A Tiara Under the Tree

“You have a funny knack for clearing a room,” said Waverly.

Dominic’s brows rose. He hated drama, especially between women. Tension filled the gorgeous evening. The mayor felt it and cleared his throat.

“No need for things to get testy, ladies,” said Anson.

Since the day Dominic opened shop, he had liked the man.

“Hold up a minute,” Dominic said, trying to control his bubbling irritation. He didn’t like the idea of anyone trying to scold Waverly, especially when this Vera lady came over here with her antagonizing tone. Will stepped forward, placing himself between the local politician and Dominic’s wrath.

“Mayor.” Will intervened. “Thank you for allowing Ravens Cosmetics to come to your lovely city.”

Distracted, Anson beamed. “The pleasure is all mine.”

“I was just coming to find you,” Waverly said to him, which irked Dominic, especially with the goofy smile on Mayor Ascot’s face. The idea of her going to any other man didn’t sit right with him.

“We actually came to find the both of you,” said Anson, looking at Dominic and Waverly.

“You were?” Waverly and Dominic chorused.

“Yes.” Anson nodded. “Vera pointed out the morality clause in our Miss Southwood contract.”

“What the hell are you...?”

Waverly placed her hand on Dominic’s forearm. He calmed down immediately. Will leaned forward and raised his brows at the position of Waverly’s hand. She held a power over Dominic, one Will now knew Dominic could not control. “It’s standard in every pageant.”

“We just want to make sure things are fair,” Vera said sweetly.

“We?” Waverly scoffed.

Vera stepped close to Anson, linking her arm through his. The way Anson looked at Waverly versus the way he cringed at Vera’s intimate touch clued Dominic in on everything he needed to know about the mayor.

“The mayor doesn’t want or need a scandal brought down on his city,” Vera went on. “And we all know how scandal follows you around, don’t we, Waverly?”

Waverly dug her nails into Dominic’s skin. He wondered what they’d feel like against his back while he made love to her. The woman had physical power.

“I am well aware of the morality clause, Vera,” Waverly bit out. “I plan on holding this title with the utmost respect.”

“Good. So just to make sure, the relationship between the two of you—” Vera wagged her finger between Dominic and Waverly “—is professional?”

Waverly’s shoulders squared.

“What business of yours is it if we’re professional or not?” Dominic asked.

Vera’s high-pitched laughter pierced Dominic’s ears. “Don’t you think the pageant board will find it convenient that Waverly’s sponsor had his best friend participating as a judge? Talk about calling in favors. Sounds like an ethics violation to me.”

“Now, hold on one damn minute,” said Will. “I didn’t know Dominic sponsored anyone.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Vera said condescendingly. For extra oomph she nodded with her eyes widened. Vera dramatically pressed her hand over her heart. “I believe you.”

“Look,” Anson said, then cleared his throat. “I know we just met a few weeks ago, Waverly, but I will believe anything you say. Tell us there’s nothing going on between you and him to give us a reason why Will’s vote might have been influenced. A lot of time and money went into this pageant. People will be unhappy if they found out this was rigged.”

Waverly took a step away from Dominic’s side. His heart ached but he didn’t know why. In truth, other than a kiss, nothing had happened between them. If only he hadn’t made that wager over whether or not he had a picture of himself tattooed at graduation.

“We’re just friends,” Waverly said with a shake of her head.

The words couldn’t have hurt any worse if she had stabbed him in the heart.

“Good,” Anson said with a bounce. He turned to Waverly. “I look forward to seeing you on the Christmas Advisory Council this week.”