Fool for You (Southern Bride 7)

“Not after tonight, I don’t.”

I couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face. Was Emmerson jealous that another woman was showing interest in me?

This night just got a whole helluva lot more interesting.

Emmerson

THE CHARITY BALL was going as planned. The food was divine and the liquor was flowing. That meant the auction should bring in a good amount of money on top of the one-thousand-dollar-per-plate price of admission.

The evening would have been perfect, had Claire Castings not changed the seating chart and planted her ass at our table.

Claire and her date, Doug, were somehow seated at our table, which had originally only been meant for our family. But with Noah unable to attend, we had two open seats, and I never even thought of filling them with fake names. I wouldn’t make that mistake ever again. Claire was flirting nonstop with Landon, even though Doug sat right next to her, acting oblivious to his date’s open fascination with my date.

“Claire, what is it you do for a living?” Addie asked.

Claire took a drink of her wine and asked, “Do?”

I could almost feel Hailey roll her eyes, but I didn’t dare look at her.

Hailey cleared her throat. She gave Claire the fakest smile I’d ever seen grace her beautiful face. “You know, a job? Or is that something foreign to you?”

“Hailey!” Addie, Landon’s mother, said as his dad, Emmit, covered his mouth with his napkin to hide his cough and smile. A quick glance around the table showed me that he wasn’t the only one. My father scanned the room, pretending he hadn’t heard what Hailey had said, and my mother, well…she was attempting not to smile by pressing her lips between her teeth.

Landon sat back and simply enjoyed the show, much like Emmit was doing.

Claire laughed and tossed her hand in front of her as if she’d been asked Hailey’s question a thousand times before.

“Oh, I don’t work. I do a lot of volunteer work around the Austin area. It’s my life’s passion.”

From under the table, Landon hit my leg with his, nearly causing me to laugh.

“Your life’s…passion?” This came from my mother.

“I’m very blessed, you see, with my daddy being in the oil business and all—and his daddy before him. Granddad left me a large trust fund, so I’m able to give my time, and of course my contributions, to those charities I hold dear to my heart.”

At that, she looked at Landon and licked her lips so seductively, I was pretty sure my mouth dropped to the table.

Landon reached under the table and grabbed my leg right above my knee. He knew it was a sensitive spot for me, and I instantly let out a small scream and then covered my mouth.

“Is everything okay?” Claire asked as all eyes swung to me.

Trying with all my might to remove Landon’s hand, I nodded, unable to open my mouth or I would fall into a fit of laughter. If he squeezed again, I was positive I would jump up from the chair.

“Why are you squirming in your chair like that?” my mother asked.

My father’s eyes met Landon’s, and he must have remembered the game we played as kids. When Landon wanted my attention, he would try to make me laugh at the table by squeezing my leg.

“Are you sure now is the time to be playing that…game…Landon?” my father asked with one brow raised.

Landon’s grip relaxed on my leg, but he didn’t move his hand. When I placed mine over his to push it away, he laced our fingers together and then brought our hands up and kissed the back of mine.

“Sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” he mused as he shot a smile over to Claire.

That little gesture caused her eyes to nearly pop out of her head. “Oh, I didn’t realize that you two were dating.”

Oh shit. Everyone looked at our hands joined together. Hailey wore a smile so damn big, I thought for sure her face would split in two. Four other sets of eyes, all from our parents, stared at the two of us with both confusion and…was that…happiness?

“No, wait––” I started to say before Janet’s voice cut through the crowd.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to start the bidding. Who’s excited for this year’s auction?”

A round of applause broke out, and my mother leaned over and whispered, “When did this happen?”

“What?” I asked.

She motioned with her head toward Landon.

“It didn’t, Mom. He’s trying to throw the piranha off his scent.”

My mother glanced over at Claire, then back at me, and I immediately noticed the disappointment in her eyes.

As she settled back in her seat, I swore I heard her say, “Well, damn.”

My phone buzzed in my clutch, and I opened it to see it was a text from Hailey. I tucked my cell down below the table so no one could see me responding.