The trapped feeling was growing in her again—trapped in a lie, and in a future that seemed to hold little excitement. It became more of an effort to keep socializing, to keep smiling and chatting and blithely deflecting personal questions.
She thought she was doing a pretty good job of hiding her real emotions. Though she didn’t try to convince herself she was as good at that sort of thing as Bryan, everyone appeared convinced that she was having a lovely time at the party. Even her family seemed unconcerned. She should have known it wouldn’t be so easy to deceive a master deceiver.
“Need to get out of here for a while?” Bryan asked in her ear.
She turned her head to find him standing very close to her, his expression entirely too knowing. “I don’t think we can leave yet,” she whispered. “There are going to be some speeches made for Chloe and Donovan later and it will be rude if we leave before hearing them.”
“We could step outside for a few minutes. You can show me the gardens—maybe even scream a little, if you need to.”
She laughed at the thought of the attention a loud, unexpected scream would attract. “That would liven things up.”
“At least your smile is real now,” he observed, eyeing her in satisfaction. “Come show me the gardens.”
The temptation to get out of this room, if only for a few minutes, was simply too great. She turned to her mother. “Bryan and I are going to step outside for some fresh air. We won’t be long, but send someone for us if the speeches start before we get back, okay?”
Evelyn smiled. “I wondered how long it would be before you would have to escape.”
So apparently she hadn’t fooled her mother very well, either. Was she really fooling anybody?
Grace was aware of the eyes that followed their path toward the exit doors. Everyone probably thought she and Bryan wanted to be alone because he had been out of town for a couple of days. They would be surreptitiously checking out her hair and makeup when she returned, imagining invisible handprints all over her body.
She didn’t care what they thought. She had to get out. She was suddenly having trouble breathing in here.
They passed a crowd of older men swapping fishing lies in the lobby—Grace spotted her father among them—and then walked through the outside doors into the warm August evening. A group of smokers clustered under the awning just outside the door. Grace held her breath as she walked quickly through the cloud of smoke, merely nodding in response to their greetings.
Softly lit paths crisscrossed the gardens behind the club building. Planted with ornamental trees, rosebushes and a variety of other blooming plants, the gardens lay between the club and the golf course. Moonlight washed the landscape in a soft glow, glittering off the small lake in the center of the golf course. The scent of roses surrounded them, pleasantly replacing the smell of cigarette smoke.
A night for romance, Grace mused. And the perfect companion to share it with, she added with a sideways glance at Bryan.
Be very careful, Grace.
Bryan led her to a small bench set in a shadowy grotto formed by two spreading, lacy-leafed Japanese maples. The bench was just large enough to hold them both; he sat on her left so that his good arm was next to her. “This is nice, isn’t it?”
She nodded. “I needed to get away from the crowd for a few minutes.”
“I could tell.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Was I that obvious about it?”
“Not to everyone else, perhaps. But I must admit I was watching you rather closely.”
Because that comment made her self-conscious, she looked away from him. “I’m glad you were able to make it tonight. Chloe would have been disappointed if you couldn’t come.”
He ran his fingertips lightly down her bare arm. “Is Chloe the only one who would have been disappointed?”
Grace cleared her throat. “I’m sure Donovan is glad you’re here, so he isn’t the only one having to deal with so many strangers.”
A faintly reproving note entered his voice. “You mean you wouldn’t have missed me at all?”
“I’m glad you’re here,” she admitted. Then, when his hand closed over hers, she backtracked quickly. “It’s nice to have an excuse to escape the crowd.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment—whether it was intended as one or not.”
His fingers were intertwined with hers now, their hands resting on his knee. Holding her hand in a moonlit rose garden. Creating a memory of a perfect romantic moment. She might never forgive him for this.
Chapter Eleven
Grace slanted a look up at Bryan, only to find him studying her face. His face was shadowed by the moon behind him, but she could see his eyes, steady and clear. “You really are lovely,” he murmured.