Page 76 of How to Resist Prince Charming

CHAPTER 20

By the time Sunday evening rolled around, Tom had calmed himself considerably. He was still mad, but now it was a controlled anger. Seething calculation.

He sat at the head of the supper table, deep in thought while Lenna sat to his left, eating quietly. Looking innocent.

Glancing subtly her way, Tom clenched his fist under the table as uncontrollable rage seized him. She was so good at her act. He couldn’t tell at all. By looking at her, he couldn’t guess she saw Braxton Farris behind his back.

He wondered how long she’d been seeing him. The back-stabbing little—

Needing to calm himself, he lifted his gaze toward his wife, and immediately, his muscles loosened. God, he loved the relaxing effect Maxine had on him.

Softening toward her, he smiled. “Supper’s excellent tonight, dear.”

Maxine looked up and blinked. For this family, it was a typical, average meal of fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, peas, and hot rolls.

“Well,” she said, blushing, making guilt grow because he obviously didn’t compliment her enough. “Thank you.” Then she gave him a suspicious look. “What’s gotten you into such a good mood?”

He shrugged, not daring to glance Lenna’s way. He was tempted to say something nasty like, “It’s just nice to know some members of my family members aren’t sleeping with my boss behind my back,” but restrained himself.

His wife, however, press

ed the issue. “Work must be going better for you, I guess.”

Unable to help himself, Tom glanced sideways at Lenna. She merely picked up a drumstick and pulled a piece of chicken off the bone with her teeth as if she weren’t listening to every word he was about to say about her boyfriend.

“Dare I hope this means you’re finally starting to get along with Braxton?” Maxine asked.

The back of Tom’s teeth clenched together.

He didn’t want to hear that name. Shooting another look Lenna’s way, he was even more enraged when she didn’t even bat an eyelash at the mention of her precious Braxton.

“Actually,” Tom said, grinding his molars, “he’s eased up on us in the last couple of weeks. I think it’s that new girlfriend he has.”

From the corner of his eye, Tom saw Lenna’s head lift.

Well, well. That got her attention.

“Braxton has a girlfriend?” Maxine asked with an arch of her eyebrows. “How do you know?”

“Oh, Ben found out about it. He’s good at discovering that kind of information.” When no one—namely Lenna—reacted, he continued. “I guess when he went to Paris a couple weeks ago, he took her along. When he got back, he went over his expense receipts with his secretary and paid out-of-pocket for a second breakfast in his room.”

Dying to know how his daughter was reacting to that, Tom nonchalantly peeked over. She’d stopped eating with such gusto, and her face had paled. He almost snickered.

“Oh, my,” Maxine said, blushing and covering her mouth with her hand. “That sounds serious.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Tom murmured.

He wanted to reach over and strangle Lenna. She wasn’t going to confess. The little brat wasn’t going to say a word. His jaw bunched and his pulse spiked; Tom forced a smile toward his wife.

“It’s hard to tell which one of them he actually took. He parades any number of women through his office. Though it might’ve been the one he sent two dozen roses to the other day.”

“Roses are nice.” Maxine nodded in approval.

Beside Tom, Lenna sucked in a breath, then snatched up her cup and took a long drink.

Tom narrowed his eyes and kept lying. “He’s brought that one around the office a few times. I think he likes to show her off.”

Lenna choked on the iced tea she was gulping.

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