Page 29 of The Bet
Chapter 9
“Itisyou.”
Izzy looked up, not recognizing the man who had come up to her.
“You used to work for the Shoemoneys, didn’t you?”
She froze. The mere mention of that name temporarily paralyzed her.
“I’m sure I’ve seen you at one of their parties.” The man clicked his fingers. “Their kids, I can’t remember their names. I’m sure it was you looking after them.” He still didn’t look familiar, especially in his Bermuda shorts and t-shirt, but she could see that he would have been part of that crowd. He had that familiar banker look about him. Preppy specs, receding hairline and an air of entitlement about him.
“It might have been,” she said, stepping back, and knowing perfectly well who he meant, but she had no desire to engage in any conversation with him. It shouldn’t have come as a huge shock, but it did. Rich people all seemed to know one another. Theirs was an exclusive little club.
“Are you moonlighting?”
She was too shocked to reply.
Then, in a whispered tone, he said, “Can’t say I blame you.” And before she could tell them that she no longer worked for the Shoemoneys, Xavier edged into her line of sight. “Are you coming?” she asked, looking directly at Xavier, eager to find someone familiar, someone safe. His dark blue irises turned on her as if they could see right through her, like an X-ray machine at the airport, and his face went through a myriad of expressions, surprise first then puzzlement.
“Me?” he asked, and she was sure he was about to turn around and see if she was talking to someone behind him.
“Yes, you. We’re going to the waterfall, remember?”
“It’s really cool,” Jacob chimed in.
“The waterfall? Hell, yeah.” Xavier grinned a 1000 watt smile at her, making her already regret her decision to pull him in. If Shoemoney’s friend hadn’t accosted her, she wouldn’t have.
“Hey, Xavier,” the man said, and then to her, “Tell Gideon I said ‘hi’,” before he walked away.
“How do you know Oliver Rothschild?” Xavier asked.
“Is that his name?”
“You don’t know his name?”
“I know of him, through contacts,” she replied, staring at his face properly for the first time.
“Through contacts.” His voice was playful, as if he was trying to make conversation, and she wasn’t ready for it. “Why does that sound more mysterious than it is?”
She put her shades on. “It wasn’t meant to sound mysterious, Stone.” She wasn’t sure why she added his surname to the end. He looked at her, his frown deepening the vertical line between his brow. “But you didn’t even know who he was,” then he paused. “Unless he was trying to hit on you.Washe trying to hit on you?”
She looked at him in complete amazement, and would have said how crazy he was for thinking such a thing except that her attention was drawn to the muscle twitching along his jaw. “I’m sorry if I interrupted something.”
That he had reached this stupid assumption made her muscle tighten. “No, he wasn’t trying to hit on me. He recognized me from a party with the last family I worked for.”
“Oh.” Her answer seemed to appease him.
“You don’t have to come along.”
“But you just asked me to,” he protested.
“I must have had a temporary paralysis in brain activity.”
“Or maybe,” his lips quirked up at the corners, “deep down youreallywant me to come along.”
She snorted. “You flatter yourself too much. I’m being serious. You don’t need to come. It’s a long walk, and,” she stared down at his loafers, “you’re not wearing the right shoes, and there’s nothing much to see. You’ll get bored. Wouldn’t you prefer to sip cocktails on the beach?”
And flirt around with Kay instead?
