Kelsey’s head jerked to the right, finding Wyatt standing a few feet away, his eyes on fire.
Gwen smiled, so pleased with herself. “Your little girlfriend is scamming you, Wyatt. You might want to check your credit card accounts to make sure she hasn’t already stolen your numbers. She’s no chef, she’s just a garden variety whore.”
Whore.
The word had been used so often around Kelsey. First directed at her mother, then at her. The single word could twist a blade right through her insides. Tears burned her throat, but hell if she was going to cry in front of this woman. No fucking way.
Wyatt charged forward, absently handing the drink and plate he’d been holding over to Kelsey. Gwen stood, leaving she and Wyatt toe to toe. His expression was a roar of rage, but his tone was pure ice water. “You know, the fact that you would stoop to digging through my girlfriend’s things and using your contacts to pull information about her is fucking pathetic, Gwen. And calling her a whore? That’s ripe considering you’re here with your married boss.”
“We’re not—” But her protest sounded weak even to Kelsey.
Wyatt smirked, his eyes cold behind his glasses. “Sure you’re not.”
“I’m trying to help you!” she said, her voice a whisper version of a shout. “She’s lying to you.”
“No, she’s not. I know exactly who she is. She’s the most beautiful and honest woman I’ve ever met.” He put out his hand to Kelsey. She set down the drink and food and took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet. “And if you dare say a word to her again or to anyone else here about her, I’ll be sure your boss’s wife gets an email from a concerned friend.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t have any proof of anything.”
Wyatt smiled and wrapped an arm around Kelsey’s waist. If someone else looked their way, it could be mistaken for a pleasant conversation. “Gwen, you’re a smart woman. So don’t push me because you won’t win.”
She pressed her lips together until they disappeared into a thin white line.
“Come on, love. I have some other people I’d like you to meet,” Wyatt said through clenched teeth.
Kelsey had the urge to say something sharp, to defend herself against the earlier comments. But despite the woman’s hateful words and motives, Kelsey couldn’t help but hear the truth in her warning: I fell in love with him, and he walked away without a scratch.
He will never be yours.
This will never be real.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Wyatt guided Kelsey away from Gwen before he could let his ire get the best of him and make a scene. But his jaw hurt from locking his teeth together and not saying what he really wanted. Before all this, he’d had nothing but respect for Gwen, but obviously she’d never shown him what a hateful bitch she could be. The horrid things she’d said to Kelsey . . . Anger pulsed through him with a raucous beat, making his head pound. How Kelsey had kept her class about it all and not stooped to Gwen’s level was a wonder. The girl must be made of iron.
Kelsey glanced up at him. “I’m so sorry I screwed up, Wyatt. I never thought to worry about the passport. When they took our bags to the main boat, I should’ve—”
“You should’ve done exactly what you did,” he said firmly. “You couldn’t have anticipated someone acting like a goddamned lunatic.”
“You think she’s going to say something to the others?”
“No, Gwen’s not stupid. She knows I wasn’t making an idle threat about exposing her relationship with her boss.” He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “But I’m sorry you had to hear those hateful things she said. It’s my fault. I never should have left you alone, knowing she was around.”
Kelsey squeezed his hand as they began to walk again, though she looked much more somber than she had a few minutes ago, the mirth in her eyes gone. “I’m fine. Really. I’ve heard worse, and honestly, the whole thing just makes me feel sorry for her.”
That pulled him up short. He turned toward her, leaving them at the perimeter of the party. “Sorry for her? She attacked you.”
Kelsey shrugged. “She’s got a broken heart and a bruised ego. That can turn even a decent woman into a piranha. She’s gorgeous, smart, has a good job. For all intents and purposes, she’s way more suited for you than I could ever be, and she thinks she’s lost you to an air-headed floozy with a nice rack.”
“She and I aren’t suited at all,” he bit out, then smirked. “And you’re far from an airhead or a floozy.”
She put a hand to her hip and quirked an eyebrow.
“What? I can’t deny the nice rack thing. That’s simply a verifiable fact.”
She sniffed, but there was laughter in her eyes.
“And I don’t know where she gets this big broken heart sob story. I was very clear from the beginning what our relationship could and couldn’t be.”