie for each person at the table.”