Page 3 of Bargain with the Bachelor
Kristal seemed to have barely heard me, literally turning her body away so I was seeing her in profile now as she continued to scan the property.
“Have you seen Harry McAllen tonight?” Flashing her eyes back to me, she said, “He’s my boyfriend. Remember him from school?”
Indeed I did. Harry had been my least favorite member of the silver spoon club. I remembered him as an entitled jerk who’d moved quickly from one girl to the next without necessarily notifying the first girl in advance.
When we’d been seniors, Harry had started showing up at the house next door every night, visiting my shy but sweet ninth-grade neighbor, Elizabeth.
When I’d asked her about it, she’d tearfully told me that Harry had claimed to love her but refused to acknowledge her at school.Dick.
The next time Mr. McAllen had showed up for a cradle-robbing booty call, I’d been waiting. I’d challenged him to a fist fight in the front yard. Harry had stormed away, slamming his car door and peeling out of the run-down neighborhood in his new Mercedes.
But he’d stopped messing around with Elizabeth.
Harry and I had despised each other from that point on. But that was a long time ago. People changed, right?
All I could say was that Harry must havereallygrown up and turned a corner character-wise to be dating a classy woman like Kristal. It probably hadn’t hurt his case that he worked at her father’s law firm and was known as Richard Bianco’s protégé.
Thinking of the two of them together siphoned the remaining air from my already deflating mood.
“Um… sure. Yeah, I remember Harry. Haven’t seen him around tonight. You think maybe he went into the mansion?”
“He said he was going to get us drinks, but he hasn’t come back. I think I’ll go and look for him.” She stuck her hand out and gave me a tight smile. “It was nice seeing you again, Hunter. Congratulations on all your success.”
I clasped her hand for an all-to-brief moment before she withdrew it, turned, and left.
“Good to see you too… Kristal,” I called to her back, my voice dying off along with all my stupid hopes.
Watching her retreating form, I gave myself a swift mental kick.
Great work, asshole. Youreallyimpressed her, didn’t you? Sent her running off in search of Harry-fucking-McAllen, of all people, for more pleasant company.
When Kristal had complimented my success, I should have brushed it off, said something humble and self-deprecating. Played it cool.
Apparently I was biologically incapable of cool when it came to this woman.
I was no better at talking to her now than I’d been at seventeen. And she was with Harry.
Fucking fantastic.
Feeling annoyed with myself, and now with the party in general, I wandered back into the house, looking for Jack and Bonnie so I could say goodnight and drop off a check for the Charity Relief Foundation before leaving.
Approaching a few people I knew, I asked each of them if they’d seen my brother and sister-in-law recently. I followed their directions, checking the dessert buffet and then the ballroom, but didn’t find the pair. I was about to give up when the woman collecting donations in the grand entry hall pointed at the massive marble staircase.
“I think I saw them go upstairs just a few minutes ago. Some of the second-floor rooms are open for tours tonight. You should go check them out too.”
I returned the volunteer’s warm smile, thanked her, and climbed the gleaming turned staircase.
Like many people who live in popular tourist areas, I’d never really bothered to explore many of the sights myself, leaving them to the visitors. I’d been to functions at Bellevue Manor on the first floor and out on the grounds but had never actually toured the mansion.
I got something of a self-guided tour as I walked the long second-floor central hallway, peeking into room after room filled with gilded antique European furniture and priceless artwork.
The second level was basically deserted as far as I could tell. Either the other party guests had toured the rooms on the upper floor earlier or they weren’t interested in anything beyond the food, drinks, and dancing downstairs.
I didn’t find Jack and Bonnie, but I did spot something that caught my interest in a large bathroom adjoining one of the bedrooms. I’d never seen anything quite like it.
The 1920’s era bathroom contained the usual fixtures, but there was something extra in this one I wasn’t quite sure how to classify.
It looked like a very small bathtub, low to the ground, with water spigots above it for fresh and saltwater. I studied it, walking from one side to the other to view it from different angles.
