Page 53 of Kiss Me at Midnight
“He likes being mine,” Rachel said in a hard voice. Her cheeks were flushing redder than her hair. “Just like you enjoyed being Jud’s. At least until I told you that you were just a convenient wallflower.”
“What?” Jud jerked in his chair.
Lily kept her gaze on Paulo, so freaking hot with anger that she could barely keep still. “Who cares if Jud tried to use me to improve his image? You’ve done the same thing with all the guys you’ve been with, Rachel, including Paulo. It’s just that he’s easy to control since he doesn’t understand a word you say.”
“True that.” Rachel nodded.
Understanding dawned in Paulo’s eyes, followed by hurt.
Lily hadn’t wanted to hurt anyone but the time for peace had long passed.
“Lily,” Jud said in a quiet voice. A lying voice. “Lily, we need to talk.”
Lily refused to look at him. She’d embarked on this trip with the goal of feeding the hungry and sheltering the disadvantaged. To do that, she’d agreed to be heartless when it came to so-called love. As far as she was concerned, that meant the feelings she had toward Jud.
Lily turned toward Rachel. “There’s just one flaw in your plan,friend.”
“And what’s that?” Everything about Rachel was red–her dress, her hair, her face. Anger didn’t sit well on her.
Lily leaned forward. “You’ve become a cheater, Rachel. A liar. A woman who exploits the vulnerabilities of those closest to her instead of protecting them. But you’re not the only despicable being in this room. Paulo lied to you. He speaks fluent English.” Ignoring Rachel’s sudden screech, Lily got to her feet as the porter came in with the salad course. Lily’s gaze drifted toward Jud, which was stupid. It allowed every injustice from him she was trying to suppress rise up in her throat and demand she give it voice. “As for you, Judson Hambly, you can’t bamboozle me.”Bamboozle? Lily grimaced. Another of Grandma Dotty’s words. “I’m not for sale or rent as your boring, fake girlfriend.”
“I didn’t…” Jud shot Rachel a dark look, but she was too busy slapping and poking Paulo’s arm and accusing him of being a liar. “I did. But only at first. Before I got to know you. It was a stupid idea and I apologize.”
“Too late,” Lily snapped.
“Paulo, how could you lie to me?” Rachel’s face was still beet red. She waved the porter away.
“Your first words to me? Speak to me in the language of love.” Paulo’s hands were circling the air, emphasizing every English word. “And then you kissed me and told all your friends that I was the perfect lover since I speak no English.” Paulo’s hands were moving as quickly as his mouth–up, down, around. “You did this.”
“Oh, really.” Rachel crossed her arms over her chest. “I am so done with you.”
“Babe, we’ve got to talk.” Jud used the lull in their argument to call to Lily softly.
“Don’tbabeme.” Lily stalked around Rachel, pausing between the discordant bride and groom. “Everything on this boat is a sham. Rachel isn’t the poor little rich girl who’s misunderstood. Paulo isn’t a master at the language of love. And Jud isn’t the playboy actor who suddenly fell in love with a wallflower. I can’t make any of you see the truth of how you hurt those who love you. The only thing I can do is make you question if you really love the person you say you do.” That was a stretch since Jud had never told Lily he loved her. But it was time to apply the Kissing Test.
Lily bent and kissed the would-be groom on the lips. Not because Paulo was Rachel’s fiancé, and it might drive the final stake into their wedding plans. Not because Lily wanted to make Jud jealous. But because they all needed to be shocked into questioning what love really meant to them.
“I resign as maid of honor.” Lily straightened and stared straight into Jud’s eyes. “And just so we’re clear, Mr. Hambly, Mary Poppins isn’t safe and mundane. She’s magical and she rocks!” And then she left them.
Lily marched downstairs, packed her bag and her grandmother’s, and left the yacht, dragging Grandma Dotty with her.
If she had any luck, there’d be two seats left on that last flight to New York her sisters were on. She’d fallen in love with Jud in four days. Somehow, she knew it would take her a lot longer to forget him. But with any luck, she’d find those seats and forget that Judson Hambly had ever held her in his arms.
Chapter Eleven
“The nerve.” The words lacked Rachel’s usual punch. She told the porter to cancel the rest of dinner.
For once, Jud wasn’t hungry. “You should talk about nerve, Rachel. You recorded my conversations? All our conversations?”
“I had every right. You signed a waiver.” Rachel stuck her nose in the air. “Why are you worried about that? Lily kissed my fiancé. Why didn’t you stop her, Jud?”
“I would have liked to.” He’d been sucker punched. Not only did Lily know the label he’d used to describe his ideal boost-my-image girlfriend, but she didn’t believe his feelings for her were real. This trip was a nightmare. “Paulo didn’t pass the Kissing Test,” Jud added absently. “That means Paulo doesn’t love you, not the way he should.”
“What? What is this test?” Rachel turned on the more likely candidate to have halted that kiss–Paulo. “Why didn’t you stop her, Paulo?” There was confusion on her brow and anger in her eyes.
Jud could relate to the jumble of emotions–shame because he’d hurt Lily, anger because she’d kissed another man, frustration because she’d never believed he’d wanted to date her in the first place. And the truth was that he hadn’t at first, or at least, not consciously. But no matter what intentions had brought them together, Jud didn’t want to lose her.
Paulo sat staring into the distance, looking the way Jud felt–as if something important had been ripped from his life and he wasn’t sure how to get it back.
