Page 29 of Stay Here Tonight
Penelope pivoted on her right heel before turning back toward Lydia again. Her dark eyes almost slapped the other woman across the cheek with their animosity. “I’m the only woman who could possibly diffuse a ticking time bomb like her, and Igave up,get me?”
This wasn’t worth escalating. Everything Penelope said – from her intimidating presence to her gravely tone that sounded like it often came out behind the scenes – pointed directly to someone who was unhinged at best, completely out of her fucking mind at the worst. To think that Penelope was the one who had to end it, and yet still thought she had any control over what Maxine did with her dating life!
Lydia could have said this was a publicity stunt, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t make any difference. Besides! Who was to say it would stay that way? Maybe Lydia would stick around for as long as she could to piss this head-case off.
“Excuse me,” Lydia said with a thorough shove of her shoulder. “I have a date to get back to. Don’t you, too?”
She unlocked the lounge door and opened it to find a short line of women complaining that they couldn’t wash their hands. As soon as Lydia emerged, apologizing for any inconvenience, the small group filed in and drowned out whatever negative energy Penelope attempted to broadcast in Lydia’s direction.
First thing Lydia did was locate her date. Maxine was right where Lydia had left her, the bodyguard’s presence so prominent that no one would approach without a dire need to do so.
It almost intimidated Lydia. Then she remembered that Maxine actuallylikedher.
“You look like you’ve made an unsavory deal with the devil,” Maxine remarked. “Please tell me she didn’t pull something.”
“She locked herself in the bathroom with me and tried to scare me out of dating you.”
Maxine sighed. “For fuck’s sake. I knew this would happen as soon as word got out I was ‘seriously’ dating someone. She can’t stand it.”
“She didn’t hurt me.”
“She will if she gets enough opportunities.” Maxine waved her bodyguard over. “I’m going to need another one of you to detail Ms. Kellerman until further notice.” The bodyguard nodded. “I need to call my lawyer about getting a restraining order. For the both of us.”
I’m getting a bodyguard? Jesus.That wasn’t what Lydia wanted to immediately address. “You don’t have a restraining order on her yet?”
“No. I had been hoping to avoid it now that the last of the legalities are over between us. Looks like that isn’t going to be happening, though. I can’t have her threatening the people I publicly date.”
“But it’s okay if she threatens you?”
Maxine shot Lydia an antagonistic look. “It’s not like that all. You’re going to stick close to me for the rest of the night. We go to the bathroom together. Er, you know what I mean…”
Lydia shouldn’t have picked now to giggle, but she couldn’t help herself. The images that conjured were too ridiculous to ignore.
“What’s so funny? I told you what I meant.”
“You’ve gotta find something to laugh about during times like these, right?”
At first, Lydia had no idea why Maxine drew her into a tight, almost suffocating embrace that brought her cheek against soft silk and her nose into contact with that intense perfume. Maybe Maxine was so enthralled with Lydia that she couldn’t help herself.
Or maybe it was the professional photographer making the rounds that prompted Maxine to hug her date.
“Look at the new couple in love!” the photographer exclaimed. “Thanks, ladies.”
“Don’t mention it.” Maxine released Lydia and went back to talking about extra security with her bodyguard.
Lydia, meanwhile was still trapped in that embrace, Maxine’s warmth wrapped around her and that fluttering heartbeat pounding against her cheek. It was not an easy place to dissociate from.
In fact, she remained there for the rest of the night, fighting back the invasive emotions that told her she was in way over her head when it came to Maxine Woodward and the kinds of things she made women feel.
Chapter 11
The ride home was even quieter than the ride to the fundraiser.
Maxine spent most of those hours talking with her lawyer on the phone. He was convinced that he could not only get a restraining order for Maxine, but Lydia as well.“This is a great step to take. You know I’ve been trying to get you to do this for years, Maxine.”Except she had never cared enough before. Her encounters with Penelope were infrequent enough that it never seemed necessary when she had her own security team.
With someone else involved, though? Someone who had no idea to what extent Penelope could take her threats? This was serious. Maxine was not going to be responsible for Lydia getting hurt. So a restraining order it was.
When she wasn’t conferring with her lawyer, she spoke with other people on her payroll. Agnes, Angela, even Carlos the gardener was informed of what was going on and what their roles would be going forward. If anyone got wind of Penelope sniffing around where her rhinoplasted nose didn’t belong, it was hell. For everyone.
